Newtown, One Year Later

One year ago tomorrow I walked into the Oriole Lane Elementary School to speak with first graders about Hanukkah (one of the students is the daughter of a cycling friend of mine, and his daughter's teachers were looking for a Rabbi to speak about the meaning of the holiday). I had just heard about the Sandy Hook shootings while I was in my car driving to the school.

As I walked into the school office to sign in as a visitor I found a shaken principal and staff who were reeling from the news they had also just heard. My friend's wife escorted me from the office to the classroom where her daughter and other first graders (the same age as the 20 students who were gun downed, along with 6 adults, in Newtown just a few minutes earlier) were waiting with great anticipation to see the hanukkah menorah I held in my hand kindled and play with the dreidels I had brought (as well as eat the gelt (chocolate coins I had in great supply).

I took a deep internal breath before I tried to explain to those children, who had no idea what had happened in a school a lot like theirs to children a lot like them, the meaning of Zechariah's prophecy: "Not by might, nor by power, but by My spirit, says the Lord 4:5). It was one of most challening and surreal moments I have experienced as a Rabbi; one I hope I never experience again.

It is not enough to claim as some do that we do not need more laws on the books, we just need existing laws to be enforced. It is not enough to claim that a right is unlimited. It is not enough to remain uninvolved because it "happened to them and not to me or to mine." It is not enough to merely observe a minute of silence. It is not enough when innocent lives are at risk and are taken by weapons that belong on the battlefield, not on the streets and in the homes of America.

The Hartman Institute: "My Field of Dreams"

The Shalom Hartman Institute's Beit Midrash

Ever since my RLI graduation ceremony I've been thinking a lot about the future - specifically the Jewish future - and the role I hope to play in shaping it, at least in my little corner of the Jewish world called Milwaukee.

Being recruited for the Hartman Religious Leadership Initiative fellowship program four years ago was one of those special moments in my rabbinate (eclipsed only when my teacher, Rabbi Donniel Hartman handed me my diploma). I can remember walking by the Hartman Institute in the late 90's one Shabbat afternoon while on an Israel Bonds Rabbinic and dreaming about studying at the Machon (the "Institute"). I had read every book that Rabbi David Hartman, z"l, had written and the thought of studying with him in his Beit Midrash was always a dream. Dreams really do come true. A decade later I found myself studying with Rabbi Hartman, one of the great Jewish thinkers of the 20th Century, with his son Rabbi Donnie Hartman, President of the Shalom Hartman Institute, and with the Machon's other remarkable scholars. 

The RLI fellowship was without a doubt the most intense and transformative academic experience I have had. Like any top-tier postgraduate or post-doctoral program RLI pushed me and my colleagues to explore and think about Jewish ideas in a deeper and more expansive way, and to aspire to an even  higher sense of purpose. Not long ago I was pessimistic and intimidated by what lay ahead for me as Jewish religious leader. Hit hard by an economic crisis, divided by our views related to Israel and Zionism, confronted by a new generation of American Jews who think about their connections with and ties to the Jewish community in radically different ways, I feared we were in a downward spiral and about to crash. As a Senior Rabbinic Fellow of the Hartman Institute I now feel better equipped to respond to the many systemic and existential challenges we face as our community rapidly changes and evolves. My RLI experience has fundamentally changed both my perspective and approach. I now see these developments not as threats to our Jewish survival, but as opportunities for our Jewish future, one that can be shaped by our notion of Jewish peoplehood, a reorientation from a crisis narrative to a values narrative, and a rededication to the pursuit of a respectful and pluralistic Jewish communal discourse.

While I may have graduated from my RLI program I intend to continue to study and remain connected with the Hartman Institute. Participating in RLI reminded me of how quickly a Rabbis' intellectual, emotional and spiritual tank can become empty if it isn't replenished by serious and substantive study of Torah. So I will continue to make my summer (albeit shorter) pilgrimages to Jerusalem so that I participate in the Machon's Rabbi Torah Seminar ("an annual 10-day study program that enriches rabbis of all denominations and nurtures their capacity to inspire their communities, excite them by the Jewish tradition, and motivate them in their quest for meaning."). And as a member of the Hartman Institute's Rabbinic Advisory Board I will have the opportunity to work with 18 other rabbinic colleagues to advise the Machon in developing innovative and creative educational programs for the Rabbis who study at the Institute. The Shalom Hartman Institute is "my field of dreams."

Can Israel's Chief Rabbinate Be Saved?

