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The quest to replace Park East Synagogue’s 92-year-old rabbi is not going smoothly
(New York Jewish Week) — More than a year after it attracted attention for the abrupt termination of its popular assistant rabbi, Manhattan’s Park East Synagogue was again the scene of a heated squabble on Sunday.
And like last time, the spat centered on who will succeed the Orthodox congregation’s 92-year-old spiritual leader, Rabbi Arthur Schneier.
In the time since the former assistant rabbi, Benjamin Goldschmidt, was ousted, no one has been appointed to take Schneier’s place after his tenure ends. The synagogue announced a search for a “worthy successor” to Schneier 11 months ago, and a public event on Sunday night was supposed to herald the next stage in that process. A candidate for the position, Rabbi Yitzchok Schochet, delivered an hour-long lecture to a crowd of 100 people, including members of the search committee.
But following the talk, the event held in the synagogue’s Charles Brooks Ballroom devolved into a verbal sparring match between Schochet, the rabbi of London’s Mill Hill Synagogue, and Kalman Sporn, a political consultant who describes himself as a “human rights activist.” Sporn questioned Schochet’s past outspoken opposition to same-sex relationships. Schochet claimed that Sporn was engaging in “cancel culture.”
“Park East’s bimah is New York’s hallowed ground for human dignity,” Sporn told the New York Jewish Week. “It must not become a pulpit for prejudice.”
Michael Scharf, who serves on the rabbinic search committee, told the Jewish Week in an emailed statement that Sporn’s comments were “disrespectful” to Schochet.
“Rabbi Schochet is a most distinguished Rabbi with a demonstrable record of great accomplishment, an incredible speaker, a true man of faith, and certainly not one who should be the subject of a smear and libelous campaign emanating from a group of nasty malcontents who obviously did not listen to Rabbi Schochet’s eloquent rejoinders to their issues,” Scharf wrote.
Rabbi Yitzchak Schochet spoke at Park East Synagogue on Sunday about the pursuit of happiness, when some synagogue members began to question him about his record on LGBTQ and Palestinian issues. (Zoom Screenshot)
The incident has prompted congregants to consider whether Schochet has the right temperament to lead a congregation that has hosted a succession of dignitaries, including Pope Benedict XVI. Critics say Schochet’s history of controversy, in addition to his response to being criticized on Sunday, do not accord with the synagogue’s self-image as a distinguished public forum.
And the drama Sunday night has raised the same question that has nagged at the synagogue for more than a year: Who is a fitting replacement for Schneier, a longtime religious freedom activist and former U.S. alternate representative at the United Nations?
Goldschmidt, who was popular among young congregants and was once seen by some as Schneier’s heir apparent, was fired in October 2021. He was subsequently derided by Schneier’s allies as lacking the education and gravitas needed to lead the synagogue. That dispute ended with Goldschmidt founding a breakaway congregation, the Altneu, which also meets on the Upper East Side and has attracted a growing membership.
“Park East has a problem where they really haven’t had a rabbi for many years,” said one member who, like several who discussed the synagogue’s internal debates, wished to remain anonymous. “We’re down on people coming on Saturday. The schools are a problem. Covid hurt us. [Rabbi Schnier] is 92, so on a day-to-day basis, he hasn’t really been involved.”
Schochet, 58, is a Chabad-affiliated rabbi who has held a number of prominent positions in British Jewish communal organizations. For three decades, he has been the rabbi of London’s Mill Hill United Synagogue, an 1,800-member Orthodox congregation in northwest London. According to a biography on the synagogue website, he has also served as the chairman of the Rabbinical Council of the United Kingdom’s United Synagogue, and as a member of the British Chief Rabbi’s cabinet.
But Schochet has also faced backlash for his comments about Palestinians and their supporters. In 2018, the British Holocaust Memorial Day Trust condemned Schochet for referring to Jews who said Kaddish for Palestinians as “kapos,” or Jews who served in positions of authority in Nazi concentration camps.
