Spotlight on CLAL Archive

CLAL Quarterly Report

Fall, 1999

Dear Friends,

The last few months at CLAL have been so productive, with the launch of a nation-wide Shavuot pluralism initiative, the co-sponsorship of a conference on the evolving Jewish role in world refugee issues, and a thought-breaking seminar of the Jewish Public Forum at CLAL among the many highlights. With your support, CLAL has coninutes to expand the ways its message of a dynamic, pluralist Jewish future is being heard throughout North America.

The CLAL National Unity Shavuot

At a CLAL Rabbinic Renewal Retreat in 1998, 17 rabbis representing every Jewish denomination dreamed of creating a national, community-wide, interdenominational, pluralist program surrounding the holiday of Shavuot. In May of this year, CLAL provided the pedagogical and organizational support to turn that dream into reality. The 1999 CLAL National Unity Shavuot Celebration, held in May, created a series of pluralist community study events in Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami and New York. Well over 1,000 people participated in these events, led by rabbis from across the denominations. Over 3,000 more logged on to an interactive web site CLAL created for the occasion (www.shavuot.org). Tens of thousands received CLAL Shavuot materials in the mail or read about the events in Jewish newspapers.

In Chicago, six of the leading Orthodox, Conservative, Reform and independent institutions joined together for an all-night study session. In Los Angeles, 250 people attended a study event sponsored by a coalition of 13 synagogues under the leadership of the Board of Rabbis of Southern California and CLAL. In Miami over 200 participants proceeded from Shavuot services at their own synagogues to a joint study program led by a Reform, Conservative and Orthodox rabbi. And in New York, at an event co-sponsored by CLAL and the Jewish Community Center on the Upper West Side, over 400 people took part in study sessions led by over eighteen top rabbis and scholars, followed by a lecture by Stephen Dubner, author of the best-selling Turbulent Souls: A Catholic Son's Return to His Jewish Family.

The media embraced this story of national pluralism. The Jewish Telegraphic Agency made the CLAL National Unity Shavuot their top story in their May 21 Daily Bulletin. An editorial in the The New York Jewish Week marveled at how "participants were able to put aside their denominational differences in the interest of increasing Torah study" and declared: "May such efforts continue to grow.' The Jewish Joumal Of Greater Los Angeles proclaimed the National Unity Shavuot "a bold step toward interdenominational peace."

The program was a success in other ways as well. It demonstrated how CLAL is able to activate the network of pluralistic rabbinic leaders around the country who have taken part in CLAL programming. The planning of each event was in itself a practical expression of pluralism, with teams of rabbis from different denominations working together to choose texts and deal with practical logistical issues. CLAL was an effective catalyst, providing guidance, expertise and support to local groups.

Above all, the National Unity Shavuot program demonstrates how CLAL is beginning to shape Jewish public culture, making pluralism a priority of the Jewish community and broadening the reach of CLAL's pluralist message. Already, leaders in Atlanta, Boston, Denver, Kansas City and San Antonio have expressed their desire to participate in next year's National Unity Shavuot. It promises to be an even greater success, reaching out to many more people, further reinvigorating Shavuot and emphasizing the central Jewish value of an inclusive, pluralist community.

Jewish Public Forum, Year One

Intellectual creativity, deep engagement and true relationship were the hallmarks of a two-day seminar that culminated the first year of the Jewish Public Forum at CLAL. Nineteen participants representing fields as diverse as journalism, cosmology, Jewish history, nonprofit management, international affairs and sociology joined CLAL for a far-ranging conversation on the future of Jewish community, civic engagement and spiritual renewal. The seminar, titled "Leadership and Civic Engagement in a Time of Great Change," was held June 14-15 in New York City.

