We are hearing more and more about the divide in Israel between Orthodox Jews, non-Orthodox and even secular Jews. Next weekend Congregation BIAV will host a scholar in residence who is well known across the world for his work in helping Jews bridge that divide.
Rabbi Seth Farber, the founder and director of ITIM: Resources and Advocacy for Jewish Life, is known for helping Israelis navigate the Israeli religious bureaucracy. When he speaks in the United States, his topics usually focus on the Jewish and democratic state and the present and future of Jewish life in Israel. He will speak three times at BIAV next weekend, beginning Friday night, Oct. 19, about “How Jewish is the Jewish and Democratic State” at the home of Brenda and Howard Rosenthal. At Shabbat morning worship at BIAV on Oct. 20, Rabbi Farber will discuss “The Crisis of Jewish Life in Israel.” Later that afternoon he will discuss “New Halachot Emerging from Israel’s Rabbinical Courts.” These events are all open to the Jewish community; for more information about the scholar-in-residence weekend, call 913-341-2444 or email office@biav.
While he is in Kansas City, Rabbi Farber will also make a presentation to the Israel and Overseas Committee of the Jewish Federation of Greater Kansas City.
ITIM is an organization that aims to assist Israelis with the legal intricacies of personal status — marriage, divorce, conversion and burial — which are administered in a manner that often leave families bewildered, overwhelmed and resentful.
BIAV’s Rabbi Daniel Rockoff said Rabbi Farber has created a unique and “singularly important organization” that handles these issues.
“It helps individuals and families navigate their way through life cycle events in Israel by helping them obtain proper documentation and work through the Israeli rabbinate, which has not always been so user friendly,” Rabbi Rockoff said.
“This is especially true for secular or non-Orthodox individuals who often feel excluded and even alienated through the process,” BIAV’s rabbi continued. “The gap between religious and secular in Israel seems ever widening and Rabbi Farber’s work is so important to help bridge that gap.”
Rabbi Farber moved to Israel in 1995. It was after performing his first wedding for a secular couple in 2000 that he realized how alienated young Israelis feel from Jewish life.
“Yet, ironically, they are very interested in living Jewish lives. Starting in 2000, I raised some initial money and hired a lawyer to help me map out what existed for non-Orthodox Israelis. By 2002, we had created a non-profit and were handling about 20 calls a month,” Rabbi Farber said.
Now as ITIM begins its second decade, the rabbi said the organization handles more than 500 calls a month. Its website (www.itim.org.il) has more than 50,000 unique users each year and the organization has a 14-member staff. Rabbi Farber said its mission is simple.
“To enable people in Israel to live full Jewish lives.”
Rabbi Rockoff said BIAV is bringing Rabbi Farber here because he thinks there is a lot of misunderstanding between the different denominations in Kansas City.
“I believe it’s not so much between the rabbis, but more so among the general community. And generally I believe there is a lack of understanding of the complexities of Jewish life in Israel, particularly in matters that relate to the rabbinate. There are many challenges that we should be sensitive to, but I hope it will be most instructive to hear from someone like Rabbi Farber. He is sensitive to the needs of all Jews and can articulate the facts on the ground — the challenges, as well as the opportunities and solutions that he spearheaded,” Rabbi Rockoff said.
In the more than 10 years since he created ITIM, Rabbi Farber has come to believe that Orthodox Jews and non-Orthodox Jews need to learn to trust each other in a way that they can work together on difficult issues of personal status. He believes we have no choice but to work to make this happen.
“There are definitely areas which we can work on to start. We ought to be able to agree on certain things and outline the differences. In Israel, and this may be the same in the United States as well, the movements are all fighting ambivalence and ignorance. This should be enough to get us started. No one in any of the movements wants to see intermarriage in Israel or in the Diaspora rise. So we need to work together to see what we can do to stem the tide,” Rabbi Farber said.
Rabbi Rockoff has known Rabbi Farber since he was a high school student at Maimonides School in Brookline, Mass., where Rabbi Farber taught Judaic studies.
“He made an incredible impact on his students, both with his teaching in the classroom and with the connections he developed through school activities, which he also coordinated,” Rabbi Rockoff said.
Coincidentally, Rabbi Farber has personal ties to Kansas City. His grandfather, Morris Frankel, his wife Anny and their two daughters, Trudy and Esther (Rabbi Farber’s mother), came to the United States through Ellis Island in 1939. Rabbi Farber said, “They couldn’t make it in New York. So the family moved to Kansas City.”
“My grandfather worked as a shammes, I don’t think this role exists any more, in one of the shuls. He was also a shochet and possibly a kashrut inspector,” said Rabbi Farber, who no longer has any family in the area.
He grew up in Riverdale, Bronx, N.Y., and is a graduate of New York University. He was ordained by the Rabbi Elchanan Theological Seminary of Yeshiva University in 1991; he received his master’s degree in Judaic studies from Yeshiva University in 1995 and a doctorate from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem in 2000.
Rabbi Farber currently lives in Raanana with his wife and five children. He serves as the pulpit rabbi of Congregation Kehillat Netivot.