Partnerships......4 people in the house - 5 opinions :). While we all have differening thoughts on house partnerships, I will try to give you an overall view of what we collectively do. Personally, since we are the MH and have the ability to create whatever programming we want, I prefer to not partner with other organizations for existing events and put emphasis on doing somethnig new and different that does not already exist within the community. Sometimes, I think partnering limits creativitiy and us creating something that doesn't exist.
That being said, I think it's great and important to use other organizations as resources to help us do our programming. We have doen plenty of this...like working with the jcc, federation, kollel, chabad, conservative synagogue, etc. Whether they give us advice, use of facilities, ideas, or other various resources, it is definitely a benefit.
Some of us in our house really like to partner and do more of that....and some of us less. It all works out.
Friday, March 5, 2010
MoHOC Partners up in March: Communication + Unity = Community
At MoHOC we are in the unique position that there is not the most cohesive Jewish community in our area. Partnerships, for us in Orange County, function to increase our membership as well as diversify our group base. We cater the 20-something , early 30’s crowd; whereas YLD, a group we partner with, beings in people all the way into their 40’s.
How is all of this relevant?
A partnered event is like a good relationship, you need open and active communication as well as some idea of what you want from each other. Let’s face if one side is doing more work that the other, I wouldn’t call that a partnership, it’s more of a free ride. The beauty of joining together in the name of programming is being able to bring people together that might not have otherwise met, be it due to age, geography, or just not knowing about the other group.
One of the most influential groups for us is JewC, an organization founded by Rae Gross who started MoHOC. She saw the need for a central “meeting” place for the OC Jews, JewC’s function was to give them that space; the problem was that there were no events or real cohesive community. Without her hard work and initial event programming MoHOC would not be where it is today. We have created a community out of very little, and now as we grow our ideas and connections we are looking, like many of the other houses, into the secular community. Reflecting on last month’s post about tzedakah there are many nonreligious organizations and groups that would welcome an influx of new members, beach clean-ups with Surfrider, working in the shelters with SPCA, or in Laguna Beach’s Marine Mammal Rescue Center.
As our little home grows into it’s niche on the coast of Orange County, we have no reason to not find new people to partner with, all we have is time to do amazing things with the resources and amazing members we have.
MHP Partnerships
We are very open to partnerships in Philadelphia. With so many different groups already in existence before Moishe House was a staple in the community, we felt it would be a great way to introduce ourselves to various constituencies by partnering with them. Although there is some overlap amongst groups, Moishe House now has its own niche and, where appropriate, we enjoy working with other groups to collaborate.
When choosing a potential partner organization, we take a look at the kind of event we would like to have and who in the community would help make that event an even bigger success. Successful events come in different forms – sometimes we want a ton of people, sometimes we want a more intimate setting but at a particular venue, sometimes it’s a matter of financial means. We also like to work with groups that know about Moishe House, are familiar with our demographic and background and won’t try to push their agenda onto our events. It is generally true, however, that we plan our programs ourselves and then seek outside partnerships if we think the event would benefit, not the other way around.
In Philadelphia, we have worked with many different types of organizations. We’ve pretty much worked with every Jewish organization possible, some independent organizations, various universities, different restaurants – you name it. We have a standing partnership with an independent minyan (prayer group) that meets in our house each month for Kabbalat Shabbat followed by a potluck dinner. We work with an Israeli restaurant in the city to host regular happy hours. The University of Pennsylvania partnered with us for a soup kitchen evening. Most recently, we’ve partnered with the Graduate Student Network, The Collaborative and Birthright Israel Next to create an educational series that meets once a week at a local bar for five weeks. And this weekend we will be partnering with Limmud here in Philadelphia for an evening concert with a local band.
As far as future partnerships, we have talked about reaching out to the secular community more. Philadelphia has a huge food and arts scene and we would love to work with various venues to find ways to partner in the future. As our visibility increases in the general population, others have already started getting in contact with us - we recently received an invite to the fabulous Wilmington, Delaware to go see an operatic show! Because we have now been given the opportunity, we are able to look at each potential partnership and insure that they are valued by our membership and seen as a worthwhile pursuit.
When choosing a potential partner organization, we take a look at the kind of event we would like to have and who in the community would help make that event an even bigger success. Successful events come in different forms – sometimes we want a ton of people, sometimes we want a more intimate setting but at a particular venue, sometimes it’s a matter of financial means. We also like to work with groups that know about Moishe House, are familiar with our demographic and background and won’t try to push their agenda onto our events. It is generally true, however, that we plan our programs ourselves and then seek outside partnerships if we think the event would benefit, not the other way around.
In Philadelphia, we have worked with many different types of organizations. We’ve pretty much worked with every Jewish organization possible, some independent organizations, various universities, different restaurants – you name it. We have a standing partnership with an independent minyan (prayer group) that meets in our house each month for Kabbalat Shabbat followed by a potluck dinner. We work with an Israeli restaurant in the city to host regular happy hours. The University of Pennsylvania partnered with us for a soup kitchen evening. Most recently, we’ve partnered with the Graduate Student Network, The Collaborative and Birthright Israel Next to create an educational series that meets once a week at a local bar for five weeks. And this weekend we will be partnering with Limmud here in Philadelphia for an evening concert with a local band.
