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OTS Newsletter - Spring 2004From the Four Corners of the Earth: What is leadership, and how does one build a successful community model? How should one approach the difficult dilemmas of today’s postmodern society? How does a rabbi in the Diaspora balance his communal duties with his family life? These were some of the challenges explored at Ohr Torah Stone’s first International Rabbinical Conference for graduates of the Joseph Straus Rabbinical Seminary who are serving or who have already returned from a position as spiritual leaders of Diaspora Jewish communities.
Over 225 participants from countries all over the world gathered together at the Jerusalem Renaissance Hotel in January for the three-day seminar - a major highlight of OTS’s 20-year anniversary celebrations - sponsored by OTS friends Gloria and Harvey Kaylie. “The Joseph Straus Seminary prides itself on producing a new and unique kind of Orthodox rabbi, who is at home in both the secular and religious worlds and who can reach out to Jews everywhere with an eloquent message of Torah, sensitivity and tolerance,” explains Ohr Torah Stone’s founder and Chancellor, Rabbi Shlomo Riskin. “Graduates of the seminary are making a profound impact on world Jewry, inspiring the affiliated and the non-affiliated across North and South America, Africa, Europe, Australia and Asia.” But although these rabbis are highly motivated and specially trained for their mission, converging at an international rabbinic conference is extremely important, comments Rabbi Eliahu Birnbaum, Director of the Amiel: Rabbi Emanuel Rackman Practical Rabbinics Program.
“Being a rabbi is a profession,” he explains. “Like with any career, one must keep abreast of new developments and compare strategy and method with one’s colleagues. Imagine a doctor not keeping up to date with new medical developments! Likewise, the Jewish world is constantly evolving, and our spiritual leaders need to understand the ramifications of these changes in every arena - psychological, social, sociological - and learn to incorporate that into their work.” The conference’s five main plenary sessions covered the full gamut of communal, spiritual, educational, social and humanitarian issues concerning Jewish communities worldwide. These discussions bridged concerns shared by rabbis who traveled from their posts in countries as diverse as Zimbabwe, Germany, Mexico, Portugal, England, Greece and many of the states in the U.S. Much of the conference parley centered on the postmodern changes affecting individuals, families, leadership structure and communities in the Diaspora.
“In today’s world, we who serve in the Diaspora are faced with previously unimaginable scenarios,” stated alumnus Rabbi Shai Freundlich, as he opened the inaugural session of the conference, Spiritual Leadership in an Age of Modern Questions. “It’s not enough to know how to answer cut-and-dried halachic questions,” he continued, “because the boundaries of today’s issues are not necessarily clear. The answer is no longer ‘yes’ or ‘no’, ‘kosher’ or ‘non-kosher’… today’s Diaspora rabbi must surgically dissect each problem and evaluate it on a case by case basis.” Rabbi Chaim Brovender, Rosh Yeshiva of the Joseph Straus Rabbinical Seminary concurred. “In yeshiva, these rabbis studied Torah and Jewish law, but when they reach their pulpits in the Diaspora they need to also function as teachers, sociologists, counselors and psychologists. The problem is that nowadays, no one comes to the rabbi and asks him ‘what does the Rashi commentary say about the first verse in this week’s portion?’” Says Brovender, “That’s exactly why the Straus Seminary puts such a great emphasis on practical rabbinics, in order to prepare these men for what they will truly be facing as community leaders.”
According to Birnbaum, the conference was organized with exactly these needs in mind. “These rabbis are now facing actual scenarios that we discussed in theory during the course of their training. They were prepared generally to serve abroad, but each community has its own issues peculiar to the region, and each rabbi has his own predicaments and difficulties.” For this reason, even the structural makeup of the conference sessions deviated from the norm: before the panel began its presentation on a topic, graduates were asked to share real stories, to describe real dilemmas that are facing them in their communities. “Only then did the session begin,” says Birnbaum, “enabling the panel to deal with reality, as opposed to theory.”
