Dancing with the Rabbis

While Orthodox Jews tend to shy away from mixed dancing, Conservative Jews seem increasingly keen to get moving.

Sunday April 3, five of Los Angeles’s most prominent Conservative rabbis will shake their stuff in an event hosted by the American Jewish University. “Dancing with the Rabbis,” called after the popular TV show “Dancing with the Stars,” will see the rabbis compete for the mirror-ball trophy and a donation to their chosen charity.

Rabbi Bradley Shavit Artson, occupant of the Abner and Roslyn Goldstine chair of the Zieger School of Rabbinic Studies, will dance the foxtrot. The reformed mobster and official teacher at Beit T’Shuvah, Rabbi Mark Borovitz, will cha-cha-cha. Swing dance is the order of the day for Rabbi Elliot Dorff, chairman of the Rabbinical Assembly’s Committee on Jewish Law and Standards. Rabbi Nina Feinstein, the second female ordained by the Conservative movement will hustle, and Rabbi Zoe Klein of Los Angeles’s Temple Isaiah will tango.

The event will also feature performances by Karina Smirnoff and Louis Van Amstel of “Dancing with the Stars”.