Synagogue Websites Of The Future: Transformation To
Interactivity
Warren Lieberman, FTA, Temple Beth-El, San Antonio, TX
Shamash, the Jewish Internet Consortium, hosts many Reform Internet
websites. The Union of American Hebrew Congregations (UAHC) has a website on the Shamash
server (Internet accessible computer).
Over 400 Reform Temples have websites, many of which are quite
impressive. They have informative content, creative graphics, links to other websites, and
a wealth of information about the congregation. Most Reform auxiliaries and affiliates
also have websites, and the National Association of Temple Administrators (NATA) has a
website that I created and keep current.
The UAHC, Shamash, and many other websites have a plethora of
information and instruction on the design of websites. In addition, bookstores and
libraries have countless books and magazines that cover every aspect of website theory and
design.
This article will try to look at the future of synagogues and how they
will be affected by the latest technology changes. Many congregational websites merely
mirror the printed material currently produced. They typically contain part of the monthly
bulletins, sermons, calendars, biographies of the professionals, adult education programs,
history of the congregations and how to join. The NATA website and my own congregation's
website fit that description perfectly.
Congregational websites are at the developmental stage that commercial
websites were only a few short years ago. The Internet can be and is much more than a
mirror of the printed word. A few minutes of browsing websites will make that apparent to
almost any Internet user. Did the inventor of the automobile think about gas stations or
highways? Did the inventor of the telephone think about call waiting or cellular phones?
Likewise, did the originators of the Internet (a government research project) think of
e-mail, commercial commerce, buying airline tickets, sending postcard greetings, reading
the NY Times, using chat rooms, paying bills or "surfing the net?" They in fact
did originate e-mail! The others developed as a result of user needs.
The Internet has evolved from a scientific research tool to a force in
enhancing human development. Interactivity is the trend for future Internet websites and
usage. Interactivity is currently missing from most synagogue websites. Websites as we
know them today will disappear. The Internet will become so persuasive in our society that
most of us won't be able to recognize it as a separate entity.
Just around the corner is a new age of human communications and
relations as a result of effects of the "Information Age." The synagogue is a
place of study, worship and assembly. The Internet can be those and more. Here is how I
visualize some of the changes in synagogues and websites in the next few years.
Worship
Worshippers can access real-time video and audio of services.
Several strategically placed cameras can transmit signals to the Internet server via a
single phone connection. Computers any place in the world can then access this signal with
connections to hospitals, nursing homes, isolated communities, ships at sea or planes in
the air, not just homes.
Services are a two-way process. Microphones and cameras at both ends
can mimic the physical presence and intimacy. This process can bring people who are
isolated closer to the community. Family members unable to attend a baby naming because of
distance can view it. Those who cannot drive at night can enjoy Selichot Services. Our
community will expand beyond its physical presence.
Study
Distance Learning is an emerging trend for many post-secondary
school institutions. Classes via TV which have been used for years are being replaced by
Internet classes. Interaction with teachers and other students by means of "chat
rooms" is becoming more common. Why not have Online Chavurot? Materials and sources
can be placed Online and participants can interact and comment in real time or at their
convenience.
Religious school students can do supplemental work Online. This work
can be submitted to the teacher and comments returned without attending a typical
classroom. In South Texas we have a few member families who live over 100 miles away.
Their children could have a Jewish religious education without traveling. Perhaps they
could come into San Antonio monthly to meet as a group with other distant learners.
Students who are traveling or at camp can interact with the Bar/Bat
Mitzvah tutor who can get feedback from and give instructions to camp counselors or
parents.
Devising interactive curriculum is more difficult and time consuming
than installing a video connection to view services. Electronic curriculum requires
knowledgeable teachers and dedicated families. Discipline is the key to this process; we
all know stories of unsuccessful home study classes.
One recent program involving a nationwide college program found that
more staff was needed to support the program. However, this program has brought
educational opportunities to individuals who couldn't access the needed advanced
instruction in specialized fields of learning in their isolated regions.
A satellite school can combine elements of distance learning and the
physical classroom environment. A teacher can interact with students in multiple
locations.
Assembly
A meeting is called for 6:00 p.m. and one of the key participants
can't attend. Use of the same technology described previously can enable the meeting to
continue. The Budget Chair and the Administrator can share and work on the same
spreadsheets Online and finalize their work without leaving their offices on opposite
sides of town. In fact, one of my previous budget chairs and I have exchanged numerous
spreadsheet files via e-mail. We merely need to add one more dimension to our Internet
activity, that of interactivity.
An emergency arises and the response of the entire congregation is
needed. A letter would take a few days. A mass e-mail can contact every recipient in a
matter of minutes. Responses could be equally as fast. With current password and
encryption codes, confidential votes can replace some meetings. Surveys on relevant issues
can be disseminated widely and the results posted Online.
Electronic Commerce
A Temple member logs on to the Temple's website and makes a
contribution to a favorite fund in memory of a loved one at 8:00 p.m. when the office is
closed. That member accesses his or her account to get a list of contributions made that
previous year. Members respond to an appeal to the Purim Hunger Drive by encrypted
communication and authorize a debit to their Visa account.
A member can access the Financial Management Program and authorize a
monthly pledge for the building fund. The Temple controller currently uses electronic
transfer of funds to pay withholding taxes. It is only a small leap to envision
transferring funds from the endowment funds to the operating account without calling the
broker.
The Investment Committee decides at its quarterly meeting to divest
certain funds and switch to another investment vehicle. The Administrator logs on to the
Temple's brokerage account, and, in a few minutes, the coded commands are transmitted and
a trade is executed. A report is printed and passed on to the controller for recording.
At Temple Beth-El in San Antonio the monthly bulletin is typeset
in-house. Recently we began electronically transmitting this information to the printer
via e-mail. The quality of the bulletin and photographs has increased without additional
costs. The NATA Journal text is emailed from the graphic designer to me. I then reformat
it and upload it to the Journal to the website server.
Commerce on the Internet is growing at astronomical rates. Technology
exists today to accomplish the functions previously described. More advances are coming.
Our challenge as Synagogue leaders is to embrace the new technology and use it to further
the mission of the Synagogue. Also, use it to bring our congregants closer in an age where
it is easy to lose touch with each other.
Websites and the Internet are too complicated to delegate to a
volunteer or teenaged "hacker." The level of knowledge required to adequately
use the technology of the Information Age demand that qualified personnel are assigned the
responsibility of managing the new technology.
But, as in any Temple endeavor, the lay leadership must set policies
and goals. How do we interface the spiritual and communal goals of the synagogue with
technical aspects of the Information Age technology? There will be many solutions, and
some of the solutions will create other challenges. The duty of the Temple Board members
is to be visionary and look at each challenge as a means of moving forward, both
spiritually and technically. Their challenge is to make the technology bring us together,
not separate us or replace existing modes of interaction. No matter how technically
advanced we become, there will be no substitute for sitting in a Sanctuary listening to
the choir during the High Holy Days, or hearing a Bar/Bat Mitzvah child chanting the Torah
blessing, or being comforted by the presence of fellow worshippers during Yizkor.
