Some Basic Rules for a Successful Havurah

• Planning activities for the entire year at an initial planning meeting usually helps to avoid conflicts. Everyone brings their calendars to see when vacations, Jewish holidays and important events are coming up. Decide on meeting dates – preferably the same week and day of the month (example: 3rd Saturday night of every month). Set up the dates for the year so that the majority of people can make those dates.
• Each couple/individual volunteers to take one or more of the dates, and agrees to ‘host’ that event. Make a schedule of the dates, events and people responsible and send it to everyone in the Havurah. At this time, it is also a good idea to create a roster with names, names of children and ages, address, phone numbers and email addresses. You may want to include birthdays, and anniversary dates too. Please send a copy of your Havurah roster to the Havurah Coordinator. This will help them to know who belongs to Havurah groups and allows them to make joint activities possible.
• Each host couple/individual should contact all the members of the havurah with the date, time, location (map if necessary), and information about the next activity as the date draws near.
• Refreshments, a dinner outing beforehand or a potluck organized by the host(s) can be part of any activity (and usually are)!
• Everyone misses a meeting occasionally, but you must decide to make this new group of friends a priority.
• Try not to “pick and choose”, or attend only those events that interest you most. Give something new a try. And remember, the purpose of joining a Havurah is to get involved and to make new friends. It’s not a group without YOU!