“Twenty five or more years ago, after I joined Adas Israel, Mark Berlin, then the President of the Men’s Club invited me to join him at monthly nursing home services he ran for the benefit of the Jewish residents.  Many of the attendees were not Jewish but they came, religiously, for the camaraderie and cookies. Enjoying these moments with Mark drew me into the Adas Men’s Club and the FJMC. 

 

After a stint as Treasurer and then President, I attended my first FJMC convention in Toronto in 2001 where I encountered a group of guys, friends to this day, recruited by Chuck Simon (then Executive Director of the Federation) to advance the Keruv initiative.  Chuck, and a key circle of men, were interested in exploring how to put Keruv on the agenda of the conservative movement. Some of us came from interfaith relationships, many did not.  But, as a group, we recognized that it was essential for our Kehillot to reach out to the  interfaith members of our communities, to engage them in the wonders of Judaism and to welcome them into our communal lives.

 

I remain committed to the future of conservative Judaism and believe that the future can only be assured if we accept the large and growing segment of our communities in interfaith relationships – the supportive non-Jewish spouses and partners and the children of interfaith relationships.  We developed materials and booklets, many of which are still available on the FJMC website, presented at many individual shuls and worked diligently to publicize our message.

 

We achieved so much more than merely putting the issue on the agenda.  For twenty years, as a co-chair of the FJMC Keruv initiative and in other capacities, I participated in training more than 100 Keruv consultants, men and later on women, who work in their individual congregations to promote awareness and take actions that would enhance acceptance.  We ran rabbinical think tanks all over the country, exposing a large number of conservative rabbis to the importance of acceptance, reaching out, making our shuls engaging communities. I helped run and participated in yearly Keruv retreats (most at Pearlstone) that brought together consultants, recruits, rabbis and others to evaluate the past year and plan for the future.  I had the opportunity to represent the FJMC at USCJ conventions, synagogue trainings, learning spaces for religious school teachers and principals and, in 2017 I was the FJMC representative and member of the USCJ Commission that tackled the difficult issue of membership rules and synagogue bylaws.

 

As part of this effort I worked with the leadership of the Seaboard Region to focus on the important goals of the Keruv Initiative.  Over the years a number of Seaboard members participated in the initiative, becoming consultants and enhancing our efforts locally and in the region.  We created a template – what it means to be a welcoming synagogue -- and provided grants for improving synagogue websites.  As a result of our efforts, conservative kehillot, rabbis, lay leaders, religious school teachers and staff now know what it means to be a welcoming community and those that have signed on to the program, like Adas Israel, are thriving.