Project Bina

Project Bina, (meaning “insight”) is a volunteer committee working to establish a long-term feedback loop at Temple Beth Am. Project Bina seeks to deepen understanding of the needs of the Beth Am congregation, collect diverse perspectives from all TBA congregants, and use feedback received to inform our future planning, programming, and services.

Project Bina Update, August 2024

  • We recently celebrated the contributions that Project Bina has made over the last year. Thank you so much to those who have been part of this now 2 year old project in the past year – Amanda Radman, Dan Charlton, Maya Menon, Rachel Zerrell, Sally Kinney, and T.J. Stutman. We also thank the congregation and the TBA Board, clergy and staff for their continued support.
  • We have several new committee members – welcome to Allison Opson Clement, Rebecca Hoff, Liz Mizrahi and Kelly Rigotti.
  • As a reminder, the Project Bina committee develops research plans based on significant questions that the Board, staff and clergy would like to understand about our congregational experience, and ensures we have an unbiased, methodologically appropriate and action-oriented approach for each topic of interest.
  • We have just launched our next research project called “Giving to TBA”, which seeks to understand congregants’ experience with giving time and/or financial support to TBA. This project is part of our follow-up on the Congregational Kibbitz, where we learned a lot about how our congregation is feeling across a broad range of topics. We have been spending the last 2 years, covering a range of topics from worship practices, rabbinic search priorities, attitudes about the Mideast conflict and belonging (previous results are available here: TBA winter congregational survey review Mar 27 2024.pdf).  
  • Some areas we identified for improvement around the topic of giving in the Kibbitz were our volunteering process and how we ask for annual sustaining support, and we wanted to dive deeper into these. Our goal is to be better stewards of the valuable resources provided to us by our congregants (your time, talent and treasure!), and identify ways to improve our processes, including recognition of your support.
  • This next research project will be done through a series of interviews with congregants who were randomly selected across demographic and engagement levels based on the data we have today. We aim to complete these interviews in August, share out results in Sept/Oct with the Board, staff, clergy and congregation. 
  • If you have any questions about Project Bina, or would like to join our committee, please email bina@templebetham.org (new email!)

Project Bina March 2024 Update

Greetings from the Project Bina committee. We’ve been hard at work and wanted to share an update about our current projects.

  • We completed the rabbinic search survey last fall and used those results to help inform our application materials and evaluation of candidates.
  • In December, we fielded research on critical topics for our congregation and clergy that covered belonging, communal prayer and the Israel-Hamas conflict. We have been socializing results from that work with our Board, clergy, staff and lay leaders.
  • Insights from the Winter Congregational survey have been used to:
    • Provide content and context for an antisemitism workshop on Mar 3
    • Confirm support for doing our second Israel Engagement team’s event and book club focused on education around the regional context
    • Brief the Gan Faculty on congregational needs
    • Help identify priorities for the new Minyan committee
  • There will be a Congregational report-out on these latest project Bina findings, scheduled for the evening of Weds, March 27 from 7-8 PM PT over Zoom. Please join us for a review of the findings around the three topics of this survey: belonging, communal prayer and the Israel-Hamas conflict and how we are incorporating these insights into our programs and services
  • We consider it critical to Project Bina that we have the latest data about our congregants and their households, so that we can reach as many people as possible when collecting your perspectives. We are working with TBA staff to update the most critical congregant contact information in Shulcloud for you and your household, which also includes ensuring we have up to date Yahrzeit information for your loved ones, as well as capturing interest in committees and leadership roles. Stay tuned for opportunities to update your information!

September 2023 Project Bina Update: The TBA Congregational Kibbitz Results are in!

Kibbitz Presentation Video

Kibbitz Presentation 

Here is a snapshot of our key findings:

  • People initially joined Beth Am for their children’s education, a connection to Judaism and TBA’s warm, welcoming culture and they stay for the community they’ve experienced, out of habit, and for their children/families
  • Members want to make the most of their experience at TBA today but need some help to:
    • Make a (re) commitment to Judaism and TBA
      • There is a desire to understand our goals/mission better and how they fit into TBA’s activities and priorities
      • Members are seeking ways to engage and get involved, but lack awareness and/or access to opportunities
    • (Re) Build and strengthen connections
      • Members enjoy and desire to participate in meaningful activities, but remain disoriented by COVID
      • Members of all demographics report it can be challenging to make deep connections, despite being an outwardly welcoming community
    • Learn from others and about TBA
      • Members want to learn from each other about Jewish and general topics
      • They also want to get (re) acquainted with Temple clergy, staff and board and their roles so they can navigate effectively

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Project Bina Committee Overview

The Project Bina committee supports and guides the Temple Beth Am community in the collection of research and data insights to help inform the development of our programs, events and services. We are committed to transparency, best practices in collecting information and helping our clergy, staff, board and other lay leaders create insight-informed action plans.

Committee Chair: Stacey Symonds

Committee Members: Heather Camp, Corinne Fligner, T. J. Stutman, Rachel Zerrell

Staff Support: Amanda Radman, TBA Membership and Development Associate

High Holy Day 5783 Survey Results Townhall

Project Bina shared their first results of this project at a well-attended Town Hall on March 19th.

If you did not have a chance to attend, click here to view Project Bina’s High Holy Day Survey Results presentation.

For more information about Project Bina, please email feedback@templebetham.org.