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A dozen gathered in Manhattan for the inaugural cohort of rabbis
- 17 August 2023
- 2:04 am
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- 17 August 2023
- 2:04 am
Rabbi Guy Tal from Beth Israel Congregation in Edmonton speaking with Rabbi Shlomo Krasner from Poughkeepsie, New York at an OU event to offer support to Rabbis in small and midsize communities. (Photo: Supplied)
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(AJNews) – For rabbis of small to midsize Orthodox communities in cities like Edmonton, and San Antonio, Texas, professional life can feel lonely.
“As the sole Orthodox rabbis of their towns outside Chabad, these rabbis deal with issues impacting the entire spiritual life of their community,” says Orthodox Union Department of Synagogue Initiatives National Director Rabbi Adir Posy. “They are dealing with the eruv, kashrus, the mikvah, chevra kadisha and conversion. That’s a very unique and often very heavy responsibility for one individual.”
Orthodox Union (OU) Executive Vice President Rabbi Moshe Hauer empathizes with these rabbis’ unique situations.
“Within larger Orthodox communities, rabbis have local peer partnership and support,” he says. “In smaller communities the rabbi tends to be more isolated, making ongoing support and networking opportunities so much more valuable. We must strive to be there for those who need us most.”
Recognizing their distinct challenges and opportunities, the Department of Synagogue Initiatives recently hosted a chaburah of a dozen rabbis from small to midsize communities for a day of chizuk, inspiration and education at the OU headquarters in Manhattan.
“These rabbis are doing incredible and important work and deserve significant investment from the klal,” says Rabbi Posy. “That’s one of the messages we wanted to impart in creating this chaburah and hosting this event.”
The oldest department in the OU, the Department of Synagogue Initiatives provides vision, leadership, and programmatic support to Orthodox communities and congregations throughout North America. Its goal is to strengthen communities, congregations, and their constituencies, by providing religious, educational, and social programming on relevant and timely issues that impact the lives of individuals and families.
A large part of the department’s focus is rabbinic support. For the last eight years, it has united cohorts of rabbis based on their commonalities in chaburahs who gather in person as much as possible to network and share personal or professional challenges in a safe space with others living the same experience. About 12 different chaburahs comprising different niches — such as rabbis in the first few years of their pulpit, for example — meet on a rolling basis over the course of the year.
“The best support tool in the arsenal of a rabbi is other rabbis in similar situations,” says Rabbi Posy. “We fundamentally believe that a more inspired, empowered, energized and supported rabbi is a better rabbi, and everyone benefits from that.”
This was the inaugural cohort of rabbis from small to midsize communities, and participants stemmed from Edmonton as well as San Antonio, Texas; New York’s Poughkeepsie, Mount Kisco and Albany; Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania; Richmond and Norfolk in Virginia; Louisville, Kentucky; and Orlando, Florida.
“This gathering provided a unique platform for rabbis to share creative ideas related to communal development within the contexts of their particular communal reality,” says OU Managing Director of Community Engagement Rabbi Yaakov Glasser. “The Rabbis also enjoyed learning from world-class experts in halachic areas that they consistently navigate in their work.”
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The chaburah centered on both professional development — offering resources and insights on topics like kashrus, mikvah, conversion, broader communal relationships and issues prevailing in their communities — and personal development, including work-life balance, rabbinic loneliness, and the idea of being everything to everyone. Sessions were facilitated by OU Executive Vice President Rabbi Moshe Hauer, OU Director of Halacha Initiatives Rabbi Ezra Sarna and OU Kosher COO Rabbi Moshe Elefant.
Beyond its supportive framework, the chaburah enabled participants to foster relationships and network with one another beyond the event.
“The connections the rabbis make as part of these chaburahs often extend to other circles, whether to shul presidents or other community members,” says Rabbi Posy. “They in turn build their own networks and achieve really wonderful things.”
The event also provided a platform to discuss the OU’s growing support of emerging communities, an initiative supported by former OU President Steve Savitsky and his wife Genie through the Savitsky Family Communal Growth Initiative. Recently, the couple made a very generous investment that will expand the OU’s strategic approach to North American Jewish communal development.
“Genie and I are delighted to see our gift being used to enable these and other rabbis to meet the challenges of their respective communities,” he says.
Rabbi Dovid Kaplan has served as the rav of Wilkes-Barre’s Congregation Ohav Zedek and a satellite location in Kingston, Pennsylvania, for nine years. Of some 2,000 Jews in the region, his kehilla comprises about 110 families and singles. Rabbi Kaplan loves his job and congregation, but is challenged with growing his community against the backdrop of a somewhat aging population. The chance to connect with OU leadership and colleagues living similar experiences at the chaburah was a tremendous source of chizuk.
“It was a very profound day,” he says. “It was very meaningful and inspiring to know that we are in it together, and wonderful to share experiences and camaraderie. I look forward to reconnecting either virtually or in person with fellow rabbanim in the very near future.”
(This article first appeared in Alberta Jewish News)
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Thank you for choosing TheJ.Ca as your source for Canadian Jewish News.
We do news differently!
Our positioning as a Zionist News Media platform sets us apart from the rest. While other Canadian Jewish media are advocating increasingly biased progressive political and social agendas, TheJ.Ca is providing more and more readers with a welcome alternative and an ideological home.
We revealed the incursion of anti-Israel progressive elements such as IfNotNow into our communities. We have exposed the distorted hateful agenda of the “progressive” left political radicals who brought Linda Sarsour to our cities, and we were first to report on many disturbing incidents of Nazi-based hate towards Jews across Canada.
But we can’t do it alone. We need your HELP!
Our ability to thrive and grow in 2020 and beyond depends on the generosity of committed readers and supporters like you.
Monthly support is a great way to help us sustain our operations. We greatly appreciate any contributions you can make to support Jewish Journalism.
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