"In Through the Out Door": Lessons from Led Zeppelin for Carpool Pickup and the Entire Temple

Even before I joined MRT, I had heard complaints about the religious school pick up procedures: too dangerous, too slow, too cold, too hot, too controlling, not controlled enough. The parents, the teachers, the principal, the clergy, and the board of trustees all knew of the problems. And yet, no solution seemed acceptable or actionable.

This school year, I suggested an “out of the box” solution: go in through the out door. I have heard lots of feedback and I have been thinking about Led Zeppelin ever since.

Led Zeppelin’s final studio album, In Through the Out Door (1979), points to many of the principles required for us to transform our synagogue so that it can best respond to operational challenges (like the parking lot) and philosophical or strategic ones (like what it means to be a temple member nowadays and in the future).

The album’s title was drawn from the band’s concerns about their own need to overcome internal challenges like damaged relationships while also responding to external pressures like the rise of punk music. Bonham, Page, Jones, and Plant recognized that they must take these pressures seriously if they wanted to continue their stellar international success. They had to be willing to reconsider everything, including their basic assumptions about what’s in and what’s out. We are in a similar position, and like them, must consider whether going in through the out door makes better sense – literally in the parking lot case, or metaphorically speaking in any other realm of the temple.

The album was released with six different covers: a photograph of the same scene taken from six different angles. Each album jacket was covered with a plain brown paper sleeve and sealed in plastic. While the album itself was the same, you never knew which of the six covers you would get until you bought it. Synagogue performance involves a similar degree of chance: we never know exactly how any innovation will turn out until we commit to it for a while. But because the core mission and values inside the temple do not change regardless of new systems or procedures, we should not be overly afraid of innovation.



The Zeppelin story also demonstrates that we are never too old to adapt. Led Zeppelin had been one the highest profile bands to prohibit internet distribution and downloading of their music. But, almost thirty years since they last worked in the studio together, the band recently reached a deal with Apple to offer a special “digital box set” of their entire discography - including In Through the Out Door - on iTunes.

Meanwhile back at the ranch, we continue to examine our temple parking lot so that we have a system that works most efficiently for our students, families, and staff. The details are not as quick or easy to work out as I had hoped. Nevertheless, I believe more than ever that in order to become the best resource for Jewish learning and living in Monmouth County, we must be open to considering everything – even the possibility of coming in through the out door.