For better or for worse, what one first notices about the fledgling Hebrew College rabbinical program is what it is not: It’s not affiliated with a movement or committed to a single view of how Jewish law is meant to be understood. And it’s not very big or old — the first of its 45 students will graduate in 2008. But, as I kept asking as I approached the program’s shiny new building atop a hill in Newton, Mass., what is it?
According to the program’s rector, Rabbi Arthur Green, a former dean of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College and professor at Brandeis, the school is a synthesis between the Orthodox world’s traditional methods of text study and progressive values like egalitarianism and historical methodologies.
In other words, as Rabbi Or Rose, who directs the program’s Beit Midrash, said, “we’re a blend between the academy and a yeshiva.” Rabbinical schools need to be “spiritual laboratories,” Rose said. The result is an institution that emphasizes time in the beit midrash, social activism in the field, and a wide array of prayer and spiritual practices. It also means that a chevruta (study pair) might include one person who keeps kosher and one who doesn’t — and that the communal prayer service may be a traditional morning davening one week, meditative chanting the next.
In a sense, Hebrew College is truly post-denominational: It distinguishes itself not according to the familiar denominational contours (how strictly you keep kosher, how you pray) but according to new ones that seem, to the outsider, at least, still to be in formation. But, the program’s dean, Rabbi Sharon Cohen Anisfeld, argued that the program is not so much post-denominational as it is trans-denominational. The difference? “We want to include people who identify with any of the denominations…. Denominations can be a vibrant source of Jewish life, and we have students who are planning to affiliate with one of the movements after graduation.”
In fact, Anisfeld said, the school encourages its graduates to affiliate with a movement — not least because doing so makes it easier to get a job. (The Reform and Conservative movements have agreed to let Hebrew College students apply for membership in their rabbinical associations; the Orthodox and Reconstructionist movements have not.) Employment, of course, is probably the biggest risk that students face entering a new, non- (sorry, trans-) denominational program, but Anisfeld says she is not concerned: “I’m a worrier by temperament, and this is not something I’m worried about at all.” Anisfeld said the school has been “inundated” with requests for rabbinic internships and that, ultimately, the program’s graduates will be judged on their merits. “The movements don’t love it, but the congregations vote with their feet. There’s a real hunger out there for great rabbis.”
Most of the students I spoke to said that, for them, the trans-denominational, pluralistic element was critical.
Joseph Berman, a second-year student, said that “because there is no ideology or dogma supported by the institution, I feel like I have the space to be myself, to be radical, outside the liberal consensus.” Berman said that while it can be “challenging” to be in an ideologically diverse community, it “is ultimately more rewarding than a forced or false uniformity.”
Karen Silberman, a “second-year, second-career” student (her first career was as an accountant), said that the lack of fixed halachic ideology means that “you have to take it on and stand as an individual. You reconcile it here for yourself.”
Still, there are some baselines, perhaps most notably in the case of prayer. I was surprised to learn that all “official” Hebrew College services feature full participation by women. At first, Green said, this was a decision based on pragmatism. “We started with 11 students, and we had to do it one way or the other,” he said. Eventually, however, it became a point of principle.
Green acknowledged that this decision effectively excludes Orthodox students. “We would like to be trans-denominational all the way across the spectrum, but it doesn’t seem likely that people who want to be Orthodox rabbis will come to this program, and we recognize that.” Green noted that the program has scheduled “all-day dialogue programs” with Yeshivat Chovevei Torah, the liberal Orthodox seminary located in New York.
The issue of prayer, Anisfeld said, is an old one. “The conventional wisdom in most pluralistic communities is you can learn together but you can’t daven together.” But she said, “Right from the beginning, the school made the decision that we were going to daven together, and that is an experiment.”
First-year student Jeremy Fierstein, the son of a Conservative rabbi and a student for 13 years at a day school with ties to the prestigious Orthodox Lakewood Yeshiva, was one of those most challenged by the insistence on egalitarianism and on experimental approaches to prayer. “It’s tough, because to me, Halacha is so important — and it’s not as important to others,” he said, noting that he has “struggled” with the question of egalitarianism for many years. “I davened in minyanim where women weren’t counted. But I’ve decided to put some issues on hold and deal with them when I get out of here. In the meantime, I’m going to absorb as much as possible.”
