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Before
I begin my prepared remarks, I would like to introduce
my family. Aaron and Kelly are our son and daughter-in-law.
They are farmers living in Noti, Oregon where they raise
chickens and vegetables, often providing food for the
local food banks and other non-profit organizations. Shira
is our daughter and Robin Leonard is her partner. Robin,
a former president of Congregation Sha’ar Zahav of
San Francisco, is a second-year rabbinic student. Shira,
during her NFTY and college years, was a song-leader at
our UAHC Camps Coleman and Harlam, and for two years,
our national song-leader at Camp Kutz. She is a second
year cantorial student.
My
biggest supporter is Debbie, my wife of thirty-three years
and the love of my life. Debbie has been a member of the
College-Institute’s Board of Governors since 1997
and the New York School Board of Overseers since 1993.
She represents the College-Institute on both the Commission
on Synagogue Music and the Joint Cantorial Placement Commission.
I am proud of her, and it is always a pleasure to be the
spouse at her meetings.
Challenges
are not new to the Jewish people. We only have to turn
to this week’s Torah portion, Vayeshev. It
begins with the story of Joseph and his brothers; segues
to the story of Judah and Tamar; and ends with the story
of Joseph in Egypt and in prison.
The
sidrah presents three distinct challenges facing
the sons of Israel. The first challenge is dealing with
a sibling rivalry that often borders on hatred. How else
can we explain the intensity of the feelings of some of
his brothers for Joseph, in particular those who wished
to see him dead? The second challenge is determining how
overprotective and overly concerned we should be with
our immediate family to the exclusion of the outside world.
How protective should Judah have been toward his youngest
son, and how should he have treated his daughter-in-law
Tamar after the death of his first two sons? The third
challenge is learning humility. How would Joseph learn
humility after taunting his brothers?
In
our own time, the history of the Reform Movement has faced
major challenges. The first major challenge that faced
our Movement was the establishment of a seminary to train
rabbis who would serve the congregations of this continent.
It took Rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise nearly thirty years to
meet this challenge, from his first effort in 1855 until
the first class of four rabbis of the Hebrew Union College
was ordained in 1883.
How
to respond to Zionism was our second major challenge.
Debate within our Movement began in earnest after World
War I and ended nearly thirty years later with the establishment
of the State of Israel in 1948.
The
period between 1948 and the mid-1970s was a time of rapid
growth. The Movement faced a series of challenges, not
the least of which was the Reform response to the great
social issues of our time, culminating in the creation
of the Religious Action Center. However, the third major
challenge to our Movement began to thrust itself into
our consciousness in the mid-to-late-1970s, namely the
question of "Who is a Jew?"
Rabbi
Alexander Schindler, the former president of the UAHC,
challenged the Movement with a series of initiatives that
directly and boldly confronted the growing debate about
interfaith marriages. His pronouncements regarding patrilineal
descent and the establishment of the Joint Commission
on Reform Jewish Outreach defined and dominated the debate
about the issue of interfaith marriage and the question
of "Who is a Jew" for nearly two decades, until
his untimely death last year.
During
the last ten years, we have gradually shifted the emphasis
of the question. Initially, we were concerned with whether
our children would marry someone who is not Jewish. We
began to consider how we could encourage interfaith families
to affiliate with the synagogue and raise their children
as Jews. Our focus shifted to what we could do, as a Reform
Jewish religious community, to make our congregations
communities that welcomed the Jew as well as his or her
interfaith family. Today we recognize that all of us must
answer the question of "Who is a Jew" by making
a personal choice, by choosing to be Jewish. The personal
choice each of us makes is shaped by at least three spheres
of influence: The synagogue as a religious community when
it seeks to provide its members and its community with
Torah, avodah, and gemilut chasadim; The relationship
we have with the greater Jewish world beyond North America;
and The relationship we experience with Jewish Professionals,
be they rabbi, cantor, Jewish educator, or administrator.
