RRC 2011 Annual Report

2011 Annual Report
Moving Picture
New ideas about education and interaction
Change Comes to Reconstructionist Judaism
Jumpstarting the Future: Reimagining Rabbinical Education
Justice From the Ground Up: The Leader Behind Our New Program
Jewishness Re-Thought: Our Novel Online Initiative
Jewish Leadership Start
Startss Here
Diana Miller, RRC ’11
“
“Being a rabbi is important in today’s world because we are
dizzy from the business of our lives—we work so hard and juggle so
many things. Bringing meaningful ritual to peoples’ lives—and
empowering them to feel connected to Torah in its broadest
sense—can slow things down so that we can delight in the texture
of our lives, not just speed through them.
It’s crucial that we take the time to create sacred communities
filled with prayer and singing—communities where people look out
for each other. We need a sense of belonging to a group that
knows and values who we are. As a soon-to-be rabbi, I have the
privilege of helping to create and be part of these life-affirming
communities, where people can celebrate Shabbat and simchas
as well as mourn loss together.
I hope to have an impact as a rabbi by drawing Jewish people
and fellow travelers closer to our traditions of text study and social
justice, and by guiding them as they live out the beauty and depth
of our weekly and yearly cycles. I want to help people have a more
multidimensional experience of their Judaism.”
”
As an RRC donor, you provide the resources that enable students
like Diana to build unique visions for their rabbinates while they
pursue knowledge and spiritual growth. Your support ensures a
great education for the next generation of vibrant Jewish leaders.
Make your
contribution
today!
Online:
Mail:
Phone:
RRC.edu/giveonline
1299 Church Road
Wyncote, PA 19095
215.576.0800, ext. 143
Table of Contents
2
A Message From the President
RRC and the Jewish Reconstructionist Federation unite,
bringing a sea change to the Reconstructionist movement.
3
Social Justice at His Core
The life of Rabbi Mordechai Liebling, ’85, has played out like a fable—
the story of a man always meant to teach social justice to aspiring rabbis.
Plus: Students Bring Home the Work of Tikkun Olam
8
How a Seminary Can Jumpstart the Future
We’re in a period of rapid change and uncertainty.
Let’s celebrate—by reimagining the way we shape our rabbis.
11
A Challenge Designed to Create a New Community of Supporters
12
What’s Most Jewish—and Why Do You Think So?
RRC’s new online game is part of a multilayered Web initiative
that moves from gravlax to gravitas.
15
Planned Giving at RRC: A Conversation With Victor Klein
16
From Our Academic Centers: News in Review
18
Financial Statements
Thank You for Your Support
Endowed Programs
Board of Governors (inside back cover)
19
On the cover: Academic Dean
Tamar Kamionkowski (third
from left) with students (from
left) George Wielechowski,
Marisa James, Elana Friedman,
Jason Bonder and Shelly
Barnathan
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A Message From the President
By Rabbi Dan Ehrenkrantz
I am very pleased to open this report with
important news about Reconstructionist Judaism’s
organizational structure: On April 10, our
congregations, following the recommendation of
the RRC and Jewish Reconstructionist Federation
boards, voted to unite the congregational arm
(JRF) and the educational arm (RRC) as one entity.
many years; more recently, Reform) can most
influence the debate about how change should
occur. We in the Reconstructionist movement
haven’t measured our influence by our size. And
while it’s interesting to debate the process by
which change should occur, that’s not our central
concern.
On a practical level, this means that RRC will
expand its mission to include areas previously
within the purview of JRF. To accomplish this larger
mission, we will add appropriate staff and a
number of committees and commissions focused
on the activities of the Reconstructionist movement.
The big picture, however, is far more significant.
Instead we judge our influence by noting how
widely our ideas and our approaches to Jewish
life have been adopted. Some of the changes are
tremendous. Consider, for instance, that the vast
majority of the Jewish community now embraces
the understanding that Judaism is the evolving
religious civilization of the Jewish people, even
if they don’t adopt this precise formulation. Still
it is only the Reconstructionist movement that
articulates and lives out the implications of this
understanding; take, for example, the distinctive
way we interpret the rabbi’s role and the place
of religion and revelation in the world today.
It is fitting that Reconstructionist Judaism will be
the only movement in Jewish life structured in this
fashion—because we have always been an anomaly
within the Jewish denominational world. The
Reform, Orthodox and Conservative movements
arose from the inquiry “Can Judaism change; and if
so, how?” The impetus behind the Reconstructionist
movement was, “What is Judaism, and how can it
help lead humanity forward?”
The conversation about denominations typically
has focused on which is larger, with the assumption
that the largest denomination (Conservative, for
Our restructured movement places us in a
unique position—and confers on us a unique
obligation—to redefine yet another important
aspect of contemporary Jewish life. As the
institution of the synagogue undergoes many
changes and the younger generation of Jews
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expresses its preference for new and different
forms of Jewish community, we must re-examine
some basic assumptions about the purpose and
role of denominations.
And that’s where the Reconstructionist understanding of Judaism as a civilization gives us
natural strength. We understand that synagogues
can and should serve the Jewish community of
the moment; but if we reify existing behaviors
and institutions and refuse to look beyond them,
we lose our ability to speak to the needs and
desires of the next generation. We understand
that true expressions of Judaism include the arts,
music and literature—and that all opportunities
for intellectual and spiritual growth, whether they
occur inside or outside of synagogue life, are
essential.
The Jewish community is changing, and we are
helping to change it. In the 20th century we were
instrumental in moving our community forward.
I believe that in the years to come our new
structure will be recognized as yet another
important leap we led.
Your thoughts can help us make the most of this
opportunity. Please be in touch with me, at
[email protected].
Social Justice at His Core
By Eileen Fisher
The life of Rabbi Mordechai Liebling,’85, has played out like a fable—
the story of a man always meant to teach social justice to aspiring rabbis.
It
was the Fourth of July, 1976,
and an assortment of likeminded leftists was traveling
by bus from Boston—where the
school busing crisis was raging and
the Ku Klux Klan was moving in—to
Philadelphia, the venue for an event
dubbed the People’s Bicentennial
celebration. Aboard the crowded
bus, the air was hot. A lively critique
on the subject of fascist rhetoric
bounced back and forth across the
aisle. And somewhere on the road
between the two rival cities—both
claiming to be the cradle of
American patriotism—the person
known as Mordechai Liebling made
his debut, leaving “Marvin” behind.
“My grandparents were, in fact,
murdered by fascists—so the
rhetoric we were discussing was real
to me,” says Liebling, ’85, who is the
son of Holocaust survivors. “At the
time I was also reading about
Mordechai Anielewicz, the organizer
of the first Warsaw Ghetto uprising.
And I never liked the name Marvin
anyway! On that day, I told the
people on the bus I was changing
my name.”
courses in “practical rabbinics,”
specialized courses in community
organizing and theories of social
change, supervised internships, and
participation in supervision groups.
As it turns out, the story is more
than colorful; it’s iconic. Over the
decades, Liebling’s life has played out
like a screenwriter’s vision with two
parallel themes—a driving quest for
justice and an ever-growing personal
vision of Judaism—working together
to unique effect.
So when RRC and the Jewish Funds
for Justice began talking about
establishing the first and only
rabbinical-training track devoted to
social justice organizing, there was
just one person they had in mind
to lead it. “Mordechai has been a
pioneer in justice work and the
rabbinate, and we are very fortunate
to have him lead this new, unique
initiative in our learning community,”
says Academic Dean Tamar
Kamionkowski, Ph.D. The track,
which began to ramp up in spring
2009, includes a prescribed set of
Liebling says his first inspiration to
work for the rights of others came
from his surroundings growing up.
“My parents were more Jewish
focused and not so concerned about
the rest of the world,” he remembers.
“Something that did influence me
was that till I was 10, I lived in
Brownsville, a New York City
neighborhood that was characterized
at the time as the most rapidly
deteriorating one in New York. In
the end we were the last white family
on our block. I saw poverty and
violence at a young age. And I
experienced a difference between
how white children and black
children were treated at school. It
was a majority-black school with a
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tracked system; all the white kids were in one class,
which had no black kids in it.”
At the same time, Liebling was attending Orthodox
Talmud Torah class three times weekly, and his
parents kept a household that he describes as
culturally very Jewish. But it wasn’t until much
later that he would find a place that felt natural to
him in the Jewish world.
He entered college in 1965, just as the Vietnam
War was heating up, and quickly became involved
in the antiwar and other counterculture movements.
“I was at Cornell when African-American students
with rifles took over the student union,” he
remembers. The event was pictured on the cover
of Time magazine and every major paper in the
country. Liebling, an American government
major, was one of a group of white students who
positioned themselves to protect the occupiers
from attack by other white students.
