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1. Rabbi Nadav Caine says

   August 31, 2011 at 5:59 pm

   I think this argument goes wrong with the claim that the growth of Independent Minyanim suggests that governance is less important than grassroots people seeking engagement. Independent minyanim are not new [I grew up with them in Philadelphia in the 1970’s, and have been involved with them since in various cities], and neither are they as popular as many think [should one compare their numbers on a Shabbat compared to the boring old brick and mortar “empty” shul down the street that actually has far more people in it]. They are, in most cases, PROTO-SYNAGOGUES, not an alternative model of a synagogue. By the time the young singles get married, have kids, and those kids hit 10 years old, they usually seek a more formal educational program, require more financial commitment to support a bnei mitzvah program and this education program, compromise on the initial values to allow the kinds of bnei mitzvah people want with the relatives in town and a larger space, etc. At some point, they either break up, or want a rabbi and a space, and maybe some leadership to take of some of the decisions. Who has time for the wonderful, but time demanding, ongoing town-hall consensus meetings? At this point, leadership skills rather than grassroots consensus is crucial to development. Independent Minyanim are like start-up companies. They look much cooler than the established companies, but the ones that don’t fail must adopt many of the strategies the author is suggesting are outdated.