Spurce: The Jewish Week
Synagogue Web sites are — after an agonizingly slow start — coming of age. Rabbis are blogging and posting sermons on YouTube. Members are signing up and paying for classes online. And several synagogues have launched virtual yahrtzeit boards — complete with e-mail reminders. With the High Holy Days past, many synagogues are contemplating ways to fill their pews on a regular basis. As counter-intuitive as it may seem, the key to building a physical sense of community may well lie in enhancing a synagogue’s online community, social media experts say. That’s why, despite the slumped economy, more and more congregations are realizing the importance of investing in fresh, easy-to-navigate synagogue Web sites (preferably equipped with “donate now” buttons).
And as synagogue Web sites become more sophisticated — though they still lag far behind those of churches — volunteer Web masters are being replaced by the services of professional Web design companies.
For synagogues on Long Island needing an extra boost of support in creating Web 2.0-enabled Web sites, the UJA-Federation of New York has launched The Social Media Boot Camp. The two-year initiative run by Darim will help synagogues align their congregations with the 21st century digital culture.
The Boot Camp, a project of Synergy: UJA-Federation of New York, arose from discussions among a group of 20 or so rabbis from congregations across Long Island. They reasoned that the demographic shifts and the loss of Jewish experience on the Island are partly impacted by the lackluster utilization of the Internet to promote congregational activities.
The Social Media Boot Camp featured a recent kick-off event at the UJA-Federation building in Syosset, Long Island, followed by eight or so Webinars and monthly conference calls. Synagogues that attend the boot camp will need to be represented by a team of staff members and volunteers who will be committed to implement what they have learned.
Chabad.org currently powers 1,172 Web sites in 52 countries and 21 languages. Chabad’s emissaries around the world have the option of creating Web sites using Chabad.org’s existing templates, and Chabad’s headquarters provide free phone, email, and live chat technological support.
In addition to posting local family programming, classes, and minyan times, each Chabad Web site has the option of featuring regularly updated syndicated content, which includes primers on Jewish lifecycle events and holidays, news from Jewish communities worldwide, weekly Torah portion, and interactive videos and games for kids.