Fierstein added that the Hebrew College faculty “are the most amazing teachers I’ve had at any school,” although initially he was surprised by the lack of a single halachic authority. “I came here looking for a rebbe, and there wasn’t one.”
For Rose, Hebrew College’s commitment to text study and spirituality is joined by what he called the “third pillar” of rabbinic training: gemilut chasadim, or righteous deeds. “If we believe rabbis should be agents for social change, we need to provide them with serious training,” Rose said. “How do you do a sermon on Darfur? How do we learn from activists like Gandhi or King? How do you convince people to attend a rally supporting Israel — or on Israel and Palestine, depending on your politics?”
To answer these questions, Hebrew College requires its students to complete a fixed number of volunteer hours, to learn what Rose called “synagogue-based organizing,” and to complete a two-year “leadership and organizing seminar.” Rose said he wants to learn from Christian churches how to wed “prophetic consciousness and organizing savvy.”
Indeed, a surprising number of Hebrew College students are already involved in social activism. First-year student Margie Klein runs a social-action-centered “intentional community” called Kavod House. Berman said he hopes to go into “spiritual organizing” after graduation. And Hebrew College may be the only institution in which debates about talmudic tort law are interspersed with conversations about nongendered bathrooms.
Still, no amount of social activism can fill an institution’s coffers, and Green admitted that one of the perils of independence is sustaining the program financially. Money is tight, and tuition is expensive. Yet, Green argued that “the idea that seminaries need to be funded out of synagogues may be an idea out of a prior generation. This is an age in which large family foundations dominate the Jewish fundraising scene. Many of those foundations are already trans-denominational in their scope, and it is to those foundations and people of like mind that we would like to appeal.”
Anisfeld, Rose and Green all agreed that Hebrew College is not trying to start a new movement. (“We’re just training rabbis,” Anisfeld said.) Yet they disagreed on the value that movements do play. On the one hand, Anisfeld said that “movements still play incredibly important roles,” and Rose called himself “a product of the [Conservative movement’s] Camp Ramah system who knows how much movements have contributed.” On the other hand, Green said that “the separation between our kind of Jews and other kinds of Jews has always made me uncomfortable, whether that comes from Satmar or from the Reform movement. Separation is a high price to pay for what denominational identity has to offer.”
Even if Hebrew College only succeeds in decoupling American rabbinic ordination from a particular halachic orientation, however, it would be a significant change from the status quo. Is it possible that one’s approaches to sacred text, spirituality and social action will really matter more in the 21st century than one’s view of halachic tradition and change? Is it possible for a school to be truly pluralistic on fundamental questions? And is it possible that other funding methods will replace the system of synagogue dues funding national, centralized organizations?
Only time will tell. In the meantime, the experiment is still a new one, and the school is still quite small; one of only two students in the school’s preparatory-year program just dropped out, and the school is experiencing its share of financial and organizational growing pains. Yet optimism runs high. Said the first-year Fierstein: “We are a dynamic institution, and we are going to make our mark. The world can’t not take notice.”