In 2015, Middle East Monitor, a pro-Palestinian media outlet, criticized Schochet for two tweets he had written four years earlier in response to a user called “Jew4Palestine.” In one, he wrote, “I have a spare Israeli flag if you want to hang yourself on it.” In the second, commenting on unemployment statistics in Gaza, he wrote, “Then again if you include terrorism as work, it’s 100% employed.” Soon afterward, Schochet was removed as a patron of a charity called Faith Matters.
At the meeting on Sunday, however, much of the criticism of Schochet revolved around his past public opposition to same-sex marriage. Jewish law has traditionally prohibited same-sex relationships, and refusing to conduct same-sex weddings remains normative practice among nearly all Orthodox rabbis.
In 2011, Schochet said that “the time-hallowed sacredness of marriage should always be preserved.” In 2012, the rabbi called gay marriage “an assault on religious values.” That same year, he penned an essay for PinkNews, an LGBTQ-focused publication, called “Homosexuality is prohibited in Orthodox Judaism but so is eating bacon, everyone is welcome.”
In 2014, England, Scotland and Wales legalized same-sex marriage. The following year, Schochet wrote that the Torah prohibits homosexual acts, but does not condemn a person for having homosexual feelings.
Schochet did not respond to a New York Jewish Week request for comment.
Sporn has posted tweets criticizing Schochet’s positions, and at the meeting on Sunday, brought up Schochet’s record of controversial statements during the question-and-answer portion of the event.
“I personally have been troubled by some of the positions you have taken in the past,” Sporn said. “You have openly fought efforts for marriage equality, while you want gay people to in your words feel reassured that they are always welcome into synagogues.”
Sporn was eventually cut off from using the microphone. Schochet responded, saying he had seen Sporn’s tweets. He said he had been invited to write an essay for PinkNews in 2012 “precisely because I was deemed as being the more moderate amongst all the Orthodox rabbis on gay issues.”
He added that the previous year, in a segment that aired on the BBC, he defended a gay couple who were denied access to a hotel room by a Christian owner. Schochet also said that a high-ranking member at his synagogue was gay.
“To everyone’s surprise, other than my own and those who know me to be a liberal conservative, I argued that everyone has a right to uphold their religious convictions without compromise,” Schochet wrote in a blog post about the BBC broadcast. “However, what you cannot do is look to impose those on others. That’s religious fundamentalism.”
In that same blog post, Schochet doubled down on his opposition to gay marriage. “If you choose to reject religion and lead a gay lifestyle, or conduct extra marital affairs, then frankly that is your business,” Schochet said. “That I choose to frown upon what you do because my G-d says it is wrong is very much my entitlement.”
Schochet then began to criticize Sporn, mentioning Sporn’s involvement in a scheme to apportion Catholic papal knighthoods for cash.
“You and I can go on canceling each other all night long,” Schochet said. “Cancel culture, which is the scourge and the malaise of our 21st century is, in the words of Barack Obama, scorched earth, partisan politics, where people we disagree with are maligned.”
(In 2019, regarding condemnations of people on social media, Obama said, “That’s not activism. That’s not bringing about change, if all you’re doing is casting stones, you’re probably not going to get that far. That’s easy to do.” A column on the Jewish website Aish.com about Obama’s comments does criticize “this scorched-earth partisan politics – where people with whom we disagree are denied a fair hearing and a voice in public life.”)
Schochet continued, “it divides families, it divides society, it tears apart relationships, it polarizes and pits people against one another. We may always be two Jews as indeed we are with three opinions, but we should always maintain one heart. I invite you to join me in that mission statement.”
When he finished, the crowd erupted into applause. The room became calm, until later, another member of the congregation, who did not use a microphone, stood up and confronted the rabbi about his exchange between him and Sporn — leading Schochet to apologize to Sporn.
“If I did embarrass you, I do genuinely apologize to you profusely and I hope you forgive me, and I mean that sincerely,” he said.
Addressing the crowd following the incident, Schneier — who has led Park East for more than 60 years — said, “When it comes to the selection of a rabbi, it is entirely up to the membership.”
“The purpose of Rabbi Schochet coming here with us, some of you did not have a chance to to hear him, to meet with him, and now I hope you get to know him a bit better,” Schneier said. “All kinds of rumors, forget about them.”
