Many new rabbinical schools have opened in the past decade. The American Jewish University (formerly the University of Judaism) Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies ordained its first class of rabbis in 1999, the modern Orthodox Yeshivat Chovevei Torah (YCT) has been ordaining progressive Orthodox rabbis for a few years in New York, and the pluralistic…
Yesterday’s NY Times published a great tribute to Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel. Here’s a wonderful story from the beginning of the article: In 1965, after walking in the Selma-to-Montgomery civil-rights march with the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel was at the Montgomery, Ala., airport, trying to find something to eat….
The United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism Bienniel Convention commenced yesterday in Orlando and as the Forward pointed out, the Conservative Movement faces new realities. The Conservative movement has struggled in recent years to maintain a sense of identity without abandoning its “big tent” philosophy and to boost its sagging membership. This turmoil has been exacerbated…
An embarrassing event occurred at a Conservative synagogue in Newton, Massachusetts. I’m sure that the synagogue’s rabbi had no idea about the NFL’s New England Patriots‘ videotaping scandal when she sat down to write her Rosh Hashanah sermon. She probably also didn’t know that the Patriots’ owner (and her congregant) Robert Kraft (pictured at right)…
Well, at least I was never the kid in gym class who didn’t get drafted for the dodge-ball team! Newsweek magazine has chosen to go into the “rabbi ranking” business and has listed their top fifty rabbis in America. I guess if Forbes Magazine can rank businesses and billionaires, why shouldn’t there be a list…
With the announcement a couple of weeks ago that the school formerly known as the University of Judaism (now called the American Jewish University after its merger with Brandeis Bardin) would accept gay and lesbian students into its Ziegler Rabbinical School, the Jewish Theological Seminary’s chancellor Arnie Eisen (right) announced today that JTS will follow…
Like most rabbis, I do a lot of juggling. Being a rabbi is a 24/7 job with many responsibilities. But I also love to juggle in the literal sense. In fact, I hope to be able to master juggling four balls soon. I recently saw a video of a great juggling performance by performer Chris…
From the Detroit Jewish NewsBy Shelli Liebman Dorfman Rabbi Daniel Nevins sees his new job as dean of the rabbinical school at the Conservative movement’s Jewish Theological Seminary in New York as “both an honor and a challenge.” The rabbi has served Adat Shalom Synagogue in Farmington Hills for 13 years. He will begin his…
When Rabbi Danny Nevins, my friend, colleague, and personal rabbi, told me a couple months ago that he was being considered for the position of Dean of the Rabbinical School of the Conservative Movement’s central academic institution, the Jewish Theological Seminary, I was immediately torn. On the one hand, I knew how many people at…
There is an odd sense of excitement at having been misquoted in the NY Times for the first time! Here’s the article: Trying to Keep Divinity … By MAREK FUCHS Depending on the day at her Methodist seminary, Jennifer Wilsford wants to be either a parish minister or a professor. Her seminary, for its part,…