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Interesting article but I am left with one question. I understand why The Orthodox would not be all that interested in recognizing ordination from this type of trans-denominational institution, but why wouldn’t the Reconstructionist’s be into it? Just Curious TikkunGer
Interesting article but I am left with one question. I understand why The Orthodox would not be all that interested in recognizing ordination from this type of trans-denominational institution, but why wouldn’t the Reconstructionist’s be into it? Just Curious TikkunGer
Jewish People who have One God and One Torah have to have One Judaism Introduction For the last half-century, following a “secularization” trend in the USA and Israel, the Jewish People have been getting more and more disunited and split into many spiritual streams where the Torah-based ideas are being substituted by other ideas. The split among Jewish People is not something new – it was from the very beginning. However, from the very beginning the split was in most cases a positive trend, creating new avenues for Jewish People in implementing God’s Design the concept of which is presented in the Torah. Spiritually diversified, but Torah-united Jewish groups were talking to each other, exchanging their spiritual experience and enriching each other. The true evidence of this is Talmud itself which was composed by a small group of outstanding Rabbis – but on the spiritual input of hundreds of “left-to-right” Rabbis of that time. These days Rabbis of the “Left” and Rabbis of the “Right” are not talking to each other anymore – instead, they are making a point that there is only one way of serving God, and that is the way of their group. It looks like there is no more “The Jewish People” chosen by God to implement His Design. Instead of One Chosen People there are many more-or-less chosen groups fighting each others. This discussion paper is an attempt to remind us of the God-commanded Jewish Unity. Without the Unity the Jewish People would not be able to continue their God’s Work for implementing God’s Design. God made us the Chosen People not for the sake of worshiping Him (He knows His Power and doesn’t need our encouragement), but for the sake of helping Him in implementing His Design. Jewish People can remain a People and fulfill God-given mission of advancing created-by-God World only if the Jewish diversity strengthens the Jewish unity. Fundamentals of Jewish Unity 1. People who consider themselves Jewish are religious by definition, as may be seen from the following reasoning: a. Judaism, as any religion, consists of three major components – Faith, Rituals and Organizations b. Faith is the belief in One God and His Design for the entire World revealed to the Jews on Mount Sinai through Moses and being implemented with the spiritual help of the Jewish People Chosen by God to do this work. A person who considers him/her-self Jewish is connected to this Jewish Faith and therefore is religious. Faith provides a Jew and a Jewish community with the direction on how to compose an individual plan on assisting God in implementing His Design c. Rituals (prayer, meditation, codified procedures, and so on) are the tool to strengthen our Faith for better understanding of God’s Design and our individual and collective roles in it. Rituals may be different for different Jewish groups depending on their life experience, and educational and spiritual backgrounds d. Organizations (synagogues, unions, and so on) are the tool to unite us in our collective will to do the God’s work. Organizations may be different for different Jewish groups depending on their life experience, and educational and spiritual backgrounds e. Faith is the key component in being religious. Rituals and Organizations are desirable but they are not key components; unfortunately, Rituals and Organizations have become the only visible characteristics of various streams of Judaism that provoked many Faith-following Jews to label themselves non-religious. 2. People who consider themselves Jewish are Creators by definition, as may be seen from the following reasoning: a. We are created in the image of God Creator; therefore, we are creators b. Being creators means changing the World around us, and changing ourselves as well, in accordance with God’s Design; God doesn’t need us just for worshiping Him -- His Power doesn’t depend on our prayers c. Changing the World in accordance with God’s Design means applying the same Unchangeable Torah-based Laws as Guidelines for the Always Changeable life conditions that requires distinguishing the Laws of Torah from the Application Examples there: the Laws cannot be changed – the Applications of Laws may and shall be changeable d. The Torah-based Unchangeable Laws (Tradition) and Changeable Applications of the same Laws (Modernity) are parts of God’s Design e. Diversity, Change and Spiritual Competition are parts of God’s Design. Diversity, Change and Spiritual Competition may be revealed in different spheres of God’s Universe i. In the sphere of strengthening spiritual connections with God with the purpose of better understanding of God’s Design ii. In the sphere of strengthening spiritual connections with Gentile communities with the purpose of helping the Gentiles to get involved in implementing God’s Design iii. In the sphere of strengthening spiritual connections with governments of secular societies with the purpose of encouraging them to model their civil laws on the Torah-given Laws iv. In the sphere of material advancements of the entire World -- to make the life on this Earth more enjoyable for everybody -- since the entire World is being developed in accordance with God’s Design v. In the sphere of both liberal and conservative developments: liberal – to make a change, and conservative – to make sure the change is made along the lines of God’s Design. 