Leaking Ship: Young Israel On The Rocks

Since its inception in 1912, the Young Israel movement has attempted to steer the precarious balance that is American Modern Orthodoxy. But according to sources inside the Young Israel as well as outside observers, the National Council of Young Israel may have run aground. A fresh series of controversial decisions asserting a greater dominance for the NCYI in ideological and halachic issues, as well an alleged neglect of support services for their synagogue, have coalesced to create a maelstrom of criticism and discontent for the venerable institution that, to some, foreshadows its potential decline.

As reported in this newspaper, the National Council decided this summer that before any Young Israel synagogue could hire any rabbinic candidate, the rabbi's ideological credentials and scholarly competency would first need to be examined and interviewed by an NCYI-appointed committee. This decision was originally announced in a memorandum sent to all Young Israel branches dated August 1, 2007, and recently acquired by The Commentator. The memorandum referred to other recent NCYI edicts from the Young Israel Council of Rabbis Vaad Halacha, including a new ban on Young Israel synagogues holding or sponsoring women's prayer services and megillah readings, and a ruling barring females and converts from becoming synagogue presidents. Conversations with dozens of Young Israel officials and rabbis, as well as a survey of Young Israel presidents and vice presidents, revealed some disquiet with the content of those decisions as well unease with NCYI's push to increase its own authority at the expense of individual synagogues. Most ominously, it also exposed simmering resentments toward the NCYI and raised serious questions as to the NCYI's continuing value to established Young Israel synagogues.

NCYI officials refused numerous requests to comment for this article. But their August memorandum, Viewpoint article and earlier conversations with The Commentator did clarify some of their positions. They argued that the NCYI was continuing with past traditions, citing decades-old policies requiring shomer Shabbat officers and closed parking lots, as well as kosher mehitzot. Additionally, they claimed robust support among the majority of Young Israel synagogues.

Many Young Israel officers, however, feel that these restrictions are a major break from past rules. They believe that the earlier directives regarding Shabbat observance and mehitzot are far more essential to and objectively representative of normative Judaism than the new rules mandating exclusively male, born Jews as president and NCYI-approved rabbinic candidates. And the high number and bitter rancor of disgruntled respondents seemed to disprove the NCYI's claims of widespread support.

Conflict Over Rabbinic Screening

The NCYI's recent decision to screen potential rabbinic candidates stoked much of the controversy and anger. Many Young Israel presidents and rabbis feel it is the community's prerogative to determine who will be their rabbi, and worried about the ideological limits on potential rabbinic candidates. To them, the NCYI's decision reeked of disrespect and even arrogance. Stanley Raskas, president of Young Israel of New Rochelle and YC Board of Directors Secretary, spoke as an individual, and termed the NCYI's decision as "insanity." One influential former president of a major New York synagogue asked, "Who else but me and my fellow shul officers, board members and congregants would be able to make this very important choice of a rabbinic leader? We're the ones in the trenches, who know our community's needs. Is the NCYI saying that we don't do our due diligence, or that we're not capable of making our own decisions? I don't think we really need their input. This is a real insult to us."

Rabbi Pesach Lerner, executive vice president of the National Council of Young Israel, admitted to a lack of trust in congregational search committees in an earlier phone interview. "If there's a rabbi whose second cousin is on a search committee, they might not care whether he has a good semicha or if he's within the mainstream," he asserted. "Also, they might be looking for someone a little different." Rabbi Lerner, though, mentioned receiving supportive comments and assumed that most Young Israel synagogues strongly supported the decision.

That does not seem to be so clear, however. A survey of twelve Young Israel presidents and conversations with several numerous other current and former officials showed broad unhappiness with the rule. 75% of Young Israel officials who responded to the survey disagreed with policy. A majority - 55% - said would definitely hire a rabbi who was rejected by the NCYI's investigatory team if they thought he was qualified, while only 28% were sure they wouldn't. (The survey was not scientific, but did attempt to reach via phone and email a fair and broad cross-section of Young Israels in North America.)

Sid Stadler, president of Young Israel of Eltingville, NY, emailed that "it is up to the respective yeshiva to do their job, and the respective shul to decide on their own." He urged the NCYI to "stay out of this theater," and preferred that they focus on national issues. "Fighting for Eretz Yisroel and getting Pollard out of jail - that's the NCYI's business. This [screening of rabbis] is not your business." If the NCYI wanted to be involved, he suggested that they send him resumes of good rabbinic prospects, but steer clear of interfering with synagogue choices.

Not all Young Israel presidents were opposed to this new regulation. Terrance Bloom, president of the Young Israel of Richmond, British Columbia felt that "people without the qualities necessary to be rabbis have passed through the semicha programs," and hoped that this policy will "standardize the quality of Young Israel rabbis." He also felt that it should augment the search committees' confidence in the rabbis they hire.