The
first sphere of influence is the synagogue. Why do so
many members of synagogues eventually drop out, and why
are so few of our members involved in the life of the
synagogue when most of us who are deeply involved believe
that what excites us about temple life surely must excite
others? Maybe it is because our focus is usually on the
number of Jews in the pews and not on what we really offer,
which is a religious community involvement. The reality
is that our community is not defined solely by the number
of times our members attend services. It is the number
of community contacts by each member in Torah, avodah,
and gemilut chasadim moments that define whether
our members have chosen to reaffirm their commitment as
a Jew to Judaism.
We
know that when thirty percent of membership units are
involved in committee work or in the activities of the
Sisterhood or Brotherhood, the result is an active, vibrant,
and exciting congregation steeped in Torah, avodah,
and gemilut chasadim. We know that such congregations
are financially strong and embrace new initiatives, be
they worship transformation or life-long Jewish family
education opportunities. These congregations engage in
long-range planning, constantly reevaluating and reinventing
themselves to better serve their religious community.
Whether they are small, medium or large; relatively new,
post-World War II, or a century or more old; these special
congregations create Jews. They serve as models for us
all, but they are too few and far between. The challenge
for the rest of us is to learn from them, creating religious
communities that are imbued with Torah, avodah,
and gemilut chasadim and that are as active and
vibrant as theirs.
But
looking inward is not enough. The second sphere of influence
is our relationship with the greater Jewish world outside
North America. Most of us are xenophobes and isolationists.
We complain about how the Orthodox fail to respect us,
yet we do little about that in any substantive way. We
need to change, to become more cognizant of the greater
Jewish world and the impact we can make.
We
make an impact outside our small North American Jewish
world when we strengthen the greater Progressive Jewish
world, particularly in Israel. I know that many of you
have made one or more trips to Israel, and many of you
plan to make more in the future. However, there are two
things you can do that can have a profound effect on breaking
down the walls that xenophobia has created while adding
substantial strength and vitality to Progressive Judaism
in Israel and in the rest of the world.
First,
four years ago, ARZA won an unprecedented number of votes
in the WZO election. As a direct result of that election,
funding for Progressive programs in Israel more than doubled,
virtually overnight. This winter, the WZO is holding another
election. If you have not already registered, please do
so before leaving this Biennial. Also, please make one
last concerted effort to have the members of your congregation
register and vote.
Second,
we need to provide financial support for our fledgling
congregations and educational programs in Israel. We are
the wealthiest Reform Jewish community in the world, yet
we contribute significantly more money to Orthodox programs
in Israel than to all of our Progressive programs. Think
of the tens of thousands of dollars, sometimes hundreds
of thousands of dollars, that our members contribute to
organizations from Hassadah to Chabad, while not giving
anything to support non-Orthodox schools and synagogues
in Israel!
It
doesn’t take much to make a difference. If the nickels,
dimes, and quarters contributed by our religious school
children to the various Karen Ami and tzedakah
projects were redirected to support an adopted school
or synagogue of our Movement in Israel, we would change
the face of our Israeli Movement and create an eternal
bond between our children and Israel. If every member
of every congregation supported the efforts of an ARZA/World
Union fund raising campaign by contributing only thirty-six
dollars annually, that’s ten cents a day, we would
increase the funds supporting our own schools and congregations
by over ten million dollars annually. Thirty-six dollars
would not have any adverse effect on what members give
to support their synagogues but would have an immediate
and transforming effect on our Israeli institutions. By
making the commitment to support our Israeli institutions
in this manner, we give our members another opportunity
to reaffirm their connection with our worldwide Progressive
religious community and to reaffirm their choice of choosing
to be Jewish.
The
third sphere of influence is the relationship among our
lay leaders, their members, and our Jewish Professionals:
our rabbis, cantors, Jewish educators, and administrators.
For the purpose of this presentation, I shall refer only
to rabbis.
