2008 Woodie Awards
Pres. Joel Joins American Jewish Leaders in Panel Discussion
Commentator Staff
Issue date: 3/8/05 Section: News
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For the second time this year, Yeshiva participated in a panel discussion with other leaders of American Judaism. But unlike an October 13, 2004 panel, hosted by Yale University on October 13, 2004, which billed itself as a discussion with the heads of America's rabbinical seminaries, the latest dialogue featured leaders of their respective movements. The Jewish Week sponsored panel took place at the 92nd Street Y, where Rabbi David Ellenson, president of the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, represented the Reform movement; Rabbi Ismar Schorsch, chancellor of the Jewish Theological Seminary, appeared for the Conservative movement; and Yeshiva president Richard M. Joel spoke on behalf of Orthodoxy. Though both Rabbis Ellenson and Schorsch were present at the Yale sponsored panel back in October, this was President Joel's first opportunity to participate in such a forum. Yeshiva Mashgiach Ruchani Rabbi Yosef Blau was the Orthodox voice at the Yale symposium.
The evening was moderated by Jewish Week editor Gary Rosenblatt, who directed the conversation through a series of questions and comments. Among the issues discussed was the plight of unaffiliated Jewry, referred to by the panelists as the "largest growing denomination in American Jewish life," the role of halakha as a viable option in modern Jewish life, the affects of the Reform movement's adoption of patralineal descent, and the mode of engaging greater involvement of American Jews. The event was simulacasted to 12 other communities in the United States, including Jewish community centers in Kansas and California.
The panel began with a question relating to the biggest challenge facing Judaism today. Both Pres. Joel and Rabbi Ellenson spoke of the need for individual Jews to participate in the "grand narrative" of Jewish history and for them to be able to tell this story. Rabbi Ellenson insisted though, in spite of their evident, and often deliberate, unaffiliated status, "[Judaism] must include them so that they see themselves as part of the Jewish story and internalize a sense of Jewish memory."
The evening was moderated by Jewish Week editor Gary Rosenblatt, who directed the conversation through a series of questions and comments. Among the issues discussed was the plight of unaffiliated Jewry, referred to by the panelists as the "largest growing denomination in American Jewish life," the role of halakha as a viable option in modern Jewish life, the affects of the Reform movement's adoption of patralineal descent, and the mode of engaging greater involvement of American Jews. The event was simulacasted to 12 other communities in the United States, including Jewish community centers in Kansas and California.
The panel began with a question relating to the biggest challenge facing Judaism today. Both Pres. Joel and Rabbi Ellenson spoke of the need for individual Jews to participate in the "grand narrative" of Jewish history and for them to be able to tell this story. Rabbi Ellenson insisted though, in spite of their evident, and often deliberate, unaffiliated status, "[Judaism] must include them so that they see themselves as part of the Jewish story and internalize a sense of Jewish memory."