New sponsorship option offers better value

Board has reached a decision about changes in overall kiddush strategy.
In response to dwindling (but unknown) supply of money coming into shul's coffers it has been decided to change the cost and structure of kiddush sponsorship. Instead of just sponsoring kiddush you can (have to) now sponsor an entire Shabbos. Of course this higher-level honor comes at a premium to previous less glorious kiddush sponsorship package.
Board was able however to keep the price increase to a minimum, by adding just $180 or 100% to the price of the existing package. The value difference however is immeasurable as summarized in the following table:

	Kiddush Only	Entire Shabbos sponsorship
Length of Time	1 hour	25 hours
Mitzvas D'Oraisa	0	1+ (there are many additional mitzvas from Torah that one can do in order to increase the value of your investment)
Zchus Points	Limited	All (there are opinions that observance of Shabbos is equivalent to observance of all mitzvos)

As you can see new package offers a much better value.

It is said that tzedakah is the best tool to use in order to increase / secure one's income. Because of that it is a good news that economic slowdown has not impacted finances or reserves of the members of the shul B"H, just the shul itself. An old saying claims that "there is no atheist in the foxhole". Well apparently "foxhole" feeling has not reached the members of Heritage, otherwise the purse would be bursting at the seams.

Board as well does not anticipate economic impact at member's households, because of it did, they would try to maximize saving by curbing spending across-the-board: outlays from shul as well as outlays from members.

Tips on extracting the maximum value from new package:

• Try to do as many mitzvas on the Shabbos that you are sponsoring to get more out of it. Also try to encourage others to do mitzvas.
• Try to delay Seuda Shlishi as long as possible and cause shul to end Shabbos as late as possible, this will increase your value as the time of the mitzva increases.
• Try to peddle various honors to other member or people passing in front of the shul for money to recoup some or all costs, its your Shabbos.
• Ask everyone on the way home "How are you?" when they say "Good" reply, "I am glad to hear it, because today's Shabbos is sponsored by me"

On a serious note

Board could do better than the proposed change. A better multi-pronged approach would be to reduce costs of kiddush / Shabbos, in combination with a more modest increase in sponsorhip cost. This less drastic change could better be absorbed by community. Here is an example of what it could look like:

Non-sponsored configuration

• Default cholent to parve ($30 savings)
• Do away with cakes ($30 savings)
• Cheaper(est) disposable plates ($5 savings)
• No fruits / no cutting prep expense ($15 savings)
• Matzah only shalosh seudos ($25 savings)

Attach your name to kiddush: $220

Total Savings + increase in sponsorhip cost: $145

Sponsored configuration

same as above, however sponsor can improve the kiddush as follows:

• Adding meat or herring to cholent (actual cost + procurement cost)
• Any other imbelishments (subject to shul rules) actual cost

Soviet expatriots are more likely to react negatively to any change. A plan similar to the one above would minimize a chance of such resentment.

Cholent Strategy - an interest group initiative

There has been some changes implemented in the meat allocation formula used for cholent meat purchases. Under the new formula the amount of meet in shul's cholent has been reduced from previous range of 4 to 8 pounds to a new lower range of 3 to 4 pounds. Health hazards of cholent have been known for many years. However, change in meet allocation has been implemented not as a result of a health concern, but as a result of broader initiative to conserve financial resources of the shul.

One more thing that is important to keep in mind is that cholent is not paid for by community funds, but is entirely paid for by a certain community member. Members should be free to decide to increase or lower their contribution levels and we can not mandate for the person to contribute at the same level, especially if there are ways to make the cholent cost less.

There are different aspects in making a policy decision on this subject. Here they are in no particular order:
1 . The Cost
The cost of preparing meat cholent is roughly as follows:
$40 for the meat
$2 Onions
$4 Premium Potatoes
$1 Stake Sauce
$12 two kishkes
$2 Barley
$2 Other beans
$4 Sweet potatoes
$7 Other
Which comes out to about $70-80.

Replacing meat with herring would lower that cost by $7-10. Another option is going Parve (which also means low-protein) and adjuts the recipie to a high-end parve edition that attempts to use good taste to compensate for the lack of meat or fish. Parve edition could easily reduce the cost by $30 per week ($1,500 per year).

2 . Competitiveness to attract and retain people attending
It would be very far fetched to think that anyone would pick their shul affiliation based on cholent only. However availability of premium cholent can have an important place in helping one to make a decision on which organization to attend on Shabbos. This becomes especially important in the competitive shul environment, which Touhy ave. has become.

3. The Benefit To Community
It is nice to eat nice hot and yummy cholent on Sabbath. It is not presence of meat or herring that is really important, it is the fact that the food is tasty. Meat and fish have gained popularity amongst humans as a sure and easy route to making your food taste good. However, theoretically it might be possible to achieve premium taste without the use of these (expensive) ingridients.

So here are the options:

1. Do nothing and continue making meat cholent
2. Lower meat content to save cost
   
3. Replace meat with parve + herring
4. Attempt to make a superrior parve cholent, offer meat or herring as an option to sponsors for an additional fee.

I have had a pleasure of eating a premium parve cholent @ Gertzberg's house. This has happened twice on separate Shabothes. I propose try switching to Premium Parve!

I think this reasonably, addresses all of the aforementioned concerns. However if you find faults in my reasoning or assumpations, or have other simple and inexpensive solutions that also do not require much additional effort, please post here and we will discuss it before board comes to session, so we can come to the board with a reasonable proposal as involved and concerned shul members.