nspired by the Jewish values of
ahavat ger
(
loving the stranger)
and
keruv
(
drawing near all who are far), HUC-JIR’s rabbini-
cal students are tackling the challenges of unaffiliation and
intermarried families head-on. The core curriculum through the
Schusterman Outreach Weekend Institutes
puts them at the center
of real life issues that they will confront as future congregational lead-
ers: preparation for a wedding, studying for a conversion, meeting
with interfaith couples about their struggles/paths, planning for a
child’s
bar/bat mitzvah
,
dealing with holiday dilemmas, and more.
They explore these issues through their core text courses, mentored
infield experiences, and meetings with leading experts and rabbis who
are applying a welcoming grass-roots effort.
At the Schusterman Institutes, students are required to delve into
the most innovative outreach strategies designed to serve men and
women, interfaith and interracial couples, converts, those in the
process of conversion and religious seekers, Jews of color, and single
adults and blended families, and assist them in making meaningful
Jewish choices in the context of membership in a Reform congrega-
tion. At the same time, students learn how Reform congregations can
become more welcoming through effective recruitment, engagement,
and lifelong retention of members. Other outreach learning opportu-
nities take place with the Jewish Outreach Institute, Introduction to
Judaism courses, and InterfaithFamily.com.
Students spend time with rabbis and congregations that have cre-
ated exceptional outreach programs, including Rabbi Billy Dreskin and
Woodlands Community Temple in Greenburgh, NY; Rabbi Peter Ru-
binstein and Central Synagogue in New York City; Rabbi Lewis H.
Kamrass and Isaac M. Wise Temple in Cincinnati; Rabbi Jeremy Mor-
rison and the Riverway Project in Boston, and Rabbi Jeffrey Sirkman
and Larchmont Temple in Larchmont, NY, among others.
Last year, students participated in the inaugural Schusterman
Outreach Weekend Institute at Temple Israel in Boston. Their re-
sponses reflect the benefit of such intensive learning experiences, “I
came away inspired and with a renewed sense of dedication to the im-
portance of creating a welcoming community within synagogue life,
said
Sandi Intraub
,
NY ’10.”
Neil Hirsch
,
NY ’10, added “I have
been enriched and already begun to figure out how to amend my ap-
proach to engagement work in my fieldwork position. Our
congregants are looking for something and want to be involved in our
community and we need to find a way to help them.”
Olga Bluman
,
L ’09, affirmed the “importance of providing many entry points into
the congregation,” and pointed to the need to “hear more about what
happens to the members once they are engaged and how they keep be-
ing engaged once they are part of the ‘mainstream.’”
This year all 4th-year students will find more answers to their
questions at the Schusterman Outreach Weekend Institutes at Temple
Emanu-El in Dallas, TX, Larchmont Temple in Larchmont, NY or
Congregation Beth Am in Los Altos, CA. The goals are for the stu-
dents to articulate their personal views as future rabbis about outreach
in general and the inclusion of intermarried families specifically.
Furthermore, they will become conversant with the challenges and
opportunities facing the synagogue and the Jewish community be-
cause of changing demographics and the increasing number of
unaffiliated. They will enhance their ability to lead institutional change
as they gain a better sense of who they are as leaders.
The Schusterman Outreach Weekend Institutes will focus on:
•
The role of the non-Jew in the synagogue
•
The approaches of other Movements and institutions
•
The congregation’s work with interfaith couples before/after
marriage, before/after having children, and facing life cycle events
•
Interfaith families bringing up Jewish children
•
Boundaries and open doors in the areas of liturgy and ritual,
membership, and governance
•
Diverse viewpoints on intermarriage officiation
•
Professional/lay partnerships in effecting change within the congre-
gation
Upon their return, students will be required to process their learn-
ing and express their personal points of view through a meaningful
writing or action project. Most importantly, upon Ordination, they
will emerge from HUC-JIR with greater knowledge and a stronger un-
derstanding as they set out to build welcoming, sacred communities.
OUTREACH:
BUILDING WELCOMING,
SACRED COMMUNITIES
20
| THE CHRONICLE
Jean Bloch Rosensaft
