Summary: 

This post answers, professional to professional, why this resource is worthwhile for you and your community. It outlines the rationale for design, explains use cases, and identifies secondary benefits. This program is meant to help professionals focus on their areas of expertise—engagement and education. 

Exploring Judaism is a project of the Rabbinical Assembly and USCJ. We are the home of Conservative/Masorti Judaism on the internet. In the three years since we started, our team has done fantastic work with our colleagues across the Movement to bring people to our Torah. 

Exploring Judaism also has subsidiary goals: to develop educational materials that support the professional and educational goals of clergy and laity, to bring the Movement together in shared experiences and ideas, and to provide resources that can alleviate some of the pressure on individuals and institutions as they work to extend their impact locally. To accomplish this, we leverage economies of scale to produce products and services that are prohibitive for individual institutions in our Movement to undertake. 

To accomplish our primary goal, we need to increase brand awareness and market penetration. In short, we want more people to know our name and use our stuff. As we cannot afford an ad during the Super Bowl, we have added a low-tech approach to drive traffic and awareness to our site. 

This approach depends on the distribution of high-quality engagement materials. We have experimented with holiday readers, white-labelled and generic instructional cards, and most recently, the very successful Omer Scratch-Off Counting cards. 

The Scratchy Card – Analysis

Going viral is the goal of content producers. This term may make us uncomfortable because we don’t think of Judaism as a fad, but it’s helpful for our analysis. We are a content producer, and we want word-of-mouth, as well as analog and digital sharing, to drive people to learn more Torah. The scratch-off card is an excellent example of a product that is unique, fun, and valuable enough to go viral. 

We sold 2,500 Omer Scratch-Off cards in less than two weeks. It happened quickly. I had an idea, and I mentioned it to our CEO, Jacob. He said, “Mordechai, whatever it takes, get this done.” With a very short lead time, we developed a great product and sold out twice.  

The challenge with viral success is determining how to replicate and scale. What are the factors we can isolate that make this work? 

1. It’s fun. We made counting the omer – a very simple mitzvah – into something that can bring an extra dose of joy and excitement. 
2. We ‘gamified’ a mitzvah. When we included graphics under the wax for commemorative days, we planted a seed: “Hmm, if I keep this up, I wonder what other surprises are in store for me.” 
3. The card is accessible and can be easily used by people of all ages. 
4. We got families together. Many parents have shared how their children badly want to count the omer so they can scratch off the card. 

But virality isn’t enough for EJ. We also need integrity and a commitment to halakhah. The card had to be ‘Shabbat friendly,’ which meant no scratching off words on Shabbat and Yom Tov. The text on the back had to be accurate and allow users to complete the mitzvah as required. 

Okay, Mordechai, but how does this help me in my work? 

Jewish educators need ‘plug and play’ programs. We don’t have time to write curricula, create source sheets, print, advertise, mail, invite, and engage. It’s simply not possible. The feeling of never doing enough, of being chronically behind, isn’t a personal failing; it’s a systemic problem of resource distribution. 

For 5786, we are introducing the ‘plug and play’ program we all need. The Explorer’s Kit builds on lessons we learned from the scratch-off card to provide resources for you to create value-added experiences in your community. 

In consultation with colleagues, we created four products, each supporting an area of observance, and packaged them in a subscription box program. 

1. Friday Night Shabbat Blessings Card. The Shabbat meal is a time for individuals and families to reset and reflect. But the experience can become automatic and, God forbid, even repetitive. So we created a ritual card and a companion booklet that facilitates conversation and engagement around Shabbat meals.
2. Hanukkah Blessings How-To Handbook capitalizes on one of North American Jewry’s most broadly observed rituals. The card uses graphics to assist in observing the ritual, and the companion booklet focuses on eight days of kavannot for individuals and communities. 
3. Scratch-Off Omer Counter is a great anchor for this project, and in year two, we recognize that we can reach more people with advanced planning. The companion booklet will focus on personal development, middot, during the seven weeks from Pesach to Shavuot. 
4. Pack ‘n Pray On-The-Go Tefillah Sheet connects users to the Weekday Lev Shalem and allows them to bring prayer and God into their lives. The companion booklet will cultivate sensitivity to prayer outside of fixed ritual experiences.

We’ve mapped these four mitzvot evenly spaced onto the calendar, with enough lead time between each to really focus on preparing for and engaging with the mitzvah. 

Who should sign up and why? 

The products and booklets are all designed to be accessible across ages, experience levels, and commitment to observance. We envision our Explorer’s Kits bringing meaning to…

• Adult learners looking for novel ways to ‘do Jewish.’ (Or simply not forget to count!)
• New homeowners may be gifted the subscription as a housewarming gift.
• Young adults away from home can receive this as a care package to continue connecting with the synagogue or family.
• Religious school families can be subscribed and the school can use the program to create a stronger bond between home and school experiences. 
• Bnei Mitzvah can receive a subscription as a gift from the synagogue to reinforce their continuing commitment to their experience of Judaism. 
• Conversion candidates will have tangible, up-to-date resources to help them along their journey.
• Prospective and new members, welcoming tables, etc. 

As educators, you can work on a year-long plan that brings a community together through four specific practices. This allows you to build commitment and give people tools they can use with you and in support of what you are trying to accomplish in your community. 

What is White-Labelling? 

White-labelling is a term for customized merchandise. EJ creates the materials, and you add your logo or branding to the product. Last year, three white-label tests were successfully executed, allowing the purchasing institutions to provide a refined product with little effort. There is a small added cost for administration and graphic design. The payoff is significant because your members and community see a great product with your logo. 

The materials are professionally designed, printed, and shipped. The EJ staff spends hundreds of hours creating and administering the program. As a not-for-profit, we do our best to make pricing as affordable as possible while fulfilling our fiduciary responsibilities to the sponsoring organizations. 

Value Proposition

Consider what the equivalent investment would buy in your engagement work. Two pizzas that feed eight USY’ers? Five coffee dates with potential new members? Food for one at a Shabbat dinner? 

Each subscription brings hours of engagement to homes and individuals that would be impossible to reach without thousands of dollars of support. 

Closing with a Little Torah

The gemara in Shabbat 31a has the following amazing text: 

אָמַר רָבָא: בְּשָׁעָה שֶׁמַּכְנִיסִין אָדָם לְדִין, אוֹמְרִים לוֹ: נָשָׂאתָ וְנָתַתָּ בָּאֱמוּנָה?

Rava said: After departing from this world, when a person is brought to judgment for the life they lived in this world, the heavenly court says to them: Did you conduct business faithfully?

One of my teachers read the gemara with a bit of a twist: “Did you make emunah into a business?” Did religion, did your Judaism, did your faith turn into a business? 

It’s so hard for us as professionals to separate our profoundly important work from the dollars and cents—the resources, time, energy, expectations, evaluations, criticisms, donations, and budgets. Aren’t we primarily concerned with God and Torah and the success of our communities?! 

I hope the information above helps you increase your impact and avoid some of the pitfalls of resource scarcity. 

But most importantly, I hope that the focus of all our work, our business, as it were, is in increasing emunah both in Judaism and in each other as partners.