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Rabbis Cross Boundaries at CLAL Leadership Retreat

By Andrew Silow-Carroll, Communications Director

Pluralism is not merely about the ability of various Jewish denominations to get along, but an appreciation for Jewish expression that transcends the usual denominational boundaries altogether.

That emerged as one of the most important messages during the recent CLAL Rabbinic Leadership Retreat, held February 6-10 at Newport Beach, RI. Nearly 40 rabbis from 13 states and representing every Jewish denomination took part in the retreat, which is the largest and most intense gathering of Reform, Conservative, Reconstructionist, Orthodox and Renwal rabbis currently being held in North America.

And while the sight of such cooperation among Judaism's main branches is itself an accomplishment, it is not the ultimate end of the retreat, said CLAL leaders.

When we speak only of Jewish denominational differences, "we haven't even scratched the surface of the real challenges of pluralism," Rabbi Irwin Kula, President of CLAL, told the rabbis. "Rabbis need to become more observant of so many Jewish behaviors that don't seem to be mapped. We need to look at the places where people are the most alive-at work, at home, in their leisure-and pick up the sparks that can be fanned."

The CLAL method, continued Rabbi Kula, is to foster a more expansive vision of Jewish variety. "Pluralism doesn't mean everybody has to be talking, but rather that one person is talking to another person is talking to another. It is through these stories that we open up to a wider range of how people mark their Jewishness."

For an Orthodox rabbi taking part in the retreat, the message of Jewish expansiveness was eye-opening. "We don't even realize which compromises others are making" at events like the retreat, said Rabbi Uri Cohen, who with his wife (and fellow retreat participant) Yocheved Cohen directs the Syracuse Kollel--Jewish Experience of Central New York. "It's not just feminists when it comes to Orthodoxy. There are those who keep eco-kosher and it hurts them that certain foods are served at events like these. You need to be aware that there are many ways people take their Judaism seriously."

Rabbi Elon Sunshine, of the Conservative Shearith Israel Congregation in Dallas, Texas, said he was prepared to take up the challenge posed by the retreat. "It's easy to get into a routine, where you're literally and figuratively singing the same songs," said Rabbi Sunshine. "But what I hope to bring home is that it is possible to break out of those walls. The retreat opened our minds to the possibilities so that all of us can begin to think more lovingly about those in the community."

In addition to learning to appreciate this boundary-crossing definition of pluralism, the rabbis also engaged in the day-to-day challenges of interdenominational cooperation and compromise. Rabbis divided into small groups to study with-and learn from-colleagues from across the ideological spectrum. In large group sessions they shared ideas for creating pluralistic community events at home. And after a tense visit to Newport's historic Touro Synagogue, in which some of the participants objected to a prayer service at the Orthodox synagogue that separated men and women, the rabbis found a way they could all pray together. The next morning's services at the retreat center included introductory prayers and songs led by Rabbis Marcia Prager and Nadya Gross, representing the Jewish Renewal movement; a Shacharit (morning) service conducted by CLAL's Emeritus President Rabbi Irving "Yitz" Greenberg, an Orthodox rabbi; and an arrangement of chairs that satisfied the needs of those who sought a separation of men and women.

"The rabbis learned that pluralism is not merely a theory, but a way of living with a mutual respect for others," said CLAL Senior Fellow Dr. Robert Rabinowitz, who coordinated the event.

How to carry the lessons of expansiveness and pluralism back to the rabbis' home communities was a refrain heard during the retreat's final days. CLAL staff offered the example of some of the 350 alumni of previous CLAL rabbinic programs, including those who took part in a 1998 retreat and as a result initiated the first-ever CLAL National Unity Shavuot celebration. The event, held in the spring of 1999, featured community-wide inter-denominational study events in Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami and New York.

For the "Newport 2000" participants, the first real follow-up is a virtual one: an ongoing e-mail listserv conversation created by CLAL. In one of the first messages posted to the listserv, Rabbi Eitan Julius of Congregation Sinai in San Jose, CA offered his colleagues a blessing and a challenge. "I offer this e-mail as a celebration of momentum, collegiality, affection and creation," he wrote. "Let's keep it up!"

The CLAL Rabbinic Leadership Retreat was made possible through the generosity of the Andrea and Charles Bronfman Philanthropies.