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The New York Times
In the Region
RELIGION
A New President for a
Diverse Board of Rabbis
By MARCELLE S.
FISCHLER, nytimes.com from the Web, February 26, 2008
Merrick, Feb. 24 -- LEADING a
board of 700 rabbis from across the Jewish spectrum — Reconstructionist, Reform,
Conservative and Orthodox — may be challenging.
But for Rabbi Charles A. Klein, a Conservative rabbi and for the last 30 years
the spiritual leader of the Merrick Jewish Center-Congregation Ohr Torah, it’s
practically a calling.
On Tuesday Rabbi Klein, 56, will be installed at his pulpit here as the 59th
president of the New York Board of Rabbis, the world’s oldest and largest
interdenominational rabbinical board.
In a recent interview in his book-lined office, he said he found “great meaning
in being able to cross denominational boundaries,” and hoped to “create some
solutions to the challenges that face Jewry as a whole, not Jewry as a
particular movement.”
The board, which was founded in 1881 and includes rabbis from New York City,
Long Island, New Jersey and Connecticut, grapples with global and national as
well as local issues.
“It is the only game in town where rabbis can dialogue and can join behind a
common agenda,” Rabbi Klein said. “In this time where harmony is really
not what you always find in Jewish communal life, it is an oasis.”
He hopes to create a lay model for a similar dialogue where Jews from different
movements “can also be together,” he said.
Rabbi Joseph Potasnik, executive vice president of the board, said that every
two years a rabbi representing a different Jewish movement assumes the top slot,
highlighting the organization’s commitment to pluralism.
Rabbi Marc A. Gellman, a former president of the Board of Rabbis and the rabbi
of Temple Beth Torah in Melville, said Rabbi Klein had “worked tirelessly to
bring the various parts of Judaism into at least creative tension if not
absolute cooperation.”
But while rabbis from divergent movements confer, and female and gay rabbis
are permitted according to the rabbinical board’s bylaws, those who
perform interfaith marriages are barred from membership.
“There is a consensus in the organization that the delicate balance in the
organization should be honored,” Rabbi Klein said. “That must be our overarching
value.”
Rabbi Klein is taking the helm at a time when the number of Jews in the
metropolitan area — about 1.4 million — is facing a significant decline.
In the 1950s, there were two million Jews in New York City alone; now there
are fewer than one million.
In Nassau County, where there are 220,000 Jews, in the last year or so, six
congregations have been combined into three and “many other congregations are on
the cusp of consolidations and mergers,” Rabbi Klein said.
In Suffolk County, which has 90,000 Jews, 8 out of 10 are not affiliated with a
Jewish institution, partly because of the cost of synagogue membership and
the rise in intermarriage, Rabbi Gellman said.
The fallout is especially notable among single, post-college adults, who are
“very, very disconnected and unconnected from Jewish life,” Rabbi Klein said.
“The only thing they know about the Jewish community is JDate,” the online
Jewish dating service.
At the other end of the spectrum, empty nesters who relocate often forgo their
synagogue affiliations, he said.
Among other concerns for Rabbi Klein’s board are the state of Israel, crises in
Darfur and other parts of the world and interfaith dialogue with both Christians
and Muslims.
Two years ago the board established Dayenu, an initiative to train rabbis to
recognize, respond to and work with the victims of domestic violence, a problem
affecting one in four Jewish households, according to Rabbi Klein.
Besides working as a chaplain for hospitals, prisons and other institutions,
Rabbi Klein has been president of the Rabbinical Assembly of Nassau-Suffolk and
chairman of the Rabbinic Advisory Council of United Jewish Appeal-Federation of
Jewish Philanthropies.
He was ordained and received his doctorate of divinity from the Jewish
Theological Seminary of America. He also holds a master’s degree from Columbia
University’s School of Social Work.
Besides preaching, Rabbi Klein spends much of his time shepherding the 700
families in his congregation. He has also been working on an update to his
book, “How to Forgive When You Can’t Forget: Healing Our Personal
Relationships” (Liebling Press, 1995), which once landed him on “Oprah.”
His first priority, he said, remains Betty, his wife of 35 years, who sells
long-term care insurance; their four children; and three grandchildren.
Rabbi Klein was born in Brooklyn and grew up in Flushing. A Revolutionary War
buff, he initially studied history at Brandeis University, then switched to
Judaic Studies.
As president of the rabbinical board, he said, his role is also to make sure
that in the metropolitan area, the Jewish community and culture are represented
“as an important part of the mosaic.”
E-mail:
lijournal@nytimes.com
(Emphasis Added)
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