FAQ

Isaiah Together: Frequently Asked Questions

Isaiah Together is a new initiative connecting congregants to each other through things that they care about and increasing relationships between each other, Temple Isaiah, and Judaism. Isaiah Together challenges us to listen—Shema!—with whole hearts to each other. If Temple Isaiah is truly a sacred community, we need to know each other on more than a superficial level. We need to know what makes us get up in the morning and what keeps us awake at night—or just maybe some things that we really like to do—or want to learn more about—or need support from the Temple community. Isaiah Together is about connecting congregants into small groups around issues and interests that they feel strongly about and share. These groups will be largely self-directed once they form, and we hope that the conversations and activities that happen within the groups will enrich congregants’ lives in meaningful ways, and also strengthen their ties to each other and to the Isaiah community.

What is a Shema conversation?

As part of the Shema (listening) phase of the Isaiah Together initiative, we are organizing gatherings of 7–12 people seated together in a circle. These will happen both as simultaneous break-out groups at larger Temple events and at gatherings at congregant homes, and all will follow the same agenda. A facilitator will help all attendees to listen to each other and will elicit from each participant something they care about that they could share in a small group of Temple members with similar interests, needs and concerns. Facilitators will collaborate with a note-taker whose notes will go into a database. The actual process of listening to each other in a relational way at a Shema conversation can help us know each other better and form new connections, which supports the goal of Isaiah Together to increase meaningful relationships between each other as well as strengthen their ties to the larger Temple Isaiah community.

Can someone tell the Isaiah Together team what they care about without coming to a Temple event or Shema conversation at a home?

Yes, any Temple member can go to the Isaiah Together website (together.templeisaiah.net) and after registering can float an idea for a group. Or express an interest in an idea that other Temple members have put forward. And eventually, any Temple member who has neither attended a Shema gathering nor used the website will be called by a member of the Isaiah Together team and engaged in a personal conversation.

Why does Temple Isaiah need Isaiah Together?

There are, of course, many congregants who find themselves deeply involved and spiritually nourished at Temple Isaiah, and they are—for the most part—content with how things are going. On the other hand, too many remain on the periphery or feel “on the outside.” Isaiah Together is meant to answer positively the question “Can we—together—become the compelling and centering community for every member that we need to be?” For some in our congregation, Isaiah Together may feel like a culture shift. Above all, we want to make it clear that Isaiah is more than a location; it’s far more than a building located at 55 Lincoln Street. Isaiah at its best is each one of us; Isaiah is the means through which we are able to articulate our questions and practice our values – and it is through relationships that we are often able to do just that. So the ultimate goal is to build and sustain deeper relationships among congregants as well as creating more of them, a web of interconnections that link us together just as we are ever linked to our tradition and to God.

Temple Isaiah is already a very busy place. Isn’t Isaiah Together just more programming?

No, Isaiah Together intends to be different from the worship, education, and programming that indeed seems to fill the Temple Bulletin and Weekly Email Digest. Those can be quite wonderful but they are offered to the congregation with the hope that individual congregants will choose to attend the service or class or program. New Isaiah Together groups are formed only when we have been able to match a critical mass (roughly a minyan!) of congregants who have articulated similar things that they care about. While the conversations and activities that happen within the groups will enrich congregants’ lives in meaningful ways, they will especially serve as ways to form connections and build relationships.

Can you give me some examples of the kinds of groups that might form through Isaiah Together?

We have already heard needs expressed by Isaiah members wanting to convene around areas such as spirituality, bereavement and recent family loss, Talmud or other advanced study, caring for aging parents, and groups centered on activities such as fitness (because, yes, health is very much a Jewish value). There could be a group of bridge players, or peer-led support for adult children of aging parents, or periodic potluck Shabbat dinners rotating among homes of a group living in the same neighborhood, or a group who wants to do political advocacy together on access to mental health care, or a group who wants to combine eastern-style yoga with Jewish spiritual values. Some people have said that these groups sound a lot like the Sisterhood Circles, and there are certainly similarities.

What happens after a congregant voices his or her personal interests, needs, or concerns?

Isaiah Together will play the role of matchmaker, making matches to create groups of people with similar questions and/or interests. In some cases, a congregant may be directed to an existing Temple group that he or she might not have known about previously. Once a group reaches critical mass—very loosely a minyan, although some groups will do well with five dedicated members and others will want to be larger than the exact size of a traditional minyan—a liaison from the Isaiah Together team will help mentor the launch of that new group. It will be up to each group to determine the purpose of the group, when to meet, what resources may be needed from Isaiah, and when the need may be met and it is time to disperse.

How long is this Isaiah Together Initiative going to last?

Isaiah Together is not a traditional listening campaign where at its conclusion one or two issues are raised for the congregation to take on. Rather, our end goal will be an ongoing one. As our lives change, our needs will change as well. Isaiah Together will not be a one-time effort, but we hope to build a lasting engine that congregants will be aware of and make use of repeatedly over time, as their interests change and evolve. Isaiah Together will be an ongoing mechanism through which we can continually identify places of connection and access points into the community.