Volunteering at Kol HaLev

The statement of volunteering principles at Kol HaLev which we display below was approved by our Board of Trustees at their meeting in January 2005. Its preamble makes explicit what has been implicit since our founding: “Kol HaLev is a participatory community.” It also spells out volunteer rights and responsibilities as a way of creating a climate where volunteers are treated with respect, courtesy and dignity by all.

We should all read it and keep it in mind as we volunteer and work with other volunteers in our community.

Volunteering at Kol HaLev: Making Our Community Work

Kol HaLev is a participatory community. We value the range and depth of expertise that our members bring. Each year, our members volunteer their time, energy and talents to meet the many needs of our community and help it thrive and grow. This volunteer work takes many forms—serving on committees, organizing services and programs, leading us in worship, handling administrative details, opening homes for events and contributing to the onegs and potlucks that bring us together in celebration.

As a spiritual community that seeks to balance the needs of the community and the needs of the individual, we believe that there are certain rights and responsibilities for all who give. These rights and responsibilities include but are not limited to the following:

Volunteer Rights:

I have the right to ...

be treated with respect, courtesy and dignity
clear and appropriate direction
meaningful participation and an appropriate workload
communicate with leaders of my committee and leaders of the community using appropriate channels of communication
support from committee chairs and leaders of the community
have my work recognized publicly

Volunteer Responsibilities:

I have the responsibility to ...

treat others with respect, courtesy and dignity
only accept a position I feel I have the time to accept, is within my skills, meets my needs, and meets the needs of the community
be on time for meetings to the best of my ability
complete my tasks on time to the best of my ability
ask for help when I need it
use my creativity, enthusiasm and talent to enhance the loving and familial feel of Kol HaLev

“It is only a true and close community that develops associations, traditions and memories that go to make up its soul. To mingle one’s personality with that soul becomes a natural longing. In such a community one experiences that mystic divine grace which illumines our lives when joyous and heals them when wounded or stricken. Then all questions about saying this or that become trivial, for the real purpose is attained in having each one feel with the Psalmist: ‘One thing I ask of God that will I seek after, that I may dwell in the house of God all the days of my life, to behold the graciousness of God.’"

Mordecai Kaplan