The Roadmap is a living, forward-looking framework intended to guide Temple Micah’s future choices and decisions. It is both reflective of who we are and who we want to be.
Where Did the Roadmap Come From?
The Roadmap is rooted in the voices and vision of the Temple Micah community. In 2019, we convened small group and one-on-one conversations with a cross-section of Micah members. Other members posted reflections in the temple’s lobby. In keeping with the temple’s culture, these conversations were open to all Micah members, and every effort was made to engage all members in the Roadmap conversations.
We partnered with The Harwood Institute for Public Innovation, led by Rich Harwood, a Micah member and president of the Institute, who designed and guided us through the process. A core team, made up of clergy and staff, board leadership, and members, led the initiative, sorted through and made meaning of what was being learned from the engagement conversations, and built the Roadmap.
Becoming an Even Stronger Home
“Treat it like a piece of art. Take in the whole poster at first; let the Roadmap overwhelm you. Then approach it piece by piece.” – Rielle Miller Gabriel, Our Roadmap
At the heart of the Roadmap are five levers that define Micah and will help us become an even stronger home:
Doubling down on a new Jewish narrative – We offer a hopeful, inclusive narrative that gives people a greater sense of coherence, meaning, and possibility about where we’ve come from as Jews and the journey that we’re on together. The Human Project, outlined below, sits at the heart of this new narrative.
Being explicit about The Human Project – We discuss what it means to be a good person, our relationships, our passion for truth, our shared humanity, our responsibilities to each other, our community, the world, and our past and future. We ground people with a sense of what we hold to be valuable as we make our journey, and we act on the belief that we are here not simply to take up space–life is a journey and exploration to grow into, mature into, and give back to.
Supporting people in co-creating their Jewish lives – We enable people to have a greater sense of agency, ownership, and capability to shape their faith and lives. There are three realms in which we must work proactively and simultaneously: 1. What happens at Micah (such as services, education, programs, social justice endeavors, etc.); 2. What we can do intentionally away from Micah (such as making our own blessings or other “do it yourself” ideas); 3. What we’re already doing to create Jewish meaning in our life. Each realm contributes to supporting people in creating their own lives and enriching what they already care about.
Tackling the tough conversations before us – We provide the spaces and conditions that people need to sort out what they think and believe on difficult issues, including race and racism, economic inequalities, the health of American democracy, antisemitism, and Israel. People are wrestling with complex, knotty questions in their individual and shared lives, and Micah must help create the right spaces and conditions for these hard conversations.
Engaging people beyond Micah – We engage with people to deepen both our connections to the world around us and our own learning and understanding of Judaism. We do this, for example, by:
Supporting initiatives such as Storefront and Micah House
Engaging new and often unaffiliated Jews
Growing new talent—such as Tisch Fellows and aspiring, young rabbis
Providing a powerful Jewish voice through publicly sharing our panels, sermons and events
Creating a shared language and direction for American Judaism
At the heart of the Roadmap are five levers that define Micah and will help us become an even stronger home: