IT'S NOT TOO LATE TO BUILD-A-PAIR

Your club can play a great role in educating the next generation(s) and encouraging Jewish Ritual Practices at your World Wide Wrap on February 2, 2014 through Build-A-Pair. Allow Parents, Grandparents and teachers to assist the younger generations in a fun activity AND learn about the mitzvah of tefillin. BUT DON'T DELAY - TIME IS RUNNING OUT. Contact Warren Sufrin, Build-A-Pair order taker today!!

COMPOST HAPPENS

Tu B'Shvat is right around the corner on January 16, 2014. This is a great time to work on your Shomrei Ha'aretz initiatives and composting is one of the easiest ways to reduce household and dining waste while producing excellent plant and lawn food.

The FJMC is introducing a new Shomrei Ha'aretz program and is looking for THREE CLUBS to institute a composting program. What a great way to involve your teens and young families! Dr. Mike Miller is willing to serve as a mentor for the first three clubs which register on our website, FJMC.org. For more information, click here.

SORRY OFFICER, I DIDN'T KNOW

Did you know that the FJMC has outstanding Manuals for Club and Regional Officers? These are extremely comprehensive and contain a plethora of useful information. The manual for Club Officers can be found here and the manual for Regional Officers can be found here. I strongly encourage you to take a look at these valuable tools.

ASK THE ADVANTAGE

For those new to the FJMC Advantage, 'Ask the Advantage' is a place you can ask for advice on an issue you or your club are facing, whether it be programmatic in nature, club member interaction, transition related, or something as specific as dealing with a difficult member.

Dear Creighton, Our club is having a hard time getting the word out about events such as the World Wide Wrap and we are also often overshadowed by our Sisterhood. Do you have any suggestions on how to get us seen? Thanks, The Invisible Men.

Dear Mr. Men, there are a number of great ways to market your club and get a buzz generated. Perhaps the most important is to have great programs. If you don't think you do then I'd start by looking at past Torch Award winners and trying to emulate those programs. Once you get outstanding programs planned, then the most obvious and least expensive tool is to use social media such as Facebook and Twitter. But it is vital that you have someone update these pages often. You can also set up a free email list through yahoo and other websites to send out mass emails, but be careful not to send them too often or they will get ignored. Some of the less-technical ways I like include making bookmarks with your calendar and contact information on them and then putting them in the Machzorim or Siddurim for people to look at during a lull in services and then take home with them. You can also get a wall or even a corner in your synagogue lobby for men's club activities where you can put up reminders of upcoming events and pictures of past events. Finally, you should make sure that all events are in your synagogue's bulletins, on its website, and are announced regularly from the bimah. Before you know it, the sisterhood members will be asking to come to your events! Keep me posted, Creighton

TORCH AWARD WINNER'S SPOTLIGHT

Each month I'll spotlight a Torch Award Winning Program that you can adopt for your club.

Do you know what a Genizah is? For those that don't, it is a place where worn-out and/or unusable sacred items, such as siddurim, talitot, and even documents are held and most often buried. Your synagogue may already have one, but if not, then I would suggest looking at the Torch-Award winning program that Norman Soroko's Men's Club at Congregation Beth El in Norfolk, Virginia put together (if you get an "Access Denied" message, you will need to log in to view the submission (#341 from club 288) and if you don't have an account, now is the perfect time to get one). Feel free to contact Norm with any questions you might have about this award-winning program.

LINK OF THE MONTH

Ever wondered how to start a battery recycling initiative, buy eco friendly flatware, or get a solar ner tamid? The answer is the FJMC Shomrei Ha'aretz page. It has some great resources for greening up your club, just in time for Tu B'shvat.

WHAT IS MYLES THINKING ABOUT?

His latest musing is about intermarriage. Be sure to take a look and start a dialogue with our President, Myles Simpson.

...JUST ONE MORE THING

A bit of humor you can use at your next Board Meeting, Presentation, or just to add some amusement to your day. Send me your submissions at FJMCAdvantage@fjmc.org, but please, keep them clean(ish).

A lady approaches her rabbi and tells him, "Rabbi, I have a problem. I have two female talking parrots, but they only know how to say one thing." "What do they say?" the rabbi inquired. "They only know how to say, 'Hi, we're prostitutes. Want to have some fun?'" "That's terrible!" the rabbi exclaimed, "but I have a solution to your problem. Bring your two female parrots over to my house and I will put them with my two male talking parrots whom I taught to pray and read Hebrew. My parrots will teach your parrots to stop saying that terrible phrase and your female parrots will learn to praise and worship." "Thank you!" the woman responded. The next day the woman brings her female parrots to the rabbi's house. His two male parrots are wearing tiny yarmulkes and praying in their cage. The lady puts her two female parrots in with the male parrots and the female parrots say, "Hi, we're prostitutes, want to have some fun?" One male parrot looks over at the other male parrot and exclaims, "Put away the siddurim! Our prayers have been answered!"

LAST CALL - Keruv Matching Grant Challenge

Click here to Donate to the Keruv Matching Grant Challenge. All donations up to $20,000 will be matched until the end of the year.

Don't miss this opportunity to double the good at no extra cost to you.

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