Submission #21668 by B'nai Jeshurun Men's Club - Pepper Pike, OH (325)

I have read the 2021 Torch Awards Program Guidelines.
Club Name
B'nai Jeshurun Men's Club - Pepper Pike, OH (325)
Weekly Zoom Happy Hour
Club Representative
Person completing form
Jerry
Brodsky
Club President at time of convention if known at this time
Jerry
Brodsky
Club President Now
Jerry
Brodsky
Best Overall Programming

Page 1

Weekly afternoon Happy Hour. During the pandemic the overall goal of the program was to keep members engaged with the club and our synagogue. Every Tuesday 5-6PM a different topic or presentation was scheduled. Every week members receive an email with all the synagogue zoom events, including that week's topic for Happy Hour and the zoom link/password to attend.
Happy Hours consisted of a wide range of topics including: Jewish (several clergy joined for separate hours to talk about a holiday, their own personal story of becoming a rabbi/cantor, and just to answer questions the participants had that they always wondered about); health (several times we had medical experts talk about COVID-19 and how best we could maintain safe practices); fun presentations (Seinfeld hour where several of us "did" a Seinfeld monologue using bits from his recent book of his routines; reenacted humorous radio shows from public domain scripts using members and wives for the various parts; brought in a producer of Jewish Folks Telling Jokes to present and comedy video clips); educational (a professor of mass communication just prior to the November election to talk about how media influences our political opinions; two African-American friends to talk with us about our different growing up and cultural/behavioral expectations and experiences; financial experts presented on different aspects of the economy and current forecasts as they affect each of us; and sports experts joining us to talk about sports during the pandemic); virtual field trips (tour of the Football Hall of Fame in Canton, OH, virtually for the hour; and had a tour of the Western Reserve Historical Society's amazing automobile collection); and FJMC Hearing Men's Voices programmatic sessions (Fathers and Sons; Men and Work). It's all pretty simple to do. We set up a recurring zoom link; coordinated topics each week with our VP of Programming and VP of Marketing; found topical presenters we collectively were able to contact; and over time developed a regular audience and others who joined depending on the topic. In all, the guys look forward each week to something different than the week before. And on the rare week when we don't have a pre-arranged speaker or presentation, we have an "open mic" session, which simply lets participants give their opinions or concerns on any topic of their interest. We discuss their topic for a few minutes, then move on purposely to another topic of interest to a different participant keeping everyone engaged and the interesting current topics moving throughout the hour.
Attachments
Self Assessment
The program is a huge success. Due to this program we have several club members now from other cities, other synagogues and a member from another religion and race. It is talked about all week by members in anticipation of the next topic and it engages members in presentations especially when they are solicited to perform some jokes or play a part in a radio show. Typically it's an hour of interest, humor and impact both in a Jewish sense and also just an hour to relax, enjoy and improve your mental outlook in this unusually difficult time.
The program is a huge success. We track participation and the program has grown a base group of 20+ regulars and another dozen or so joining depending on the topic. It seems to support several components of the FJMC mission including Leadership, Community Outreach, Educational Programming, Health and Wellness, COVID-19, and Hearing Mens Voices.
We're seriously considering maintaining the program even after in-person meetings are once again available to us. The ease with which we can secure experts and deliver one-hour programs such as we have, in an online setting will be a good balance to the smaller numbers of men who typically come together live for the same information/activity. It's been interesting.

Page 2

Original Program
Previous Submission
Yes