Rabbi Hayim Herring, Ph.D.

Sampling Some Herring:… Congregations are ripe for Synaplex; we have to accelerate the injection of some fresh thought into the synagogue world… Continue to dream. Take whatever criticism that comes along with that. It’s easier to be a critic than a creator … Women need a place to deal with women’s issues but we’ve created a dialogue gap between men and women… Men’s club relies heavily on the talent of its members; congregations can learn from the example of Men’s Club.… What does men’s club do for adolescent boys – there’s a need for congregations to address the pattern of drop-out from congregational life for boys after bar mitzvah?…

Rabbi Hayim Herring received his undergraduate education at the Joint Program of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America and Columbia University, where he graduated Magna Cum Laude from Columbia and with distinction from the Seminary. He received his rabbinical ordination from the Seminary in 1984 and a doctorate in Organization and Management from Capella University’s School of Business in 2000, where he concentrated his studies in the area of non-profit management.

For ten years, he served as rabbi of Beth El Synagogue in Minneapolis, first as associate and then as senior rabbi. He then worked at the Minneapolis Jewish Federation for seven years, where he helped to create one of the leading-edge continuity initiatives in the country, leaving as Associate Executive Director in 2002. He then was appointed as the first Executive Director of STAR (Synagogues: Transformation and Renewal), established in 1999 by philanthropists Edgar M. Bronfman, Charles Schusterman (z”l) and Michael Steinhardt. Herring continues to lead STAR today, whose mission is to renew Jewish life through congregational innovation and leadership development. One of STAR’s signature initiatives is Synaplex™, a national synagogue renewal effort with over 130 participating congregations.

Rabbi Herring serves on numerous national boards, including the editorial board of the educational magazine of the Jewish Education Service of North America (JESNA), the UJC’s Jewish Renaissance and Renewal Professional Advisory Committee, the Lippman-Kanfer Institute, the Rabbinical School Advisory Committee of Hebrew College and the National Jewish Policy Center (formerly, the Wilstein Institute for Jewish Policy Studies), where he is a Senior Scholar. He has volunteered extensively in his home community on behalf of Jewish youth and teens, serving causes including Jewish camping, supplemental schools and day schools. Rabbi Herring is a founding member of the Alumni Association of Capella University.

Rabbi Herring has conducted studies and published articles in the areas of Jewish continuity, Jewish adolescence, Jewish identity-formation in postmodern America, Conservative Judaism, new organizational models of the American Jewish community, re-envisioning the synagogue and the rabbinate in the United States, and the role of continuing education for congregational rabbis. Currently, he is researching the impact of denominational ideology on Jewish life.

Rabbi Herring is married to Terri Krivosha-Herring, a prominent business attorney. They have two children and have resided in the Minneapolis area since 1985.

The Commanding Community, the Sovereign Self and the Conservative Rabbi/Rabbinical Assembly Convention Plenary
Rabbi Hayim Herring, Ph.D.
Executive Director, STAR
May 2, 2007/14 Iyar 5767

Introduction:

• Thanks to colleague, friend-R. Barry Starr; R. Menachem Creditor and of course, R. Jan Kaufman…privilege to speak with you and be introduced by Rabbi Paula Mack Drill, one of the rabbis in STAR's Executive Leadership Development programs (PEER) for rabbis in formative stage of their careers
• Privilege to present before my Rabbi, Rabbi Kass Abelson; everyone should be as fortunate to have a mentor like Kass
• What I hope we accomplish today:
• Better understand the characteristics that define what Wade Clark Roof first referred to as the “sovereign self,” which our own Chancellor-Elect, Dr. Arnie Eisen and his colleague, Dr. Steven Cohen, have researched and written about extensively
• Reflect on the pitfalls and prospects that the sovereign self presents to us as Conservative rabbis
• Offer some preliminary suggestions about how to engage more people in Conservative Jewish living/synagogues

Sovereign self defined

• Attributes of sovereign selves (some of them may sound familiar because they reflect some of our characteristics)
• Skeptical of authority, hierarchy, labeling of others, which they view as divisive
• Value both the particular and the universal
• Want to be listened to and given ability to direct their own life choices
• Search for community but one that is pluralistic and non-judgmental
• Don't believe in a single truth or unifying grand narrative but multiple truths and mini-narratives that give meaning where they are now, in the present
• It's in generation of sovereign self that phrase “i-control” first emerged-whether it's entertainment, banking, shopping, or education With regard to religion, for sovereign self:
• The “Truth” is not divinely revealed but humanly constructed-whether it's political, theological or historical
• Spirituality is hot but religion is cold
• Believe in creating their own traditions-and do not see that as contradictory Summary:
• Analogy with a computer: many screens open at once, different kinds of programs running (which include cool graphics and incredible audio), cut and pasting across screens, embedding links from screen to screen and outside into the web-a world of radically changing, unlimited possibilities and extreme choice

