To be continued….Hayim

I went to Temple University undergrad. In choosing Temple, I wanted to be in Philadelphia since there was a large Jewish community and I had decided that I wanted to be a rabbi by the time I set out for college. While the education was good, there was something that was even more important for me which was Philadelphia. I grew up in a small southern town as the only Jewish family and with 30,000 residents in the whole county, it was tiny. The experience of living in Philadelphia as a student made me better understand the world. I can pretty much say that I was the second of my high school class to leave the country (the first being my childhood best friend who won a trip to Bulgaria). While this is assumed in the Jewish community today, my “E” of college and studying in Jerusalem was more important than the actual professors. No teacher could have taught me what a visit to Hebron (fall of 1987) did. Regardless of the insight of the teacher, I don’t think anyone could have taught me how to run the Broad Street orange line and catch the express. The pursuit of the ‘best’ professors may have detracted from my overall educational experience.

I have served four synagogues in my career. As a rabbi I have caught myself cherry picking the ‘best ofs’ from time to time. I had a nicer office in one place, better friends in another, a better salary here, easier schedule there, but that does not matter because where I am now is what needs my attention as I work to build my current community regardless of its state. Congregants have also done the same. At times I have had to compete with the ‘best of’ regarding congregants whether it be the best sermons, bulletin articles, pastoral care, kids service, or neatness of office (the last one I will never win!). None of this, though, can replace the entire community and the experience we work to forge with our congregants.

I enjoyed my time at Temple, but the football team lost every year and we were a favorite to play for homecoming. I could watch the University of Alabama play, root for them, and even win championships, but the education and experience I would have received there would have been a weak second to the one I got.

There are dangers to being hyper focused on getting ‘the best’ for it too removes the human experience of dealing with life and congregation when they are not the crème de la crème. Perhaps this is the way the world will go, but we need to ask ourselves if the humanizing institutions called synagogues should chase this idol of perfection to our detriment and possibly our end.

Check out the chapter entiltled “Google U: Opening Education” pages 210-217 in
“What Would Google Do” by Jeff Jarvis for an expansion of Rabbi Hayim’s post above. In fact the whole last third of the book covers the topic “If Google ruled the world.” Open, free and transparent is upon us and there’s no turning back the clock.

Shavu’a Tov,
Biv’racha,
Jordan