As far as future partnerships, we have talked about reaching out to the secular community more. Philadelphia has a huge food and arts scene and we would love to work with various venues to find ways to partner in the future. As our visibility increases in the general population, others have already started getting in contact with us - we recently received an invite to the fabulous Wilmington, Delaware to go see an operatic show! Because we have now been given the opportunity, we are able to look at each potential partnership and insure that they are valued by our membership and seen as a worthwhile pursuit.
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Moishe House Budapest - February Blog - Partnerships
The Budapest Moishe House has been working in partnership with Marom and Dor Chadash since the beginnings of its establishment. It was natural, as all of the residents have been active in Marom and /or Dor Chadash before.
Partnerships can result in a win-win situation if the partners find their role, how to support each other and what are their common interests. Dor Chadash, a young egalitarian minyen established in 2007 did not have a space where to do their prayers on kabbalath shabbath. The group was moving between different apartments which has caused irregularity. Since the birth of Moishe house the minyen found a secure place and the living room have been transformed into an “apartment synagogue” including a Torah scroll! Not only kabbalath shabbaths but other Jewish holidays (rosh Hashanah, Pesach, etc.) are celebrated in the Moishe house together with Dor Chadash, which is until today a non-formal group of young adults.
On the other hand, programs of the Moishe house are advertised by Marom in the newsletter and on the website. Since Marom is active since over 9 years it has a lot of members, experience and contacts that makes the work of Moishe house easier. Many of the members of the Moishe house have attended Marom events in the years before and it has influenced and strengthened their Jewish identity very much.
Within the frames of the “Quarter6quarter7 festival – during the eight days of Chanukah” which was the joint Chanukah festival of Marom Budapest and the JDC, Hungary Moishe house was one of the program locations and thus was part of the program guide and website of the festival that have reached out to over 20 000 people in Hungary.
Just two months after the opening of the Moishe House Budapest the “Social Action Exchange program” of Marom has started where two of the Moishe house residents are active. Several of the meetings of the social action group are held in the Moishe House and are open to any person interested in social justice issues and Judaism.
Sometimes we invite other formal and informal groups to our events (apartment theatre, apartment restaurant, individual speakers of CSOs, etc.) and we are open for new co-operations. Just couple days ago a new idea was raised according to which the Friday evening kabbalath shabbath would be part of the “Synagogue tour” organized by one of our members active in the youth organization Kidma and the JCC, as well. We would also like to strengthen our connection with the alternative JCC of Marom called Sirály and have there constant offline advertisement and possible other ways as well.
Moishe House Buenos Aires - February Blog - Partnerships
Being ourselves very active young jews, before planning our calendar we spend a couple of minutes talking about what is being offered by other institutions to our members. The four of us think that having a good event is about offering something new or doing partnership with other institutions to work together on an existing event, adding our Moishe House style to activities we think that could be interesting for our members.
The most important components a potential partner should have is being open minded, honest and energetic and give us the chance to reach possible new Moishe members. We found that on the staff of the Jewish club Hacoaj, so we had several events at their island, as well as in Hillel Buenos Aires. We could say that we are lucky because we work very close with Hillel, as Nati is both a Moishe girl and a Hillel girl. Every student from abroad that gets involved in Hillel, eventually gets also involved in the Moishe House as the types of events we offer truly complements and is different from Hillel´s.
Our beautiful Moishe House have been influenced pretty much by the experiences and challenges that most of the jewish institutions that work with students faced in the past, as we experienced them as being part of those institutions: we all went on Birthright, we were involved in Chabad... We could say that we are also influenced by them when we get to talk to our members about their experiences in other institutions, which usually happens spontaneously because we offer events but in our own house which is unique.
We are really looking forward to doing partnership with the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires and we are always open and looking for new partnerships. Nowadays the Moishe House Buenos Aires works with numerous institutions but me are very happy to keep our own style, we keep events casual and love making everyone feel at home: "ha'bait sheli ze ha'bait shelha", "mi casa es tú casa".
When are you coming to Buenos Aires???? See you: Axel, Guido, Julia and Nati.
Moishe House Vienna - February Blog - Partnerships
In the past month our house had to cope with the leave of Eitan one of the 'founding fathers` of Moishe House in Vienna, however, everz is the begining of something new so we got the new resident Tal that is already a part of the team.
We see potential partnership with organizations that provide to young Jewish students things that we can not offer but at the same time Moishe house can offer things that this organization can not provide, for example currently we are in a constant touch with a local and small organization for students that is called 'Moadon' this club offer special discounts for Jewish students when they go to the theater films etc. we as Moishe House provide a nice place to socialize and get together after the official events,we would like in the future to have connections only with clubs that has a certain content ,an agenda that people can gain something out of it and
both for their own good and to the society- who knows maybe will have an event with a charity organization.
All the best,
Moishe House Vienna
Moishe House Vienna - February Blog - Partnerships
In the past month our house had to cope with the leave of Eitan one of the 'founding fathers` of Moishe House in Vienna, however, everz is the begining of something new so we got the new resident Tal that is already a part of the team.
We see potential partnership with organizations that provide to young Jewish students things that we can not offer but at the same time Moishe house can offer things that this organization can not provide, for example currently we are in a constant touch with a local and small organization for students that is called 'Moadon' this club offer special discounts for Jewish students when they go to the theater films etc. we as Moishe House provide a nice place to socialize and get together after the official events,we would like in the future to have connections only with clubs that has a certain content ,an agenda that people can gain something out of it and
both for their own good and to the society- who knows maybe will have an event with a charity organization.
All the best,
Moishe House Vienna
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