The National Council of Young Israel voted this week to remove a provision in its constitution, which had been the subject of much debate over the past several years. Following a unanimous vote by the Young Israel Executive Board last month to proceed with the constitutional amendment, Young Israel Synagogue Delegates from across the United States elected to follow the board’s lead and delete the provision, which related to the rules and regulations about a synagogue that is affiliated with the National Council of Young Israel and desires to leave the organization.
Section 12.4 of the National Council of the Young Israel Constitution, which was deleted by the Young Israel Board and Delegates, did not allow a synagogue that joined the National Council of Young Israel to leave the organization.
According to National Council of Young Israel President Farley Weiss, this clause was a major point of concern among synagogues that were considering becoming affiliated with the National Council of Young Israel, but were wary of doing so because of the fear that they would be unable to leave the organization once they joined, if they desired to do so at some point in the future.
In its place, a new constitutional provision was drafted that addresses many of the concerns that were raised regarding the now defunct Section 12.4. The new constitutional amendment, which was adopted this week by the Young Israel synagogue delegates, establishes clear and sensible guidelines that enable a Young Israel-affiliated synagogue to resign its membership from the organization if it chooses to do so. The new amendment also works to protect synagogues that find themselves nearing closure and dissolution and serves to protect their members and their legacy.
“We believe that this amendment, which was approved unanimously by the Board and adopted overwhelmingly by the Delegates, paves the way for new synagogues to join the National Council of Young Israel,” said Weiss. “We commend the Board and the Delegates for coming to an overwhelming decision on an issue that caused discord within the organization. The Board took into consideration the concerns that were raised by our members and duly addressed them. We believe this is a tremendous sign of the strength and cohesiveness of the organization and expect that the unanimity with which this was passed will lead to future growth of the National Council of Young Israel.”
“As we continue striving to strengthen and enhance our relationship with our branch synagogues, we determined that it was in everyone’s best interests to address this subject head-on and remove what had become a lingering contentious issue for our organization,” said National Council of Young Israel Chairman of the Board Bob Levi. “The National Council of Young Israel will continue being attentive and responsive to the needs of our branch synagogues and our more than 25,000 member families. We are deeply committed to our mission of providing quality programming and support to our synagogues, member families, and synagogue rabbis, and we will continue to work diligently to enrich the vibrancy of our synagogues across the United States and Israel.”
“I am extremely gratified that the Delegates Assembly has resoundingly passed the amendment to the National Council of Young Israel’s constitution,” said David Schultz, Associate Vice President of the National Council of Young Israel and a board member at the Young Israel of Century City, California, who was instrumental in crafting the amendment. “I hope this is the first step in developing a stronger and more vibrant partnership between the National Council of Young Israel and its member shuls.”
“For the past 100 years, the National Council of Young Israel has focused on making the synagogue a focal point of Jewish communities throughout the United States and Israel,” said Rabbi Bini Maryles, Associate Executive Director and Senior Director of Branch Services for the National Council of Young Israel. “As we move forward, the National Council of Young Israel will remain dedicated to further augmenting the role of synagogue life around the world and building a better and brighter future for our synagogues, member families, and communities.”
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Young israel needs to breathe torah life into their people not life into the sunday morning synagogue bagel club or shabbos herring club etc if they want to stay relevant, grow, and go forward