Shortly after graduating, Liebling entered basic
training as an Army reservist at Fort Dix, NJ. At
one point, he narrowly escaped retaliation from his
platoon for his unabashed opposition to the war.
He went to graduate school at Brandeis University,
intending to become a history professor. But the
activist life beckoned, and Liebling never wrote his
dissertation. All through the 1970s, he worked for
progressive political causes.
And early in that decade, Liebling was involved
with one of the first consciousness-raising groups
for children of Holocaust survivors. “I have a clear
memory of my first experience in the group,” he
says. “There were about 15 of us. We went around
the room and it was astonishing: No one there—
not one of the people in the room—had ever
talked about being the child of a survivor.
“There was a range of experiences and feelings that
we had in common, which each of us had thought
were unique to us. As in the early women’s groups,
what we’d thought were only personal experiences
turned out to be political, sociological experiences:
All of us felt marginal to the Jewish people, but at
the same time more Jewish than others—we were
on the periphery, yet we were the ‘real Jews.’ ”
Liebling learned carpentry, then roofing. He taught
himself yoga. He worked as a community organizer.
And he began delving into some Jewish practice—
celebrating holidays, for instance—and began to
think of his interest in politics and social justice as
connected with Jewish tradition and his family
history. But it was a coincidence that brought him
into contact with the writing of Rabbi Mordecai M.
Kaplan, which would change his life. A book he
had borrowed contained an essay by Kaplan; there
Liebling encountered for the first time a vision of
Judaism that rang true for him.
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“A very significant thing was that Kaplan rejected the
idea of Jews as the chosen people,” he remembers.
“And his politics were very progressive, left-wing.
He was totally committed to social-justice
teaching—and he also rejected the idea of an
omnipotent God. That was amazing. I never
thought I’d find a respected thinker in the Jewish
community who was, theologically, exactly where
I wanted to be.”
Students Bring Home the Work of Tikkun Olam
W
hen Becca Gould gets up on the bimah
at a Philadelphia-area synagogue to talk
about immigration issues, she surprises
people. In part, it’s the facts she tells them—even
she was shocked to find that deportation rates
have skyrocketed under President Obama. And
there are the stories she tells—stories from her
own family, which bring to the surface forgotten
bits of her listeners’ family memories.
“You have heard stories of bravery and risk, trauma and miracles—how
your grandparents, great-grandparents or great-great-grandparents
came to this country,” says Gould, who will graduate this spring, in a
favorite dvar Torah she’s given as part of her internship with HIAS
(Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society) and Council. “In the story I was told
growing up,” she continues, “my relatives flipped a coin—a ruble or a
kopeck—to see who would come here. There was only enough money
for two people; they would work and send for the rest. My great-uncle,
a mere teenager at the time, and his sister, who was not much older,
made the harrowing trip to Ellis Island.” As she talks about the plight
of today’s immigrants, the people in the pews are very quiet.
“Truth be told, had the immigration laws been the way they are now
when most Jews came over, thousands of Jews would have had to come
illegally or not at all,” Gould points out later, as she describes her work.
“The sponsorship by cousins and uncles that helped many Jews enter
the country has long been abolished; even legal sponsorship from a
sister or brother now has a 10- to 20-year wait—that’s a regular wait
time to be reunited.”
In the second part of each presentation, an undocumented immigrant
speaks directly to the audience. Gould works with Maria Marroquin, a
leading immigration activist in the Philadelphia area who is now in her
early 20s, and with another activist who goes by the pseudonym Sophia.
“Sophia was brought here from Mexico when she was 3,” Gould says.
“She doesn’t remember Mexico at all—this is the only home she’s ever
known—but she can get deported at any time. It’s been really moving
for me to hear about her life—the hiding, the experience of not having
the same opportunities as her friends.”
The personal approach gets the message across; the congregations
collect care packages for newly arriving families and are encouraged to
make calls in favor of progressive legislation. However, RRC students do
a broad range of social justice and other internship work. Sometimes
they can’t show firsthand dramatic stakes—or results—for the individuals
or groups they work with. They learn to consider the long view.
Brian Fink currently does advocacy work at Bnai Keshet synagogue in
Montclair, NJ, through New Jersey Together, a multifaith communityorganizing group. “Even though the process takes time and I don’t
always see the results right away, I trust the process,” he says. He cites
NJT’s success in addressing environmental issues in the Mahwah, NJ,
area, where it brought together a cluster of congregations and a
Native American reservation to engage in dialogue with Ford Motors
about contamination from an abandoned facility.
These students share a clear understanding of the unique strengths
a rabbi, or a developing rabbi, can bring to the social-justice table—
helping people realize their commitments on a deep level, as part of
their Judaism. “Jews can do social justice work and just happen to be
Jews,” Gould says. “Rabbis have an important role in saying, this is a
way you can fulfill the mitzvot. Yes, mitzvot mean observing holidays
and keeping kashrut. But they also include fulfilling social justice
precepts. A Jewish life includes all of these things.”
In closing her dvar, Gould calls on listeners to take action against
pending legislation that calls for police, with the help of citizen
reporting, to step up their questioning of suspected undocumented
immigrants. “I don’t know what my life would be like if someone had
turned in my grandmother and had her deported to Russia. Would I
have been able to go to college? Would I even have survived?” she
challenges listeners. “I certainly would not have become a rabbi.”
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For aspiring rabbis who want to champion
social justice, the central question is the
same as ever, Liebling says: “What is my
personal mission?”
Liebling had recently decided to work within the
Jewish community and concluded that in order to
do so he would need Jewish “credentials.” Shortly
afterward, having found Kaplan’s ideas, he came to
think of it as bashert, meant to be, that he would
attend RRC.
The College felt like home. Ira Silverman, Ph.D.,
then president, had been chief lobbyist for the
American Jewish Committee in Washington, DC.
Liebling was a student in his tutorial about how
change works within the Jewish community. And
when a group at RRC, including Liebling, wrote
the haggadah titled Children of Abraham, which
drew parallels between Jewish history and
Palestinian history, Silverman wrote a blurb for
the book jacket.
Upon graduation, Liebling began working for
the congregational arm of the Reconstructionist
movement. He quickly became its executive
director, and his 12 years there saw the publication
of the Reconstructionist prayer book series, the
welcoming of gays and lesbians as congregants
and rabbis, and new policies regarding intermarried
families. The Jewish Reconstructionist Federation
(JRF) also sponsored Shomrei Adamah, the first
American Jewish environmental organization;
Liebling was the founding chair.
His personal life also was eventful. He was
married to Rabbi Devora Bartnoff, ’83, and by
1994 they had four children: Anna, 2; Lior, 4;
Yoni, 7; and Reena, 10. That year, Bartnoff was
diagnosed with breast cancer, and in 1997, she
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died. Eventually the family demands became too
great; Liebling resigned his full-time work for JRF,
but stayed on half time as a senior consultant. In
1998, he married Lynne Iser, an advocate and consultant on Jewish elder spirituality and community.
His next post took him directly to the heart of
social justice issues. Liebling worked first for the
Shefa Fund as its “Torah of Money” director,
persuading groups in the Jewish community to
direct their investments in favor of social justice.
When, with a merger, the organization was
renamed Jewish Funds for Justice, Liebling
became executive vice president. He supervised
a subsequent merger with Spark, the first Jewish
organization devoted to service learning. And he
oversaw the success of the program known as
Congregation-Based Community
Organizing, the Jewish version of
faith-based community organizing.
CBCO draws on congregants’ strong
emotional ties to fuel their social
justice efforts. A question often asked
in early group meetings is “What
keeps you awake at night?” The
model is now used in more than
100 synagogues.
Liebling also has gained notoriety
serendipitously; the film Praying
With Lior is based on the bar mitzvah
experience of his son, who has Down
syndrome. The film was made in
2007, and, Liebling says, “It continues
to have an enormous effect on the
Jewish community. In many cities,
conferences about disabilities center
on the film; it’s been very significant
in transforming attitudes.” At a
conference this fall about funding to
promote inclusion, 30 people were
expected; 100 registered, reports
Liebling. There he ran into a longtime professional in the disabilities
field who told him, “This never
would have happened before Praying
With Lior.”
Now Liebling is back at RRC, and,
though he didn’t plan it this way,
he’s come full circle to the career
he’d originally intended, as a teacher.
Observing him with students, it’s
easy to see how he combines
inspiration with what student Rebecca
Gould calls takhlis—a talent for the
solid practical stuff. A student asks
him how, absent a benefactor, or
“angel,” one can carry forward social
justice work in a synagogue. Liebling’s
answer: In congregational work, it is
a given that you will need to restart
the energy periodically. It’s part of
the rabbi’s role, whether you’ve just
wrapped up a capital campaign or
are trying to jumpstart a social justice
initiative. Rebooting is a necessary
piece of the rabbi’s toolkit, he assures
the class, a piece you’ll acquire with
experience.
