How can my congregation transform itself?
How can we re-dedicate ourselves to learning?
Improving spiritual connection in our
communities takes work! Combining expert advice and experience
garnered from congregations throughout North America, Becoming a Congregation of Learners shows us how transformative change is possible.
A complete resource full of ideas, information and support,
this is a guide for those of us involved in, or interested in,
energizing our spiritual communities.
Isa Aron, director of Hebrew Union
College’s Experiment in Congregational Education (ECE),
offers concrete, practical information on how to bring about
change and revitalization, and helps us make learning a
vibrant, integral part of congregational life.
“Ultimately, synagogue
transformation depends on, and leads to, personal
transformation of individuals…. This book is a service to
congregations who dare to think differently; who have faith
enough to face the future; and who see the synagogue as the
institutionalization of the covenant between God and
Israel.”
—from the Foreword by Rabbi Lawrence
A. Hoffman, co-developer, Synagogue 2000
“Must reading. Since Sinai, the
study of Torah has been the burning incandescent passion of the
Jew. In this wonderful book, Isa Aron tells us how the
synagogue can encourage every Jew, young and old, to embrace
Jewish learning, and how Torah study can be made the foundation
of synagogue life.”
—Rabbi
Eric H. Yoffie, president,
Union of American Hebrew Congregations
“Isa Aron has written an insightful
and important book about the challenges and opportunities of
synagogue transformation.... A must-read for anyone in a
leadership position in congregations!”
—Dr. Ron
Wolfson, Vice-President, University
of Judaism in
Los Angeles; author of The Art of Jewish Living Series
“A thorough examination of what it
takes to become a real ‘community of learners.’
Aron gives us not only the whys but also the hows, not only the
vision but also the tools to implement it.”
—Rabbi
Elyse Goldstein, rabbinic director
of Kolel: The Adult Centre for Liberal Jewish Learning;
editor of The Women’s
Haftarah Commentary
“A skillful blend of educational
theory and illuminating examples make the case powerfully: the
more Torah, the more life.”
—Rabbi
Nancy Fuchs-Kreimer, president-elect,
Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association,
co-author of Judaism for Two: A Spiritual Guide for
Strengthening and
Celebrating Your Loving Relationship