Schochet’s reaction to Sporn was “a personal attack,” the member who wished to remain anonymous said. He added that Schochet’s conduct did not reflect the decorum the synagogue strives to maintain.
“He ganged [the crowd] up in a mob mentality where they cheered for him,” the member told the Jewish Week. “Instead of answering the question, he attacked him. [Schochet] had such a great opportunity to be diplomatic. This guy is not diplomatic on an interview. Could you imagine if he had a contract? This is almost beyond belief.”
This member also said that Schochet is the only rabbi who has been brought to the synagogue by the search committee.
Another synagogue member told the Jewish Week that Sporn’s tweets attacking Schochet provided critical context for their exchange.
“It did not come across to me as embarrassing to Kalman,” the member said. “It came across to me as Rabbi Schochet saying that what you’re doing is being unfair.”
He added that what is getting lost amidst the squabble is that Park East “is looking for a rabbi.”
“Every member should have the opportunity to come and ask questions,” the member said. “The sense I had from people is that they got a really good understanding of where Rabbi Schochet stands on the issues. Yes, Kalman brought up an issue, and Rabbi Schochet apologized.”
That member said no decisions have been made thus far as to who will be hired.
Meanwhile, Avital Chizhik-Goldschmidt, the wife of Benjamin Goldschmidt, told the New York Jewish Week that the new synagogue they started is “only growing” and that she hasn’t followed developments at her husband’s old congregation.
“I really don’t have anything to do with that place,” Goldschmidt said of Park East Synagogue. “We have moved on.”
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First-ever empirical study of US rabbinate finds ‘shortage’ is more about fit than numbers
(JTA) — For years, synagogue leaders have said they can’t find enough clergy to fill their pulpits, leading to warnings of a nationwide rabbinic shortage. At the same time, openings for campus rabbis at Hillel chapters draw an average of 19 applicants each.
This mismatch between what rabbis want to do and the kinds of jobs available is among the many findings in the first-ever empirical study of the American rabbinate across denominations, released this week by the Atra Center for Rabbinic Innovation.
The study also examines the so-called “rabbinic pipeline” — the concern that declining enrollment at seminaries means too few people want to become rabbis. Here, too, the findings challenge conventional wisdom.
Surveying 450 people who considered the rabbinate but chose other careers, the study finds that lack of motivation was not a deciding factor. The most common barriers cited were the cost and duration of rabbinical school, the need to relocate, and concerns about the practicality of such a career.
In addition to these “would-be” rabbis, researchers surveyed nearly 1,500 others — including working and retired rabbis, current students, and seminary dropouts. They also interviewed leaders of rabbinical schools and associations, along with representatives of a wide range of rabbinic employers, while collecting recruitment and enrollment data.
Almost as notable as the findings is the diversity of those who took part. Participating organizations include every rabbinic institution from Reconstructionist and Reform to Conservative and Modern Orthodox, as well as all major non-denominational programs. Participation also came from umbrella groups representing Jewish summer camps, community centers, federations, and Hillel chapters. (Haredi Judaism was outside the study’s scope.)
“It’s a groundbreaking effort because there’s never been a comprehensive study of the rabbinate before, but it didn’t take much persuasion to get broad participation,” Atra’s executive director, Rabbi Shira Koch Epstein, said in an interview.
She described an eagerness to get involved that was motivated by years of debate about the issues addressed in the study. In one breakthrough, Atra convened dozens of leaders of institutions and programs that cultivate Jewish leaders and ordain rabbis, spanning the denominational range, for a brainstorming session about tackling the rabbinic pipeline.
“Everyone’s been trying to address the problems and the challenges, and we haven’t actually had any shared good information and data to help us do that,” Epstein said. “People actually want to work together on this, because they recognize that no one can do it alone.”
The study does not offer hard and fast solutions, instead positioning itself as a “mirror and a map” for collective action. Here are some of the highlights.
1. Only about half of all rabbis work in synagogues.
Those who do tend to find their job overly stressful and exhausting. Other kinds of rabbinical jobs offer much higher job satisfaction.