Last week my RLI cohort met with Rabbi Yuval Cherlow, one of the founders of the rabbinic organization Tzohar, at the Hartman Institute. Rabbi Cherlow established Tzohar, a group made up of moderate dati leumi (national religious) rabbis in the wake of the assassination of late Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. Rabbi Cherlow believed that he needed to do something meaningful and bold to counter the extremism that had taken hold within Israel's national religious movement (once represented by the NRP (National Religious Party)), an extremism that he believes has become both anti-intellectual and anti-modern (over dinner, Rabbi Cherlow told me that  his daughter is pursuing her doctorate in electrical engineering at Cornell University).

(Rabbi Dr. Donniel Hartman (left) Introduces Rabbi Yuval Cherlow to our RLI Cohort)

Recently, Rabbi Cherlow has found himself embroiled in a disagreement with his own organization after he publicly said that the Conservative and Reform movements in America deserve recognition and are an important bulwark against assimilation in the diaspora (he told us he doesn't believe that our movements should be officially recognized in Israel where he believes assimilation isn't a issue. You can read more about the debate within Tzohar here:http://www.haaretz.com/jewish-world/jewish-world-news/tzohar-rabbis-oppose-recognition-of-non-orthodox-jewish-movements.premium-1.484456). 

While I (and many of my RLI colleagues) disagree with Rabbi Cherlow vis-a-vis his position on the validity of Masorti and Reform Judaism within Israel, I deeply respect him for his openness and willingness to engage in dialogue, and for his profound belief in the need for us to work together for the sake of the future of the Jewish people and for Israel. 

Tzohar is currently running a candidate for the office of Chief Rabbi. Yes, Israel has elections for both its political and religious leaders and you can read about Tzohar ground-breaking bid here, http://www.timesofisrael.com/can-a-liberal-face-foment-a-revolution-in-the-rabbinate/.  I have many mixed feelings about the need for and existence of a Chief Rabbinate. I have even argued in the past that perhaps the best, first step to building religious pluralism in the State of Israel would be the dismantling of the Chief Rabbinate. But I have to admit that I would view the election of a Tzohar Rabbi to the post of Chief Rabbi as a vast improvement to the current status-quo.

Entering the Home Stretch

In just two, short days I will have competed my last winter session as a member of the Shalom Hartman Institute's RLI (Religious Leadership Institute) fellowship program. It's hard to believe that after nearly three years, five flights and countless hours of distance learning logged on Monday mornings my formal studies at Hartman are nearly at an end. I have also had some of the most remarkable experiences; meetings and encounters with some of Israel's top leaders in industry, the arts, government and religious life. I have visited places not seen by most Israelis: Rawabi, the first planned Palestinian city in the Palestinian Authority, and Hevron, home to the burial place of our avot (patriarchs) and imahot (matriarchs) and one of the most hotly contested of cities between Israelis and Palestinians.

But the greatest gift I've gotten from my experience as an RLI fellow is actually two-fold. There is nothing comparable to the level of limud Torah (Torah study) like that which you'll find at the Hartman Institute, especially when it's crafted and delivered for what the Machon (that's shorthand for the SHI) considers its crown jewel: our RLI program. I have studied with some of Israel's - and for that matter - the world's most acclaimed and cutting edge scholars of Judaic Studies: Moshe Halbertal, Moshe Idel, Menachem Lorberbaum, Melila Hellner Eshed, Alick Isaacs, Yehuda Kurtzer, Israel Knohl, Micah Goodman, Tal Becker, Shlomo Naeh, Gil Troy, Yossi Halevi, Rani Jaeger, Biti Roi, Rachel Korazim and of course, David and Donniel Hartman. And I have had the wonderful fortune of studying my Hartman Torah with colleagues who have now become my some of my best friends, most especially my Hartman havruta partner, Rabbi David Cohen.

Without a doubt I have feel like I have grown and developed as a Rabbi, a leader, and a teacher. As a result of my time at the Machon I relate to, think about and teach Jewish sources, ideas and concepts in a completely different way than I did before entering my program. With all of the new challenges facing the Jewish community and the synagogue world I feel well positioned to lead CBINT in the years ahead.

None of this would have been possible had it not been for an extraordinarily supportive lay leadership and congregation, a supportive and very patient family, and the tremendous generosity of Jerry and Louise Stein. I also awe a debt of gratitude to my beloved teachers, Rabbi David and Donniel Hartman,    Hartman North America's President, Dr. Yehuda Kurtzer, and the Machon's phenomenal administrative staff.