Companion story: Chief Rabbi Lau tells of outreach plans
By Donald H. Harrison
SAN DIEGO –An unusual, pluralistic gathering Tuesday, Jan. 13, inside a Chabad synagogue was inadvertently prompted by the decision of Rabbi David Lau, chief Ashkenazic rabbi of Israel, to cut short his American tour so he can pay a shiva call on the Jewish families mourning victims of the Charlie Hebdo and Hyper Cacher massacres in Paris.
Lau originally had been expected to speak Jan. 20 at a community forum, to be co-sponsored by the Jewish Federation of San Diego County, at the La Jolla Marriott Hotel. But when Lau moved up his schedule by a week, a new venue had to be found for the overflow Diaspora crowd who came to hear one of Israel’s chief rabbis. Chabad of the University City neighborhood in San Diego was chosen, and the sanctuary was converted to a social hall. The mehitza was taken down, the Torah Ark was covered and the bima was set up for a seated conversation between Rabbi Lau and host Chabad Rabbi Moishe Leider. As befits a social event, men and women sat together in the audience.
What was new was that in this sanctuary/social hall, greetings were extended to the Orthodox chief rabbi by the woman who is the new president of the San Diego Rabbinical Association (SDRA), Rabbi Aliza Berk, director of the Jewish Healing Center, an affiliate of Jewish Family Service. Orthodoxy does not recognize women as rabbis, yet Berk’s title was used when she was called to the bima area by Don Schlesinger, the Jewish Federation’s drector of community partnerships. Rabbi Lau received the greetings with equanimity, although, according to Rabbi Leider, the participation of a female rabbi in the proceedings had not been known by the chief rabbi in advance.
Later, Rabbi Berk, who became SDRA president last July, said she was pleased by the reception accorded to her, adding that the Orthodox rabbinate and Chabad seemed more open than before to welcoming rabbis and congregants from the full Jewish denominational spectrum. “They made space for all of us to be present,” she said.
From an Orthodox perspective, Berk was speaking at a community meeting–arranged by the Jewish Federation of San Diego County in association with Chabad of University City–and not at a religious service. But for non-Orthodox Jews, used to mixed seating, the occasion very much had the feel of a religious gathering. Rabbi Lau led the audience/ congregation in a Hebrew reading of Psalm 20, seeking strength for those who mourn, followed by San Diego philanthropist Bertie Woolf reading the same psalm in English. Benjamin Gurfinkel, a Holocaust survivor who was a child when his family took to hiding in World War II Poland, lit candles of mourning in memory of the Paris victims.
“In times of crisis our diverse San Diego Jewish community comes together,” said Schlesinger. “We did so last summer during Operation Protective Edge, and we raised in San Diego County millions of dollars for critical humanitarian relief in support of Israel’s suffering from attacks by Hamas terrorists. We now stand in solidarity to mourn for the victims of last week’s terrorist attacks in France, killed while shopping in a kosher market. Whether we are Jews by birth, or Jews by choice; whether we are Jews who marry Jews, or Jews who marry non-Jews; whether we are Jews affiliated with the Reconstructionist, Reform, Conservative, Orthodox, or Chabad houses of worship–or Jews who have no synagogue affiliation–there is still so much that we as Jews have in common. The Jewish Federation of San Diego County is launching collaborative initiatives throughout our Jewish community to engage teens, young adults, new residents and interfaith housholds to provide older adults in our community with support as they age in their residences, and of course support for our beloved State of Israel.”
Schlesinger said rabbis across the spectrum of Jewish denominations are eager to cooperate with these initiatives and “wherever possible to break down the barriers that separate us as Jews and find the common ground and values that connect us as Jews, including devotion to family, tikkun olam, and Israel.”
He noted that Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA) convenes a rabbinic round table consisting of rabbis from all movements and seeks to “promote open respectful dialogue regarding religious diversity and pluralism in the Jewish state.” He said JFNA provides support to Israel’s Reform, Conservative and Orthodox movements.
“It is in this spirit that I am pleased now to introduce Rabbi Aliza Berk, the president of the San Diego Rabbinical Association,” said Schlesinger.
Berk opened with a discussion of the Torah portion of the week, Va’eira. “The first line of the text reads ‘God spoke to Moses, and said to him, “I am the Eternal.”‘”
“Just as we each want to be known by another and by God, so too does God express God’s desire to be known by Moshe and the Jewish people. May each of us here today continue to engage in Talmud Torah, Torah study, in order to appreciate the teaching of our wonderful Jewish tradition and also to deepen our personal connection to God.”
Berk continued: “We live in a time where the source of so much conflict stems from people unwilling to get to know those different from themselves, to empathize with them, and to understand them. Sadly this is also true amongst Jews. That’s why this evening is so sweet and its promise so inspiring. There are so many differences between us, but we are here together acknowledging the important bottom line: we are all Jews with a stake in the Jewish future all around the world and in Israel as here in San Diego. So I thank Rabbi Lau for wanting to know us and to be known by us here in San Diego.”
On a more personal note, Rabbi Berk added: “I feel so honored to have the opportunity to meet Rabbi Lau and listen to his words of wisdom. On behalf of SDRA, the San Diego Rabbinical Association, I would like to express my appreciation to Rabbi Leider for welcoming the San Diego Jewish community to this very special event. I feel so hopeful that Reform, Reconstructionist, Conservative, Orthodox and Hassidic Jews can come together. Tonight we realize how much we actually have in common, and there is so much we can learn from one another.
“The words –‘All Jews are responsible for one another’ — have special meaning to me today after this tragic week in which terrorists murdered innocent Jews and journalists in France, it is important to remember the inspiring values of our tradition. When we live by the Jewish values of tzedakah (righteous living), tikkun olam (repairing the world) and gemilut hasadim (acts of loving kindness) we can each in our own way transform the lives of others as well as ourselves. We also pray for our brothers and sisters in Israel. May this community be blessed with the vision, courage and determination to bring light, hope and healing into the lives of Jews of Israel and throughout the world. And may we all come away from this evening knowing each other just a little bit better.”
The packed sanctuary included numerous rabbis from the Orthodox and Hassidic communities of San Diego County, as well as a smattering of non-Orthodox rabbis including Rabbi Ralph Dalin, the community chaplain, and Rabbi Michael Berk, senior rabbi of Congregation Beth Israel and husband of Rabbi Aliza Berk.
*
Harrison is editor of San Diego Jewish World. Your comment may be posted in the box provided below or you may send it directly to the author at donald.harrison@sdjewishworld.com
Pingback: Chief Rabbi Lau tells of outreach plans - San Diego Jewish World