Welcome Program & Membership Directors
Program Directors of Reform Judaism (PDRJ) supports professionals in URJ synagogues who work in the areas of synagogue programing, membership, outreach and communications. As a member, you will receive professional development, a network of experienced peers, endless resources and so much more.
To find out more about Program Directors of Reform Judaism and how to be a part of our professional organization, please click here.
Checkl out slide show from our recent professional development call entitled "Magnifying the Connectivity Lens: A Practical Application to Building Caring Communities"
Our next professional development call will be on Thursday, May 3 at 1 pm EST. The topic will be "The Organized Program Director: How to Create Effective To-Do Lists and Manage Your Workload Effectively." To register for this free program, go to EventBrite
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Program Directors of Reform Judaism
Welcome to the home of the Program Directors of Reform Judaism. Our mission is to form a professional association for those whose primary focus is program development and membership engagement within the Union for Reform Judaism synagogues. This site provides resources for synagogues contemplating the addition of a Program or Membership Director to their staff, for existing Program and Membership Directors in Reform synagogues, and for individuals thinking about becoming Program Directors.
B’Shalom,
Karen Hoffman
PDRJ President/Program Director
Temple Emanu-El, Dallas Texas
khoffman@tedallas.org
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by Cantor Deborah Katchko Gray In the new home of the National Museum of American Jewish History, a Women Cantors’ Network postcard shares space in a display case with one of Bella Abzug’s hats. Never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined such a pairing. Likewise, in early 1982, neither could I have imagined the founding of the Women Cantors’ Network. During the spring of 1981, as one of only two women cantors serving Conservative congregations, I attended the Cantors Assembly convention. A fourth generation cantor, I’d previously attended the convention with my father when I was a college [...]
In several days time, we will celebrate Shavuot which, commemorates God’s revelation of Torah at Mount Sinai. As part of our commemoration, we will join together as one community, stand again at Mount Sinai and receive the Torah all over again. In her groundbreaking book, Standing Again at Sinai, published more than 30 years ago, Judith Plaskow calls upon Jewish women to reclaim scripture rather than discard it because of its patriarchal nature. Her inspiring words challenge each and every one of us to stand again at Sinai and reclaim Torah for ourselves—regardless of our gender, sexual orientation, or life experiences that [...]
by Rabbi Rick Schechter It’s the black sheep of the Jewish calendar—unfortunately. Shavuot, the Feast of Weeks, is a holy day often overshadowed and overlooked in the contemporary Jewish world. How could this have happened? It had such an auspicious start. The Torah considers Shavuot a major Jewish festival—right up there with Passover and Sukkot. In ancient times, it was thus distinguished as one of the three pilgrimage festivals in which all of Israel would travel to Jerusalem to celebrate. Even more so, after the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple in 70 C.E., the ancient rabbis renewed and deepened Shavuot’s [...]
by Rabbi Neil Hirsch While at this past year’s URJ Biennial, I attended the launch of the movement’s Campaign for Youth Engagement. As I heard the different stories, as colleagues and friends stood up and spoke of what’s going on with teens in their congregations, it resonated with my own experiences, and I realized that we all share in our struggles together. We have students and families dedicated to Jewish education that leads up to the bar and bat mitzvah experience. What about the day after the students become b’nai mitzvah? Our movement is facing an 80% drop-off rate after [...]
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