“I see that religion can both unite us or divide us,” said Rabbi Brad Hirschfield. “Which it does is not about the religion, it is about the religious. Think of religion as a fire. It can warm your home and cook your dinner or it can burn down your house and kill everyone inside. It is up to us to decide how to use the fire.”
Rabbi Hirschfield will be the Caviar Scholar in Residence the weekend of Dec. 13-15. His theme for the weekend at K.I. is “You Don’t Have to be Wrong for Me to be Right – 21st Century Judaism.” He will make four different presentations dealing with pluralism, women and halachah, interfaith dialogue and the changes in religion in the United States.
The rabbi’s focus on interfaith dialogue and pluralism is the focus of his vocation, as he serves as president of CLAL, the National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership. CLAL “links Jewish wisdom with innovative scholarship to deepen civic and spiritual participation in American life,” as stated on its website.
While in Kansas City Rabbi Hirschfield said he wants everyone, “to share in my excitement about this moment in Jewish life.”
“I want them to trust the wisdom of our tradition to help us navigate this moment. And I want them to trust themselves to help themselves make this a moment of worth for the Jewish people ... I don’t just believe in Judaism I also believe in the Jewish people.”
Rabbi Jeffrey Shron, K.I.’s senior rabbi, said, “The challenge we have in the 21st century is to find paths that bring Jewish people together. Rabbi Hirschfield will teach us to focus on what unites us as Jewish people and not on what divides us, as well as ways to be more inclusive to all members of our synagogue and community.”
On Friday night, Rabbi Hirschfield’s topic is “The Rise of the Nones: Finding Our Place in the American Religious Landscape.”
“ ‘None’ is the fastest growing religious group in America,” said Rabbi Hirschfield. “That turns out to be an important fact for appreciating the role and place of religion and faith for Americans as a whole and for Jews in particular. Being a ‘None’ is not the same as being a nothing.”
The Friday night program begins at 4:30 pm with a Kabbalat Shabbat Service, followed by dinner at 6 p.m. Cost for dinner for members is $10 for adults, with children 12 and under free. Non-members pay $15 for adults and $5 for children 12 and under. Reservations are required.
Saturday morning Rabbi Hirschfield will discuss “Finding Faith Without Fanaticism: Building Contemporary Community.” Services will be followed by a Kiddush Luncheon. During the afternoon service, he will speak about the “Ethics of Diversity.”
“Religion speaks to fundamental human questions,” he said. “It can bring out the best of us, or create the ground for the worst of us. Sometimes this happens within the community and sometimes goes out to other groups.”
The CLAL president’s final program will be at 10 a.m. on Sunday, when he will speak on “An Orange on the Seder Plate? Women’s Roles in Traditional Jewish Liturgy.”
“I will explain why some people think there are some restrictions and others do not,” he said. “The problem is when we think our point of view is the only authentic one. Halachah in its traditional setting resists singular eternal answers. Good halachah is almost never one size fits all.”
The author of the book, “You Don’t Have to Be Wrong for Me to Be Right: Finding Faith Without Fanaticism,” Rabbi Hirshfield said the most important aspect of interfaith dialogue is “Nurturing the courage and creating the safety for people to go beyond mutual admiration and self-congratulations.”
He added: “Right now most interfaith conversation is all hearts and flowers. We need to build real relationships that allow us to talk about the stuff that is not so nice without destroying each other. I am more interested in how we can disagree with decency, than talking about what we already agree upon. What we already agree upon is beautiful. But how we deal with our disagreements is a matter of life or death.”
The programs are all open to the Kansas City community. For more information or to make reservations for the Friday night Shabbat dinner, call K.I. at 913-642-1880.
