Congregation Beth Shalom Men’s Club has always felt a serious need to recruit and engage younger men as active and vibrant members of its Men’s Club. Our Men’s Club also felt it was necessary to plan for the future by identifying and developing new leaders as part of our executive development and succession planning.

Over the last two years as part of this initiative, we have planned several programs and events to introduce Men’s Club to younger men, which has effectively led to several men in their 30s and 40s joining our Board. These younger men are the future of our Men’s Club. Developing and preparing these men for future leadership positions will help to ensure the continued excellence that our Men’s Club has achieved.

So how is this accomplished? We have learned over the years the way in through the door for the younger men is through interesting social programming. While we are looking for the younger member, all our programs attract members of all ages. This helps eliminate the perception that the Men’s Club is just for older men. The younger men learn that when they come to these programs that they share a lot of interests with the older members.
While the social program is the “hook”, younger men soon learn the Men’s Club offers a lot more:

• Working together for a common cause
• Leadership opportunities
• Spiritual engagement
• Social Action opportunities
• Business networking and mentorship opportunities
• Active participation in synagogue life

Once this threshold has been crossed you are on your way to having younger men active in club leadership. The proof is in the pudding. Three of our 2020-2021 first year Board Members who are under 40, have accepted Executive Committee Officer positions for the 2021-2022 year.