For those of us who are Boomers and older:

• Each generation is influenced by historical changes that it experiences
• Sovereign self therefore reigns with greater strength in each successive generation
• With rapid changes between Veteran Generation (1922-43), Boomers (1943-60) and Gen X'ers (1960-80) and Millenials (1980-2000), live in time of discontinuity between generations
• Beloit College in Wisconsin faculty put together a list to try to give the faculty a sense of the mindset of this year's incoming freshmen.
• List from a couple of years ago, with a few updates and modifications of my own, vetted by my daughter, Tamar, an entering college freshman. The people who are starting college this fall across the nation were born in 1988-89.
• Their lifetime has always included AIDS.
• CD introduced before they were born; if you show them a record album and turntable, they don't realize that music can be played on both sides.
• Evening news comes from Jon Stewart and probably think that Cronkite is the name given to someone who gets crunked
• They don't have a clue how to use a typewriter.
• They think the Berlin Wall is a rock-climbing adventure.
• They tell time by looking at their cell phones.
• They think that boys can do anything they want when they grow up.
• They study the Beetles in their history of music class
• They invented their own language used in text messaging
• And, in addition to having a chip on their shoulder, increasingly, all material objects in their world are embedded with chips

What Happens When Sovereign Self Meets the mara d'atra?

• (Above) list highlights some aspects of generational discontinuities that have happened in a relatively short time
• What are implications for religious institutions?
  In a stable period of history, generations come and go and are not marked by a huge cleavage between them; children live pretty much by the values and standards taught to them by their parents and in time pass those values and standards on to their own children. But in a period of social discontinuity or rapid technological and cultural change, people's life worlds are likely to be reshaped-especially if, as has come to be the case for young people, they are differentially exposed to the sources of social innovation (Caroll and Roof, Bridging Divided Worlds. Generational Cultures in Congregations, 2002)
• What it means for Conservative rabbis:
• By training and temperament, we have issues with the sovereign self
• We believe in coherent narrative of Jewish life
• Some of the themes of that narrative are brit, mitzvah, torah, avodah, yirat ha-shem, masoret, kehilla, tzibbur, hiyyuv, kadosh
• Believe that our broad narrative of Jewish life must be lived through ritual, in real-time community
• Know that Judaism has evolved, but our approach since modernity has been evolution not revolution, adaptation not radical innovation
• Mechanism of reinforcing narrative and its attendant behavior is through the role of rabbi as mara d'atra on local level and the CJLS on the national level
• Rabbi embodies line of authoritative transmission and interpretation of Jewish law and tradition
• Result: can perceive the sovereign self as a threat that mitigates against the building of Conservative communities, because if we don't understand the sovereign self, he/she may sound like the theological equivalent of a two year old, always asking “why”-why do we do it this, why can't we do it that way, what do you mean that we can't import a tradition from Buddhism, or why can't you perform my wedding-I grew up here, my partner and I are going to raise our children as Jews, even if our children will have one Jewish and one-non Jewish parent
• Congregation is the natural place for generational tensions to surface:
  Again, (Carroll and Roof):
  The congregation is a crucial bearer of tradition…As a bearer of tradition, a congregation is charged with passing it on to its members….Biblical tradition and denominational heritage set normative standards for the gathered community. The vast and varied array of institutions and interpretations within Christianity, Judaism and other major religious traditions is evidence of the extent to which religious traditions, symbols, and meanings are contested and fractured in the modern world (emphasis mine)

Are We at Odds at Much as it Appears?