3. People who consider themselves Jewish are possessors of Free Will given to us by God for selecting “Good” in the World of “Good” and “Bad/Evil,” as may be seen from the following reasoning: a. We have the Torah-based responsibility of using God-given Free Will for identifying Good, Bad and Evil in Jewish and Gentile communities b. We have the Torah-based responsibility to support and promote Good c. We have the Torah-based responsibility to encourage and help Bad become Good d. We have the Torah-based responsibility to fight Evil even by military means to prevent Evil from harming Good (Nazi-fascism and Islamo-fascism are examples of Evil). 4. People who consider themselves Jewish are Responsible before God for assisting Gentiles in moving into the One-God’s World, as may be seen from the following reasoning: a. We have the Torah-based responsibility of helping Gentiles to become an active participants in implementation of God’s Design (Christianity may/should be considered a Judaism for Gentiles) b. We have the Torah-based responsibility of introduction of Torah-based spiritual guidance into civil societies by demonstrating that i. Core values of Judaism include respect for human dignity and life, obedience to the Laws instead of to the orders of authoritative rulers, and reliance on truly spiritual leaders; all that is the foundation of a real democracy; therefore, there should be no contradiction between Judaism and Democratic Principles ii. Core values of Torah-based spirituality are expressed in Judeo-Christian Morality which is the foundation of contemporary Western Nations; therefore, there should be no contradiction between Judaism and cultures of Western countries iii. Core values of Judaism include actions in support of Social Justice, and most of contemporary social-justice ideas were prescribed in the Torah; therefore, there should be no contradictions between Judaism and Social-Justice concepts of Western countries iv. Core values of Judaism include taking care of “material side” of human life, and most of contemporary ideas of the free-market Economics were prescribed in the Torah; therefore, there should be no contradictions between spiritual and material developments in the countries of Judeo-Christian spirituality v. Core values of Judaism include Study and Reason which are the basics of Science; therefore, there should be no contradiction between Judaism and Science vi. Core values of Judaism include implementing the God’s Design by both creating spiritual attractiveness of God’s Design for Gentiles (Being the Light for the Nations) and doing practical implementation work with Gentiles (Being the Work Horse for the Nations); therefore, there should be no contradictions between being observant (performing rituals) and collaborating with Gentiles on spiritual matters. 5. We have the Torah-based responsibility of helping organizations and movements with Judeo-Christian spirituality fight organizations and movements with Atheistic beliefs since the goal of all Atheistic organizations and movements is to replace the God-given, Torah-prescribed Morality (Spirituality) by Human-elite created morality. Fundamentals of Jewish Diversity that Enriches the Jewish Unity 1. Diversity enriches and unites us a. Jewish People who are exploring different avenues in implementing God’s Design along the lines of One Judaism, be it Orthodox- or Reform-minded People, and share their discoveries with each other have to be welcome b. Jewish People who are exploring possible different characteristics of God – from a very revered democratically-minded friend to chat with to a feared authoritative power to be unquestionably obeyed – have to be welcome c. However, Jewish People who are creating a variety of Judaisms with the purpose of separating themselves from the rest of the Jewry, be it Orthodox or Reform variety, and discouraging a Jewish dialogue along the lines of One Judaism have to be rejected. 