For the Love of Judaism
Rabbi Michael Pont, Senior Rabbi at Marlboro Jewish Center, shares his message of love, inspiration and Torah.
For the Love of Judaism
Rabbi Round Up
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In the Conservative Jewish world, few Rabbis have their fingers on pulse like Rabbi Jacob Blumenthal. Rabbi Blumenthal serves concurrently as the CEO of the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism and the Rabbinical Assembly through a strategic alignment between the two organizations.
This week, Rabbis Pont and Blumenthal have a wide ranging organization on everything from the laws that govern conservative Judaism, interfaith marriage, the war in Israel and much more. Most importantly, they share their vision for the bright future of the movement that both of them have helped lead in their communities.
Shalom, I am Rabbi Michael Pont, and this is For the Love of Judaism. And today I have with me Rabbi Jacob Blumenthal. Rabbi Blumenthal has served concurrently as the CEO for the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism and for the Rabbinical Assembly. Rabbi Blumenthal was ordained at the Jewish Theological Seminary in 1999, and he served for over 20 years as the founding rabbi of Shaare Torah Congregation in Gatorsburg, Maryland. He continues to live in Gathersburg with his wife Marcy. He has two young adult children, Jory and Ranna. And he spent his free time cycling, reading, and searching out the latest innovations and prayer experiences in Jewish music. And also on a personal note, uh Jacob and I have known each other for what, over 30 years because we were classmates in the class of 99 of JTS as rabbis. So Jacob, it is so great to reconnect with you, to have you on the program today. I hope that you are well.
SPEAKER_01Thank you. It's it's really an honor to be with you and to uh to be a part of this podcast. I uh I happen to love Judaism. So I think it's a perfect opportunity to talk. And I love the Jewish people and um and Jewish life. So for us to get to talk a little bit about that that mutual care and love uh, you know, for this work is uh is is thrilling for me. So thanks for inviting me.
SPEAKER_00Absolutely. Amen. Let's let's dive in. Um, Jacob, what what is not everybody who's listening knows about conservative Judaism, even though it's been around for now centuries. Um, just give us a history lesson. Like, where did conservative Judaism come from?
SPEAKER_01Sure. So, first of all, the most important thing that I think in the modern context we need to know is that the name conservative actually isn't about a political statement. It's the idea that we conserve Jewish tradition. So to be conservative is to pay close attention to Jewish tradition and to value it, while at the same time holding it in balance with modernity, with modern values and the needs of people in the modern era. Um, and it's that balance, that sort of diversity, pluralism, centrism that we embrace, and which actually I think is our gift as a movement to the Jewish world and actually to the world at large in a time of real extremism and polarity. This is a it's an opportunity for us to say, wait a minute, there's also a space in life, in Jewish life, for us to come together, learn from each other, talk about difference, um, embrace diversity in ways that we've been doing now for well over a century as a conservative masorti movement. Uh, the movement itself began uh in two different ways. One is as a as a response to reform Judaism, in that it wanted to embrace and conserve Jewish tradition in a way that Reform Judaism is at its roots decided to turn away from. And also in an academic and sort of ideological space, the founders of our movement, like Solomon Schechter and uh and others, they wanted to employ um modern approaches to Jewish to texts, an historical approach, uh modern critical approach to those texts and read them with what they thought of as intellectual honesty, not just accepting the way that the rabbis read those texts, but to understand the context in which the rabbis read and developed those texts and Jewish traditions. So we emerge with a sense of tradition that evolves for time and place.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and I love all of that. Look, you and I have been conservative rabbis now for decades, and uh we both buy into that mission of conservative Judaism. I'm glad you highlighted that it is not a political statement. Rather, we are trying to conserve tradition by embracing both tradition, but also understanding that, you know, like you said, it evolves. I mean, we describe the Torah as May, flowing waters. It is not meant to be stagnant. It is being Jewish is dynamic. It is changing. And part of what we try to do, I think, is continually try our best to understand the world around us and how uh Judaism can and should respond so that we can be dynamic Jews living a great, fulfilling Jewish life in the 21st century. And that's, I think, I think the way we do it. I love the way we do it. I know that different, there are different approaches. I happen to love our approach.
