Just back from the inaugural meeting of a national rabbinical board encompassing all movements, two local rabbis are expressing great optimism that the new body will serve as a unifying force.
“There was a very fine spirit of cooperation among the rabbis,” said Conservative Rabbi H. David Teitelbaum, director of the Board of Rabbis of Northern California.
The new group, named the North American Board of Rabbis, is the brainchild of modern Orthodox Rabbi Marc Schneier, president of the New York Board of Rabbis and spiritual leader of a 1,000-member synagogue in Westhampton Beach, N.Y.
He raised $50,000 from three major philanthropists — Charles Bronfman, Michael Jesselson and Michael Steinhardt — to gather some 30 rabbis from across the country for the daylong inaugural meeting in New York.
At a time of severe Jewish infighting, the group aims to bring together rabbis of the major Jewish movements for dialogue; representatives from the Reform, Conservative, Orthodox and Reconstructionist movements were on hand at the kickoff meeting.
Among those in attendance were Teitelbaum and Rabbi Stephen Pearce, leader of Reform Congregation Emanu-El in San Francisco.
“I think it’s a wonderful idea,” Pearce said. “It really can provide a model for collaboration, conciliation, conflict resolution…all kinds of things like that.”
Exactly what is next for NABOR is not yet clear. The initial meeting primarily focused on getting people on board.
Pearce would like Jewish unity to top the group’s agenda. But he is realistic about the potential for discord on some issues. “We’re not going to agree on everything,” he said. “That doesn’t mean we still can’t come to some decisions.”
In fact, a group with a similar mission, the Synagogue Council of America, disbanded in 1995 after 70 years.
“Let’s just say intermovement differences made it impossible for it to be an effective organization,” Pearce said.
While NABOR is being met with excitement, organizers point out that rabbis from all movements work together closely on boards around the country — most often to organize community events for Holocaust Memorial Day and Israel Independence Day, but also on other matters of interest.
“Pluralism, which has been so much in the news, has been exemplified by boards of rabbis,” said Teitelbaum, who hopes other local rabbis will join NABOR in the future.
“We feel this needs to have greater publicity. More people need to know there is genuine, ongoing cooperation among all of these different groups of rabbis.”