By Rebecca Shalomoff
Earlier this month, three of the rabbis responded to the criticism in a letter sent to their congregations.
They expressed their sadness and pain in being publicly criticized by 12 area rabbis for their participation in The Greater Five Towns Adult Jewish Study Program that is sponsored by the Five Towns Jewish Council.
The letter opposing their participation said: Whatever its goals, the institute for Adult Jewish Studies of the Five Towns, whose faculty includes both Orthodox and non-Orthodox Jewish clergy, has the effect of endorsing the notion that there are various branches of the Jewish religious heritage. Since the non-Orthodox Jewish movements, sadly, do not subscribe to the basic principles of the Jewish faith as it has been defined for millennia, it is objectionable for Orthodox rabbis to, directly or not, provide them an imprimatur.
It is most certainly a major part of the Jewish mandate to reach out to our Jewish brothers and sisters and help them learn about, and come closer to, their religious heritage. But educational endeavors that blur the line between the Jewish tradition and contemporary Jewish movements that reject elements of it are neither honest or healthful to our people.
Those who signed that letter about half from Five Towns congregations and the balance from Far Rockaway yeshivas and synagogues either did not return phone calls from the Herald or declined comment.
Included in their mailing was a statement by the late esteemed Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik, which they cite as proof that the participating Orthodox rabbis are in violation of his ruling.
But Rabbi Heshie Billet of Young Israel of Woodmere, Rabbi Kenneth Hain of Congregation Beth Sholom in Lawrence and Rabbi Basil Herring of Jewish Center of Atlantic Beach responded in a letter sent to their congregations. Anyone who reads the statement of Rabbi Soloveitchik carefully and without bias, can recognize that he was not referring to anything remotely similar to our local Jewish Studies program, they said.
Yet they presume to lecture on this matter to us who studied for years with Rabbi Soloveitchik both in New York and in Boston, whose rabbinic ordinations was granted by him, and who study, teach, and publish many aspects of the full range of his thought and writings.
Their letter continued, As such, what is under attack is a religious world view . . . that seeks to combine Torah in its fullest embodiment with the best of modernity and contemporary culture. That promotes higher general education for Orthodox men as well as women . . . and that will not accept the notion that more than 90 percent of the Jews in this country should be completely disregarded and ignored.
The lecture series was conceived five years ago in the spirit of unity and bringing the community together, said Jewish Council executive director Geri Gindea.
It is very disheartening to hear people be so negative about a program that from its inception was geared to bringing our people together, she said.
The six-week program, which ends this week, features two sessions with eight classes run simultaneously in each. The sessions cover topics such as Hebrew language, Bible stories, Talmud, Jewish literature and food.
I think its a wonderful opportunity to teach Jews of all kinds, to show the beauty of Torah and Judaism, to join together and show what we have in common, Rabbi Herring said.
More than 300 people enroll in the program each year, ranging from younger to older students coming from 21 different synagogues.
I think the uppermost issue that sparked that original letter was a struggle in the Orthodox community, said Rabbi Bruce Ginsburg of Congregation Sons of Israel, a Conservative rabbi who teaches in the lecture series.
That having been said, if they have a concern about the non-Orthodox rabbis, I believe that concern may have been exacerbated by the fact that they werent entirely familiar with the structure, purpose and with the positive impact of the institute. Because if their fear was that commitment to Torah would be undermined in participation in this enterprise, they are simply mistaken.
Rabbi Hain, who did not want to make any further public statements about the matter, said, I think hopefully, the rabbis will communicate personally directly and respectfully. I think that would better serve the community.
