Do cash rewards inspire religious youth program attendance, enthusiasm?

Students (from left) Lauren Holzer, Leran Naaba, Sarah Hodakov, Shoval Naaba, Benjamin Sultan and Jeremy Sultan show off the $5 bills they got from Rabbi Levi Hodakov in exchange for their “Mitzvah Dollars.” It’s not quite a “Pray for Pay” program that Rabbi Levi Hodakov is conducting. Just an extra little incentive, he said, for youngsters attending his youth minyan.

The youth program director for Young Israel-Chabad of Pinellas County in Palm Harbor conducts the 10 a.m. hour-long class every other Shabbat morning while the adults are in shul. It’s a special program designed for girls, ages 7-12, and boys, 7- 13. Besides the usual games, stories, and snacks, the rabbi rewards the youngsters with “Mitzvah Dollars,” printed paper in denominations of $1, $5, and $10.

The first $5 is awarded at the start of the class, which consists of davening, (an abridged version), and learning about the Torah portion of the week, or about history, and the holidays as they draw near.

“Paying someone just to come and not do anything, that’s something else,” Rabbi Hodakov said. “When (the children) are participating in the program, davening nicely and behaving, then they are rewarded with extra Mitzvah Dollars.”

It’s like the difference between paying a student to go to school vs. rewarding him or her for having achieved superior grades.

“When their parents are leaving for shul and Shabbat,” he said, “(their children) should be excited because they’re going to have a top-notch program and, on top of that, they’re going to be rewarded.”

When a youngster accumulates 25 Mitzvah Dollars, they can be redeemed for an actual $5 bill. “Over the course of coming three or four times, a child can earn enough for real cash,” he said. “For a kid that age, $5 is significant.”

Dana Naaba of St. Petersburg, mother of Shoval, 7, and Leran, 11, has no objection to rewarding her daughters for participating.

“I’m not against anything that works. If (getting Mitzvah Dollars) makes them happy, it works,” she said. “If my kids didn’t remember anything or learn anything and didn’t enjoy it, I don’t think any reward would work’’

Like Yair and Dana Naaba’s daughters, the sons of Dan and Laurence Sultan of Oldsmar would be attending services whether or not there was a reward system. But does it affect the enthusiasm of Benjamin, 12, and Jeremy, 10?

“Not really,” Benjamin said. “We go to synagogue every week, anyway.”

The brothers split the first $5 bill. “I don’t spend very much money,” Benjamin said of his $2.50 share. “For now I’m just keeping it.”

Rabbi Hodakov learned about the idea of Mitzvah Dollars from a colleague on the East Coast, but the redemption process was his own. He said he has had other programs, “but this one seems to work the best because they can go and get whatever they want with the $5.”

He said he isn’t sure whether the rewards program, in existence for only a few months, has helped attract more children or increased their participation. “Still it seems to be working very well, thank God,” he said.

Similar ideas have been attracting college students to shul for some time. In 2008, according to a JTA news service story, Rabbi Shlomo Levin of the small, modern Orthodox Lake Park Synagogue wanted to attract students from the nearby University of Wisconsin Milwaukee.

“My theory was very, very practical,” the rabbi said. “Instead of spending all that money on elaborate publicity, just give the money to the people who come to the program. They’ll be happier.”

It worked - but board members said they were uncomfortable paying students even a modest amount, and when the local secular newspaper wrote about it, the program was dropped.

Still, about 70 college campuses across the country have adopted the idea of paying students to attend Jewish studies classes. In some cases cash stipends of a few hundred dollars prompt financially strapped students to sign up for complete Jewish studies programs.

Supporters liken it to scholarships; others say it is the same as offering free meals or refreshments. On the college level, opponents feel it sends the wrong message, cheapening Judaism.

Rabbi Hodakov hopes the message for his students is this: “We encourage (the children) or cajole them by giving little treats or rewards so that when they get older they’ll do it for the actual sake of the mitzvah.”

What does he expect a kid to do with a $5 bill? “I have no clue,” he said. “I imagine they’re buying something small from the dollar store, or buying candy with it.”

The Naaba girls have given 50 cents apiece to tzedakah, leaving each with $4.50. To buy candy or something

small? Not a chance. They’re saving

FOR THE JEWISH for bigger things.

PRESS.

“Vera Bradley,” Leran said.

“A bicycle,” Shoval said. “Or an iPod Touch.”