• The big question: can we bridge chasm with sovereign self that Conservative Movement especially feeling the brunt of?
• Believe that answer is a tentative yes-tentative, only because the risk of reaching for simplistic answers is greatest when people are feeling defensive
• And right now, despite what I see as a tremendous amount of creativity, energy and inspiration on the local level, we're playing defense
• Still, remain optimistic about future of Conservative Judaism? Why?
• Because we have also absorbed the ethic of the sovereign self;
• Gap between “us” and “them” is actually not as wide as it appears
• Though operating with greater depth than sovereign self, many of us behave as pick and choose rabbis
• Don't mean this pejoratively, either; think it can be a strength-to continue to affirm centrality of a communal halakha over individual “ethics” but also to convey that within a framework, an authentic representation of Judaism allows for multiple choices
• Our narrative of Jewish life affirms value of choice, but within a framework
• Training, key liturgical and halakhic publications still reflect a humanly-constructed view about Judaism, consistent with how sovereign selves view religion, even though however experienced, we also find God's fingerprints in these texts and may view ourselves as instruments through with the Divine concerns are played out
• Other examples that the gap between sovereign self and Conservative Rabbinate is not as wide as it appears:
• Take this scenario: two Conservative synagogues within a few miles of each other; one does a full keriyah on shabbat morning, the other does not; one uses music on Friday evening, the other does not; one allows baked goods from home into the synagogue kitchen the other forbids it; ….we know the halakhic underpinnings to both orientations make them Conservative synagogues; but how many discussions have you had where you feel you've really gotten through to congregants or others who ask you why your congregation does X and the one down the block does Y?
• This presents us with opportunity to discuss choice within a set of boundaries
• Same is true regarding recent teshuvot around inclusion of gay and lesbian Jews
• We rail against the “pick and choose” culture that is so rampant in our ranks
• But, how do we look in the eyes of the Jewish community and even members of Conservative synagogues--can we see how it looks like we are pick and choose rabbis and use that as an opportunity to begin a dialogue about living more intensively Jewish lives?
• What differentiates us/rabbis is our behavior-despite what we know about evolution of Judaism, voluntarily place halakha at center of our lives
• We choose to accept a more coherent, consistent pattern of behavior, rooted in traditional Jewish practice, values and theology and belief, which allows for the creation of a community of shared meaning.
• True, most American Jews value autonomy over community
• Have no qualms about customizing their Jewish practices to suit their individual needs and tastes.
• But, as some recent researchers suggest, open to guidance from the voice of tradition, as long as the voice is not coercive
• If we can recognize some of our own tendencies of sovereign self, then we won't think of this large block of Jews as obstacles-can start to show more empathy toward them
• Because sometimes, some of us and other leaders of movement are too quick to write off large portions of our people unless they can immediately pass a litmus test of what it means to be Conservative

How do we inspire more people to get involved in Conservative Judaism

• No shortage of diagnosticians these days about how to “solve” the ailments of the Conservative Movements
• Can look at problems through structural/organizational, political, sociological, theological, educational, ideological lens
• Here are 3 starting points for considering how to stop decline, re-energize and re-build movement in view of centrality we place on halakha and the reality of the sovereign self
• Reason to be hopeful future, especially with appointment of new Chancellor and the team he's building around him

