Archive for May, 2012

 

Interview with Rabbi Marcie Zimmerman

Posted on: May 23rd, 2012 by Hayim Herring

In writing my book, Tomorrow’s Synagogue Today. Creating Vibrant Centers of Jewish Life, I interviewed a number of rabbinic colleagues. They possess a lot of wisdom and writing my book was one way to bring that to a broader audience. If I had greater resources, I would’ve interviewed more. Fortunately, through my blog, I’m able to continue the process of learning and sharing. And in that spirit, I’m trying something new.

Going forward on a regular basis, I’ll be interviewing thought leaders about the state of the synagogue and the American Jewish community in general. Some of these leaders appear in my book, while others are new. My hope is to generate a deep conversation in which we can enrich our work with new approaches and ideas by learning from one another, and I invite you to be part of it.

This week, you’ll be watching an interview of Rabbi Marcia Zimmerman, Senior Rabbi of Temple Israel in Minneapolis, Minnesota. As we are local colleagues, I’ve had the pleasure of working with her for many years and she is a visionary leader-a phrase that I use carefully. I asked Rabbi Zimmerman how it is that her congregation, which is a well established, urban congregation is growing larger and younger.  Those are certainly not the trends of many congregations. You can hear what she has to say and read more about the subject in Tomorrow’s Synagogue Today.

Cantors Are and Always Have Been FULL Clergy Partners

Posted on: May 14th, 2012 by Hayim Herring

I want to apologize to my cantorial colleagues for my imprecision in my blog post on May 6, 2012. In that post, I implied that cantors are less than full-fledged clergy. That is not what I meant to say and I feel very badly for that mistake and the upset that it caused my cantorial colleagues. For the record, I’ve always considered cantors full partners in synagogue work and had the pleasure of having a cantorial partner for a decade when I was in congregational life. Given my views and experience, you can imagine how mortified I was when Cantor Steve Stein, Executive Vice-President of the Cantors Assembly, rightfully called me to account, for which I’m grateful.

My inaccuracy was a reminder about the exponential risks of causing hurt in our wired world. The purpose in my post was to highlight the recent change that Hebrew Union College made from “investing” to “ordaining” cantors, and a similar change under discussion at The Jewish Theological Seminary. Regardless of title, cantors have been and will continue to be full-fledged clergy and in synagogues where cantors and rabbis work as partners, it is incredibly positive for them and the congregation.

I’ve invited Cantor Stein to share the long-standing efforts that the Cantors Assembly has made to re-imagine the American Cantorate. And I thank him for taking the time to educate me and the broader public on these efforts. Rabbis, educators and all synagogue professionals can learn from the vision of the Cantors Assembly.

Rabbi Hayim Herring

I am grateful to Rabbi Herring for affording me the opportunity to share these thoughts on behalf of the Cantors Assembly. Our organization and profession has been keenly aware for some time that what synagogues are seeking relative to the role their Hazzan plays in the daily lives of congregants, along with the style of music worshipers want to hear during services, has changed dramatically.  We further recognize the vulnerability of our sacred profession as a result of the genuine economic challenges facing our congregations.

Moving forward, we believe that synagogues will somehow find the money, as they have always done, to engage what is known in sports as an “impact player.” This is an individual capable of genuinely enriching and uplifting the lives of congregants through her/his talent, creativity, knowledge, charisma and dedication.

We have approached the current challenges in a number of ways.  Some of those steps are as follow:

1) A growing number of colleagues are leading “Friday Night Live” type services in their congregations.  Methodology and repertoire for doing so are covered in sessions at our annual conventions as well as through our extensive and growing continuing education program.

2) Students enrolled in the H.L. Miller Cantorial School at the Jewish Theological Seminary are encouraged to simultaneously earn a Masters degree in Jewish education.

3) Cantors in the field and those currently enrolled as students are increasingly focusing on pastoral studies to enable them to be of greater assistance to their rabbinic colleagues in caring for congregants.

4) We are beginning to envision the Hazzan as the synagogue’s artistic director with further training in areas such as Drama and Storahtelling.

5) We have engaged an outside consulting firm to interview Rabbis and synagogue lay leaders to elicit their input relative to how the Hazzan can be most effective and helpful.

These are but a few examples of the ways in which we have begun to fashion a new vision and direction for the Cantorate.  To be sure, the challenges are significant.  But, rather than fear change, we embrace it as an opportunity to expand the ways in which we touch the lives of the countless adults and youngsters it is our good fortune and privilege to serve.

Hazzan Stephen J. Stein

Executive Vice President, Cantors Assembly

What do a CNN Anchor, a Rabbi, and a Museum CEO have in common?

Posted on: May 11th, 2012 by Hayim Herring
Little River Baptist Church Sign. Prayer - Wireless Access to God Without Roaming Fees.

From searunner.sv-timemachine.net

You’re probably waiting for a punchline, but this is not a joke. Rather, it was a panel discussion topic of a continuing education program for rabbis in which I was involved last week. (You can read more about the program in Jewish Theological Seminary Chancellor Arnie Eisen’s most recent blog post.) The issue underlying the program was the challenge of engaging younger generations, weaned on social media, in Jewish learning that is spiritually relevant and authentic. Other professions, like broadcast and print media, have had to migrate to multiple channels to reach out to and cultivate younger audiences. And that’s also true of the museum world.

For religious communities, which are conservative by nature, the challenge of engagement is even greater. No matter what the religion or denomination, religions are in the business of preservation, transmission, adaptation and trying to remain faithful to an inherited tradition.  Yet, America is the land of hyper-innovation. So, Ali Velshi,  CNN anchor and chief business correspondent, and Michael Rosenzweig, President and CEO of the National Museum of American Jewish History in Philadelphia, gave us their respective perspectives on this challenge.

What’s the common thread that unites these three different professions? (more…)

“Investing” or “Ordaining” Cantors: What Does it Really Mean?

Posted on: May 6th, 2012 by Hayim Herring

A few days ago, the JTA carried an article about Hebrew Union College’s decision to change the title of cantors from “invested” to “ordained.” Based on some interviews that it conducted with rabbis and cantors, HUC explained that one of the reasons for the change was to reflect the reality that cantors and rabbis studied for the same length of time and that cantors had multi-faceted roles and were not just “singers.”

Having just spent some time learning with a group of Conservative cantors, the article peaked my interest because of what it didn’t say. What I heard from the group of cantors I was with was a desire to re-conceptualize their roles so that congregations would understand the true value that they added. Their concern seemed to stem as much from a need to appropriately acknowledge a lengthy course of study as it did from anxiety over a profession that is contracting.

(more…)