SPEAKER_01Right. And and the first thing that I would say, and one of the things that I think is different now in the 21st century than the way we might have spoken about denominations in the previous era is that uh, you know, I think we recognize that there are lots of different ways to be Jewish. I'm not in a space of judgment about um my fellow Jews who are Orthodox or Reform or Reconstructionist or Chabad or, you know, and Hasidic. They're all beautiful expressions of this tradition that we've inherited in different ways. And I value the relationships I have and the deep love I have for the Jewish people in the many ways that Judaism is expressed religiously, secularly, um, in lots of different ways. The other thing I'll just note is that because like the way that we look at Judaism in our movement is that it is inspired, first of all, by a moment of connection with the divine at Mount Sinai, and even in our own day, the ways in which we continue to connect um in spiritual ways and encounter God, but it is also framed as a human experience. In other words, no one has, no two people have the same experience of the divine. And therefore, the way that we express our Judaism also is different, not just among the denominations, but even within our own movement. We may reach different conclusions about what God wants from us in this moment or what Jewish tradition asks of us in this moment in balance with modernity. So, so one of the things I often, you know, one of the critiques that's often brought to our movement is that how can you have synagogues that embrace zoom on Shabbat? And how can you have synagogues that won't use zoom on Shabbat? How uh will some people only drink wine that has a Hesher on it, and some will drink wine that that might have a different level of kashroot, right? And and I just remind folks that that's actually part of our evolving process in Judaism is that um we actually don't come up with one answer about what the right way is to be Jewish. We come up with a with a set, with a with a spectrum of different ways that we feel are appropriate, depending on where you live, the space and you know your family, um, your community, and what their needs are, and that we frame what we call a halacha, a set of norms, a way of being in the world that is in dialogue between the needs of modernity and the voice of tradition.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. All right, so let's let's talk about United Synagogue or the acronym USCJ, United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, uh, the umbrella organization of conservative synagogues in North America. Um, tell us a little bit about the USCJ. And the USCJ provides great programming for its member synagogues to support us. Tell us about two or three programs that you're really excited about.
SPEAKER_01Great. So, first of all, I'll just say that uh, as you noted at the very beginning, I I have I wear two keypotes. Um I sort of uh I fulfill two roles as uh as a leader within the rabbinical assembly, association of rabbis, 1600 around the world, and a network of 540 congregations across North America, we call USCJ or United Synagogue. And one of the about that alignment, we're not merged as organizations, but we are aligned in a common purpose, is that we can focus on the needs of the Jewish people, the needs of our congregations, the needs of our rabbis, and focus less on the individual interests of our unique organizations. And that has actually, at least for me and for much of our leadership, transformed the way that we think about the world because we're now focused on what's the impact we can have. We have a long-term goal over 10 years where we want to reach, uh, we want to be engaging as a movement a million and a half people every year at different levels. Some of them because they are leaders in their synagogues coming to Shoal every week, others because they are listening to a great podcast by one of our rabbis, or they are um engaged digitally through social media or through our new website, exploringjudaism.org. Um, we want to create spaces of engagement for folks who are in synagogues, not in synagogues, Jewish, Jewish adjacent. And we want to expand from what I estimate right now is about 750,000 people that we reach with our Jewish operating system to a million and a half or more. So that's a big project, and it means redefining the work that we do as a movement. And that includes the work that USCJ does. So we are very proud, for example, that uh we continue to engage our teens. Um, USY, which is our youth movement piece, has uh has been changing and will continue to change as it evolves to meet the needs of teenagers. But even just this past weekend, we had hundreds of teens who were engaged in our various programs across North America. And uh we're excited about that. Our recent convening um this past December in Baltimore included um dozens of young adults, dozens of teens, leaders, rabbis, cantors from all over the all over North America. We had a beautiful Shabbaton with probably some of the best prayer experience, Davening that I've experienced in my life. Just absolutely beautiful. And then, like, we really engaged on key issues around how do we engage interfaith families? Um, how do we think about Shabbat observance? How do we strengthen our uh relational approaches to Judaism in our synagogues? So we're we're really tackling key and important issues. And the other piece that I think is really exciting is that um because of this alignment between USCJ and the RA, we can think beyond the walls of synagogues and we can think about the ways that we could engage more people. And key to that, and late in the game, um, is to think about how do we reach consumers directly? Like how do we reach um Jewish and Jewish curious people through this thing called the internet, right? Through like having a website creates content that is intensely relevant and meaningful to people who are on any kind of Jewish journey. So we created this uh space called exploringjudaism.org. We're now reaching tens of thousands of people every month. And I expect that we'll be able to expand that dramatically uh in coming years.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, that's terrific. Um I love that the USCJ and the RA are now aligned. Um, you know, and you're like kind of the CEO of both. Makes so much sense because I feel like in the past, sometimes it felt like you know they were two separate organizations and sometimes at loggerheads. Sometimes there was tension between synagogues and rabbis over maybe over employment issues or you know, vision. The alignment emphasizes that we are one movement, and like you said, our job, our mission is to engage as many Jewish people, Jew curious people as possible. Um so I I thought that was a great, great move, and I think it's working out very well. You mentioned the convening, I was there, I felt the energy. It was a terrific, terrific uh conference in Baltimore. Okay, so um, why don't we talk about rabbis, right?
