Rabbi's Week in Review Blog

While on vacation last week, my work as a Fellow in the Clergy Leadership Incubator (CLI) began in earnest. (This is the two-year program in which we seek to do, or really, in our case, continue major transformation work for our Jewish community — to set a different, more compelling and welcoming course for our Jewish future.) Over the next two years, I will, from time to time, be sharing my work in the program with my Kol Ami family and with others in the Jewish community. My hope and expectation are that, in sharing the work, it will generate ongoing discussion, feedback and engagement in setting a future course for Congregation Kol Ami.

This past week, the CLI program had us compose a set of Communal Aspirational Principles. These principles are designed to be a guidepost for everything we do at Kol Ami. We were limited to setting forth three principles, and further instructed that they be very short. In composing these principles, I drew off our already stated Mission, Vision and Values, which you can read on our website, kolamikc.org.

These three principles are:

1. To be a challenging culture, open to Jewish religious/spiritual exploration.

2. To be a culture that “lives” Torah by healing the broken places in our shul and in our world.

3. To be an engaged culture; to be the Jewish presence in Kansas City’s central city/urban core.

I am looking forward to your reaction and responses by email at rabbidoug@kolamikc.org.