The greatest story ever told... at an AGM

פְּשָׁט‎

The US Byelaws (18.1.1 to 18.1.3) require US communities to hold AGMs for several reasons, including as forums for the Honorary Officers to ‘report’ to members.

דָּרַשׁ

It is important for everyone in the community to have access to, be able to ask about and to influence, their leaders, the finances and community activities. What the community is doing and how it operates cannot be left unexplained or unquestioned.

These matters can constitute the ‘report’ required by the Byelaws. To echo Simon Sinek’s analysis, the ‘what’ and ‘how’ of community life might include membership numbers, dates and events, attendance and ticket sales or programming.

רֶמֶז

But why do we so often (not always) stop here? The average member does want to know that their community is solvent and will continue operating. But institutional health does not generally fill shul halls, because most people do not join communities to support institutions.

Facts and figures remain prevalent at AGMs in part because they are available, comprehensible and hopefully fairly uncontroversial. But a telling over of community life through spreadsheets or even a retelling of events and achievements, misses an opportunity to get closer to the Jewish reasons mentioned above, through the simple act of telling stories.

סוֹד

In every Jewish community there are hundreds of compelling and inspiring stories of connection to Hashem, Jewish belonging and warmth, Jewish learning and growth, Jewish meaning and momentum and new takes on the Jewish project. And so many of these stories take place in our communities. They wouldn’t happen otherwise. People’s Jewish lives are richer because they are part of our communities.

Was a parent-daughter relationship strengthened through pre-batmitzvah learning in your community? Did married couples enhance their Shabbat experience through ‘at home’ provision from your shul? Is someone who was able to say kaddish when they wanted, now driven to help others in the same way? Did your community facilitate the rekindling of empty-nester relationships through subsidised pot-luck Friday night dinners? Ask these people to tell their stories of Jewish growth and change, if you’re not already. From such stories, hopefully, community direction and purpose will be made clearer.

These stories should be in the report at your AGM.

If your community has a published vision or strategy, then you may already use your AGM to report on your progress. Hopefully, stories from members can substantiate and add colour to your progress.

But if your community currently lacks a vision, then stories can be a ‘hack’, in contemporary language. Stories can provide your ‘why’ by manifesting your collective identity in a way that might otherwise be hard to explain. The ‘what’ and ‘how’ need not be abandoned, but stories can provide a supplement that reinforces and enhances the character of your community.

עַד כָּאן

Stories can take your AGM beyond reassurance that the machine is functioning. Stories can remind everyone that your community is a shared endeavour, and can illustrate where that endeavour is going. Stories can tell us all why we're part of communities in the first place, without a spreadsheet in sight.