Steering A Religious Community Into The Digital Age

This story was written by George Wallace

Like many traditional religious institutions in American society today, Temple Beth El in Huntington faces the challenge of how to be relevant in the increasingly complex day-to-day lives of the individuals it serves.

The challenges are many, says Rabbi Jeffrey Clopper, entering his 11th year at the helm of the Reform Jewish congregation on Park Avenue -- from the pressure and sophistication of urban/suburban life in the New York metropolitan area to the competition of the digital age, which offers an alternative for those seeking spiritual, social or personal fulfillment.

In the face of those challenges, how does a religious organization in a prosperous north shore Long Island town maintain its "presence" in the community -- i.e., the "bricks and mortar" and the opportunity for face to face gathering of souls -- inherited from the past and integral to the future?

Several ways, says Clopper.

By focusing on the importance of having a group to turn to in times of crisis or adversity. By extending the temple’s dedication to community service. And by integrating the digital world into the ’boots on the ground,’ life of the congregation.

That’s a challenge Jeffrey Clopper, a native of Framingham, Mass., not only welcomes, but enjoys facing.

Clopper has been the senior rabbi and spiritual leader for Temple Beth El since 2003. After attending Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati, he served for eight years at a large congregation in Houston, Texas before coming to Huntington.

Temple Beth El’s 400-family congregation, headed up by incoming president Marcia Schwalb of Northport, was just what Clopper was hoping for. “It’s been an easy transition for me,” he said. “This is a wonderful synagogue with a warm, welcoming congregation. I like the stability -- there’s only been four rabbis since Temple Beth El was created some sixty years ago.” He likes the fact that Huntington is close in size to where he grew up. “Houston was a 2200 family congregation, it was mammoth,” said Clopper. “I wanted something smaller. I wanted to be able to know everybody.”

For her part, Schwalb says Clopper's fit in wonderfully.

"We are so fortunate to have Rabbi Jeff as our spiritual leader at Temple Beth El and his lovely wife and children as members of our temple family," she said. "His outgoing, warm, and energetic personality along with his love of Judaism, musical talents and interest in technology bring wonderful insights and interesting learning experiences to our congregation. "

For all the mutual warmth, there are plenty of challenges in guiding the temple into the 21st century.

Like many religious leaders on Long Island, Clopper’s working to understand why congregation numbers that have dwindled in recent years. One specific reason for Jewish institutions like Beth El, he thinks, is the “perception of  prevalence” of Judaism in the New York area, from the food to the culture.

“There’s somewhat less of a push in people to seek out their connection to Judaism at a temple itself, compared to the South or the Midwest,” he says. “The permeation of Jewish life into the broader society and culture makes it challenging to build congregation.”

Then there’s the competing distractions and pressures of living in the New York metropolitan area. And the availability of ’self-help’ and ’support’ alternatives on line.

Clopper feels that one way to reinforce the meaningful nature of participation in a ’real-time’ congregation is to emphasize the value-driven traditions of the group. “We engage in many social action projects -- from spaghetti dinners in the spring and barbecues in summer to the Thanksgiving meal in November,“ he said. “Students from the Northport-East Northport school district helped out with that recently."

There’s more. The congregation materially supports individual needy families, anonymously. It provides shelter for homeless people. Congregants maintain a ‘grow-to-give’ garden, and donate produce to food banks.

“We want people to feel that involvement in the life of the community is valuable not just as insurance against times of adversity for ourselves, but because it’s a meaningful experience,” said Clopper.

When it comes to meeting the digital age head on, Temple Beth El is pro-active as well, he says. The temple employs social media to disseminate information. The congregation’s “Word of Prayer” is electronically projected during services. One congregant who is often in Florida or Israel engages with the community via Skype.

Then there’s the ‘text to connect’ initiative, which Clopper says came in particularly handy during Superstorm Sandy. “We had power and gas within a day,” he recalls. “So we started a text chain to let people know we were up and running. Throughout those cold, dark days  60-70 people came very day to warm up, charge their electronics, and recharge their souls.”

To Clopper, the role Temple Beth El played during that emergency is a key to understanding why a bricks and mortar presence in the community remains an essential role of a religious institution.

“Our response to Sandy was a shining moment for the temple,” he says. “It was so powerful -- that’s community, that’s the value of being there to help out when things are their darkest.”

That value demonstrated itself dramatically a few year back, said Clopper, when Temple Beth El pulled together in the wake of the 2009 murder of Annie Le -- whose fiance was affiliated with Temple Beth El -- and faced up to the subsequent confrontation with the Westboro Baptist Church. “The temple felt the loss of Annie Le acutely, it captured a lot of people’s hearts,” he said. “And then Westboro came to town we had to prepare ourselves for their heinous display, which we did. We circled the wagons, we did what we needed to do in a thoughtful, meaningful way.”

There’s nothing more powerful than being present with other people in times of adversity,”  said  Clopper, as he enters his 11th year of service at Temple Beth El. “Yes you can connect up with facebook, twitter, etc. But it’s not the same as having someone next to you, looking in their eyes, holding their hand. Being in the presence of other like-minded people is spiritual, it’s uplifting. It’s primary to the essence of community.”