Submission #285 by Temple Israel of Sharon Brotherhood - Sharon, MA (738)
I have read the General Guidelines, "Nuts and Bolts" and Program Advanced Planning (Excel Spreadsheet) Documents
Project D – Remembering a Jewish Town in Belarus
Yom HaShoah / Yellow Candle
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Temple Israel Brotherhood premiered a new documentary about the effort , led by Aaron Ginsburg, to help a local government in Belarus restore a Jewish cemetery, and preserve the memory of the Jewish residents of Dokshitsy, Parafianov and other villages in Eastern Europe.
Project D – Remembering a Jewish Town in Belarus
In March the Temple Israel Sharon had a brotherhood breakfast called “Project D-Remembering Dokshitsy”. Brotherhood member Aaron Ginsburg showed a moving professionally made documentary followed by a talk about how one American Jew brought together a local government in Belarus and a worldwide network of descendants to dedicate a memorial to this Jewish community. It corrected a 1965 Holocaust memorial that denied the Holocaust by failing to mention that the victims were Jewish.
This unconventional program drew 70 people, which was one of the larger attendances for this kind event at our shul including a lot of people from outside our shul community. This program was publicized widely, and helped to bring attention to the good things that the Brotherhood is capable of...in other words the program created a tremendous amount of good will and resonated with the club membership and general public, that is genealogical research. It demonstrated what can be done to preserve Jewish history.
Clubs might be interested in using this off-the shelf program by reaching out to Aaron.
Alternately they may wish to create a similar program. A good source of speakers might come from a local Jewish Genealogical Society or just searching the internet to find locals who have done similar things. Keys to a successful presentation are a passionate, informed and prepared speaker.
While a few slides might be used to illustrate a talk... it is important to avoid relying too much on PowerPoint. If a video is included, it is important that it be vetted, and not overly long. This programs documentary was about 25 minutes. A well done video followed by the story behind the story is a formula for a successful program. These kinds of programs can be marketed through social media, including Facebook and Google+ as well as email...making sure to engage the men’s club, shul and entire community.
The time needed to prepare a program is very much dependent on the synagogue calendar. Time needs to be allowed for marketing to the congregation, so the newsletter deadlines should also be considered. An estimate would be 6-8 weeks to allow for networking and publicity.
The program was so successful, the net proceeds of $500 was donated Project D.
In March the Temple Israel Sharon had a brotherhood breakfast called “Project D-Remembering Dokshitsy”. Brotherhood member Aaron Ginsburg showed a moving professionally made documentary followed by a talk about how one American Jew brought together a local government in Belarus and a worldwide network of descendants to dedicate a memorial to this Jewish community. It corrected a 1965 Holocaust memorial that denied the Holocaust by failing to mention that the victims were Jewish.
This unconventional program drew 70 people, which was one of the larger attendances for this kind event at our shul including a lot of people from outside our shul community. This program was publicized widely, and helped to bring attention to the good things that the Brotherhood is capable of...in other words the program created a tremendous amount of good will and resonated with the club membership and general public, that is genealogical research. It demonstrated what can be done to preserve Jewish history.
Clubs might be interested in using this off-the shelf program by reaching out to Aaron.
Alternately they may wish to create a similar program. A good source of speakers might come from a local Jewish Genealogical Society or just searching the internet to find locals who have done similar things. Keys to a successful presentation are a passionate, informed and prepared speaker.
While a few slides might be used to illustrate a talk... it is important to avoid relying too much on PowerPoint. If a video is included, it is important that it be vetted, and not overly long. This programs documentary was about 25 minutes. A well done video followed by the story behind the story is a formula for a successful program. These kinds of programs can be marketed through social media, including Facebook and Google+ as well as email...making sure to engage the men’s club, shul and entire community.
The time needed to prepare a program is very much dependent on the synagogue calendar. Time needs to be allowed for marketing to the congregation, so the newsletter deadlines should also be considered. An estimate would be 6-8 weeks to allow for networking and publicity.
The program was so successful, the net proceeds of $500 was donated Project D.
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Original Program