The
shortage of rabbis is at a crisis point and not likely
to improve in the near term. There is equal blame to be
borne by the lay leaders of our congregations, the rabbis
and the Central Conference of American Rabbis, the Hebrew
Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, and the UAHC.
How
many times have we heard the question, "What kind
of a profession is that for a nice Jewish boy or girl?"
How many congregational presidents and Boards treat their
rabbi as if he or she was an employee, one of the hired
help who just takes care of the bimah? The answer
to all these questions is too many!
If
the rabbi wanted to change part of the worship service
and do something that the congregation had never experienced
before, what would be the reaction of the lay leadership?
If during the year the rabbi participated in a mission
to Israel or to the former Soviet Union, would the Board
count those days as part of the rabbi’s vacation
time? Is the rabbi included or excluded when it comes
to attending Executive Committee meetings, even though
policy discussions are a frequent topic at those meetings
and the rabbi often plays the central role in policy development
and implementation?
The
crisis of failed partnership, exhibited most strongly
by the lack of respect given the rabbi, serves as a model
for our children and grandchildren. They are neither deaf,
blind, nor unaware, so they cannot help but notice. Who
wants to be a rabbi knowing that he or she will not be
accorded the respect or granted the partnership that makes
the profession so fulfilling?
Rabbis
are not blameless. Partnership works only when both parties
desire to create a partnership, when there is mutual respect.
In this era of increased family and adult learning, we
have many lay leaders who can lead prayer, can chant Torah,
and are exemplary examples of knowledgeable Jewish leaders.
It is the rabbis who insist that they are the only experts
on all things Jewish in the congregation who destroy whatever
partnership the lay leadership is desirous of creating.
The
UAHC and the CCAR have developed a working partnership
during the last six years. There is mutual respect and
genuine affection, even during those times when we respectfully
disagree. However, both the CCAR and the UAHC have not
done enough to transmit the tenor of our relationship
to the rabbis and lay leadership of our congregations.
We need to find ways to assist rabbis and lay leaders
foster true partnership.
The
College-Institute often shoulders the largest blame when
we speak of the rabbinic shortage. Yes, it can be faulted
when it has not done enough regarding recruiting. However,
if the well is poisoned when children are still in religious
school, how can we expect the College-Institute to successfully
recruit them once they have graduated from college or
are seeking a second career? And if that were not enough,
the College-Institute has a finite amount of funds it
can provide in the way of scholarships, while other seminaries
are providing tuition-free education.
The
numbers speak for themselves. We need to ordain fifty
rabbis each year just to replace those who leave our pulpits.
Within ten years we will have to ordain sixty rabbis.
Neither number addresses today’s shortage. The class
of 2006, now in Israel, has forty-nine rabbinic students
which is, at best, barely adequate.
Congregations
can help in the recruitment of more rabbinic students
by encouraging promising candidates to consider the rabbinate
as their chosen profession. Congregations can provide
financial help by establishing scholarship funds for those
in their congregation who are accepted by the College-Institute,
similar to the scholarship funds they provide for children
who wish to attend one of our UAHC camps. Created and
controlled by congregations as part of their endowment
funds, these funds would help defray the living expenses
that are not covered by the scholarships offered by the
College-Institute.
The
challenges of our Torah portion were those of sibling
rivalry,relationships with those outside the immediate
family, and humility. Our modern challenge is enhancing
the three spheres of influence, the synagogue as a religious
community, the relationship we have with the greater Jewish
world, and the relationship we experience with Jewish
professionals. Congregations, affiliates, and Movement
partners, together we can create religious communities
that successfully respond to the third great challenge
of our Movement. Working together, we can enable the holy
work of our congregations to cause us, our members, and
all those seeking a vibrant religious community imbued
with Torah, avodah, and gemilut chasadim
to consciously choose to be Jewish.
Kein
Y’hi Ratzon.
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