Social justice leadership is part of
what a rabbi does. But from the
opposite perspective, why do people
devoted to social justice need a rabbi
to lead them?
There are many reasons. Chief
among them may be the kind of
viewpoint that a rabbi brings, points
out Elsie Stern, Ph.D., an assistant
professor of Bible whose teaching
often focuses on social-justice issues.
Having engaged deeply with Jewish
texts on poverty and poverty relief,
for instance, a rabbi is in touch with
a delicate balance: How can we
provide relief while preserving the
dignity of the recipients? Also familiar
from those texts is the anxiety that
crops up every day when we are
asked for money on a street corner:
Is the person asking for relief really
scamming us? While a rabbi leading
an antipoverty agency wouldn’t say
we should employ ancient Rabbinic
forms of relief, he or she can ensure
that these vital issues do become part
of the wider secular conversation,
says Stern. In engaging with complex
texts such as the Talmud, a rabbi
forms a way of thinking that sees
beyond the trees to the forest—and is
able to help others navigate through.
Kaplan. Nearly a century ago, Kaplan
already knew that the most vital and
effective forms of Jewish community
should, and would, overflow the
bounds of synagogue walls. As a
Reconstructionist seminary, RRC
always has been true to this insight;
the College achieved many firsts and
continues to lead in the fields of
campus work, chaplaincy and
multifaith studies.
How can we best train a rabbi who
champions social justice? Leading
others in the busy setting of a
synagogue or organization means
helping them confront the same
question that crops up in the quiet
of an aspiring rabbi’s own mind,
Liebling says: What is my personal
mission? “The best place to start is
with what you’re passionate about.
In the program, I work to help
people uncover, discover, their
purpose. Our best work comes
from getting in touch with that—
with what your soul needs to do.”
RRC’s special place in training such
rabbis harkens back to Mordecai M.
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J
By Tamar Kamionkowski, Ph.D., Academic Dean and Vice President
We’re in a period of rapid change and uncertainty.
Let’s celebrate—by reimagining the way we shape our rabbis.
How a Seminary Can
umpstart the Future
The evidence appears every day in
the Jewish press, confirming what we
know is true: The American Jewish
landscape is changing, and changing
quickly. The number and scope of
Jewish institutions is contracting,
and synagogue affiliation is on the
decline. Many young Jewish adults
feel little or no connection with
Israel. Jews are creating families with
non-Jews. And to top it off, online
social networking is upending our
understanding of community. For
some, a stop at Wikipedia now
replaces a visit to the rabbi or Jewish
educator.
What will American Jewish life look
like 30 years from now, and what
role will rabbis play? The truth is
that nobody can answer this question
definitively. We do know that the
status quo will no longer suffice.
Rabbi Vivie Mayer, ‘96; Dean Tamar Kamionkowski, Ph.D.; fourth-year student Josh Bolton; Rabbi David Teutsch, Ph.D.;
and third-year student Alanna Sklover discuss the Reimagining project.
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Frankly, it’s irrelevant for us to
analyze how it came to be true
Q
that young Jewish adults can
have a strong Jewish identity
while also lacking Hebrew, or
feeling disconnected from
Israel, or being in an interfaith
relationship. We have an
important decision to make:
We can tell them that the way
they are Jewish is not OK. Or
we can partner with them—we
can shape a Jewish future from
a combination of their on-theground experience of Judaism
and the experiences and
knowledge of rabbis and other
Jewish professionals. We can
create learning laboratories
that celebrate exploration and
experimentation. Rabbinical
seminaries have much to teach.
We often forget that we have
much to learn.
I believe that rabbinical schools
that are quick learners can play
a crucial role. To make a
Asking the Right Questions
Can a completely different model of
rabbinical education serve tomorrow’s
community better? Here are some of the
questions that we are asking ourselves:
■
Is the 19th-century Protestant seminary—
a form of education based almost exclusively
on rationalism and acquisition of knowledge—
still the best model for rabbinical education
in the 21st century?
complex situation simple: We
can choose to resist change,
limiting ourselves to putting
a new sheen on the model
we’ve been driving all along.
Or we can accept the new
environment and ask ourselves
what new opportunities present
themselves—opportunities for
new designs. At RRC, we choose
the latter.
justice goals. What form of
Jewish spiritual leadership will
these people need? This period
of rapid change and uncertainty
is the ideal setting for fresh
thinking, creative collaboration
and bold experimentation. This
is the time to cast the net wide
and to discover how a Jewish
point of view can fuel new
forms of community.
■
How can we transform text study—a
foundation of Jewish education—so that
texts become a tool for civic engagement
and transformational leadership?
■
Should all rabbinical students be engaged in
community service—not only to cultivate the
value of service but, maybe most important,
to expand how we picture the people we serve?
■
How can we prepare rabbis to lead and/or
moderate the difficult conversations of our
age, e.g., about Israel/Palestine?
We choose to do tzimtzum: to
take note of all the new, thriving
areas on the Jewish map that
have sprung from innovative
forms of expression. There are
many examples of such activity:
online, people gather for prayer
or to collaborate around a
common interest like the arts;
on college campuses, “microcommunities” come together to
do informal Shabbat; in cities
and neighborhoods, grassroots
groups form to serve social
Social transformation is our job.
■
How do we train rabbis to operate comfortably
in a world where racial, cultural, religious
and gender identity is more fluid than ever?
How can we help them develop the skills
to manage intersecting communities and
complex family structures?
■
How can we guide rabbis to be both intimate
community leaders and citizens of a global
environment where multifaith work, justice
work and engagement in civic society are
givens?
“Review” Changes
Into “Reimagine”
Our story begins in 2008, when
RRC launched its first strategic
plan—which called for us to
begin a review of our curriculum
in 2010–11. As I began to
consider this review, I realized
that the curriculum is just one
component of rabbinical
education—and that the word
Hear Kamionkowski’s talk about the Reimagining
project for prospective students: www.rrc.edu/reimagining.
Read more about the project as it unfolds at
Kamionkowski’s blog: www.rrc.edu/jewishhorizons.
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review implies that the system is essentially sound,
requiring only adjustment. I thought to myself:
While our system is working well, it may not work
as well in 10 years. So I invited the faculty to
embark on a more ambitious project; we call it
“Reimagining Rabbinic Education.” And that title
is no exaggeration. After a couple of days in retreat
together, the faculty decided that every aspect of
our educational program had to be scrutinized,
that we would challenge our assumptions about
the rabbinate and about every step we take in
Jewish education. I want to emphasize this took
real courage and vision. Even seemingly
immutable things—those that we were doing the
only way we’ve ever known—are not guaranteed
to stay.
Right now, we have nine working committees
with a mix of faculty, students, alumni and board
members. Every member of our faculty is directly
involved in the project, as are more than 80
percent of our students. And while our alumni
are our primary reporters of realities on the
ground, we also are reaching out to other Jewish
professionals, educational experts, lay leaders and
a host of others. RRC students—many of whom
are under 35—are a key source of insight for us,
as are young people in the community at large
who lead innovative davenning groups, social
action initiatives and online dialogues. They
understand the cutting edge better than those
of us who were raised before there was a
computer in every home.
We are asking our students to consider what
today’s most innovative rabbis do, picture what
they might do 30 years from now, and sketch out
the skills that will be needed. While we imagine
We need a new kind of leader who
can be innovative and entrepreneurial.
And we are committed to economic,
racial and geographic diversity—
to including those who have been
shut out of rabbinical education.
that rabbis will continue to officiate at rituals,
acting as pastors and bearers of our traditions, we
believe that they will need to be public leaders in a
broader sense—serving an expansive constituency
of Jews and fellow travelers. As the world moves at
a more rapid pace, rabbis will need to be nimble
problem solvers.
We need a new kind of spiritual Jewish leader who
can be innovative and entrepreneurial, dedicated
to community service, and spiritually grounded—
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a person who is both skilled and self-reflective.
And we are committed to expanding the economic,
racial and geographic diversity of Jewish religious
leaders, to include those who are currently shut
out of rabbinical education.
We are excited about the discussions that are
surfacing, and we are prepared to respond—
wherever our conclusions take us. Colleagues
from other sectors of the Jewish community have
praised us for our willingness to open the doors
of exploration so fully.
But I don’t consider this to be a matter of choice.
We have a moral obligation to engage in the
realities of Jewish life today, to support those
who wish to serve, and to be responsible stewards
of the Jewish community’s limited resources.
This is no time for nostalgia and fear. Neither is
it a time for quick fixes or new strategies whose
main purpose is marketing.
