Articles

This coming week, as the CCAR gathers in Chicago for its 136 annual Conference, there are numerous challenges but also opportunities that face the American rabbinate.

This is the essential moment for the Central Conference of American Rabbis, requiring it to be a strategic and public player in moving our community forward. At no other time, since the period of the Second World War, will our clergy play such a critical role, being called upon to be thought leaders, active defenders of our democracy, and visionary voices for Israel, our movement, and the Jewish people.

Six Factors Framing US Policy:

We are experiencing a revolution in American foreign policy behavior. Posted below are some of the driving elements designed to reshape this new and evolving political model:

Confronted as we are by divisive national politics and serious generational and policy divisions around Israel, along with an array of religious and cultural differences among us, this is the moment for serious and managed conversations that Jewish Americans, among others, have been craving.

There is a deep paralysis in our country today, as many are struggling to first understand and to then to act in the aftermath of these first four weeks of our new administration. This tsunami of actions has upended our basic democratic norms and political culture.

This first week of the Trump Presidency may have represented the most significant transformation of government policy and power that this nation has ever seen in such a short order. Where many presidents seek to reset the culture in advance of introducing new policies and actions, this president has launched a revolution of change from the outset.

We are likely to experience the beginnings of a second American revolution on Monday, January 20th. Donald Trump is more than merely a politician; in fact, he is in so many ways a counter-cultural symbol of the political world that he is about to inherit again.

The core imperative of every community professional is to ensure the security and well-being of their community. Our tradition speaks to this sacred principle:

“Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh? Then shall your light break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up speedily, your righteousness shall go before you, the glory of the Eternal shall be your rear guard.

Even as we prepare today to be evacuated from our Sherman Oaks residence, I am reminded of the broader, and more significant, outcomes here.

The impact of this natural disaster will be significant not only on the LA story but more directly on the LA Jewish community, as in some measure this experience has a distinctive Jewish component to it, as many of the affected areas are densely settled by Jews.

We are on the cusp of a new age of Jewish political behavior. If the second half of the 20th Century and the first quarter of this century were dominated by Jewish liberal politics, then this moment will be driven by the emergence of Jewish conservatives, bringing with them a new set of political norms, policies, and priorities.

We are operating in a society where a number of fundamental patterns are reshaping our culture, redefining our economy, and reframing our social norms. Each of these elements has implications for the American Jewish communal system.