Jesus H. Christ, synagogue dues are expensive!

[Cunctator]

@Nava

In Spain, donations to non-for-profit-organizations are now tax deductible, but most people still think that it’s ratty to get a tab for it. After all, taxes support things like free medical care for all, scholarships, roads, etc - people who donate out of generosity consider the “extra” tax as another donation. People who donate a huge amount so they can go to a lower tax bracket or some such, well, they’re not doing it out of the goodness of their hearts, are they? There’s a place in your tax forms where you can choose whether 0.14% of your taxes goes to the Catholic Church or to Others (over 90% of the country is Catholic). This amount is definitely not enough for the upkeep of any church, mind you.

The tax deduction available in Australia generally relates to the amount of one’s donations that have gone to support the parish school. I have no philosophical problems at all in claiming this deduction.

I can see the point with helping your church, same as you’d help any other association you belong to. But the concept of religious dues is alien to me.

As I said earlier, the system of making offerings to your parish is not a system of dues. Parishioners are not required to make them. They are simply encouraged to do so. Most do, some don’t. Of those that do some are more generous than others. It’s entirely a matter of personal choice.

[WeRSauron]

Do Chabad Lubavitch synagogues charge membership fees?

In my experience, at least at Chabad Lubavitch High Holyday services, dues or reservations are never required.

WRS

[Lillith_Fair]

Damn! You have to pay dues at a synagogue??? I had never heard that before!

I’m the accountant at a church and I would really really like to charge dues! I could pay the bills and get a good night’s sleep! We wouldn’t have to have the yearly begging for pledges thing.

[doreen]

@Cunctator

As I said earlier, the system of making offerings to your parish is not a system of dues. Parishioners are not required to make them. They are simply encouraged to do so. Most do, some don’t. Of those that do some are more generous than others. It’s entirely a matter of personal choice.

Nobody is required to make offerings in a Catholic parish in order to attend Mass, but my understanding is that a person who didn’t pay dues can still attend services in a synagogue as well. It seems that dues are only required for specific privileges and services , possibly including voting privileges*. Catholic churches (at least here) work much the same way. The parish school my children attended had two tuition rates- one for active parish members and one for non parish-members. Additionally, parish members received a substantial discount for multiple children. What made someone an “active parish member”? Contributing at least $7.50 each Sunday and holy day of obligation through an envelope. No one checked to see if I contributed before I got married or before my children were baptized, received their first communion or were confirmed- but I had to pay fees for all of those events.

• I recall reading more than once about synagogue presidents and boards making all sorts of decisions from which rabbi to hire to raising money for a new building.It seems if you have a president and a board, there would have to be elections, and you wouldn’t want non-members to vote.

[NinjaChick]

@amarinth

Are services an all day affair, so ticketing is a necessity?

At the reform syangogue I went to growing up, the High Holy Day services were short compared to most local conservative synagogues, and ours ran about 3-4 hours, plus, there’s more than one per day. Get up, go to synagogue, go home for lunch (well, not on Yom Kippur, in which you fast), go back to synagogue, stay at least until sunset.