SPEAKER_01My other favorite topic. That's right.
SPEAKER_00We love rabbis. So tell us about your work with rabbinical assembly or the RA. I mean, you see, you mentioned that the RA has uh 1,600 rabbis, not just North America, but you know, Israel, Europe, you know, throughout the world, South America. How many rabbis are we graduating from our two seminaries? Where are they working? Do you feel like as a movement that we're ordaining enough rabbis or not enough, too many? What's the job situation like? Just give us give us a whole rabbi roundup.
SPEAKER_01Sure, I like that rabbi roundup. So as I said, yes, so we have about 1,600 rabbis all over the world. And I also emphasize because sometimes people don't realize that half of our rabbis don't work in synagogue settings. Half of our rabbis work as chaplains, they work um on college campuses, they have entrepreneurial projects to engage Jews in different communities, they are in the military. So, you know, it's fascinating. One of the fascinating pieces of my job is to have windows into the vast number of faces in which our rabbis are creating an impact, introducing Judaism and Jewish life to all sorts of people and creating um meaning and um just tremendous connection and experience uh through their work. So, first of all, I'll just say that it's it's inspiring uh both to see the work that our synagogues do, but what the work of our rabbis uh in all of these different spaces. Uh the fact is, uh we could use every rabbi we could possibly produce. The the Jewish world and beyond are crying out for rabbis, rabbinic leadership, a rabbinic voice. And we don't have enough of them. Um and we're not we're not creating enough, we're not ordaining enough every year. Some of that is um just generational difference. Um all most of the um religious communities in uh in the world and in North America aren't producing enough clergy. Some of it is because it's a challenging job, the the work-life balance can sometimes be complicated, raising a family can sometimes feel complicated. And so uh folks are are a little bit you know skeptical of whether it's the right career for them. Also, um people have lots of ways, uh, besides becoming a clergy person to uh make a difference in the world these days. Many careers that weren't necessarily focused on the social good are now spaces where you can do that. And at the same time, you know, what I what I'm reminded from my own experience is um there's no greater gift that uh that I could imagine than the kinds of impact that I've had as a rabbi being in people's lives, creating one-on-one relationships uh with individuals, with families, being with them in really deep moments of joy and of sorrow and crisis and opportunity, and having that opportunity to understand their stories, to have that they feel heard, valued, loved, cared for, and inspired. So it's tremendous work. Right now we're we're ordaining somewhere between maybe 20 and 30 rabbis a year through our major seminaries. And that is not nearly enough to cover the need. Uh and one of the things that we're starting to look at is what is that pipeline that draws people towards the rabbinate? How can we, especially as rabbis and educators, be more effective in tapping people and saying, like, you know what? Have you ever thought of being a rabbi? And what I'd encourage your listeners to do is to think about who they know and whether they themselves might be interested or who do they know that really has that like special soul that would find meaning in this work and might want to think about it and have them reach out to Michael Pont or to me, you know, and and have a conversation. Like, could this be uh something that would bring meaning and joy, purpose uh to their lives?
