One of the meetings I attended this week was for the preparation of our upcoming Community Study. A remarkable group of volunteers from academia, technology, business and longtime community leaders invested serious time deliberating and deciding on not only which questions to ask but how to ask them. In fact, there was so much detail to cull through that we scheduled a follow up meeting.

This may seem very tedious (and it is); but it is critical to making sure that our Federation, our agencies and synagogues have the data they will need to guide future decision making around strategy and tactics. At the same time, we know we can’t ask too many questions because people answering those questions will not give unlimited time. Making sure the questions are focused is really crucial.

Pirkei Avot (Ethics of our Fathers) contains of one my favorite lines in Jewish text. It says, “Without suffering, there is no reward”. It reminds us that hard work, getting into finite details, arguing with other smart people to get the best results and a being a little uncomfortable is often necessary to getting the right outcome. This example of our preparation for the Community Study is how so much work gets done at our Federation. When it comes to the continuing strength and vitality of our Jewish community, a little suffering is absolutely worth the reward.

Shabbat Shalom

P.S.  We are looking forward to seeing all our Federation Snowbirds in just over a week. Events are being held in Boca Raton on February 19th, Naples on February 21st and Longboat Key/Sarasota on February 22nd. All events will feature our Jewish Foundation Scholar, Rabbi Danny Schiff. Learn more…