Platform for Renewal

• In age of sovereign self, we have a great opportunity-to use Torah to address issues of profound spiritual meaning-- that is a strength of our education; but, we have to put more emphasis on responding to the big questions that our culture raises
• Downside of having maximized our ability to choose is that we doubt our ability to choose wisely;
• Burden of extreme choice makes existential questions about life more insistent:
• If I live in an age when I can get whatever I want, how do I decide what is ultimately most important?
• If I can choose to be a part of any community, which one is more desirable for me to join?
• If I live in a world where I can keep taking, what responsibility do I have to give something back?
• If I live in an age of unlimited power, how do I ensure that that all people are treated with basic human dignity ? We can access a tradition that address these questions-we have the breadth and depth of a Conservative rabbinical training to do so, and gain interest of the sovereign self
• But, have to speak in language people understand-that means 2 things: emphasizing/leveraging culturally relevant values and moments and it means translating them into words that people can actually understand
• The Talmud (AZ 35b) asks, “To what is a scholar to be compared? To a vial of fragrant ointment. When its cover is removed, the fragrance of its ointment is diffused. When it is covered, its fragrance is concealed.” Now, because of how we speak, our wisdom is often concealed.
• We have to update the language of mitzvah, chiyuv, brit, etc. into terms that resonate with sovereign self; use halakha, which is central to our rabbinate, as the foundation for reinforcing values that people care about today
• A few examples:
• “mitzvah,” often translated as a “sacred obligation” or “commandment,” clashes with the notion of personal autonomy. What happens when we speak about committing ourselves to a higher purpose in life, which is one potential way of reframing the category of mitzvah?
• Another example: in a world which is always “on,” what will resonate with individuals on a personal level, “observing shabbat and holidays” or “resting and renewing one's body, spirit and mind?” Or, as some have suggested, even re-branding shabbat as “I-pause!”
• In a climate where people obsess with happiness, we have the ability to refocus this concern around the concept of oneg, or the joy that is the by-product of giving of oneself whole-heartedly-as a volunteer to a good cause (like a synagogue), to a partner in a relationship, or some other effort There is a large re-framing project which we need to undertake to, in the words of our sages, enable “Torah to speak in contemporary terms,” a value already espoused by the classical rabbis.
• Beyond that, we need help in communicating our knowledge, experience, wisdom in a multi-media environment
• Ability to break through media clutter and grab people with inspiration and passion; how we speak can either motivate people to participate in the Jewish enterprise or push them to look for sources of meaning outside of the Jewish community.
• Final suggestion for our renewal: while remembering who we are, are we willing to invite people on journey that we started long ago, even though they are starting from somewhere else?
• Can our capacity for rachamim play a stronger role than our sense of din in reaching out to the Jewish community?
• Need to remember that where we are on our journey today is not where we where 5, 10 or 15 years ago
• We had questions, we had doubts and we were blessed in finding rabbis, cantors and educators who didn't dismiss us but took us seriously, patiently and lovingly
• Can we think of ourselves as guides to other seekers on their religious journey and think of ourselves not only as mara d'atra, but also morei d'atra, those who will compassionately guide others through their journeys and show that in every sphere of life Judaism has something of great value to offer?
• “Where are you,” ayeka-a profoundly good Jewish question to begin a conversation with congregants and seekers
• Here's what our role ought not to be--imposing our path on someone else, embarrassing people on the journey with how little they may know or do
• Rather, as morei d'atra, our role can be helping people get moving on their journey and maintain momentum; making the journey so sweet and rich and meaning-saturated that when they feel the gap between the ground they have covered and the way that there is to go that they won't want to stop. We need to offer halakha and hadrakha!

(Four) Concerns:

1. Need to be ourselves-avoid simplistic solutions-if we only increased standards-if we were only more demanding like evangelical churches---more complicated than that-will wind up turning people away in greater numbers
2. Have to be open to critique, which is so hard to do when under a barrage of constant attacks and natural reflex is to defend
3. Willingness to be more transparent in our decision-making--which JTS has recently modeled-how we do Torah is a strength of our training-need to shine light on process and content
4. My greatest concern at the moment, given the challenges we face:
   • Movement leadership, institutional collaboration and movement direction:
   • Through STAR, and our Synaplex, PEER and From Good to Great Programs, I've gotten to know Conservative colleagues from different generations, especially a younger group of rabbis, and have had opportunity to deepen personal friendships and professional relationships with rabbis who are middle-age and up-they have given me hope for the Conservative Movement
   • On the grassroots level, "ShefaNetwork: The Conservative Movement Dreaming from Within"...has been a major force in catalyzing some of this energy
   • And, with new leadership at The Jewish Theological Seminary we feel a moment of hope as well-- but we're going to rise together or go down together and no person or institution can do it alone
   • Much good is happening on local level but we urgently need the national leadership to catalyze the local pockets of energy, creativity, excitement and to lead

Conclusion:

• The Conservative Movement has been on the decline-we are in a demographic crisis-not going to rehearse the numbers
• As a business concerned for the welfare of the Jewish people, we have three options: we can look for a buyer, be the target of a takeover or re-invent ourselves, beginning with the many things we already do well
• We have the potential and the resources to be successful at re-invention
• But, this is a task for national leadership which will look at our collective assets and reshape them into a more vibrant movement-not by imitating others but by expanding the strengths that we have and identifying opportunities and strategies for growth
• Conclusion: Carroll and Roof have also identified what they describe as “blended congregations,” those which are multi-generational and incorporate what I've described as the commanding community and the sovereign self:
  A blended congregation is not easily pulled off in any way that is totally satisfactory to all participants. It involves a precarious stance that both values the inherited traditions of faith while seeking to adapt traditional practices and programs in sensitivity to contemporary culture. The result is a negotiated and often fragile normative order. It is not surprising that a blended congregation is likely to experience tension and conflict over these efforts to be generationally and culturally sensitive while at the same time giving expression to the traditions of the faith community.
• That's our challenge in a nutshell and I believe that we have the talent to rise to it

Standing Room Only. Come early. There's a place for you to stand right up front.