In a letter sent Tuesday, Aug. 3, to the leadership of the National Council of Young Israel, 35 of the organization’s 140 North American branch synagogues formally proposed changes to the national body’s constitution. The amendments would make explicit for the first time the right of Young Israel branches to resign from the group voluntarily and would repeal the clause that allows NCYI to seize the assets of any branch synagogue that is dissolved or expelled. Together, the changes could significantly restrict the punitive actions NCYI can take against its branches.
The amendments are being proposed by synagogue leaders who say they do not wish to resign their shuls’ Young Israel memberships. “The shuls recognize that Young Israel is a valuable brand,” said Evan Anziska, a board member at Young Israel of Century City and a representative of the coalition of synagogues that sent the letter. Three additional Young Israel synagogues in Greater Los Angeles also joined the effort; their names were not disclosed. The list includes synagogues ranging in size from 50 members to as many as 1000.
“These 35 shuls represent a geographic cross-section of shuls across the country that have demonstrated by signing onto this effort that they’re concerned with the way the [NCYI] constitution is currently structured,” Anziska said. Ultimately, he added, the group hopes to establish “a more constructive relationship” between NCYI and its member synagogues.
The letter is addressed to NCYI Board Chairman Rabbi Jonah Gewirtz and was signed by Anziska and board members from two other Young Israel synagogues. It claims to represent “a coalition of over 50 delegates representing 25% of the branches of NCYI.” Twenty-five percent is the minimum number required to propose an amendment, according to the NCYI constitution.
The letter comes in response to a public dispute between NCYI and one of its former branches, the shul now known as Shaarei Torah Orthodox Congregation of Syracuse, N.Y. The synagogue was called Young Israel-Shaarei Torah of Syracuse until August 2008, when it attempted to resign from NCYI. A lawyer for NCYI responded to the shul a month later, saying that the constitution does not permit branches to resign at will.
In June, the NCYI leadership attempted to put expulsion of the Syracuse shul to a vote, a decision, they claimed, was precipitated by the synagogue’s failure to pay $20,000 in back dues. The shul claimed the real reason for the planned expulsion was its decision to elect a female president in 2005, prohibited by the NCYI constitution. The subject was placed on the agenda in advance of its most recent Delegates Meeting, sparking vocal protest, particularly from the Syracuse shul. Had the shul been expelled, NCYI would have been entitled to seize its property, according to the constitution.
The meeting, a conference call, was held on June 24 and was “contentious” according to the Jewish Week. It broke up after NCYI leaders reportedly “repeatedly refused” to discuss the matter. In the wake of that meeting, leaders from a number of Young Israel synagogues established a website and began to marshal support for changes to the NCYI constitution, an effort that led to today’s letter.
In addition to the proposed amendments, the group’s website (youngisraelfuture.com) states as a goal to “peacefully resolve the situation” with the Syracuse shul and to “preserve the credibility of the Young Israel name.”
The letter calls for three amendments to be put on the agenda at the next NCYI Delegates Assembly meeting. The first would add a section to the constitution allowing branch synagogues to resign from NCYI. The constitution does not currently specify any way of resigning from NCYI. The second amendment would repeal the constitution’s so-called “reversion clause,” the section that allows NCYI to seize the assets of any dissolved or expelled branch. The third amendment would prevent NCYI from initiating litigation against a branch, former branch, or any representative of a branch without the approval of two-thirds of the members of the Delegates Assembly.
Avi Goldberg, president of the board of Young Israel of Brookline, Mass., who helped organize the synagogues and signed today’s letter, called their outreach “a vote of confidence in [NCYI’s] leadership.”
Freedom of choice strengthens the organization, he said. “We’re affirming the right of a branch to resign,” Goldberg said. “If that’s the case, people could walk away tomorrow. But that’s not what we want. We want people to stay in the organization, because Young Israel means something.”
Young Israel was founded in 1912 as an effort to attract young, English-speaking Jews to Orthodox synagogues, which were dominated at the time by Yiddish speakers. Today, Goldberg said, the Young Israel name means “that no matter where you go in the country, you can walk into any Young Israel, and you can know that the songs that they sing, the people that you meet and the environment will be comforting. The brand is that powerful. It is that strong.”
“It’s about feeling a sense of belonging,” Goldberg said, but he wondered whether the NCYI leadership is on the same page as its constituents. “Are they in sync with that meaning? That’s where I think that the disconnect is,” he said.
The letter was sent to Gewirtz via email, fax and certified mail. NCYI President Shlomo Z. Mostofsky and Executive Vice President Pesach Lerner also received copies. Calls to all three were not returned.
Anziska said that a “handful” of other Young Israel branches are considering signing onto the letter, which closed with a request for Gewirtz to call a special session of the Delegates Assembly at which the proposed amendments would be discussed and possibly voted on.
The tone of the letter is very polite. It closes with a request that a special session be held on September 1, “or another mutually acceptable date no later than September 30, 2010.”
“We’ve tried to keep this a very positive message,” said Goldberg.
