By Leyna Krow, Assistant Editor, JTNews
The Union for Reform Judaism is preparing to cut 25 percent of its staff and close all 14 of its regional offices, including its Pacific Northwest branch, in what Union representatives are calling a “broad restructuring plan.”
“We have been working for some years on designing a new structure for the URJ that will be a better delivery system for the 21st century,” said URJ vice president Rabbi Stacy Offner. “This is a plan that been in the works for a while.”
Offner acknowledged that the decision to eliminate so much of the URJ’s staff was prompted in part by financial concerns. In a press release sent out at the beginning of March, Rabbi Daniel Freelander, senior vice president of the Union, is quoted as saying that the URJ is in a position of needing to pare its budget by upwards of 20 percent.
“This happens to coincide for us with the extraordinary economic situation in this country,” Offner said. “I won’t say that’s not a factor.”
However, she was quick to add that cost cutting was not the sole reason for the changes.
“If someone handed me $20 million today, we would still choose the new system,” she said, adding that e-mail, cell phones and the Internet have removed much of the necessity for physical offices in each region of the country.
According to Offner, the new structure will rely on just four congregational support centers located in New York, Los Angeles, Atlanta and Chicago. The roles of the regional offices will instead be played by individual representatives assigned to each synagogue.
“In this proposed design, every congregation has a contact person at the Union to serve their needs,” Offner explained. “This presents a lot of opportunities to help congregations navigate our system. It also means new positions. So even as we’re laying people off, we’re creating new jobs.”
The Pacific Northwest office, located in downtown Seattle, is currently staffed by four employees. Rabbi David Fine, regional director for the URJ’s Pacific Northwest Council, said he has been offered a position in the Union’s new structure, as has regional educator Jennifer Magalnick. He could not comment on the status of the remaining employees.
The date for the Seattle office’s closure has also yet to be determined.
Fine said he was optimistic about the URJ’s plans for the future and believes that the organization has its member synagogues’ best interests in mind.
“There may be great opportunities in this change,” he said. “The URJ has conducted a number of studies over the last 20 years to determine how to do our work better. Hopefully great good will come out of this.”
The regional office in Seattle first opened in the early 1990s. Since then, it has served URJ congregations in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Alaska, Montana and British Columbia. The region is currently home to 35 union-affiliated synagogues, with another two congregations in the process of applying for membership.
Offner noted that URJ camps and youth programs, including the two-year-old Camp Kalsman in Arlington, would not be affected by the restructuring plan. Camps will operate as usual this summer and there is no reason to anticipate an increase in tuition or a decrease in camp staff, she added.
Esther Herst, executive director for Temple Beth Am in Seattle, said she will miss the support her congregation has received from the URJ Seattle office.
In the years that Beth Am has been affiliated with the URJ, the synagogue’s staff has come to the URJ office looking for programming ideas, materials and consulting services. She noted that much of the value of the URJ for Beth Am has come through personal interaction with the Seattle staff.
“The main, most invaluable thing is the wisdom, experience and skills of Rabbi Fine. He has worked with our board and staff. He’s just a remarkable source of thoughtful, valued information and ideas,” Herst said.
Herst added that she liked the idea of each synagogue having their own congregational representative, but that, not yet knowing the details of where such a person would be located or how much access congregations would have to him or her, she was hesitant to speculate as to whether the new system will be an improvement.
“I understand the decision-making process within the union. That’s perfectly sound. My concerns have much more to do with my own personal connections. We’re going to miss everyone [in the Seattle office],” she said.
Offner agreed that saying goodbye to loyal staff members in the regional offices will be difficult for everyone involved with the union. But she remains confident that the new structure will be the best thing for URJ both from a financial and organizational standpoint.
“I want to acknowledge there is loss involved,” Offner said. “I don’t want to minimize that. But I do believe we’re moving forward in a new direction.”