Lilly Project
Willamette University
900 State Street
Salem, Oregon 97301
503-370-6213 voice
Temple Beth Sholom
1274 Cunningham Lane S
Salem, OR 97302
http://www.tbsholom.org
Congregation History and Description
Temple Beth Sholom is Salem’s only synagogue. The TBS community was established in the 1940s and finished construction on its first synagogue structure in 1947. We remained in the original structure on Broadway NE until 2006 when we purchased our present location on Cunningham Lane S in south Salem.
TBS was lay-led for the first 40 years of its existence, before we hired our first full time rabbi. Our current rabbi, James I. Greene, joined us in July of this year. In addition to Rabbi Greene, TBS has three part-time staff: Judith Havas, Temple Administrator; Amber Titus, Office Manager; and Pearl Bettman, Religious School Principal. We also hire six to eight part-time teachers for the Religious School.
Our current membership is 130 member units (two adult families, single adults, families with children, etc.). The Religious School currently has 60+ registered students. The work of the community is led by a Board of Directors; volunteers direct and participate in the majority of events and programs, organizing events that range from a community seder at Passover to adult education classes to managing our major fundraising events.
Responsibilities of and Opportunities for an Intern
We envision a ten-week internship during which the intern would work full-time for the congregation. The dates are flexible but would fall between June and August.
Given the variety of work within the field of Jewish communal service, there are several different paths for professional growth and spiritual discernment. Depending on the particular skills and interests of the applicant, we would invite an intern to participate in the spiritual life of our congregation in one of three ways:
Educational Visioning: Temple Beth Sholom is beginning a visioning process for how we “do” education within our congregation. A special task force has been formed to deal with curriculum, staffing and vision within our supplementary Religious School, and other educational programs such as Adult Education, special guest speakers and Scholar-In-Residence programs will also be addressed. This task force is expected to complete work in May, 2009.
An intern would be asked to assist the professional staff of the synagogue in staffing this committee, and take the lead in several areas of research, including curriculum development, shape of the supplementary Religious School and potential staffing needs. Additionally, an intern would work to help define an overall vision for how the synagogue educates both youth and adults within the community. This would include researching the latest innovations in supplementary schools and working with members of the task force and students who are available over the summer to test different educational models and curricula.
Congregational Administration: One of the most important and fulfilling jobs within a congregational setting is administration of the facility and congregation. An intern interested in this area of congregational service would work with Temple Beth Sholom’s Administrator, Judith Havas, to develop a list of interests and would then be tasked to complete one or two projects during the course of the summer. These might include a re-visioning of the congregational newsletter, working on a history project with one of our Temple members, working on a proposal to help improve the “green” nature of our synagogue space or staffing several Temple committees.
In addition to these major projects, an intern would see first-hand the kind of work that goes in to administering a facility. Although major projects would be a priority for an intern, it is expected that day-to-day things will also be handled by the intern as assigned by the congregation’s Administrator.
Rabbinic/Clergy Work: The important work of the congregation often occurs when the day you had all scheduled out suddenly goes awry. The work of the rabbi in a congregation of our size is incredibly diverse and offers a lot of opportunity for an intern who is interested in a great variety of experience during an internship. An intern working in this area of congregational life will have a variety of responsibilities. Depending on the interests of an intern, these might include reaching out to under-served populations within the synagogue (i.e. elderly, single members, members who identify as LGBT), working with committees relative to the rabbinic leadership in the congregation, assisting in service-leading, supporting synagogue programming and developing curriculum related to sustainability and basic Judaism. An intern might also be asked to use part of their time to take on a social justice project or to engage in study about a specific cause or organization.
An intern would be expected to work full-time, however some weekend hours would be required in order to participate fully in the life of the congregation. During shabbat and holiday observances, we would invite the intern to participate in the leadership of the service as would be comfortable to both parties, and to celebrate these events with the congregation. Additionally, given the intense nature of this work, we would demand that an intern take adequate time off each week as needed for rest and reflection. Finally, an intern would work closely with our Religious Practices Committee and would provide staff time as needed for issues which may arise in planning the High Holy Days.
Scope of Internship
The specific goals of an internship will be defined pending the choice of topic. However, the primary goal of this internship will be to provide an intern with the opportunity to interact with the congregation and engage in a spiritual journey to discern if a path in Jewish communal service might be viable and fulfilling for them.
Given the variety of roles being presented and the flexibility that Temple Beth Sholom has in its attempt to be open to different possibilities, we would find it challenging to define a typical day. An intern would be expected to be onsite at Cunningham full-time depending on the particular focus of his or her work. It is possible that some night-time or weekend hours would be expected. An intern would be compensated with additional time off during the week for evening and holiday hours worked.
In general, the TBS office is open 9 am to 3 pm, Monday through Thursday; 9 am to 1:30 pm on Fridays. The office is generally closed on Friday afternoons and an intern would not be expected to work on Friday afternoon. Shabbat services are held every Friday evening at 7:30 pm; Shabbat morning services are held at a 10 am on the first and third Saturdays of the month.
Supervision for an intern would be shared by those people with whom the intern works most closely. Rabbi James Greene is the staff person who would be responsible for the overall job performance and personal satisfaction in this role. In an attempt to allow adequate time for reflection and personal growth, Rabbi Greene will meet weekly with the intern to provide time for spiritual reflection.
Experience, Skills and Gifts of an Intern
An intern working in a small congregational setting will be well served to have the gift of patience. It will be helpful to
- be genuinely interested in serving the Jewish community
- be socially aware and interested in tikkun olam (social justice)
- be dependable and responsible
- have a desire to learn
- have a sense of humor
- be flexible, in hours and in work style.
An intern will be expected to have good writing skills, the ability to convey ideas in writing and verbally and have adequate computer skills.
Logstics
- Limited driving can be expected.
- If necessary, Temple Beth Sholom will explore options for housing during the internship.
- The internship could begin at any time during the summer.