This is the time to live in the present with joy,
curiosity and trust. This is the time to reach out
and to cultivate a web of Jewish voices. Each of us
holds a piece of Torah in our soul. Until we can all
learn from one another, Torah will not be whole.
A Challenge Designed to Create a New Community of Supporters
In October 2010, RRC launched a year-long challenge to friends and supporters:
Make a first-time gift of $1,000 or more and be counted as one of the 100 donors who
generate a $100,000 matching gift from an anonymous donor. The New Minyan Challenge
is about more than money for RRC. It is a call to a new group of donors to participate in
supporting RRC’s unique role in shaping the future of progressive Judaism.
The Challenge, which runs through August 31, 2011, already has attracted new friends and
inspired longtime supporters to give more generously. Some have given in honor of family
and RRC alumni. Many others—like David and Robin Sigman—have chosen to deepen their
involvement by acting on their conviction that RRC has an essential role to play in shaping
the future of the Reconstructionist movement. Read their story below.
Choosing to be part of a “new
minyan” is integral to David and
Robin Sigman’s shared personal
history. David’s family joined the
Reconstructionist Synagogue of the
North Shore (RSNS) in the early
1970s when he was 11, looking for
a change from their large, suburban
Conservative synagogue on Long
Island. Robin, whose family belonged
to a similarly large, suburban
Reform temple, first experienced
Reconstructionism when she was
dating David in the 1980s and
joined his family for High Holidays.
Her sense that “RSNS was really
engaging, with an extraordinary
feeling of community,” still describes
their experience today.
David and Robin saw the New Minyan
Challenge as an opportunity to link
their deep involvement in their own
congregation with their support for
the Reconstructionist movement as a
whole. They believe that congregations
and synagogue members have a
vital role to play in shaping the
movement’s leadership and growth.
“We’re at a turning point for
organized religion, for liberal
Judaism and for Reconstructionism
in particular,” explains David. To
be healthy and vibrant, he points
out, both congregations and the
movement at large must be able
to address individuals’ increasingly
complex lives and renew and
reaffirm Judaism’s importance
and relevance. David feels this
most keenly in his current role
as president of RSNS and in the
ongoing work that the congregation
and its leadership are doing to
embrace the Reconstructionist
challenge of living in the modern
age and simultaneously in a world
of age-old Jewish traditions.
Several years ago, during a day trip
to RRC, the Sigmans observed firsthand how RRC trains rabbis to
nurture communities as they adapt
and respond to the changing
landscape of Jewish observance
and affiliation. They sat in on classes
and met with students and faculty.
They experienced the extraordinary
energy and intellect that RRC’s
students and their mentors bring
to preparation for today’s rabbinate.
The couple also has enjoyed hosting
Robin and David Sigman
RRC student interns who have
served at RSNS under rabbis Lee
Friedlander, ’75, and Jodie Siff, ’01.
Given all these factors, stepping up to
strengthen the vital congregationalRRC relationship with the New
Minyan Challenge felt like a perfect
fit for the Sigmans. They believe
that engaging in meaningful Jewish
study and meeting congregant and
congregational needs requires a deep
and rich lay-rabbinic partnership;
they see this in action every day in
their own thriving synagogue.
For Robin and David, choosing to
support RRC and the New Minyan
Challenge amplifies their congregational commitment and is helping
to ensure an inclusive, dynamic
Judaism for our time and the future.
For more information about joining the New Minyan Challenge, visit www.rrc.edu/new-minyan or call 215.576.0800, ext. 155.
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RRC’s new online game is part of a multilayered
Web initiative that moves from gravlax to gravitas.
What’s
and Why Do You Think So?
Go to www.MostJewish.com on your
computer or handheld device and you’ll
find this challenge on your screen: “Click
the word or term you think is MostJewish.”
You might be asked to choose among
or
Drawing on the Talmudic tradition of dueling opinions,
MostJewish asks you to grapple with the “Jewish-ness” of
everything from comic books to communism as you decide
among four randomly generated terms. Make a choice, and
you find out what percentage of other participants agree
with you. More important, the game invites you to explain
your thinking for others to consider.
MostJewish and can contemplate your choices and
reasoning—and you can do the same for others.
The “Discuss” section of the site, where all user comments
are displayed, offers you a window into varied ideas about
being Jewish. You can choose to have your individual
comments appear automatically on your Facebook wall.
That way, your social network sees that you’re playing
And bringing together ancient knowledge and current
invention is a defining element of a Reconstructionist
approach to Judaism. “RRC encourages rabbis to work in
the predominant media of the day in order to connect with
new audiences and serve traditional audiences more nimbly,”
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Also online at www.rrc.edu/AR
The MostJewish game is a playful entry into a conversation
about what it means to be Jewish in the 21st century. It is
structured to engage as many people as possible. Using a
game as a first step presents very few barriers to participation.
Developed in consultation with
Blue State Digital, the creators of
MyBarackObama.com, the game
introduces a kind of spontaneity
not often found in religious
enterprises—even online—and
encourages creative thinking. The
dialogue continues at a more robust
level with insightful blog posts that
elicit their own streams of comments.
Social media can
facilitate social action
The project’s reach expands further
through social
media, specifically on its
Facebook
page and
Twitter stream,
where links bring readers to the
Outrage and Humility
BLOG
says Rabbi Dan Ehrenkrantz,
president of the College. “A hallmark
of Reconstructionist thinking is to
meet people ‘where they are’ in their
Judaism and in their lives—and
where people of all ages are,
increasingly, is online.”
The MostJewish blog, authored by Rabbi
Deborah Glanzberg-Krainin, ’96, Ph.D.,
and various guest writers, probes the
ethical, cultural and lifestyle issues facing
contemporary American Jews. Glanzberg-Krainin
is vice president for community and rabbinic engagement
at RRC and directs the project. “It’s the conversation
that takes place online and well after the game that
makes this initiative so vital,” she says.
Posted 01/11/2011
This week, along with the rest of the country, I’ve been
developing my own response to the tragic shootings in
Arizona. I drew on a variety of Jewish sources and found
my greatest inspiration in the work of theologian Moses
Maimonides, who lived and wrote in medieval Spain.
Maimonides encourages public outcry, but reminds us of
the importance of also turning inwards in this process, so
that humility informs our behavior and our speech.
Miriam
Maybe this is an outraged response: I was distressed by the
Jew-centric coverage in the Jewish press about Gabrielle
Giffords' shooting. Is the event any more terrible because
she is Jewish? To me, it is not…
Avigail
Humility is definitely lacking in contemporary discourse of
all kinds. Rabbi Irwin Kula has an interesting analysis…
blog posts and point out other
relevant online articles and videos.
These connections can touch a
potentially limitless audience
through viral sharing.
Over time, the site will be
tailored to suit developing
audience interests and will offer
people tools to explore their
relationship to Judaism on
deeper levels. The ultimate goal
of MostJewish.com is to bring
people together in the real world
and spark actions by local groups
that form organically through
participation in the site. Individuals
may connect over books, films,
social justice projects, synagogue
programs, meals or in-depth
conversations. The possible
experiences are as wide-ranging and
unpredictable as the Internet itself.
A 2011 study by the Pew Internet &
American Life Project supports this
premise. The study affirms, “The
Internet is now deeply embedded in
group and organizational life in
America.”
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Also online at www.rrc.edu/AR
The MostJewish Top Ten list offers real-time insight into
visitors’ sensibilities about Jewish identity and contemporary
culture. Guilt … chopped liver … some things never change.
Especially relevant
are the study’s
findings that 80
percent of Internet
users participate in
a voluntary group
or organization,
compared with
56 percent of non-users. Social media users are
even more likely to participate in groups. And 64
percent of Internet users said that the Web has had
Search
a major impact on groups’ ability to impact
society at large.
Where does it lead?
This initiative is already increasing awareness of
RRC and its mission, while helping people become
more familiar with Reconstructionist principals.
Within days of the MostJewish.com launch,
thousands of people had played the game and
become “fans” of its Facebook page. Visitors to
Home Profile Messag
MostJewish
@mostjewish
The MostJewish game asks you to make
a deceptively simple judgment: Which of
four randomly chosen options shown do
you identify as quintessentially Jewish?
http://www.mostjewish.com
+ Follow
mostjewish MostJewish
Today is the centennial of the Triangle
Shirtwaist Factory Fire. A historic moment in
Jewish Justice history! http://ow.ly/1seO34
25 Mar
the site are encouraged to sign up for e-mails that
create a pipeline for more in-depth engagement
with MostJewish and RRC.
MostJewish.com has the potential to connect people
to existing Reconstructionist congregations or help
them find like-minded people to form new
communities. Ultimately, this initiative can also
help attract new students to the College and
generate fresh support for the Reconstructionist
movement.
H
ave you pl
the game ayed
yet?