The Jewish Public Forum at CLAL was made possible through the generosity of the Eleanor M. and Herbert D. Katz Foundation. It was established to generate new ideas about the Jewish and American future by including the voices of leading figures in academia, business, politics, media and non-profit work, most of whom have not been involved in organized Jewish life. In its first year, the Jewish Public Forum conducted a series of seminars and consultations on the topic of leadership. These meetings confirmed the central premise of the Jewish Public Forum: At a time of complex and unprecedented challenges to building communities and bringing about change, it is necessary for Jewish leaders to include new voices, and to build trust and relationships among individuals with increasingly diverse types of expertise.

Participants at the June seminar were asked to envision the possibilities for new Jewish organizations and approaches and a role for CLAL and the Jewish Public Forum in facilitating the changes that are inevitable in the next few years. Conversations took place in large groups, in smaller breakout sessions, over meals and even during casual strolls in Central Park. Participants were impressed by the cross-fertilization of ideas that CLAL had brought about. "I benefited immensely," said Dr. Shepherd Forman, the Director of the Center on International Cooperation at New York University. "I came in as a substantial skeptic, but I was turned around to what this kind of conversation can accomplish."

In a report to the Katz foundation, CLAL Senior Fellow Dr. Shari Cohen, who directs the Jewish Public Forum at CLAL as it enters its second year, detailed the accomplishments of the project and its plans for the future: "First, we built a network of incredibly smart, talented and successful people who are excited about using their expertise to better Jewish life and possibly finding a place for themselves in that life. Second, we learned how to structure conversations that yielded important new ideas and genuine conversation. Over the next year, the Jewish Public Forum will work to deepen relationships with network members, focus greater time and energy on research and publications, and continue the ongoing seminar process."

Immigration Summit a Model of Coooperation

In a gratifying example of how we are creating new venues and partnerships for spreading our message of Jewish expansiveness, CLAL served as a co-sponsor with the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS) of a summit meeting on the world refugee crisis. The summit, "World Refugees: An American Jewish Conversation," took place October 24-25 in New York City. It took place as HIAS begins to consider its evolving role now that, while Jews continue to emigrate, the numbers are declining. "The summit culminated more than six months of consulting and collaboration between HIAS and CLAL, and was a model of how CLAL can help Jewish institutions address the challenges of the 21st century," said Donna M. Rosenthal, CLAL's Executive Vice Chairman.

Rabbi Irwin Kula, President of CLAL, and Rabbi Tsvi Blanchard, CLAL's Director of Organizational Development, led participants through conversations on whether the Jewish resettlement services and advocacy should extend only to the needs of Jewish refugees, or those of non-Jews as well. "Having met the challenge of one set of refugee issues, what are we going to do with the vast storehouse of resources-in money, time, political capital, expertise and experience-in order to address remaining refugee issues?" asked Rabbi Blanchard. "Of course we have a responsibility as Jews to look after our own communities--whether in times of crisis or scarcity, when survival is at stake, and in more prosperous times, when we have to support the institutions without which our communities would unravel. But now that North American Jews are living with unprecedented power, affluence and security, we have a new question: What kind of world do we want to build?"

"There is a false dichotomy between behaviors that are deemed 'universal vs. particular,' or 'American vs. Jewish,'" said Rabbi Kula. "The vulnerability of 14 million refugees around the world is fundamentally a human issue. A Judaism that is truly big needs to provoke a confluence of the spiritual and ethical impulses that command our involvement in global human issues, and the Jewish language and behavior that gives expression to those values."

Attending the summit were fundraising executives, professionals on the front-lines of immigration and resettlement issues, and government officials, including former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich and Sen. Spencer Abraham (D-Mich.).

A CLAL Success Story in Florida's Broward County

The key measure of the success of a CLAL community leadership program is the number and quality of graduates who go on to important community leadership positions. In Florida's Broward County, the success has been profound. Rabbi Steve Greenberg, Senior Teaching Fellow, led the CLAL Leadership Program ("CLAL I") in Broward in 1993-95, and Rabbi David Nelson led a similar group ("CLAL II") in 1996-1998. Both programs, funded by the Soref Foundation and the Katz Foundation, culminated in trips to Israel led by CLAL.

