Submission #188 by Beth El Men's Club - Voorhees, NJ (566)

Submission information
Submitted by yoelweiss
Thu, 2013-02-21 20:37
173.72.20.68
I have read the General Guidelines and "Nuts and Bolts" Documents
Club Name
Beth El Men's Club - Voorhees, NJ (566)
Torah On Tap
Club Representative
Person completing form
Yoel
Weiss
Club President at time of Convention
Yoel
Weiss
Club President Now
Yoel
Weiss
Hearing Men’s Voices

Page 1

Torah On Tap is a monthly program where men get together with our rabbi at a local bar (typically, a separate room) to discuss the torah, holidays and Jewish life in a modern society. A few pages of text (torah, newspaper article, etc) is typically provided by the rabbi as a means to introduce the topic and stimulate the discussion and debate.
The program serves many purposes. First, it serves as an educational tool for our adult community. Second, it provides access to one of our rabbis (with over 900 families in the synagogue, our clergy’s time is high in demand). Third, it allows our congregants to form friendships with each other that might not have otherwise formed. In terms of publicity and marketing, the program dates are communicated daily to Men’s Club members through regular email broadcasts. The program is also communicated through Facebook. The planning is minimal as the rabbi chooses the dates at one time for the entire year and seeks out ideas and source material while engaged in his other day-to-day duties. The bar is contacted monthly to reserve a room.
Self Assessment
It clearly has the potential to draw in congregants who might not otherwise participate in synagogue activities. There are people who come to Torah on Tap (ToT) that I do not see otherwise in the synagogue. With regards to our shul, we have had 40-50 different participants over the years (a typical meeting is 8-20) versus our club size, which is currently around 150 members versus our synagogue size which is over 900 families.
As indicated above, this Men’s Club program provides another possibility for the men of the congregation to become involved with the synagogue and its clergy.
The information is given above. It is a very simple program to establish and it has the potential to provide significant meaning to the participants. It requires a rabbi (or other judaically knowledgeable person) willing to educate and debate in this type of setting and congregants who are interested in learning torah.

Page 2

Original Program
Previous Submission
Yes
Club Details