SPEAKER_00We need every one of you. All right, folks, you heard it here. We need more rabbis. And I agree actually. I there are certain congregants, um, young people who I've said to them, you know, have you thought about being a rabbi? I just want to plant those seeds, if nothing else. And uh I I agree with you 100%, Jacob. I take that mission seriously.
SPEAKER_01I mean, and I do it, I say it because I've loved it. I've loved every minute of being a rabbi. I type now cannot imagine a different career, a different path. I'm so grateful. It took, I wasn't sure it's what I wanted to do when I finished college. Um, I spent time in youth work, being an educator, social worker, sort of combination administrator, like all of those different things before I realized that this is really what I wanted to do with my life. And I I I would never look back. I am just so grateful for the for the experiences I've had, the relationships I've built, the opportunities to to teach and to learn together. It's just, you know, I think about it and how it wonderful it's been for my life. I would wish that for other people. Um, you know, if they feel like it's it's a space that they'd like to explore.
SPEAKER_00Yes, so agree. I I feel completely, completely blessed uh in every way, thanks in large part to my rabinet. And it has fulfilled me as a human being. Absolutely. All right, Jacob, one of the arms of rabbinical assembly is the Committee on Jewish Law and Standards, or as we call it, the CJLS, uh, which offers guidance to the entire Jewish world on matters of Halacha Jewish law. Tell us about, tell us more about CJLS, or sometimes it's called the Law Committee, and why this arm of the movement is so important.
SPEAKER_01So the law committee is a really important piece of the work not only of the rabbinical assembly, but of the movement as a whole. And there are representatives actually on the law committee from the United Synagogue and from other arms of the movement, um, also from other parts of the world besides North America. Um, and as I mentioned at the beginning, one of the defining features of our movement is an understanding that there is this thing called halacha, the way of being. Halacha means like the path, right? So it's from the word, you know, holich, like to walk. It's the way in which we walk through through life and through the world. And we believe that there is a space for norms and expectations around what it means to be Jewish. Like when I think about Jewish tradition, Jewish law, I think about it actually, since I was a literature major in college, I think about it as like lived poetry, right? Like the rituals that we do, the way we experience Shabbat or keeping kosher or celebrating holidays, or the ways that we treat one another. Those are in many ways metaphors that we can live, you know, through our actions, not just read on a page, but we actually get to do them. Um, and so a lot of the meaning and powerful spiritual experience of being Jewish comes through this sense of halacha. And our our responsibility is to think about how we can create that set of norms, principles, expectations, values in conversation with modernity, right? Actually, so one of our colleagues, Rabbi Aaron Alexander, gave a beautiful talk at our most recent convening in December of 23, talking about how halachic conversation is actually a conversation about values, that we often share the values, but we often put them in different priority order. And when we see different resolutions to a halakhic legal question in Jewish tradition, it's often because we are prioritizing one set of texts or values over another, and others will come to different conclusions. So the job of the law committee isn't to come up necessarily with one answer, but um often produces a variety of answers about a specific question, right? So just for example, you know, when we talk about using Zoom on Shabbat to uh broadcast services, some congregations won't use it at all. Some will use it uh like all in with a very interactive experience, others will use it just as sort of a streaming mechanism, but in a very passive way where there's no active intervention. And that's all based on different interpretations of Jewish law, again, because while inspired by a divine encounter, it's also very dependent on our uh human assessment and a human process of discernment. And to me, that's actually the exciting part of our movement. And it's the exciting part of a law committee is to see these holy conversations, conversations about values, about how we conserve tradition, and also um mediate it with the needs of this moment and with the needs of our people. One of the things that I find we are now moving towards, um, and which I'm really trying to encourage is and to explore is an idea of what would it look like to have halacha that is what I would call people-centered. In other words, not centered only on the needs of the system of halacha, but also centered on what are the needs of people and how can Jewish law help people express their innermost needs and their desire for spiritual connection in a way that is also inclusive and reflective of the values that we are living, you know, in modern society.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I love, I love this, Jacob, because you know, people hear the word um law, you know, halacha, you know, the easy definition, I guess, is Jewish law. And the word law tends to be a turnoff because people think, oh, it's gonna be dry and it's gonna tell it's telling me what I have to do. And that's not what halacha is. I love how you expressed it as, you know, living poetry. You know, we're supposed to engage with tradition and explore the ways that tradition can guide us to live our best Jewish lives. And it does speak to the issues that are affecting us right now. I interviewed for this podcast our colleague and friend and classmate, uh David Fine, about his new Cuba about electric vehicles and the use of demand for that. Very interesting. I saw that the CJLF has put out positions about the use of cannabis, which is you know a nationwide, worldwide phenomenon and is challenging us uh in this country legally. And we as a tradition, we have something to say about that. So absolutely agree with everything you're saying. Alpha is meant to help us engage deeply with our tradition and help us to explore the absolute action, that's what we have to do, but help us give us guidance about how best to use. Lives.
SPEAKER_01And by the way, you know, it's interesting. I was listening to a report uh a couple days ago. There's been a recent Pew report about religious life in America and how many young people are turning away from religion and consider themselves to be what we call nuns, right? You know, people of no religion. And I think it's because they believe that religion will not be able to give them reliable and inspiring answers to the questions they seek. So they are looking to find other ways to solve these questions. And to me, that's just so painful to see because I know that we actually have really beautiful, rich spaces of tradition and conversation about these values that can help people make moral and other kinds of decisions for their lives, right? In a space that's not judgmental, but in a way that is a space of inspiration, of guidance, of support, you know, paired with um, you know, terrific rabbis and other clergy, you know, to really enrich our lives. And uh and I'm hoping that we can evolve a halacha that will really speak to people and bring some of those folks back into our spaces, you know, in various ways so that they can experience that richness as well.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. And you know what? I'll give a commercial uh for United Synagogue right now. And right now at my synagogue, Marlborough Jewish Center, we are using uh Sulam for Emerging Leaders, which is such a fantastic curriculum provided by United Synagogue to its member congregations, where we are encouraging the next generation of lay leadership at our synagogue. And uh in the first session, and Jacob, you know this because you know the curriculum, uh, I showed all of the participants in our cohort a page of the Talmud. And I showed them how you have the main text in the center, but in the margins are all of these commentaries go beyond the eight generations of Talmudic Raditz who have these conversations. And I said emphatically, and I believe this 100%, that we are continuing those conversations, that we are on the page of Talmud just as much as what's actually on the page. And that conversation has to be ongoing. Um, and it's just to me, that's such an exciting idea that it doesn't stop. The conversations keep going to figure out the best way for us to live our Jewish lives.
SPEAKER_01Absolutely. And uh and I hope we can bring more people, more and more people into that conversation, right? That's why if we could have a million and a half people engaged in some way in that ongoing conversation as they live this poetry, as they engage in the conversation about values, as we seek to conserve our tradition, but also like really find meaning for it with it in our lived experience uh in the 21st century. Like it's very, it's a really powerful idea. And uh, and I just hope we can extend that invitation in ways that feel welcoming, inclusive, and uh and inspiring. Amen.
SPEAKER_00Now, Jacob, maybe we've already addressed this, but I'm gonna say it anyway. You know, there are a lot of naysayers out there. I have heard, I sometimes hear people say that conservative Judaism is dying and it will disappear completely in a matter of years. Now, I completely disagree with that sentiment. Could you, and I'm again, we've been talking about it, but could you just give us an elevator pitch response to this um sentiment?
SPEAKER_01Sure. So I'll do it and I think we have to divide that thought into two parts. The idea of conservative Judaism, this idea of conserving tradition and being inspired and um and having it in conversation with modernity, like that is a timeless idea. Um, it's actually, to my mind, what Judaism has been doing for millennia. Like that's what we've been doing. That's what those rabbis on the page of Talmud were doing 2,000 years ago and it was what we're continuing to do today. I don't think that conversation is gonna die. I think that's only gonna intensify and we're gonna invite more people into it. When people talk about the movement and whether it's healthy or or has challenges, I think they're often talking about the organizational piece of it. Like what is the infrastructure around which we invite that we use to invite people into these Jewish experiences and into this Jewish conversation? And I do think that that infrastructure is quite challenged. It was designed a century ago. Um, it doesn't embrace what we've come to learn about the ways that we could extend this invitation into living and conversation. And it needs a lot of help. It needs a lot of change. Our synagogues need to think about how they do this work. And if we don't become better at forming relationships, creating this invitation and going out and finding people where they are and bringing them in, um, many of our synagogues are not going to succeed going forward. If we as a movement don't create a broader infrastructure of engagement, not only centered on synagogues, but inviting people in through social media, through uh our website, through other forms of in-person and hybrid engagement. Um, if we're not doing that, people aren't going to find our synagogues, they're not going to find our communities, they're not going to find our rabbis, and we will be challenged to continue. So that piece, you know, how do we rethink the way that we engage teams? How do we begin to engage more adults and college, young adults and college students? Those are all questions that our movement has been uh, in some cases, in denial about or hasn't been structured to really ask. And it's the opportunity that I hope we're going to take to the RA, United Synagogue, the Canners Assembly, JTS and Rama and the Ziegler School. Like we're all going to work together with our partners across the movement to really engage in that conversation. And I believe, as I've, we're already seeing that more and more people are interested in joining if they feel that invitation.
SPEAKER_00Okay, Amen. Jacob, let's let's talk about the current war a little bit. You know that Hamas's terrorist attack on Israel on October 7th launched a war that has been very painful for all of us. Uh, how is the USCJ and the RA helping Israelis?
SPEAKER_01So, first I'll just say that um this has been a really hard time for all of us as Jews, as communities, as rabbis. I mean, I'm I'm thinking about it every day. I'm talking with my friends and colleagues in Israel every day. And um, you know, and I I've been to Israel twice now since uh since the start of this war. And it is just such a uh a difficult moment, a traumatizing moment and traumatized moment for many of us. Um and the most important thing that we uh need to do is to really stand together as a people. And it's been remarkable to see how some of the things that divided us before October 7th have been put aside so that we can uh really stand together as one people in the diaspora in Israel, across different outlooks and ways of being Jewish to really stand with Israel and as a people together in this moment. So that's just the first thing that I would say is there's a certain orientation that we need to be in a space of love and care and support for the hostages and their families, for the soldiers who have been killed and for their families, for hundreds of thousands of people who've been displaced from their homes in Israel and for the folks who are providing such care for them. And our movement, both here in uh North America and in Israel, is very caught up in all of that. First of all, of course, in Israel, people in our communities are fighting on the front lines, are defending Israel, you know, throughout the country. We have families in our communities who are who have hostages still in Gaza or who have been killed. So, first of all, you know, as a movement, we are holding each other because we are all affected as one family in this space. Our movement in Israel is providing tremendous support to the families of hostages. Uh we hold a daily service in Hostages Square in Tel Aviv. Um actually, um, we just had a Tubishvat Seder with those with families. Many of the folks who are leading that movement or are in other spaces leading volunteer efforts across the country in Israel are uh are from our communities. Our communities are engaged in helping families who've been displaced. So they're on the front lines doing that work, both fighting in the defense forces, but also, you know, supporting those families and those communities. From here in North America, we are doing our best to be of support and solidarity. So whether that's the empty chair that is on almost every Bima in our congregations across North America, with either the name of a hostage or you know, remembering the hostages, whether it is relationships that leaders in our communities here in North America are establishing with leaders of Israeli communities, whether it's the support for the Massorti movement financially and also through the JFNA's North American campaign to provide financial support, which has raised hundreds of millions of dollars to help communities in Israel. We're engaged in all of those ways, seeking to express our solidarity.