According to Debra Sapir, Director of Human Resource Development for the Jewish Federation of Broward County, "I have been repeatedly struck by the far-reaching impact that the CLAL program has had on participants." Of the six awards for community service and leadership given out at the Federation's annual meeting in January, four went to alumni of CLAL programs. CLAL graduates include the incoming co-presidents of the Federation's Women's Division, thirteen members of the 1999-2000 Women's Division board, and ten members of the Federation's general board. The list goes on: two of the immediate past presidents of the Samuel M. & Helene Soref Jewish Community Center of Ft. Lauderdale are CLAL alumni, as are two of the current vice-presidents of the David Posnack JCC of Broward County. And eight of the eleven current Broward members of the United Jewish Communities' National Young Leadership Cabinet are CLAL alumni.

On June 25-26, Rabbi Greenberg conducted an alumni Shabbaton in Ft. Myers, Florida that renewed and strengthened the ties of community that were formed by the program. As Frank Grober, a member of the CLAL 2 group and the new president of the David Posnack Hebrew Day School, explained recently upon being honored by the Federation, "CLAL made the difference."

Web Site Expands

The CLAL web site, www.clal.org, has recently seen a number of exciting new developments, including an expanded magazine featuring writing by CLAL faculty and associates, and the launch of the CLAL On-Line Rabbinic Community. The web site extends CLAL's outreach and makes possible a wider conversation among groups and individuals interested in CLAL programming.

The renamed magazine, Derekh CLAL: The Webzine of Jewish Possibilities, is a weekly showcase of CLAL thinking on community and society, spiritual journeys, art and culture, and politics and public policy. The webzine also features new rituals to celebrate or mark meaningful life cycle events, stories about CLAL's work across North America, commentaries on the weekly Haftorah, and classic articles from Sh'ma magazine.

The CLAL On-Line Rabbinic Community project features CLAL resources for rabbis, an open forum, and the Rabbinic Colloquium on Liturgy taught by CLAL Associate Dr. Reuven Kimmelman. Made possible by a generous grant from the The Nash Family Foundation, the project will provide alumni of CLAL Rabbinic Retreats with the follow-up and support they need to translate the ideas and methods of pluralism and community engagement into concrete developments within their communities.

CLAL Rabbinical Internship Program

CLAL's Rabbinic Internship Program opened the academic year with the largest-ever enrollment in the program's fourteen-year history. To accommodate the seventeen rabbinic and advanced level Judaic studies students in the program, CLAL now offers separate tracks on Mondays and Wednesdays. The interns meet at CLAL for what is the only setting in North America in which future rabbinic leaders from every branch of Judaism can study and dialogue together.

The program includes three rabbinical students from Yeshiva University (Orthodox); five from Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion (Reform); four from the Jewish Theological Seminary (Conservative); two from the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College (Reconstructionist); and one from the Academy for Jewish Religion (multi-denominational). Also participating are two students from the Drisha Institute for Jewish Education, an Orthodox institution where women scholars learn classical text in preparation for leadership positions. CLAL Associate Dr. David Kraemer and CLAL Fellow Rabbi Jennifer Krause (see below) are coordinating the program.

The expanded enrollment shows not only the hunger for such programming among future Jewish leaders, but an awareness on CLAL's part that the spread of its values depends on nurturing the people in the field who believe in, embody and teach those values.

Rabbi Jennifer Krause is New CLAL Fellow

Rabbi Jennifer E. Krause joins CLAL as the 1999-2000 CLAL Fellow. Rabbi Krause was ordained by the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in New York. Originally from Tucson, Arizona, Rabbi Krause earned her BA from Washington University in St. Louis and also holds an MA in Hebrew Literature from Hebrew Union college. She will work with Dr. David Kraemer in facilitating the Rabbinic Intern Program.

