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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Confirmation and b’nai mitzvah have been front and center on this blog for the past few weeks, what with Rabbi Carole Balin’s post on the 90th anniversary of the first bat mitzvah, Barry Shainker’s appreciation of the role of confirmation in Reform Judaism, and then the thoughtful comments on Shainker’s post by rabbis Fred Guttman, Andy Koren, and Joel Abraham. As I commented on Rabbi Balin’s post, the early Reformers deserve high marks for the institution of confirmation as a replacement for bar mitzvah, even though over the long haul their innovation did not “take.” Mr. Shainker pointed out confirmation [...]
Next Wednesday, May 23, will be a big day for our family. That night, my wife, Dana Gershon, the outgoing president of The Rashi School’s board of trustees, will be honored at the school’s annual dinner. Dana has been president of the board for two years and, with four daughters, all of whom are Rashi students, we spend a lot of time at 8000 Great Meadow Road in Dedham, where we’re all part of the wonderful kehillah that is Rashi. Needless to say, between meetings, classes, sports, parent-teacher conferences, plays, t’filah, and more, it’s very often where our family hangs [...]
by Ruby Macsai-Goren As a typical teenager, I do a lot of extra-curricular and academic activities, attend high school, and spend lots of time with my family and friends. However, I spend minimal to no time learning about Israel. I know very little about Israel; my knowledge is extended to what I have learned from my years in Hebrew school and what I know from my Middle Eastern History class. While I have had the limited opportunity to learn about Israeli politics, I have no idea what the culture and land itself is like. I am incredibly excited to travel [...]
by Bobby Harris Last week I was in Israel attending the Jewish Agency for Israel’s Summer Staff Seminar where, together with many of the URJ Camp Directors, I met with and helped to prepare the Israeli staff who have been hired to come and work at our URJ camps this summer. During the seminar, we provide the Israeli staff the opportunity to participate in a camp like Shabbat service that might take place at one of our camps. I was asked to present a D’var Torah, and I chose to relate the Parsha to everything that we have done at [...]
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