Why a blog? Why not Clausewitz?

The United Synagogue Community Division aims to assist the rabbinic and lay-leader teams of US communities, with management and administration.

This blog is aimed at members of shul executives and will concentrate on US community management. In particular, we intend this to be a place to consider theories pertinent to the running of US communities, where broad, long-term views of shul management can be frankly discussed. The ultimate aim is to give useful context to the decisions made for communities by senior lay-leaders.

We're calling this 'strategy', but only with the caveat that we aren't talking about Carl von Clausewitz.*

Whatever the theory in question, our 'relevance test' will be whether the ideas at hand can be applied. We seek to go beyond the operational and the short-term to look at thinking 'a few moves ahead'. While we know that US communities are extremely varied, we think that it is imperative that we identify how everything discussed here, can be used in at least some of our communities.

So while there will be space here for thoughtful voices from within and without the US, we will not prioritise theory over practical reality.

We will only be assured that we are meeting our goals, when we hear from you. Please comment on the posts here, or be in touch via the Contact Form.

In the meantime and to paraphrase Clausewitz - badly - we hope you won't find that this blog merely enables "the continuation of shul politics by other means". Hopefully you will find the content interesting, applicable and possibly that it provides a useful 'frame' for what you already do.

Thank you in advance for reading.

* General Carl von Clausewitz (1780-1831), Prussian military theorist and the originator of modern European martial strategy. Clausewitz is often quoted when people talk about strategy, even though the relevance of physically attacking the 'centre of gravity' of an enemy made up of brightly-uniformed conscripts armed with muskets and swords, is at best only loosely applicable to the 21st century Anglo-Jewish charity sector.