As a former CLAL Intern herself, Rabbi Krause says she was "challenged to step beyond the boundaries of my own Jewishness in a powerful and practical way every single week. Being a CLAL Intern has taught me that the only way to sustain and to live a vibrant, vital Judaism, as well as to heal ourselves and the world, is to listen to and to hear the infinite number of Jewish voices in our midst. I'm eager to help create opportunities for others to experience the sacred wonder of discovering new worlds of Jewish possibility together."

Sacred Days

September marked the publication of the 1999-2000 edition of the CLAL Sacred Days engagement calendar. This year's calendar, which covers September 12999 through December 2000, features a collection of writings by CLAL faculty and associates on the messages central to CLAL's vision of a dynamic, pluralist Jewish future. The message is reinforced in the diversity of the writers, who represent all streams of Judaism and a wide range of professions and disciplines. To receive a copy send a check for $14.00 to CLAL.

CLAL Highlights

CLAL's influence and inspiration were felt in the planning and execution of Leadership 2000, one of the United Jewish Communities' most important annual gatherings for current and emerging national leaders. Over 100 philanthropists attended the retreat, held August 15-18 in Aspen, Colorado. Rabbi Brad Hirschfield, CLAL's Director of Leadership and Communities, introduced and moderated the closing plenary, and along with CLAL President Rabbi Irwin Kula conducted morning services and study sessions throughout the week. CLAL's message was cited explicitly in addresses by three of the major speakers: Richard Pearlstone, a member of the CLAL Board and past National Chairman of the UJA; Melanie Sturm of the Sturm Family Foundation, who studied for many years as part of CLAL's Washington Heritage program; and Dr. Ron Heifetz, Director of the Leadership Education Project at Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government and an active participant in CLAL's Jewish Public Forum. Like many of the participants, the speakers acknowledged how CLAL deepened their engagement with Jewish life, their appreciation of Jewish possibilities, and their understanding of this transitional moment in Jewish history.

Dr. David Elcott, CLAL's Academic Vice President, has begun a yearlong sabbatical from CLAL as he plans the next phase of his career. The CLAL Board thanked Dr. Elcott for his contributions to CLAL at a luncheon in his honor October 19.

CLAL begins the new year by welcoming a number of new staff members, including all three of the 1998-1999 class of Fellows. Dr. Shari Cohen, Senior Fellow, will direct the Jewish Public Forum at CLAL (see above). Dr. Robert Rabinowitz, Senior Fellow, will be teaching, coordinating CLAL Rabbinic and Rabbinic Associates programming, and writing evaluations and funding reports. Andrew Silow-Carroll, Communications Director, will continue to expand media and public awareness of CLAL's message and activities, and will work on CLAL's web site and publications teams.

Rabbi Irwin Kula was a guest on the PBS television program "Religion & Ethics Newsweekly," aired nationally the week of September 12. He discussed how the customs and rituals of the Jewish High Holy Days have changed throughout the centuries.

Rabbi Joseph Telushkin, a CLAL Associate since 1987, was named as one of the 50 best speakers in the United States by Talk Magazine (September 1999).

Members of the CLAL faculty are the authors of two books being released in Fall 1999. CLAL Associate Dr. David Kraemer's fourth book, The Meanings of Death in Rabbinic Judaism, is being published by Routledge. Politics Without a Past: The Absence of History in Postcommunist Nationalism, by CLAL Senior Fellow Shari Cohen, is forthcoming from Duke University Press.

As proud as we are of the staff and programs at CLAL, we know that so much of our success depends on supporters like you. It is your involvement that makes CLAL's message, "Many Voices. One People," a message that is being heard across North America. Thank you for supporting CLAL.

Barbara B. Friedman, Chairman

Rabbi Irwin J. Kula, President

Donna M. Rosenthal, Executive Vice Chairman