Rabbi Gary KatzWhat Rabbis say about how to make themselves more relevant.
Posted on March 25, 2015
Rabbi Elianna Yolkut in Ha’aretz discusses how rabbis can make themselves more relevant.
Rabbis in recent times have attained a level of celebrity usually reserved for movie stars. Rabbi listicles seem to be ubiquitous in the Jewish media these days – from the world’s sexiest rabbis, to America’s most inspiring ones. If the attention is any indication, the rabbinate is an important, even critical, element of 21st century Jewish life.
But the facts on the ground are that rabbis are increasingly finding themselves outside the evolving landscape of religious life. One example was recently chronicled in a New York Times article about the difficulties same-sex interfaith couples face in finding a rabbi who would officiate their wedding. Moreover, my colleagues and I get weekly calls from friends and congregants who may seek help with the “Jewish part” of their weddings, but don’t plan on having a religious officiant at all.
On top of that, recent scandals involving rabbis behaving immorally and criminally have tarnished the respect and admiration people may have had for religious leaders, and put rabbinic leadership in a precarious position.
The intersection of these phenomena indicates a crisis facing the rabbinate. Rabbis just aren’t speaking to or reaching the masses that might be moved by Judaism.
My teacher, Rabbi Irwin Kula, president of CLAL, asked a group of Rabbis Without Borders fellows recently: Do people see us as necessary – conduits, guides, connectors for them in their Jewish life? Do people come to rabbis and ask deep questions they are struggling with? Do they seek us in times of need and celebration? And I am not only talking about the Jews in the pews – I am wondering about taking Judaism out into the larger marketplace of ideas.
Certainly, some rabbis are meeting the needs of their communities. But rabbinic leadership needs a dynamic new model which is effective and resourceful in bringing Judaism into the world in a broader way.
One organization reimagining a new kind of religious leader is Rabbis Without Borders, seeking to radically shift how we think about rabbis and rabbinic work. At a recent retreat, a new vision was offered containing three elements:
1. Rabbis who are engaged in disruptive innovation (a phrase coined by Harvard Business Professor Clayton Christensen about economic markets). In our case, rabbis would be innovators seeking to create new “technology” – a Judaism in and of the 21st century, which is also rooted in our ancient wisdom.
2. Rabbis who practice a deep pluralism, maintaining their own beliefs while accepting other people’s perspectives and views.
3. Rabbis dedicated to service to others, helping those in need, from Jewish communities which have little or no rabbinic leadership, to war-torn countries, and everything in between. Rabbis must be in service to repair a broken world.
After the destruction of the Second Temple, the grand projects of the Rabbinic Period focused on whether Judaism can survive disaster – the loss of its central building block, the Temple. Can we build a community without a Temple? Can we re-create Judaism to respond to the needs of the modern Jewish world, and embrace new ideas without losing the heart of Jewish wisdom?
The same kinds of questions are now being asked once again. Can Jewish leadership envision a Judaism that responds to people’s deepest needs and the globe’s most difficult adversity? Can rabbis speak a Judaism of disruptive innovation rooted in Jewish wisdom – radically changing religion’s role in modern life? Can rabbis preach and practice a radical pluralism? Finally, can Rabbis live in deep service to others in a world, Jewish or not, beset by economic, social and moral challenges?
One thing is certain: Patchwork fixes and lists of great rabbis are simply not enough.
Leave a CommentVe’ahavta Karaoke!
Posted on March 24, 2015
Wanna brush up on your Ve’ahavta? Check out this wonderful
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Would you sue over this? Man sues Trump hotel after being served non-kosher sandwich
Posted on February 15, 2015
Would you sue over this?
I don’t know. It would upset me but to sue seems a bit much.
Forgiveness is also a commandment…
Man sues Trump hotel after being served non-kosher sandwich
By Julia MarshFebruary 13, 2015 | 7:15pm
Modal Trigger
Oy, gevalt!
An orthodox Jewish man is suing the Trump Soho after he allegedly spent $146 to get a special hot kosher meal there — and was served a cold non-kosher turkey sandwich instead.
Upper West Side resident Dan Miller says hotel staffers then broke another commandment — lying to cover up their sin.
“The hotel created an elaborate hoax to deceive Dan Miller,’’ he huffs in his Manhattan Supreme Court suit.
Miller says in the suit that while he was waiting for his specially ordered lunch at a business conference at the hotel, he even reminded staff that his food should be double-wrapper until it was delivered, as per kosher laws.
An employee responded, “Yes, of course, we are very familiar with the kosher rules, we do it all the time,” the suit says.
But Miller was immediately suspicious when his cold turkey sandwich arrived in a single piece of Saran wrap.
“It is simply inconceivable for any orthodox Jew, like Dan Miller, to eat a non-kosher meat sandwich,” he notes in hi suit.
Miller says he asked the server if the food was safe for him to eat because it also didn’t have a seal that is customary when kosher items are served on planes, at hotels and in other public venues.
The server told him not to worry, but Miller — whose father was a rabbi — was still wary, so he asked other employees where the food was from.
“They assured him that it was purchased at the well-known glatt kosher Noah’s Ark Restaurant, located on Grand Street,’’ his suit says.
‘THE HOTEL STAFF PANICKED AND INAPPROPRIATELY RESPONDED BY SERVING HIM A NON-KOSHER MEAL THAT WAS MADE TO APPEAR KOSHER.’
– Lawsuit
The Yeshiva University grad bit into the sandwich, but it didn’t taste like food he’d eaten at another Noah’s Ark in New Jersey, so he decided to photograph the meal, court papers show.
Miller then called Noah’s Ark and was shocked to learn that the deli hadn’t made any deliveries to the luxury hotel that day.
But the hotel chef stuck to the staff’s story and even promised to send Miller a copy of the Noah’s Ark receipt the next day.
In the meantime, Miller e-mailed his photo to deli workers, who confirmed the sandwich was not from their eatery.
Finally, a Trump Soho food and beverage manager admitted that the food was not kosher because the hotel forgot to order the special meal.
“The hotel staff panicked and inappropriately responded by serving him a non-kosher meal that was made to appear kosher,” the suit says.
The life-long orthodox Jew says he’s “furious” by the deception that caused him to commit “a serious violation of Jewish law — consuming non-kosher meat.”
He says he also fears that the bread may have included dairy, which breaks a biblical dictate against mixing dairy and meat.
For meat to be kosher, it has to come from certain animals that are slaughtered and prepared in a specific manner.
Miller blames the hotel for not properly training its staff about kosher laws. He’s suing for unspecified damages.
Reps for Trump Soho did not comment.
Kudos from Wedding Wire!
Posted on January 7, 2015
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