Re: Are synagogue dues charity?

Scott, Tanya (SCOTTT@ofc004b.sce.com)
Wed, 09 Oct 96 01:23:00 PDT

Jonathan Robbins wrote:
>Your comments, however, raise another issue that has often bothered me:
>why do synagogues charge people to belong?
>In this time of crisis in American Judaism, shouldn't synagogues be doing
>all that is possible to bring people in? Does this jive with high
>membership dues?

I haven't done as well as I should in the past about paying all of my
dues in full because they can run high, especially if you're not part of a
family paying. However, many Temples can't bring in sufficient funds any
other way to pay the Rabbi, Cantor or in some cases, rent. At my shul,
they will make arrangements for people to pay within their means. It
isn't all or nothing. Perhaps the issue is how much should they squeeze
members rather than should members not pay at all.

Tanya Scott