Tips from a Former Synagogue President on HIHO Seating

A major reason this blog went on hiatus for awhile was my service for almost 3 years as President of my synagogue.  While I am no longer President, I still get to participate in the United Synagogue President's list serve as long as I am the immediate past president.  Recently, a sitting president in another city posed a question about practices of who gets to sit in the sanctuary during the High Holidays (hereafter, HIHOs) and who sits in the added seats in the opened up extra room in the back.  Many congregations use seating in the sanctuary up front as a perk for fundraising, for new members or big donors.  Others have open seating.  There are a variety of practices and I offered my two cents.  Apparently some folks found my response not only informative but somewhat entertaining so here it is for anyone else who may benefit.

One of my frustrations with the HIHO season is that many people seem to be more concerned with the location for parking their butts than with the content of what is in their hearts or what is coming out of their mouths.

Due to long-term decline of membership we now have everyone sitting in the sanctuary.  When we used to open the walls and have additional seating, we used to charge extra for sitting in the sanctuary.  We ran into a situation where many people would not pay to sit in the sanctuary because they did not want to pay or because they believed on principle that one should not pay for a particular seat.  In any case, we had lots of seats filled up in the back and half the sanctuary empty.  It was absurd because we were paying to rent chairs when we had built in seats in which no one was sitting.

The Rabbi would become upset at having so many people so far away and even after being invited to move up, people would not move which would make the Rabbi more upset.  This is one of the reasons that I pushed to abolish extra fees for sitting in the sanctuary and to make the seating open.  We now have it such that all sanctuary seats are open except those who in the past paid for rights for HIHO seats for life as long as they were members - those are reserved.  By the way, in the first year that we did this, if I recall correctly, HIHO appeal revenue actually went up by more than the amount that we stopped collecting for "seat licensing."

For those congregations that would like to try continue to get revenue from leasing particular seats but avoid upsetting the rabbi that the sanctuary is half empty, I recommend that there be no extra charge for sitting in the sanctuary but that there be an extra charge for the privilege of sitting in the back.

If you would really like to simplify the whole seating system, try following the seating arrangements that existed in the Temples in Jerusalem.  The Talmud records that in the Temple Court, there was only one chair.  That chair was reserved for the king while everyone else was standing (except when they were bowing and prostrating).  To transfer this arrangement into the modern setting, HIHO services would be held in a room with just one chair and that would be reserved for the congregation President.