2. The Torah guidance encompasses all key aspects of spiritual and material human life which are explored by differently minded Jewish People, such as for example the possibility that a. God’s World was created as a set of selected basic components (humans, animals, planets, etc.) with unique “growth/change” processes for each component, and therefore what we see and feel is in a permanent process of change, and this possibility is being explored by Traditional Orthodox/ Conservative/Reform synagogues and moderately conservative/liberal Jews b. God’s World was created “cast in stone” with no allowance for change, and this possibility is being explored by Ultra-Orthodox synagogues and truly conservative Jews c. God’s World was created as the unique process for everything with no basic components, and therefore we can expect and should accept everything, and this possibility is being explored by Ultra-Reform synagogues and truly liberal Jews as well as many scientists d. God’s World was created for the humans “to be happy and joyful” an this Earth, and this possibility is being explored by Chasidic synagogues e. Etc. 3. In the different ideas concerning the exploration of the God’s World, three basic concepts remain unchangeable -- the Land of Israel (in the God-given Promised Land independently of contemporary or future political borders), the People of Israel (the Chosen One by God for a special mission) and the Torah of Israel (the only God-given original instructions on the God’s Design for the World and how to implement it). Jewish People who don’t accept those concepts put themselves outside of the framework of Judaism. The following are a few examples of those who may be considered in this category a. Jews who help the Evil to harm the Good violate the concept of Torah of Israel (for example, the Jews of Ultra-Orthodox Naturei Karta who support the Islamo-fascists of Iran and Palestine) b. Jews who don’t believe in the God-given special mission of the Jewish People violate the concept of People of Israel (for example, the Jews for Jesus who support the idea that God took back from the Jewish People the responsibility of Chosen People), or some Jews who accept only cultural differences between the Jews and the others (the so-called Jewish Leftists born to Jewish families) c. Jews who are trying to prevent the other Jews from living in the Promised Land violate the concept of Land of Israel (for example, some leftists in the USA and Israel who justified and assisted in removal Jews from Gaza Strip, Samaria and Judea) d. Jews who are trying to prevent any spiritual encounter with Gentiles since, in their view, Jews are the Chosen only for the purpose of observing rituals, violate the concept of Torah of Israel (for example, some Ultra-Orthodox Jewish sects living in Jerusalem or New-York). 4. Two cornerstones of Judaism – Shabbat and Halakhah -- can be treated differently a. Shabbat may be celebrated differently – from the purely ritual point of view with the centuries-old established practice to the completely modern point of view with Torah-based assessment of the past-week events – but the mere fact of Shabbat celebration unites all Jews b. Halakhah may be understood differently – from all “613” treated as the timeless Laws to “613” being split into the timeless Laws and the millennium-old adjustable application examples – but the mere fact of preserving Holiness of Halakhah unites all Jews. 5. To visually acknowledge the diversity, our synagogues should be called an Orthodox-minded synagogue, a Reform-minded synagogue, a Conservative-minded synagogue, etc. – but not a synagogue of Orthodox, Reform or Conservative Judaism. Vladimir Minkov at minkov1@comcast.net and http://minkov1.googlepages.com/
I HAVE BEEN THOUGHT AND STILL BELIEVE THAT JEWS ARE A PEOPLE, NOT ONLY A RELIGION - AS A LETTER BELOW INDICATES. IN HILLEL AT UNIVERSITY, WE WERE TOLD THAT THE ONLY OTHER "PEOPLE" WERE THE JAPANESE. THERE ARE SECULAR JEWS, ATHIEST JEWS, AGNOSTIC JEWS, AS WELL AS RELIGIOUS JEWS. JEWS WHO CONVERTED TO CHRISTIANITY, WERE STILL CONSIDERED JEWS IN EUROPE - AND IT DID NOT SAVE THEM FROM THE NAZI GAS CHAMBERS. THE GERMAN JEWS WHO FOUGHT FOR THE KAISER WITH PRIDE AND GOT MEDALS, WERE NOT SPARED FROM THE HOLOCAUST. EVEN TODAY, WHEN READING THE OBITUARIES OF MANY GREAT PEOPLE, EUROPEAN, PARTICULARLY BRITISH MEDIA, NOTE THAT A GREAT GRANDFATHER WAS JEWISH OR THEY GIVE THIS ANCESTOR'S JEWISH NAME. GO TO INTERNET WINIPEDIA (SIC?) WHERE JEWISH ANCESTORY IS PART OF THE BIOGRAPHY. CONCLUSION: BEING JEWISH IS BASED PRIMARILY ON ONE'S BLOOD LINE, ALTHOUGH CONVERSION MAY ADD TO THE NUMBERS. WE ARE ONLY 12 OR 13 MILLION WORLDWIDE. I WISH HEBREW COLLEGE ALL THE BEST SUCCESS AS IT TRIES TO GO INTO THE 21ST CENTURY AND HOPEFULLY REPLACES THE FOUR MAIN DENOMINATIONS WITH ONE THAT HAS A PLACE FOR ALL JEWS UNDER ITS BROAD-MINDED TENT. MAY GOD BLESS HEBREW COLLEGE AND ITS GOALS.
The school sounds like a wonderful idea except for its studied avoidance of the situation between Orthodox and non-Orthodox streams. The article says that the Orthodox can't pray with the school's minyan because of the women. It's way past time that we face this reality: the Orthodox and non-Orthodox definitions of what Judaism is differ. The two sides are fundamentally incompatible. Saying we want one Judaism (or Jewish people, for that matter) without saying how we will resolve the difference is foolish at best and I think contributes to the steady erosion of support for Judaism among the young. This of course is not to say that different streams can't in principle compromise and get together for at least some things, but I think it does say that the Orthodox and the non-Orthodox can't. I think the solution is simple. Let us use the word "Judaism" the way that the word "Christianity" is used, i.e. to refer to a group of related religions, not to one.