Orthodox-Conservative rabbis conference
The first-ever conference between Orthodox and Conservative rabbis was considered very successful, according to the two local rabbis who served as hosts. The conference, convened from Sunday, November 4 through Tuesday, November 6 was hosted by Rabbis Ethan Linden of Shir Chadash Conservative Congregation and Uri Topolosky of Congregation Beth Israel.
The rabbis who attended the first-ever Orthodox-Conservative conference held at Shir Chadash and Beth Israel synagogues. (Photo courtesy Uri Topolosky)
Topolosky and Linden invited ten rabbis from across the country who had been ordained from their own rabbinical seminaries: Yeshivat Chovevei Torah (YCT) in Riverdale, NY (Modern Orthodox) and the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York (Conservative).
Of the ten invitees, two New York City Conservative rabbis – Barry Katz from Adis Israel of Riverdale and David Schuck of The Pelham Jewish Center – were unable to attend due to the lingering effects of Hurricane Sandy and the hardship their families would endure were they to be absent.
However, Conservative Rabbis Ethan Seidel of Washington, D.C.’s Tifereth Israel; Micah Peltz of Cherry Hill, NJ’s Temple Beth Shalom; and Josh Berkenwald of San Jose, CA’s Congregation Sinai did attend.
Joining them were YCT-ordained Rabbis Adam Scheier of Montreal’s Congregation Shaar Hashomayim; Jeffrey Fox of New York’s Yeshivat Maharat; and Saul Strosberg of Nashville’s Congregation Sherith Israel. The group studied at both Beth Israel and Shir Chadash over the course of the three days they were in town.
“There’s not been anything like this before that I know of,” confided Linden. “I think for everyone it was sort of a ‘first.’ People really seemed to like it.” In keeping it small, he said, they fostered a sense of intimacy and trust from the very outset of the conference.
Topolosky felt the diversity of the group with varying years of experience and different communities enhanced the event for attendees. “I thought it was amazing,” considered Topolosky. “It was really terrific.”
Assembling for the first time on Sunday night, the rabbis initially explored how they teach in their own communities in order to gain insight into each other’s methodology. That opened the opportunity to learn from each other and to share texts – some ancient and some contemporary – with one another, both Linden and Topolosky concurred.
One of the topics covered, for example, included the question regarding the obligation of the Jewish community to the state in paying taxes, obeying traffic laws, etc. This concept of “dina dimalchuta dina” (“The law of the kingdom is the law”) was considered by all the rabbis in their readings of passages from the Talmud and their own experience, Topolosky said.
During the times when they were not studying, the rabbis shared meals and generally got to know each other better. Several of the rabbis attended the Monday night New Orleans Saints game at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome, while others chose to spend the evening getting to know the city and their fellow rabbis even more and to learn from each other in a social environment.
“At the end of the day we’re all facing similar challenges,” Linden added. “We found a lot of common ground. It was very clear from the reaction at the end of this year’s conference that people wanted to do it again.”
Topolosky agreed. “We definitely want to plan one a year from now and, hopefully to expand it a little.”