MostJewish
Catholics have the new smartphone app
for Confession, what is the MostJewish
app you wish existed?
February 11 at 2:45pm - Like - Comment - Share
8 people like this.
Roni omer counter
February 11 at 2:48pm - Like
Andee dial a mohel
February 11 at 2:58pm - Like
2 people
mostjewish MostJewish
Happy World Water Day! Check out these great
tips from #Green #Faith http://ow.ly/1sdxRF
22 Mar
Rebecca scan ingredients of any food to be
sure they’re kosher. Omer counter exists btw.
February 11 at 2:59pm - Like
1 person
mostjewish MostJewish
What we can learn about facing the disaster in
Japan from the fast of Esther http://ow.ly/4gtRf
17 Mar
Helene The Jewish mother app. It randomly
calls you to tell you that you never call her, and
tells you to put on a sweater.
February 11 at 3:39pm - Like
5 people
14
Also online at www.rrc.edu/AR
Use this mobile barcode on your
smartphone to go directly to
MostJewish.com and play the
game. You can download a free
mobile barcode reader for your
phone at many Web sites.
Planned Giving at RRC:
Victor and Barbara Klein of Newport Beach, CA,
are longtime donors to RRC who also have chosen
to provide future support for the College through
a planned gift. A recent conversation with Victor
explores why he thinks giving to RRC through a
will is a great idea.
A Conversation With Victor Klein
How did you first get involved
with RRC?
What aspects of RRC have special
meaning for you?
In the ’80s my work with Grey Advertising
brought me to California, originally for a two-year
assignment. But when I found paradise I decided
I did not want to leave it! So we put down
permanent roots in California. There was a group
starting a Reconstructionist synagogue. I thought
it was very interesting; it certainly matched my
lifestyle. And so we joined University Synagogue.
I have served on the board all these years, and
that’s how I became acquainted with RRC.
I believe that the future of the Reconstructionist
movement starts with RRC. RRC sets the pace
through its mission, which is the essential task of
training the leadership for the next generation.
My first reaction to RRC was, well, they just train
pulpit rabbis. But then I learned that a very
important part of what RRC does is to train
Jewish leaders to serve in other parts of the Jewish
community. I have a particular interest in the
senior community. It’s very meaningful to me that
RRC trains rabbis in chaplaincy work, because
chaplains are providing a specialized service to the
Jewish community and really making a difference
in the lives of the elderly and their family members.
First I met Rabbi David Teutsch. David came out a
number of times, and I was fascinated by him. And
then when Rabbi Dan Ehrenkrantz became president, he and I got along swimmingly, as they say.
What influenced you to create a
planned gift at RRC?
You know, that influence extends back several
generations in my family. My grandfather came to
Philadelphia in the late 1800s. He was a tinsmith—
he made stovepipes. Through hard work he built
his business into a much larger company that,
under the guidance of my father and his brothers,
manufactured gas ranges under the name Caloric.
I was part of the third generation that grew Caloric
into a national company. I was raised with the idea
that you have a responsibility to give back to your
community. My father taught us this through his
words and deeds.
We created a planned gift because it is a wonderful
way to give more than I can actually give out of
pocket now. It’s a convenient, easy vehicle to get
money from my estate to RRC. I can be assured
that my assets will go where I want them to go.
And with a bequest, I still have the assets to use
today. I’ve eliminated any worry about giving
away too much money while we still might need
it. I am glad that this support will come to RRC
so the College can continue to develop wonderful
rabbis and train Jewish leaders to serve both my
generation and the next!
For more information about planned
gifts or bequests to the College, please
contact Sara Crimm at 215.576.0800,
ext. 143, or [email protected].
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Also online at www.rrc.edu/AR
From Our Academic Centers:
News in Review
The Center for Jewish Ethics
The Levin-Lieber Program in Jewish Ethics maintains an active
publication schedule. In fall 2010, the RRC Press issued A Guide to
Jewish Practice: Family and Sexual Ethics by the Center’s director, Rabbi
David Teutsch, Ph.D. This challenging
exploration deals frankly with topics that
were hardly discussed a decade ago. Spring
2011 saw the emergence of the next book of
the Guide, Everyday Spirituality. This is the
last installment of the first section of the
complete guide series. This first section,
dedicated to everyday living, will be issued
as a large bound volume in fall 2011—
marking the first time that such a model
has been issued outside the framework of
halakhah, Jewish law. The Guide’s rich
commentary provides diverse opinions
and approaches to encourage dialogue
about individual choices. Work on the other two sections of the
Guide series—one on Shabbat and the holidays and one on the life
cycle—continues under the guidance of an advisory committee
that is co-chaired by Rabbi Richard Hirsh, ’81.
The Center for Jewish Ethics continues to advance the study of Jewish
ethics as an academic field. Teutsch played a central role in bringing
together the Society for Jewish Ethics (SJE) with the Academic
Coalition for Jewish Bioethics (which has become the Bioethics Group
of the SJE). The union allows for an extended annual conference and
a greater dialogue among the scholars in the field. Teutsch is a past
president of both organizations.
Critical to the work of the Center is its involvement with students.
This year’s coursework has included Contemporary-year students’
intensive study of ethics for rabbis and an open course in speech
ethics. These are supplemented by seminars for new students and
College Time programs that engage the entire student body. In
addition, frequent consultations on ethics questions for students,
rabbis in the field, congregations, physicians and others throughout
the Jewish world mark the Center’s continuous engagement with
current concerns in the Jewish community. The Center also has been
frequently represented in programs across the Jewish community
under the auspices of organizations such as Hazon, Jewish Federations
and individual congregations.
Hiddur: The Center for Aging and Judaism
Where does aging fit in the
whole of the lifespan? How can
rabbis nurture spiritual growth
across the life cycle? Is it
possible to forge synagogues
for all ages, in which the Torah,
worship and tikkun olam we share can be engaging and relevant to
participants in every age cohort? Hiddur is exploring these questions
through a new seminar, The Spiritual Journey: A Lifespan Approach to
16
Also online at www.rrc.edu/AR
Kolot: The Center for Jewish Women’s and Gender Studies
Judaism. Co-taught by Hiddur Director Rabbi Dayle A. Friedman and
Beulah Trey, Ph.D., an organizational psychologist and Mussar teacher,
the seminar offers a fresh approach to Jewish life for RRC students,
rabbis and chaplains. Seminar participants are learning to assess and
design worship services, programs and tikkun olam initiatives that are
compelling for members across generations—and that develop
spiritual tools and qualities of character over the lifespan—to help
Jews face the challenges of illness, loss and suffering.
This new seminar emerged out of Embracing Aging, Hiddur’s
initiative to develop novel approaches for clergy training related
to engaging those in later life. Funded by the Retirement Research
Foundation, Embracing Aging sought to infuse learning about aging
throughout RRC’s formal and informal education. The project
culminated in a special issue of The Journal of Religion, Spirituality
and Aging, titled “Training Clergy to Surf the Age Wave.” The journal
was guest edited by Friedman and featured articles by clergy, seminary
educators and gerontologists from a variety of faith traditions. It
was the first journal on the subject of clergy training in aging to be
published in over three decades.
Other recent publications by Hiddur’s director include a revised
edition of Jewish Pastoral Care, an essay in Midrash and Medicine:
Healing Body and Soul in the Jewish Interpretive Tradition, and articles
in Contact, Sh’ma, Aging Today and Zeek.
This year, Kolot’s work has focused mainly on reinvigorating
Ritualwell, the Web site for creative Jewish ritual. We have laid
extensive groundwork for a fall re-launch of the site. We’ll be adding
many exciting features that will attract new users and motivate them
to engage more deeply and regularly with Jewish life and practice.
The redesigned site will
welcome users who are
unfamiliar or uncomfortable with Jewish practice
and help them get started.
It will offer audio for
prayers and songs, and the
home page will feature
user-contributed stories and videos that help visitors imagine
themselves trying a ritual. In addition, we are developing a simple
and much-requested tool for users to build their own rituals; these
customized rituals can be printed, downloaded and shared with others.
The new Ritualwell will use contemporary social media tools to create
a vibrant exchange of ideas and information about new Jewish ritual.
Users will have the opportunity to share comments, post videos, and
develop ongoing conversations about the rituals they create and
engage in. We will also keep users connected with our new blog,
Facebook page and active e-mail outreach program.
With these improvements, Ritualwell will continue to be a unique
address in the American Jewish landscape. It is the only place where
Jews of all kinds can come to find, create, collect and share innovative
rituals for everything from life cycle events to Shabbat and daily life, as
well as new ways to celebrate the holidays.
