"Rabbi Sid Schwarz moved every demographic cohort of our congregation closer to prayer and closer to finding their spiritual home in the congregation where they already belong. Over the course of one shabbat, Rabbi Schwarz connected with our eight year olds and our eighty year olds, our teenagers, our parents and grandparents as well as our singles, and in turn connected them to one another, to our community, and to God. Remarkably, Sid found a way to, simultaneously, connect with our Classical Reformers, our New Agers, our Hasids, our Litvaks, and even our Apikorases. I never dreamed that so much could be accomplished in one weekend by one teacher." - Rabbi Mark Mahler Temple Emanuel Pittsburgh, PA
Over the past decade, some groundbreaking work has been done to redefine the American synagogue in ways to more effectively engage and inspire Jews. Despite enthusiastic reception to many of these new ideas, most American synagogues are stuck in an older paradigm. How can young rabbis help to transform the synagogues they will be asked to lead into spiritual communities that challenge the minds and touch the hearts of Jews? How can rabbis tap the many talents and gifts of members to create communities of empowered laity that will infuse new life and dynamism into their congregations? How can rabbis acquire some of the insights of systems theory and skills of change management to be effective change agents in their synagogues?
Date: October 26-29, 2006
Place: Isabella Freedman Jewish RetreatCenter, Falls Village, CT.
Faculty: Rabbi Sidney Schwarz, Rabbi Asher Lopatin and Cyd Weissman
Spirituality, Social Justice and the Rabbinate
The sources of Judaism are filled with references to the values of din, emet and shalom and more. All of these values point to the need for Jews to attend to the most vulnerable in our midst through acts of chesed, and tend to the social injustice we see in the world through acts of tzedek. How do these principles shape our respective rabbinates? How do we convey these values to the people that we serve? How do we fulfill our professional duties and also “walk the talk” of prophetic Judaism, especially when the two might come into conflict? Is it possible to engage with some of the most controversial issues of our time without causing conflict in our congregations?
Date: April 12-15, 2007
Place: Isabella Freedman Jewish RetreatCenter, Falls Village, CT.
Faculty: Rabbi Sidney Schwarz, Rabbi Jill Jacobs and Rabbi Or Rose
Five students per seminary will be nominated by their dean.
For more information, contact Megan Brudney at meganb@panim.org or (301)770-5070 x224
Sponsored by PANIM: The Institute for Jewish Leadership and Values
Co-Sponsoring Seminaries: Hebrew Union College (New York, Cincinatti, and Los Angeles), Jewish Theological Seminary of America, Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, Rabbinical School at Hebrew College (Boston), Academy for Jewish Religion, Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies, Yeshivat Chovevei Torah Rabbinical School, and ALEPH Rabbinic Program.
Underwritten by grants from the Lasko Family Foundations and the UJA Federation of New York.
About The Faculty
Rabbi Sidney Schwarz is the founder and president of PANIM: The Institute for Jewish Leadership and Values. He is also the founding rabbi of Adat Shalom Reconstructionist Congregation in Rockville, MD. Rabbi Schwarz is the author of Finding a Spiritual Home: How the New Generation of Jews Can Transform the American Synagogue (Jewish Lights), and the forthcoming Judaism and Justice: The Jewish Passion to Repair the World (Jewish Lights). Having served as the rabbi of two congregations for a total of 16 years and holding a Ph.D in Jewish history, Sid brings to this project the insights of a scholar and the experience of a rabbinic practitioner.
Rabbi Jill Jacobs is the Director of Education for the Jewish FundS for Justice. She received rabbinic ordination and an MA in Talmud/Rabbinics from the Jewish Theological Seminary, where she was a Wexner Fellow. Rabbi Jacobs also holds an MS in Urban Affairs from HunterCollege and a BA in Comparative Literature from ColumbiaUniversity. Her writings have appeared in a number of magazines, journals and websites, including Conservative Judaism, Tikkun, The Reconstructionist, Lilith, The Forward, Women in Judaism: A Multidisciplinary Journal, and MyJewishLearning.com.
Rabbi Asher Lopatin is the spiritual leader at Anshe Sholom, a modern Orthodox congregation in Chicago. He received his ordination from Rav Ahron Soloveichik and YeshivaUniversity. With an M.Phil and doctoral work in Arabic and Fundamentalist thought from OxfordUniversity, Rabbi Lopatin has been active in a wide variety of Jewish communal activities in Chicago. Along with his wife, Rachel Tessler Lopatin, he helped to found the halachic and multidenominational Chicago Jewish Day School.
Rabbi Or Rose is the Associate Dean: Director of Informal Education at the Rabbinical School of Hebrew College in Newton, MA. He is also the author of two books, God in All Moments: Spiritual and Practical Wisdom from the Hasidic Masters (Jewish Lights), and Abraham Joshua Heschel: Man of Spirit, Man of Action (JPS).
Cyd Weissman is the Director of The RE-IMAGINE Project of New York which works with over thirty congregations as part of the Experiment in Congregational Education. She is an adjunct professor at HUC-JIR in New York, specializing in organizational change.
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