Benefits Of Being an Affiliated Community

Benefits to Your Community as a Whole

ALEPH affiliation joins your community in a network of creativity, support, education, sharing and fellowship. As an Affiliated Community, you –

  • Are recognized as a community on the leading edge of Jewish creativity and innovation;
  • Receive support for maintaining ALEPH’s high ethical standards;
  • Are networked with other Jewish Renewal communities in North America and around the world, with opportunities to connect electronically and at Kallah and other ALEPH retreats;
  • Are listed on the community-finder page of the ALEPH website, so that both local Renewal seekers and travelers in your area can connect with you;
  • May announce community events and post articles on the Kol ALEPH blog;
  • May brainstorm and seek advice using the Affiliated Communities bulletin board on the ALEPH website (forthcoming);
  • May request ALEPH Staff consultations and participate in training calls and conferences on fundraising, conflict resolution, board development, membership building, volunteer activation, leadership development, event creation and management, etc.;
  • Have access to information about congregational or havurah management, tips on conducting a rabbinic search, sample organizational by-laws, statements of principles, personnel manual, professional ethics code, rabbinic contracts;
  • Receive discounts on bulk orders of ALEPH books, siddurim and machzorim;
  • Receive discounts for group registration for the ALEPH Kallah;
  • May request ALEPH assistance in recruiting student/ordained rabbinic/cantorial leadership;
  • May nominate a community representative to the ALEPH Board (under development);

Direct Benefits to Your Member Households

In addition to the group benefits, as an ALEPH Affiliated Community, your members enjoy the same benefits as individual ALEPH members, at a much lower cost per household. They are entitled to –

  • Register for Beit Midrash on-line distance learning classes;
  • Apply for our Lay Leadership Certificate Program;
  • Participate in ALEPH retreats and training programs;
  • Attend our biennial international Kallah gathering;
  • Apply in advance for ALEPH’s biennial Birthright Israel trips (subject to Birthright’s conditions);
  • Shop at a discount on our on-line ReSources Catalog;
  • Receive our periodic Kol ALEPH newsletter blog and Annual Report;
  • Join our Renewal list-serve and discussion groups;
  • Be nominated to the ALEPH Board of Directors;
  • Join ALEPH Board committees;
  • Receive additional member benefits, as developed.

Responsibilities Of Being An Aleph Affiliated Community

As a partner in ALEPH’s work, an Affiliated Community –

  • Maintains the flow of communication between ALEPH and the community’s leadership and membership;
  • Makes known the benefits of ALEPH membership and the availability of ALEPH programs to community members on an ongoing basis;
  • States its affiliation on public print and media interfaces (letterhead, brochures, press releases, website, etc.);
  • Promptly informs ALEPH of changes of lay or spiritual leadership and of any substantial changes in the community’s governance, policies, or communal relationships;
  • Promptly pays annual dues on behalf of the community’s households according to the current schedule (see below), as may be amended by the ALEPH Board (The schedule permits adjustments to be made by the Executive Director on a case-by-case basis.);
  • Provides and regularly updates community household members’ contact information, including names, email and postal addresses (We consider you to be part of the ALEPH family; therefore, we do not share, sell, or trade email addresses with any outside organization. A member’s email address is required for them to access the benefits of ALEPH membership; however they may individually opt- out of receiving ALEPH email without affecting their benefits.);
  • Participates in ALEPH Affiliated Community forums and governance (under development) as appropriate;
  • Promptly informs ALEPH’s Ethics Committee of possible violations of the ALEPH Professional Code of Ethics.

Affiliated Community Dues Process & Schedule

Affiliated Community dues are collected on an annual fiscal-year basis (currently Oct 1 – Sept 30), and may be pro-rated for communities joining mid-year. Your designated community Contact for financial matters will receive an email notice shortly after Sukkot concludes, guiding them through the on-line self-assessment process.

Dues may be paid by MasterCard/Visa or by check drawn on a US banking institution. In rare cases, foreign communities may make arrangements to pay by money transfer.

Community dues are the collective responsibility of the Affiliated Community – not of the community’s households; therefore, it is not appropriate to make ALEPH dues a separate line item or “opt-in” item on your community membership bills to households.

North American Communities

Communities that are co-affiliated with the Conservative, Reconstructionist or Reform movements should inquire whether dues paid to ALEPH may be deducted from the dues paid to the denomination. If not, ALEPH dues are charged at half the usual amount.

While we cannot provide services if we don’t have funds, ALEPH is committed to making membership accessible to all, based on ability to pay.

  1. Annually fees are assessed at the deeply discounted rate of $36/community household, regardless of size. (For comparison, individual ALEPH membership is $54/individual and $72/household of two or more.)
  2. If members are paying partial community dues, you may pro-rate their dues proportionately, down to 1/3 of the standard rate. (For instance, if a household pays you 1/2 your standard community dues, you would remit just $18 on their behalf; similarly, for a household paying 1/3 dues or less, you would remit $12.)
  3. If there are peripheral non-paying participants, or members of your community who are exempted from paying community dues because of hardship, these members will not count toward your per-household assessment.
  4. We do not ask you to identify households for whom you are remitting reduced dues – all members receive full benefits.
  5. If your community does not have a sliding scale dues structure, please contact us to discuss what would be an equitable payment.

Other Communities

Communities beyond North America pay a negotiated flat annual fee, typically US$216 for small groups, and US$500-1,000 for larger communities, based on their size.

If the standard dues schedule is an impediment to ALEPH Community Affiliation, the Executive Director or his/her designee may negotiate an extended payment plan and/or a temporary dues reduction, to be reviewed annually.