soliek

and whose problem is that?

do you daven at the shul often?

“Generally, unless a Shul is busting at its seams, which BE is not, new members are welcome, unless such new members lessen the sanctity of the Shul and spoil the mood.”

have you not been paying attention? im telling you that there are quite a few mispallelim there who for them it is beth el or nothing. chassidim have their shuls. yeshivish have their shuls. everyone has their shul already! but the people who are committed and dedicated to beth el…THAT is their ONLY shul! i can tell you this for a fact! is it worth it to sacrifice those people just to fill seats?

the problem with gearing the shul toward different demographics is not that the mispallelim and myself are prejudiced or opposed to other types of jews. if chassidim and yeshivish and modern and buchari and sefardi and temani want to daven there fell free! kol hakavod! but if the demographic that the shul focuses on shifts from what it is now which is old boro park (not necessarily geriatric…more the old boro park type) more modern people to chassidish and yeshivish etc…then the focus of the shul shifts off the people who need it the most and on to those who are there to fill seats. i can tell you with absolute certainty that many of them would stop coming…and most of not all of those would not go to shul at all. (or at least not as frequently)

not every shul in boro park has to be cookie cutter. YIBE is different and we NEED a shul thats different to attract people who dont feel comfortable anywhere else. you may not understand this but kiruv and outreach and getting people more interested in torah and yahadus isnt about numbers. getting people involved in a shul, and involved in shiurim etc is not about “oh how many people can i say attended my shiur, or heard my drasha” its about the quality of teh impact and impression on the people you influence.

so 200 chassidim might be inspired once or twice…but do they need it as badly as that young adult who sits in the back of young israel beth el quietly davening and enjoying the shul because it is the only place he feels welcome? is it worth it to shaft that family who is not from around here and doesnt feel welcome anywhere else, but in young israel beth el of boro park feels like part of a larger family? is it fair to alienate the pashutah yid who works in a post office but now knows so much gemara because the only daf yomi shiur he would ever attend is given at beth el?

you dont understand because you onviously arent there as often as i am and you obviously dont see hapening what i see, but there are so many people who daven there, who i have known for 10 years sho have grown tremendously as a direct result of teh shul and especially due to the efforts of Rabbi Snow. and i can guarantee you…that were it not for Young Israel Beth El existing as it does today…those people would never have become what they are today.

i love the shul. ive given a lot to it. time, money, attendance…and i can tell you that numbers are a distant second to what we accomplish at beth el. its true…we can accomplish more. and we can influence and impact more people…but not like you are suggesting.

oh and by the way…to all of you who are saying that the rav isnt speaking to the people or cant connect to young people…first of all ive spent more time around the rav than you have and im 19. i feel quite a strong connection and i like him very much. secondly, he teaches 12th grade!!! how much closer to your target age group do you want?! thirdly, you dont know the man so please…lay off

“Perhaps their website should be updated weekly and there should be communal functions such as inspiring lectures that may attract more(for a fee of coarse).”

its being considered BTW

the website needs someone to run it. if you feel like doing it…feel free. i might if no one else wants to.

my problem is that it already is attracting and inspiring the crowd that needs inspiring. ive seen so many people become closer to yahadus as a result ogf the shul…bringing in chassidim and yeshivish for example would just drive away those people who really need a shul like YIBE.

does it bother me? yes it does. the shul is beautiful, stunning. the chazzan and choir are moving and inspirational and the rabbi is a powerful and brilliant speaker, and it gets maybe 50-70 people a shabbos. it bothers me a lot. but i know that a lot of people would lose so much if the shul’s demographic changed that it just isnt worth it.

say what you want but there are a lot of people who live in boro park but do not feel comfortable around anyone but their own type. whether its justified or not…thats how it is and thats why they come to the shul. because they feel like they belong.

are there changes i think can be made? yes. but only within a specific set of parameters. the demographic of the shul CANNOT change. i go there because i know that it is unlike any other shul in the area. and i know if i feel that way…that many if not most of the mispallelim feel that way. i dont know how well you know them…but i know most of them quite well.

i also know that the rav and some members of the board are trying to come up with ways to get more people involved and to get existing members more involved, but i can tell you right now that there is now way that they will ever look to change the shul’s demographic.

ok. to all of you who think the shul should change…just stop it. you dont understand teh shul, you dont understand teh rav, and you dont understand the mispallelim. so please…keep it to yourself…your misplaced altruism is touching but fake.

what you need to understand is that there is a NEED for YIBP as it is. there are people who would NOT ATTEND shul unles it was a YIBP type shul. its not always about quantity…there are quite a few young families who have joined recently…the shul isnt quite dead yet. dissolving the shul, or changing the shul as we know it is a terrible idea. just because you dont understand why teh shul exists or how it works…does not mean that it has to change.

i am and by the way…what mexipal said is absolutely correct. rabbi snow has done so much kiruv since he took over as rav…to suggest otherwise is just idiotic

emanuel was conservative. please dont compare teh two. and i dont think YIBP is interested in going chassidish

i daven there every friday night, ive been part of YIBP since i was around 10 years old and i love the place. tell us more about this aish hathingy whatsit shul

Behab is the Hebrew word for yeti

brool story co

according to my rav fear of flying is a lack of emuna

i say fress away…’swut i do 🙂

huntsmans platform is sommething along the lines of “democrats dont like republicans…least of all conservatives…so vote for me because im a registered republican simply for the heck of it”

and dvorak…thats a retarded way to vote. just because the RNC decides to market a candidate for nomination does NOT mean that you have to vote for said candidate. also this is a primary…not a general election. if it comes down to it and romney or perry wins the nomination they yeah…id vote them over obama. but why the heck should i vote for a candidate i dont like in a primary simply because teh RNC says i should?!

spreading his Bar Shattya on other forums

Perry looks good on paper, but when scrutinized he is seen for the weak politician he is. Romney is a tool. he’s just being groomed by the party to win but hes not a real candidate. Herman cain is amazing. simply amazing. i find myself agreeing with him more than anyone else and apparently im not alone in that. hes way up in the polls! Newt Gingrich! oh my god! he is another amazing candidate. all his answers are sharp, on point, and he never involves himself in the petty garbage thats been going on lately in the debates. Santorum is a good candidate but he cant handle pressure. he appears visibly flustered every time he’s asked a tough question whereas cain and gingrich perform VERY well under pressure.

ron paul…now theres an interesting one. you agree with most of what he says…until he says something along the lines of “no we cant have a border fence because then were gonna have national IDs and police pulling you over demanding to see your papers at random” so hes out as far as im concered…but a very interesting candidate. gary johnson…what even. why is he running. im not even gonna even bother even.

john huntsman. now there is a first class &%$^#@ if ive ever seen one. his platform is that the other candidates dont believe in evolution. IM SORRY…/BUT OF WHAT RELEVANCE IS EVOLUTION TO FIXING THE ECONOMY?!?!? who else…um…bachmann. bachmann is a woman so of course she can’t win. see when it comes to race you have a divide between men, women, friends, romans, countrymen…but when it comes to women…men are all united agaisnt them 🙂 so she has no chance whatsoever and she keeps getting shafted in the debates.

i think i covered everyone. gingrich was a little left of center last time, but he really knows how to balance a budget. he was responsible for the clinton surplus…so im not sure hed be such a bad idea now. cain though seems to be a very solid conservative and a shrewd businessman. as of now my vote is going to herman cain.

my take is basically…if your point is good enough to make without invoking the holocaust…go for it. no need for the analogy. if not…then your point isnt worth making and you should keep quiet.

personally i just wait until after sukkos and buy esrogim 5 for a dollar…wave them about a bit…????…PROFIT!!!