SPEAKER_00Excellent. And obviously, our movement, we will continue that support ongoing.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and interesting in this really hard moment is that um many Israelis are experiencing our communities for the first time. So, for example, we have many uh of our our key loads, our congregations in Israel that have buildings that include uh a shelter, uh like a bomb shelter or a self or a defense shelter. And there are many um older buildings in Israel that don't have them, including schools. So many schools are actually meeting in our congregation so that they have access to a shelter. And those children and their families are beginning to explore what you know, what is this place, what is this bait kiness at this synagogue that they've never entered into, you know, but now they have the opportunity to learn about. And our rabbis and congregational leaders are actually engaging those films, right? They're holding after school programs in those facilities, things like that. Also, um, and I've seen this firsthand and actually had these conversations. There are folks who are um being who are displaced from the south or from the north, and our congregations are, you know, supporting them. And then, you know, people say, Well, where are you from? What is this key law? What is this community that you're a part of? And they explain they're part of the Masorti movement, and they have whole conversations. And these are people who are secular, who are religious, ultra Orthodox. Um, and uh they've they've either never heard of the Masorti movement or have never really encountered somebody who is a part of one of our communities. So um it's actually this is happening in lots of different ways within Israel, that parts of the society that are generally sort of like, you know, in their own bubble are now sort of mixing and getting to know each other. And we'll see what the long-term effects are of that. But I'm hoping it will lead ultimately to a more pluralistic, tolerant and um and engaged culture within Israeli society.
SPEAKER_00That would be a wonderful, you know, one wonderful outcome of this really awful situation. Jacob, let's touch on one sort of hot button topic, at least here in North America, uh, and that's uh intermarriage. Um, according to current research, the intermarriage rate is about 70%, 70% in the non-orthodox Jewish world. Uh, tell us a little bit about what the USCJ and the Rabbinical Assembly, the RA, are doing in response to this phenomenon.
SPEAKER_01So this is a really important topic for us because it's a it's one of the most important phenomena within uh certainly American Jewish life, and I think in other parts of the world as well. So the first thing I would say is that our response as a movement in the 1960s, 70s, and even the 80s to this phenomenon of intermarriage was that we thought that if we could express disapproval of that choice, that um people might make other choices, right? So we could discourage intermarriage by expressing our disapproval. And we thought of intermarriage as being a threat to Jewish life, to the future of the Jewish people, and and we really put a stigma on folks who uh fell in love with somebody of another background and decided to get married. And I think we have uh now realized that that was a tremendous failure that, first of all, caused a lot of pain and a lot of harm to individuals and to families. And also uh it simply pushed people away. When you're 2% of the population, people fall in love with who they fall in love with, and love is love. It's not that they disliked Judaism or the Jewish people, they happened to just love their spouse even more and their partner even more. And so therefore, we had the result wasn't that we we affected the rate of intermarriage, but we uh we did push a lot of people away in really painful ways. And I think we've now, when I speak with colleagues, when I speak with the leaders in our congregation, um, we have realized that that was not a terrible approach and that actually we really need, and and we've all had the experience, at least I have, in 20 years in the pulpit rabbinet, of so many families where one person is of another background, but they are raising Jewish children, they are engaged in our community, they're traveling with us to Israel, they're driving their kids to the Hebrew school carpool. And when that person of another background, that parent, stands up on the Bhima and gives a uh a charge or a talk with their uh Vene Mitzvah child, it's sometimes the most beautiful and inspiring talk that I've heard, you know, on the Bhima. So it turns out that when we seek to engage folks, um, they respond to the invitation. And again, it's all about that invitation into Jewish life, to lived poetry, to Jewish experience. So it's clear that we need to change our approach. USCJ has an interfaith engagement specialist, Dr. Karen McGinnity, who does wonderful work with congregations to help them think about how we welcome uh people of other backgrounds, their partner, their Jewish partners, and their families as members of our community, in leadership roles, and works with rabbis to think about how we can include folks ritually in the life of the congregation. Um, we like to say there's a lot, far longer list of things that people of other backgrounds can do and can participate in in our services, in our community life, than the short list of things that because they are not formally Jewish, they um they can't participate in.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, Jacob, it is so refreshing to hear you say all of this because I completely agree that, you know, the approach that we had decades ago, 60s, 70s, 80s, this kind of circle the wagons approach and you know, kind of wag our finger and make people feel bad, like they were, you know, committing this huge sin by falling in love with someone who was of a different faith. I also think that was such the wrong approach and it pushed people away. I agree with you completely. And I agree 100% with what the movement is doing to you know take another approach and to try and be as welcoming as possible within the boundaries of conservative Judaism with still respect for you know for our traditions and the way we, our perspective of the world. So, Jacob, um I just want to thank you so much for your time today. This has been wide-reaching, terrific conversation. As I said, we're also great friends. It's always good to, you know, to connect with you. Any closing remarks before we uh wrap up?