17
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Financial Statement
Statement of Financial Position (Audited)
as of August 31, 2010
ASSETS
Cash and Equivalents
Accounts Receivable, Pledges Receivable and Other Assets
Beneficial Interest in Trusts
Investments
Operating Funds (including Restricted Funds)
Endowment and Trust Funds
Land, Building and Equipment
Total Assets
LIABILITIES AND FUND BALANCES
Liabilities
Accounts Payable and Short-Term Liabilities
Deferred Revenue and Other Liabilities
Total Liabilities
Fund Balances
Operating Funds (including Restricted Funds)
Plant and Reserve Fund Balance
Endowment and Trust Fund Balances
Total Fund Balances
Total Liabilities and Fund Balances
18
Also online at www.rrc.edu/AR
$
$
$
$
1,963,893
5,139,328
4,021,499
100,711
13,652,131
1,748,324
26,625,886
31,170
34,885
66,055
5,755,045
1,851,709
18,953,077
26,559,831
26,625,886
Thank You for Your Support
September 2009–August 2010
Builder / $100,000+
Anonymous
Anonymous
Susan Beckerman*
Howard & Maureen Blitman*
Fay & Daniel Levin*
Henry Luce Foundation
David Roberts & Sue Fischlowitz*
Donald & Arlene Shapiro*
Founder / $50,000+
William H. Fern & John Bliss*
Janice Gottlieb*
Patron / $25,000+
Anonymous
Leona & Murry Brochin*
Arthur “Nick” & Janice Goldman*
Jewish Funds for Justice
Herbert & Deborah Krasnow*
Mark & Patricia Nussbaum*
Louis & Myra Wiener*
Sponsor / $10,000+
Anonymous
Hillel & Mitzi Becker*
Joseph Cohen*
Carol & Jack Feder*
The Hesed Fund
Victor & Barbara Klein*
Karen Kolodny & Hank Amon*
Linda & Jake Kriger*
Donald & Betsy Landis*
Harold & Rhonda Magid*
Joseph & Harvey Meyerhoff Family Charitable
Funds
Doris Gross Nussbaum*
Lili Perski*
Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association
Reconstructionist Synagogue of the North Shore*
Miriam Roland*
RRC Student Leadership Campaign
Myrna Sameth*
Luis & Vivian Schuchinski*
Juliet Spitzer & Philip Wachs*
Rabbis Margot Stein, ’97, & Myriam Klotz, ‘99*
Arthur Winston & Joan Davidson Winston*
Aaron & Marjorie Ziegelman*
Rosanne Ziering*
Donor / $5,000+
Anonymous
Anonymous
Fleischaker Women’s Legacy Fund
Hans & Doris Grunwald*
Elaine T. Hirsch & Donald Grossman*
Howard Kerbel & Beth Fuqua*
David Leigh*
Jonathan & Bobbie Leigh*
Bert Linder & Bliss Siman*
Joyce & Carl Norden*
Rita Poretsky Foundation
Michael & Joyce Rappeport*
Eric Rosenbaum & Pierre Vallet*
Tony & Linda Rubin*
Supporter / $2,500+
Jennifer Abraham*
Milton & Florence Bienenfeld*
James Brochin & Lisa Stern*
Dave & Catherine Capper*
Rabbi Steven Carr Reuben & Didi Carr Reuben*
Rabbi Fredi Cooper, ’00, & Harry Cooper*
Rabbi Dan Ehrenkrantz, ’89, & Kay Ehrenkrantz*
Joanne Feltman*
Richard & Renee Goldman*
Rachel & Bruce Jeffer*
Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago
Rabbi Melissa Klein, ’04, & Neysa Nevins*
Paul Levy*
Charles & Mimi Lieber*
Mrs. Daniel G. Miller*
Vivian & Paul Olum Foundation
The Philadelphia Foundation
Marian Roffman & David Greenfield*
Tobey Roland*
Dan Rome & Cindy Shulak-Rome*
Lawrence & Ruth Rosen*
Jill Schwartz*
Joel Segal & Eileen Ramos and Family*
Rabbi David Teutsch & Betsy Platkin Teutsch*
Contributor / $1,000+
Marie Barr*
Esther Bates
Jeffrey & Marge Bauml*
Jeremy & Joyce Becker
Rabba Nehama Benmosche, ’10, &
Jacob Lieberman*
*Member of RRC President’s Council
19
Also online at www.rrc.edu/AR
Beth-El Zedeck Sisterhood
Harry Bloomfield*
Harriet Bograd & Kenneth Klein
Ruth Bowman*
Nathaniel & Kathleen Brochin
Rabbi Les Bronstein & Cantor Benjie Schiller*
David Bunis*
Steve Capper & Jan Marcus-Capper
Abraham Clott & Sabirzyan Badertdinov*
Francine & Barry Cohen
Jack & Joyce Dolcourt
Rabbi George Driesen, ’99, & Susan Driesen*
Judith Ehrman*
Miriam Eisenstein & Carol Stern
Barry & Barbara Epstein*
Rabbi Steven Fineblum, ’76, & Barbara Fineblum*
Rabbi Lee Friedlander, ’75*
Rabbi Dayle Friedman & David Ferleger
Victor Fuchs
Rabbi Nancy Fuchs-Kreimer, ’82, & Seth Kreimer
Philip & Cheryl Genet
Barry & Merle Ginsburg
Estate of Lee N. Goldberg
Margery Goldman
GreenFaith: Interfaith Partners for the Environment
Celeste Grynberg
Sharon & Stephen Hellman
Barbara Hirsh & Rabbi Richard Hirsh, ’81
Rabbi Linda Holtzman, ’79, & Betsy Conston
Judy Izen & Myles Kleper
Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia
Jewish Reconstructionist Foundation Whittier
Benjamin Kaplan
Lillian Kaplan
Richard & Heidi Katz
Katz Family Foundation
Audrey & Sidney Kaufman*
Alan & Pat Kessler
Melvyn & Roberta Klein*
Rabbi Jonathan Kligler, ’89, & Ellen Jahoda*
Jesse & Maris Krasnow*
Stephen Lehmann & Carol Sabersky
Norman & Bea Leopold*
Joshua Levin & Debra Fried Levin
Rabbis Joy Levitt, ’81, & Michael Strassfeld, ’91
Alan Lindy*
Ron Loberfeld*
Rabbi Michael Luckens, ’73, & Sharon Schumack*
Leon & Ariel Mandel
Jonathan Markowitz & Ruth Wenger*
Allan & Laura Mendels*
Daniel & Karol Musher*
Hadassah Musher*
Iris Newman*
Matthew & Debby Newpol
M. Frank & Sandra Norman
Michael Ostroff & Esther Rosenberg*
Lee S. Parker*
Zuzka & Phil Polishook
Nancy Post & Christopher Jacobs*
Rabbi Arnold Rachlis, ’75, & Cantor Ruti Braie
Rabbi Debra Rappaport, ’07*
Rabbi Brant Rosen, ’92, & Hallie Rosen
Bruce & Vicki Safran
Rabbis Dennis & Sandy Sasso, ’74
Arkady & Ella Serebryannik
Joel Shapiro & Sally Ackerman*
Susan & William Siebers*
Miriam Singer
Rabbi Amy Joy Small, ’87, & Robert Small*
*Member of RRC President’s Council
20
Also online at www.rrc.edu/AR
Mark & Paula Solomon*
Judy & Mark Spatz
Rabbi Anita Steiner, ’04
Rabbi Herbert Tobin, ’80, & Suzanne Tobin
Michael & Laurie Vander Velde*
Harry & Karen Waizer*
Rabbi Deborah Waxman, ’99, & Christina Ager
Rabbi Avi Winokur, ’91, & Susan Berman
Rabbi Marjorie Yudkin & Randy Tiffany
Edith & Robert Zinn
Mark & Margie Zivin*
Myra & Matthew Zuckerbraun*
Friend / $500+
Rabbi Ronald Aigen, ’76, & Carmela Aigen
Rabbi Rebecca Alpert, ’76, & Christie Balka
Robert Barkin & Cathy Shaw
Eve Bernstein & Alex Gersznowicz
Rabbis Caryn Broitman, ’92, & Brian Walt, ’84
Lisa Brush
Lynn & David Cashell
Eliza Cava & Rachel Shorey
Charles & Joan Caviness
Linda Charnes & Stanley Yudin
Aaron & Sheila Cohen
Rabbi Mychal Copeland, ’00, & Kirsti Copeland
Clifford & Roberta Detz
Rabbi Fred Scherlinder Dobb, ’97, & Minna Morse
Cynthia Ehrenkrantz
Rabbi Lewis Eron, ’81, & Gail Trachtenberg
Jacob & Anita Farber
Rabbi Robert Feinberg, ’82, & Myra Feinberg
Harriet Feiner
Adelaide Ferguson
Kaye Fichman & Peter Alexander
Roger & Barbara Fitzgerald
Rabbi Susan Frank, ’81, & Kenneth Frank
Lydia Gattanell
Rabbi David Gedzelman, ’91, & Judith Turner
Barry & Elaine Gilbert
Rabbi Gail Glicksman, ’86, & Allen Glicksman
Leonard & Jacqueline Goldner
David Goodman & Wendy Felson
Marion Hamermesh
Rabbi Doug Heifetz, ’05, & Elaine Lippmann
Fritz & Joann Heimann
Warren & Deborah Hernand
Charles & Barbara Kahn
Tamar Kamionkowski
Valerie Kaplan
Rabbi Jason Klein, ’02
Morris & Susan Klein
Rabbi Barry Krieger, ’85, & Alice Passer
Rabbi Darby Leigh, ’08, & Randi Leigh
Judith Leland
Arthur Levine & Judith Ludwig Levine
Paula Levine & Bernard Beitman
