In the spring of 2017, USCJ launched its Innovation Lab, an incubator within our larger structure to ensure that we are the platform and pipeline for twenty-first century Jewish life. Since that launch, we have significantly increased the resources offered to congregations that focus on transforming our synagogues for the coming decades.
Design Thinking: Design thinking is an approach developed in the technology sector that looks at change from the perspective of the user.
Immunity to Change: Immunity to Change is a methodology developed by researchers at the Harvard Graduate School of Education that helps identify the hidden commitments that impede us making transformative change as leaders.
Next Generation Judaism: Rabbi Mike Uram’s Next Generation Judaism won a National Jewish Book Award for the way that is describes Jewish life from the perspective of millennial Jews and proscribes ways that legacy institutions can adapt to meet their needs. USCJ is proud to partner with Rabbi Uram to provide webinars, in-person trainings, and bulk discounts to translate Next Generation Judaism to synagogue life.
The Commons: In September 2018, USCJ launched The Commons, an internal social network for member congregations to share resources, create affinity groups, and learn best practices.
Kol Tefilla: Prayer is one of the central reasons that Jews come together in a synagogue, and many of our kehillot are on the cutting-edge of creating new modes of spiritual engagement. In 2018, USCJ partnered with Temple Beth Am in Los Angeles, California to create a high-impact, low-cast immersive experience to raise the bar for prayer in our congregations. Register today for the 2019 conference.
Washington D.C. Metro Area: USCJ is an initial funder of a project of Conservative synagogues led by Rabbis Aderet Drucker and Rami Schwartzer to do outreach with post-college, pre-family Jewish adults in Montgomery County, Maryland and Northern Virginia. This project was recently awarded a fellowship through the Open Dor Project.
Can Prayer Be Intentionally Good?
Rabbi Hillary Chorny of Temple Beth Am reflects on this year's Kol Tefilla Shabbaton and announces the conference for 2019.
​Director of Innovation Josh Rabin suggests synagogues be less attached to structures and more committed to high-quality product.
Can Synagogues Develop a Playbook to Survive Disruption?
Director of Innovation Rabbi Joshua discusses the need for disruptive innovation in synagogues.
Questions about USCJ Innovation Lab?