About 56% of rabbis are in pulpit jobs. The rest work for nonprofits, as chaplains, for day schools and universities or as independent entrepreneurs. The researchers spoke to 222 people who have held jobs in both categories. They said that working for a synagogue pays better but that, by every other metric of job satisfaction, working outside the synagogue is significantly better.
The study highlights this difference but also notes with a tone of reassurance and awe that 97% of all rabbis said their jobs are rewarding.
2. After years of decline, rabbinical school enrollment appears to be stabilizing.
The widespread perception that the major denominational seminaries are graduating fewer students while newer and non-denominational schools are growing is validated in the study. The latter are now producing slightly more rabbis than the former. Over the past five years, enrollment declines at Conservative and Reform seminaries have stopped, suggesting that they’ve reached a new normal.
3. Most rabbinical students are women and most are LGBTQ. Many are converts.
Rabbinical students today reflect a far more diverse cohort than in the past. According to the Atra report, 58% identify as women, 30% as men, and 12% as nonbinary.
An estimated 51% identify as LGBTQ, a contrast made starker with survey data collected in the same study showing that only 15% of rabbis ordained 10 to 20 years ago are LGBTQ.
Meanwhile, 16% of rabbinical students are Jews by choice and 12% identify as a race other than white.
Both Atra and the researchers they commissioned to carry out the study caution against drawing sensational conclusions about the growing diversity. “There’s no data-driven evidence as to why it’s happening and what the implications of it are yet to be known,” Wendy Rosov, the study’s lead researcher, said in an interview.
4. Views about Israel or Zionism don’t factor heavily into decisions about whether to become a rabbi.
The past few years have seen some students drop out of rabbinical school in protest of what they say is anti-Zionism in the student body and dozens of students signing on to petitions that are harshly critical of Israel.
Atra didn’t collect data on how current and future rabbis feel about Israel. But it did check how whatever view they held factored into their motivation for the job. Only a small minority said they wanted to become rabbis as a way to promote Israel and an even smaller minority said they were worried of being silenced regarding their criticism of Israel.
The motivating factors people most often checked often were “a desire to serve others,” “I felt called by my love of Judaism,” “An interest in deepening their knowledge of Jewish text and traditions,” and “a desire to teach.”
5. A wave of rabbinic retirements is looming.
The Atra report estimates there are about 4,100 rabbis currently working across congregations, schools, nonprofits, campuses, and chaplaincies. But the profession is getting older only 6% are under 35, while a quarter are over 65.
With most rabbis ordained in their mid-30s and many staying in their roles for decades, the report warns that retirements may soon outnumber new entrants unless younger Jews are drawn into the field.
The report closes on a note of cautious optimism, calling for collective action rather than quick fixes. It outlines nine areas where collaboration could make the biggest difference — from easing the financial burden of rabbinical training to modernizing education, expanding non-congregational careers, and improving mentorship. Epstein is hopeful that the collaborative spirit embodied in the summer gathering could translate into shared solutions.
“This is a surmountable challenge,” she said.
The post First-ever empirical study of US rabbinate finds ‘shortage’ is more about fit than numbers appeared first on The Forward.
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Trump formally requests pardon in Israeli legal system for Benjamin Netanyahu
(JTA) — President Donald Trump has made official a suggestion that he first issued on the floor of Israel’s parliament: that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should be pardoned preemptively for his alleged crimes.
Trump made the case in a letter to Israeli President Isaac Herzog that Herzog’s office released on Wednesday. In it, Trump calls Netanyahu a “formidable and decisive War Time Prime Minister” and characterizes his prosecution as “lawfare,” a term that when used pejoratively refers to the misuse of legal systems to achieve ideological ends.
“Prime Minister Netanyahu has stood tall for Israel in the face of strong adversaries and long odds, and his attention cannot be unnecessarily diverted,” Trump writes.
He adds, “While I absolutely respect the independence of the Israeli Justice System and its requirements, I believe that this case against Bibi, who has fought alongside me for a long time, including against the very top adversary of Israel, Iran, is a political unjustified prosecution.”