Jack Levy & Judith Bass
Minnie Marguleas
Ruth Messinger & Andrew Lachman
Mark & Angela Milstein
Joan Weinstein Mirken & Alan Mirken
Yuval & Diana Oren
Richard Peiser & Beverly Segal Peiser
Rabbi Linda Potemken, ’97
Rabbi Michael Remson & Susan Remson
Rabbi Yael Ridberg, ’97, & Mark Laska
Susan Saltz
Rabbi Jeffrey Schein, ’77, & Deborah Schein
Rabbi Sidney Schwarz, ’80, & Sandy Perlstein
Shirley Shils
Rabbi Jodie Siff, ’01, & Peter Scherr
David & Robin Sigman
Isaac & Rosalind Silberman
Rabbi Elliot Skiddell, ’80, & Julie Skiddell
Rabbi Toba Spitzer, ’97, & Gina Fried
Ilse Stamm
Rabbi Jacob Staub, ’77, & Michael Spitko
Elsie Stern & Steven Cohen
Hazel Stix
Rabbi Elliott Tepperman, ’02, & Sarah O’Leary
Rabbi Elyse Wechterman, ’00, & David Nerenberg
Ruth Weil
Rabbi Eitan Weiner-Kaplow, ’88, & Dawn
Weiner-Kaplow
Terry Winant
Rabbi Shawn Zevit, ’98, & Simcha Schneider Zevit
Associate / $250+
Susan Alan
Rabbi Joel Alpert, ’76, & Jodi Roseman
Barbara Altman
Loren Amdursky & Edward Nelson
Rabbi Benjamin Arnold, ’99, & Marti Arnold
Amy Bauman
Joan Bayliss & Irwin Noparstak
Rabbi Rena Blumenthal, ’03
Richard & Barbara Braun
Rabbi Deborah Brin, ’85
Leslie & Susan Brisman
Rabbi Reba Carmel, ’09, & David Franklin
Mark Cary & Anita Weber
Jay & Cheryl Cohen
Rabbi Michael Cohen, ’90, & Alison Hill
Sara & Stanley Cohn
Rabbi Meryl Crean, ’96
Mark Danzig & Sharon Portnoy
Deborah Dash Moore & MacDonald Moore
Steven Datlof & Diane Harrison
William & Tamar Earnest
Daniel & Toby Edelman
Howard & Carol Ellegant
Rabbi Rachel Esserman, ’98
Samuel & Phyllis Feder
Anne C. Fendrich
Morris & Natalie Fisher
Arlene S. Fred
Alan & Carol Friedlander
David Friedman & Rabbi Tirzah Firestone
Rabbi Leila Gal-Berner, ’89, & Franna Ruddell
Rabbis Deborah Glanzberg-Krainin, ’96, &
David Glanzberg-Krainin
David & Robin Glazer
Rabbi Rosalind Glazer, ’03
Eric Gold
Harry Goldin & Jane Kaplan
Sandra Goldman
Bennett Goldstein
Edwin Gould
Gene & Marilyn Grayson
Melissa Gregory
Ernest & Elmina Hilsenrath
Abram & Mildred Hodes
Zachary & Judy Hodes
Janet & Brian Hoffman
Barry Hoffner
Barbara & Gerald Israelite
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Also online at www.rrc.edu/AR
Arthur & Laurie Javier
James Jordan
Babette Josephs
Irving & Naomi Kaminsky
Lawrence & Ana Kaufman
Estate of Ida Klaus
Marshall & Ellen Kolba
Ruth Kolodny
Sidney & Deena Kushner
Rabbi Alex Lazarus-Klein,’04, & Ashirah
Lazarus-Klein
Charles Levin
Victor & Ellen Levin
Linette Liebling & Peter Demuth
Rabbi Mordechai Liebling, ’85, & Lynne Iser
Barbara G. Lissy
Rabbi Jonathan Malamy, ’00, & Cantor
Jill Abramson
Richard & Sandra Malkin
Rabbi Nina Mandel, ’03
Esther Miller & John Coffin
Rabbi Katie Mizrahi, ’05, & Raj Abbasi
Justin & Marion Mueller
Ira & Beth Nash
Rabbi Sarah Newmark, ’10, & Zephron Newmark
Arnold & Judith Olshan
Congregation Or Hadash (KS)
Rabbi Barbara Penzner, ’87, & Brian Rosman
Rabbi Amber Powers, ’02, & Cherie Older
Marsha Raleigh
Gary & Susan Rappaport
Alan & Nancy Raznick
John Riehl
Stephen & Selena Rochlis
Ruth Rosen
James Ross
Alan & Suzanne Saposnik
Rabbi Isaac Saposnik, ’08, & Jeanne Calloway
Audrey Schoenwald
Lawrence & Cherie Karo Schwartz
Aaron & Ruth Kertzer Seidman
Marion Shapiro
Rabbi Henry Shreibman, ’81
Leonard & Marion Simon
Arthur & Linda Solomon
Paul Sonnenblick
Gideon & Cheryl Sorokin
Michael & Doris Starr
Rabbi David E. S. Stein, ’91
Frances Rhoda Stier
Rabbi Danielle Stillman, ’09, & Matthew Utterback
Alton & Mona Sutnick
Muriel Thompson
United Jewish Federation of Johnstown
Ilene Wasserman
Rabbi Joshua Waxman, ’03, & Aimee Kahan
Rabbi Sheila P. Weinberg, ’86, & Maynard Seider
Judith Whitson & Tom Morgan
Max Yaffe & Joan Amatniek
Joel Yanowitz & Amy Metzenbaum
Rabbis Laurie Zimmerman, ’03, & Renee Bauer, ’05
Matching Corporate Grants
GlaxoSmithKline Foundation
United Way of Tri-State
Wells Fargo Educational Matching Gift Program
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Also online at www.rrc.edu/AR
Foundations and Organizations
The Albin Family Foundation, Inc.
Anonymous
Anonymous
The Barr Charitable Trust
Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation
Harriet Bograd & Kenneth Klein Fund
Richard & Barbara Braun Fund
CMS Foundation
Conston Foundation
Eldee Foundation
Barry & Barbara Epstein Gift Fund
William Fern Philanthropic Fund
The Fine Fund
Fleischaker Women’s Legacy Fund
Foundation for Jewish Philanthropy
Gilbert Family Philanthropic Fund
The Merle & Barry Ginsburg Foundation
Jacob & Malka Goldfarb Charitable Foundation
Marvin Naiman & Margery Goldman Family Fund
Richard & Renee Goldman Fund
GreenFaith: Interfaith Partners for the Environment
Lotte & Max Heine Philanthropic Fund
The Hesed Fund
Susan S. Jahoda Philanthropic Fund
Jewish Funds for Justice
Katz Family Foundation
Klein Family Fund
Leigh Foundation
Daniel Levin Charitable Fund
Joshua Levin & Debra Fried Levin Philanthropic
Fund
Henry Luce Foundation
Amy Metzenbaum & Joel Yanowitz Fund
Joseph & Harvey Meyerhoff Family Charitable Funds
Molly & Carl Fund
Hadassah & Sidney Musher Philanthropic Fund
Vivian & Paul Olum Foundation
The Philadelphia Foundation
Rita Poretsky Foundation
Gary & Susan Rappaport Family Fund
Alan & Nancy Raznick Fund
Martin & Florence Roffman Family Foundation
Tobey, Julie & Lucy Roland Philanthropic Fund
Safran Charitable Gift Fund
Serebryannik Charitable Fund
Edith G. & A. Walter Socolow Philanthropic Fund
Sorokin Family 1989 Trust
Allen A. Stein Family Foundation
Tides Foundation
Weil Family Trust
Ziering Family Foundation
Matthew & Myra Zuckerbraun Fund
Corporate Donations
Abrams Little-Gill Loberfeld PC
Goldsteins’ Rosenberg’s Raphael-Sacks
Peerless Clothing International
Stair Galleries & Restoration
Zinn Petroleum Company
Bequests
Anonymous
Estate of Lee N. Goldberg
Estate of Ida Klaus
RRC Programs
Beth El Zedek Internship
John Bliss Campus Internships
John Bliss Scholarships for Clinical Pastoral
Education
Distance Learning
Dorshei Emet Internship
George Driesen Lecture
Dee Einhorn Hesed Fund
Faculty ‘Last Lecture’ Series
Faculty Research
William Flesher Community Internship Program
Fred & Naomi Hazell Scholarship Fund
Israel Program
Mekom Torah
Multifaith Studies and Initiatives
Oral History Project
Rabbinic Intern for Brandeis University
Rabbinic Intern for Noar Hadash and Camp JRF
Rabbinic Intern for Vassar College
Reconstructionist Archives
Recruitment Institute
Social Justice Organizing Program
Tzey U’lemad
Zinbarg Ethics
* The President’s Council, formed in 2006, helps RRC
maintain and advance its pivotal role in creating
rabbinical leadership for the Jewish community. It
consists of individuals in the United States and
Canada who have supported the College with the
resources necessary to fulfill its mission. A minimum
contribution of $1,800 is necessary to become a
member of the President’s Council. Since its
inception, the membership has continued to grow;
we hope that the Council will become our eyes and
ears in the community, keeping us focused and fresh
in our approach.