SPEAKER_01Michael, thank you first of all for this invitation. Like every time we have I have this conversation, especially with someone like a Havrutta like you, and you've been my Havrutta in Torah study and now a Havrutta in this conversation, you know, it sharpens my thinking and helps me think about what's coming next. Look, when I reflect on my own role as a rabbi and the communities that I've been that I've led, I think about why people come into those communities. Like what are they looking for in Jewish life? And I think it falls into three buckets. And for some, it's one of the three, for others, it might be two or even all three, right? They look about it's about becoming belonging and believing. How do I become my best self? How can Judaism provide me with guidance, a halakha that helps me become the best person that I can be? Live up to my potential being created in God's image, belonging. What's my community? Like, where do I belong? Who are my friends? Who can help me move through life and push off the tremendous loneliness that comes in with modernity? And what do I believe in? What's my purpose in life? What gets me up in the morning? What are the big ideas outside of myself that give me purpose as a human being and as a Jewish person? And that's what our communities need to engage in. That's what we as rabbis do every day, helping people become, belong, and believe. And we know that that's gonna, that everybody's gonna be on their own journey on those three things. But if we can continue to inspire, to create experiences, um, to put texts and music and and opportunities for chesed, for love and care out in front of people and invite them in. I believe that the Jewish people are going to not only survive, but thrive.
SPEAKER_00Amen. Okay, everybody. That's Rabbi Jacob Blumenthal. Uh Jacob, thank you so much again for being here. Everybody, um, you can check out everything that United Synagogue offers at USDJ.org. You can check out the Rabbinical Assembly website at rabbinicalassembly.org. Um, and also, as Jacob mentioned, check out exploringjudaism.org, a great, great website for anyone who wants to learn more about Jewish life today in the 21st century. It's really a terrific website, and it's we're adding content all the time. It's really great. So, Jacob, again, thank you so much. You're very welcome on Dr.
SPEAKER_01Matz.
SPEAKER_00Dr. Matz. Amen. Well, again, everybody, that was Rabbi Jacob Blumenthal of United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism and the Rabbinical Assembly. Uh, really, what a great, you know, far-reaching conversation, not just about a movement, but about how to live the most dynamic, exciting, authentic Jewish life in the 21st century today. Uh, I hope everyone appreciated everything that the USDJ in the RA is trying to do to reach as many people as possible. As Jacob said, the goal is to engage with one and a half million Jews in North America. And that's that's a reachable goal. We just got to keep pushing and keep being dynamic. I loved what Jacob explained, what he told us about, all the new programs that uh our movement, the conservative movement, uh, is putting out there to help people today live their best Jewish lives. I think about my own path, how I became a rabbi, and conservative Judaism is a huge part of that. In particular, as Jacob mentioned, USY or United Synagogue Youth. I was very active in USY as a teenager. I give USY great credit for helping me to be the human being that I am today, because I realized in USY by going to our chapter meetings locally and conventions regionally, that it was great to be Jewish with friends. And, you know, I could be that way all the time. It wasn't just you were Jewish just when you went to synagogue or just at the Passover Seder, and I loved it. And then I went to college and got good leadership experiences. And I sort of put it all together after college. Um I worked at a conservative synagogue as a youth director. Uh, and that helped me, that in shadowing the rabbi there helped to bring it all together that I wanted to get involved. I wanted to be a Jewish leader. And uh the rabinet seemed the natural path for me to do that. I'm very much a product of the conservative movement, you know, living a dynamic life, Jewish life in the 21st century that I'm constantly thinking about how I can best do that personally and how I can help uh my congregants and everyone at large live their best Jewish lives in a complicated, sometimes painful, sometimes very exciting, constantly changing world that we live in. So, everyone, I hope you enjoyed this conversation with Rabbi Blumenthal. Uh thank you so much for listening, everybody, and peace out.