MAKING AN IMPACT In addition to their professional challenges, most of the rabbis also face a personal one: usually, there are few other observant Jewish families in the area, and their adoptive communities are generally far from major Jewish centers and kosher food. The opportunity to interact with their peers at the conference offered them a psychological and spiritual shot in the arm, and invigorated them in preparation for their return to work. “Coming together with everyone in Jerusalem gave me a clear sense of encouragement,” testified Rabbi Yehoshua Grunstein. “After Ministers of the Israeli Government, together with the major spiritual leaders of the country all came to give us a boost of motivation in our work, I had no problem returning to the icy cold of Halifax, Canada, to try even harder.” The convention also gave participants a different perspective on the impact that Ohr Torah Stone is making all over the world. “I thought that my wife and I were amongst a handful of rabbis and educators attending to Jews in isolated communities of the Diaspora,” remarked Grunstein. “But after attending the conference, it became clear that we are part of a growing movement. More than 150 other OTS graduates, their wives and their families are also giving up the comforts of living in vibrant Israeli communities, suffering a lack of kosher food and other key aspects of Jewish life for the sake of promoting Jewish unity.” Ohr Torah Stone organizers and staff members were also impressed and moved to witness such a large gathering of influential graduates. Arik Wirtzburger, principal of Ohr Torah Stone’s Jacob Sapirstein High School in Jerusalem, spoke for everyone when he expressed his amazement at the enormity of the worldwide impact the rabbis are having abroad. “I’ve known about the program, and I’ve met several of the extraordinary families who have taken positions in the Diaspora,” he attested. “But the intensity of this conference, the powerful feelings of motivation and goodwill in the room, the inroads being made by this enormous force of people gives us all inspiration,” he said.
Even Rabbi Birnbaum, who has headed the Amiel program since its inception five years ago, marveled, “I know each of these people individually, I correspond with them regularly and I travel to visit them frequently. But now, when I see them all together and listen to their stories and challenges, it has opened my eyes to a bigger picture, which is much more meaningful - the influence and impact we are having as a movement.” Chief Rabbi of Israel Yona Metzger, who spent Shabbat at the conference, summed up this sentiment succinctly as he applauded the effect OTS rabbis are having on Jewish unity and continuity from Salonika to London; from Majorca to Sacramento; from Moscow to Cordoba. “I was amazed and impressed by the conference,” he wrote to Rabbi Riskin. “After witnessing from up close the impact your graduate spiritual leaders are making through their activities on behalf of the Diaspora, I am convinced that we should find a way for the Chief Rabbinate of Israel to become involved in this blessed endeavor.” DREAMING THE IMPOSSIBLE DREAM
The conference weekend culminated in an uplifting, song-filled melaveh malka - the traditional “escorting out of the Shabbat Queen” in which one strives to sustain the Shabbat mood a bit longer. The festive dinner, accompanied by soulful singing and dancing, succeeded in exhilarating and revitalizing the participants on the eve of their return to their respective communities worldwide. The rabbis and their wives were also strengthened by the words of government ministers Natan Sharansky and Zvulun Orlev, who commended and encouraged their initiative and bestowed upon them blessings for further achievement.
Orlev, Minister of Labor and Social Affairs, personally thanked Rabbi Riskin and Ohr Torah Stone for the superb education his two sons received at Ohr Torah Stone’s Neveh Shmuel High School, in Efrat. He spoke of the importance of interacting with people espousing views different from one’s own for the benefit of a unified Jewish nation, “which is exactly what the Joseph Straus Seminary rabbis are doing,” he said. Orlev concluded with his wish for the rabbis: “Like burning flames, may you continue to warm hearts and light the way for others.” Introduced by Rabbi Birnbaum as “the man responsible for all of this; the man whose vision propels us all with his understanding of relevant leadership for the modern world,” Rabbi Riskin said, “This has been an unforgettable Shabbat. I cannot think of a better way to celebrate Ohr Torah Stone’s 20th anniversary.”
In speaking about leadership, Riskin differentiated between power and influence, stressing the latter. He extolled education as the best means to effect change, and he encouraged the rabbis to be optimistic that they have the capacity to change the world. “To really lead, one needs a vision,” he told the spellbound audience. “If you only dream when you are sleeping, nothing will come of it. But if you dream while you are awake, and if you try with all your might to make that dream come true, then chances are that you will succeed.”
In an inspiring parting statement to his former students, Rabbi Riskin said, “We, who believe in a G-d that is invisible, can dare to dream the impossible and believe it will come true.” He should know: twenty years later, the realization of Riskin’s own vision, Ohr Torah Stone, is far greater than the dream itself.
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