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Also online at www.rrc.edu/AR
Endowed Programs
Scholarships and Fellowships
Prizes
Beverly Bain Scholarship
The Dorothy and Sidney Becker Israel Scholarship
Fran Berley Memorial Scholarship
Brin Scholarship
Leona and Murry Brochin Scholarship
Chaplaincy Internship Fund
Congregation Tikvoh Chadoshoh Scholarship
Jeannette Henigson Cowen Scholarship
Jeffrey Eisenstat Scholarship
Ira and Judith Eisenstein Scholarship
Frieda Abelson Green Scholarship
Anna Weber Gross Scholarship
Joseph and Frieda Hellenbrand Memorial
Scholarship
Jewish Reconstructionist Society of Brooklyn
Myron H. Kinberg Scholarship
Dorothy and Myer Kripke Scholarship
Herman and Shirley Levin Scholarship
Benjamin Wm. Mehlman Scholarship
Or Hadash Internship
Leslie Reggel Scholarship
Rabbi Steven Carr Reuben Internship
Morton Schein Education Fellowship
Lewis and Alice Schimberg Scholarship
Sylvia Milgram Semanoff Scholarship
Herman Silver and Dr. Lee Winston Fellowship
Herman Silver and Dr. Lee Winston Israel
Scholarship
Joseph and Miriam Singer Israel Scholarship
Edith G. and A. Walter Socolow Scholarship
Allen A. Stein Scholarship
Rabbi David A. Teutsch Israel Scholarship
Wiener Camp JRF Fellowship
Judith Winston Scholarship
Aaron and Marjorie Ziegelman Scholarships
Rabbi Devora Bartnoff Memorial Prize for
Spiritually Motivated Social Action
Dr. Dorothy and Sidney Becker Prize for Hebrew
Writing
Rabbi Kenneth and Aviva Berger Memorial Prize
in Practical Rabbinics
David Fern Memorial Award for Outstanding
Contributions to the RRC Community
Lillian Fern Memorial Student Award for
Outstanding Contributions to the RRC
Community
Yaacov Gladstone Award for Fine Teaching
Evelyn R. Mehlman Jewish Music Award
Ann Pinkenson Prize in Rabbinics
A. Walter Socolow Essay Prize
Fred Louis Stamm Memorial Prize
Alice Stein Prize in Jewish Women’s Studies
Academic Programs
Marie Barr Kolot Fund
The Dorothy and Sidney Becker Chair in Hebrew
Studies
The Dorothy and Sidney Becker Fund for Hebrew
Media
The Dorothy and Sidney Becker Israel Program
Lavy M. Becker Department of Practical Rabbinics
Roy and Bess Berlin Fund for Education
Jacob and Hilda Blaustein Fund for Preparatory
Year Studies
Louis Bunis Memorial Lecture
Gottesman Kolot Chair in Gender and Judaism
Frieda and Jules Herskowitz Hiddur Fund
Florence Holtzman Fund for Practical Rabbinics
Media
Kolot Operating Fund
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Also online at www.rrc.edu/AR
Levin-Lieber Family Program in Jewish Ethics
Zelda and Joel Liebling Fund for Yiddish
Literature and Culture
Mehlman Hiddur Fund
Henny Wenkart Kolot Writer-in-Residence
Whizin Endowment for Ethics
Louis J. and Myra E. Wiener Chair in
Contemporary Civilization
Arthur D. Winston Fund for Spiritual Education
Library Programs
Minnie Kalkstein Choper Memorial Library Fund
Abbot Eron Library Fund
Kolot Beckerman Library Fund
Charles and Mimi Lieber Book Fund
Lucius N. Littauer Judaica Book Fund
Goldyne Savad Library Fund
General Endowment
Howard Blitman Fund for the Advancement of
Reconstructionist Judaism
Green Committee
Reuben I. Isaacson Memorial Fund
Levin Fund for Excellence
Aaron and Marjorie Ziegelman Fund
Aaron and Marjorie Ziegelman Presidential Chair
Community Support
Keren Reviyah Fund
Board of Governors 2010–11
General Chair
Aaron Ziegelman, New York City
Chair
David Roberts, St. Louis
Vice Chair
Susan Beckerman, New York City
Treasurer
Bert Linder, New York City
Recording Secretary
Arthur S. “Nick” Goldman, Elkins Park, PA
Corresponding Secretary
Leona Brochin, South Orange, NJ
Chair Emeritus
Donald L. Shapiro, Naples, FL
Hillel Becker, Montreal
Howard Blitman, Scarsdale, NY
Abraham Clott, New York City
Joseph N. Cohen, Beverly Hills, CA
Carol Feder, Potomac, MD
William H. Fern, Ph.D., Westport, CT
Hans Grunwald, M.D., Greenvale, NY
Valerie Kaplan, Laurel, MD
Howard Kerbel, Montclair, NJ
Karen Kolodny, New York City
Herbert Krasnow, White Plains, NY
Donald Landis, White Plains, NY
Daniel Levin, Chicago
Harold Magid, White Plains, NY
Joyce Norden, Ph.D., Philadelphia
Mark Nussbaum, San Diego
Rabbi Steven Carr Reuben, Ph.D.,
Pacific Palisades, CA
Miriam Roland, Montreal
Eric Rosenbaum, New York City
Myrna Sameth, Saugerties, NY
Luis Schuchinski, Montclair, NJ
Rabbi Jodie Siff, Plandome, NY
Louis J. Wiener, Newport Beach, CA
Rabbi Avi Winokur, Haddonfield, NJ
Mission:
The Reconstructionist
Rabbinical College
educates leaders,
advances scholarship
and develops resources
for contemporary
Jewish life.
EX-OFFICIO GOVERNORS
Jennifer S. Abraham, Vice President for
Administration, RRC, Philadelphia
Robert Barkin, Executive Vice President, Jewish
Reconstructionist Federation, Bethesda, MD
Rabbi Fredi Cooper, President, Reconstructionist
Rabbinical Association, Wyndmoor, PA
Rabbi Dan Ehrenkrantz, President, RRC,
Elkins Park, PA
Reena Sigman Friedman, Ph.D., Faculty
Representative, RRC, Huntingdon Valley, PA
Rabbi Richard Hirsh, Executive Director,
Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association,
Wynnewood, PA
S. Tamar Kamionkowski, Ph.D., Vice President
for Academic Affairs and Academic Dean, RRC,
Elkins Park, PA
Jacob Lieberman, Student Representative,
Wyncote, PA
Michael Mitchell, President, Jewish
Reconstructionist Federation, Toronto
Rabbi Deborah Waxman, Ph.D., Vice President
for Governance, RRC, Elkins Park, PA
HONORARY GOVERNORS
Jacques G. Pomeranz, z”l, Oyster Bay, NY
Rabbi Harold M. Schulweis, Encino, CA
Charles E. Silberman, z”l, Sarasota, FL
CREDITS
As part of our commitment to the environment, this annual report was printed on paper
certified by The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), an international organization devoted
to promoting responsible stewardship of the world's forests. We also used UV inks,
chosen by the Environmental Protection Agency as most friendly to the environment.
UV materials emit no volatile organic chemicals or hazardous air pollutants.
Editor
Eileen Fisher
Design
Amy Pollack
Editorial Staff
Joanna Poses
Wendy Univer
Photography
Jordan Cassway
Richard Quindry
Copy Editor
Kathleen Florio
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