Jews over institutions: the necessary but awful-sounding "UX filter"
- Ben Vos
- Jan 5
- 3 min read
Updated: Jan 6
It is faintly ridiculous to sit on an office chair, behind a desk, in an office, between meetings, to write about breaking out of an institutional mindset. I've literally got my office-issue mug in front of me, next to my identikit mini-cactus...
Much of the work I do involves working with the leaders of our communities. If information is to be communicated or gathered; if there are initiatives to hear about or to promote from the centre; then I can pick up the phone to a shul Honorary Officer, a Rabbi or a Rebbetzen. It is easy for me to use the official channels to which I have access. Consequently, shuls and their leaders loom large in my imagination. I am conscious of the risk of subconsciously reducing each community to a name, a building, a team of leaders, perhaps a couple of experiences or impressions.
This possibility must be resisted. We in the Community Development Team believe that Jewish people should be our focus over Jewish institutions. The leaders, yes, but everyone else, too: Jewish individuals; Jews as neighbours or as members of households; Jews in the heart of or at the edge of social or religious life; Jews as contributors to and beneficiaries of multi-layered, overlapping communities. Even those communities, our קהילות קדושות are means to an end. That end being the Jewish engagement and growth of people, not the enhancement of organisations. The United Synagogue vision speaks of a "a vibrant community of inspired Jews", in my view reflecting this understanding.
Even if I and my colleagues cannot realistically interact with tens of thousands of Jews directly, it is vital that we strive to maintain our focus on Jewish people over Jewish organisations, even our own. We must try not to become institutionalised. What does this mean in practice?
For example, the most cost-effective format for תפילה בקהילה, communal prayer, is probably to have everyone in one room at the same time. But if we acknowledge that some people might favour a 'hashkama' minyan (perhaps some parents; those who don't want to attend bnei mitzah every week; or those who want more time for learning) then we are putting the interests of Jews before institutional convenience, as we should.*
One Community Development Team aim for 2026 is to develop ways for us to ensure that we consistently prioritise Jews over institutions. At the moment I'm calling this a User-Experience filter, or 'UX filter' which sounds marginally less awful than a 'Jew-centric filter'. Hopefully we'll come up with something warmer. Suggestions welcome...
In the meantime, community leaders, though drawn from the communities and less likely to take a 'distant' view than those of us at the other end of a Teams meeting, are theoretically also susceptible to doing what is institutionally convenient, to defaulting to what's easiest for the shul as an organisation rather than what is what's needed to benefit Jews. Routine, efficiency, value and simplicity can be compelling siren songs for volunteer leaders who are already working with absolute dedication and maximum effort.
As ever, each community is different. Local priorities will vary. But as a sort of warm-up to the greater piece of work necessary for our team, I asked AI** to develop a 'UX filter' for local use, bearing in mind potential strategic priorities. I thought it might be useful as a checklist or starting point, so attach it here.
I would be very grateful to hear any thoughts on the document, on the US 'institution-individual' dynamic, or on recommendations for desk plants.
* Obviously, this must be moderated by halacha, real-world constraints and other factors. It isn't an argument for ignoring zmanim, nor for indulging kiddush clubs! ** Please be sure not to enter confidential US data of any sort, into unsecured AI.
Comments