Criticism of the synagogue-as-vendor model is not new. But the most common critiques miss the central issue. Often, critics focus on the problem of affordability. They argue that, if people are not willing or able to pay the price of synagogue membership, then synagogues must become more creative at repackaging membership in forms that people can afford and are willing to buy.
But that critique misses the deeper problem that vendor-synagogues, by their very nature, have a hard time justifying the cost of membership. Belonging to a synagogue will always feel expensive as long as one is judging its value by market norms. To the extent that people see themselves as spiritual consumers, they will resist paying what it actually costs to support the institution, and they will not be wrong to do so. From a purely market-based perspective, it will not be worth it. The value of belonging – like that of a bought apology – is degraded when we turn it into a purchase. Moreover, synagogues exacerbate that deeper problem when they struggle with the issue of affordability. To focus on the price of membership re-enforces the idea that it has a price, which perpetuates the mindset that puts downward pressure on that price.
Other critics challenge the vendor model at a more fundamental level, but fail to follow their logic where it leads. A number of leading advocates of synagogue transformation argue that the American synagogue in its current form cannot address the needs of contemporary Jews. But the solutions that they offer generally amount to a repackaging of the status quo. They suggest, for instance, that synagogues should be marketing experiences or relationships instead of programs. But they do not seriously challenge the assumption that the synagogue exists to market something. They disagree only about what that thing should be.
Michael Wasserman, “The Vendor Trap: Why Selling Spirituality Doesn’t Work”, eJewish Philanthropy (9 January 2014), {http://ejewishphilanthropy.com/the-vendor-trap-why-selling-spirituality-doesnt-work/}