The letter represents the kind of insertion into Israeli domestic politics that would have drawn ire in the past but have become relatively commonplace during Trump’s norm-busting second term. It follows Trump’s successful push for Israel to strike a ceasefire deal with Hamas that freed the Israeli hostages and suspended the two-year war in Gaza, and comes as Trump is seeking to safeguard the peace. Trump says in the letter that Netanyahu’s leadership is essential for allowing Israel to move forward.
“Now that we have achieved these unprecedented successes, and are keeping Hamas in check, it is time to let be reunite Israel by pardoning him and ending this lawfare, once and for all,” Trump concludes, ending with one of his signature signoffs. “Thank you for your attention to this matter.”
Unlike in the United States, where Trump has pardoned a number of political allies, including this week, Israel does not typically grant preemptive pardons. Netanyahu has not been convicted of any crimes.
Netanyahu has three legal cases open against him, on charges of fraud, bribery and breach of trust. They relate to allegations that he accepted lavish gifts in exchange for political favors and that he used his position to secure positive media coverage. The trial in the cases began in 2020 and has proceeded in fits and starts, with hearings routinely canceled as Netanyahu attends to Israel’s affairs, including the multi-front war and a protest movement that Netanyahu and his allies allege has been stoked through foreign interference.
Yair Lapid, the leader of the opposition, dismissed both the prospect of a pardon and Trump’s letter. On X, he said that Israeli law required those receiving pardons to admit guilt and show remorse — neither of which Netanyahu has yet done. In the Knesset, he said, “We are a sovereign state. There is a limit to intervention.”
Herzog’s office issued a statement praising Trump’s efforts in the Middle East but emphasizing that requests for pardons must come through Israel’s official process, which requires that people directly implicated in the case, or their immediate family members, must file a formal request.
“The president holds great respect for President Trump and repeatedly has repeatedly expressed his appreciation for Trump’s unwavering support of Israel and his tremendous contribution to the return of the hostages, the reshaping of the Middle East and Gaza, and the safeguarding of Israel’s security,” the president’s office said in a statement. “Without detracting from the above, as the president has made clear on multiple occasions, anyone seeking a pardon must submit a formal request in accordance with the established procedures.”
The post Trump formally requests pardon in Israeli legal system for Benjamin Netanyahu appeared first on The Forward.
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IDF Central Command Chief Condemns Tuesday’s Settler Attacks in West Bank
A building and cars burnt in an attack by Israeli settlers. February 27, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Ammar Awad
i24 News — The chief of the IDF Central Command, Maj. Gen. Avi Bluth, condemned Tuesday’s settler attacks against Palestinians and IDF soldiers in the West Bank on Wednesday morning.
During these attacks, dozens of masked settlers beat Palestinians, burned their property, and clashed with IDF troops near the villages of Deir Sharaf and Beit Lid, leaving multiple injured and causing property damage amid escalating West Bank tensions.
“The reality in which anarchist fringe youth act violently against innocent civilians and against security forces is unacceptable and is extremely serious. It must be dealt with firmly,” Bluth said during a conversation with commanders in the sector.
In October, 86 “nationalist crime incidents” were recorded in Judea and Samaria, a sharp increase compared to the previous olive harvest when 25 nationalist crime incidents were recorded, according to a report released Wednesday by the IDF.
Bluth added that dealing with the situation properly would require the combined efforts “of all branches of the State of Israel: education, welfare, law enforcement, and disciplinary measures,” referring to the incidents as “severe.”
He then directed that IDF soldiers “not stand idly by and do everything in your power to prevent any act of nationalist crime,” adding that this response is in full cooperation with the Israeli Police and the ISA. “This is the only way we can eradicate the phenomenon,” he said to the commanders.
He also noted that these incidents drain significant “attention and resources, which are being diverted to dealing with these anarchist individuals who take the law into their own hands.”
These resources are then taken away from counterterrorism operations and other security and defense tasks in the region, he continued, stating that “this violence harms Israeli communities and the State of Israel.”
“We will not accept a situation in which lawbreakers harm property and innocent civilians, undermine stability in Judea and Samaria, and divert the IDF’s focus away from its mission of security and counterterrorism,” said the chief of command.