LIGHTSIDE
Point
DiSOrder
DAVID HOLZEL
Special to the Jewish News
1 s this scene fa-
miliar?
It's 11 p.m.
and the month-
ly meeting of
The American
Jewish Zionist
Federation La-
dies Auxiliary
has dragged on for more than
three hours. All the business
of the day has been complet-
ed, save a vote on a single
contentious issue. The issue
has been hashed and re-
hashed and differences of
opinion have been narrowed
to the point where all the ex-
hausted participants can
agree on the motion. Once the
group votes, everyone can go
home.
Suddenly Mr. Bernstein in-
terrupts the chairwoman and,
with foam rising to his lips,
launches a bitter polemic
about how the AJZFLA's
parent organization is acting
without consulting the local
branches and how Israel is be-
ing bashed right and left in
the media and how he is
shocked and dismayed that
other organizations aren't up
in arms about this as much as
he is. This is despite the fact
150 FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 1991
that the motion up for a
vote has to do with
whether the group
should buy paper plates
or chinette.
Mr. Bernstein, you
might be surprised to
learn, is not acting out-
side the frame of parlia-
mentary procedure. He is, in
fact, exercising the "Point of
Irrelevant Interjection,"
whereby "the participant has
the right to monopolize the
meeting on a point the rele-
vance of which escapes all
other participants."
"Point of Irrelevant Inter-
jection" is one of 10 "Rafi's
Rules" for the conduct of
Jewish meetings, outlined by
Rabbi Richard Hirsh in the
spring issue of Reconstruc-
tionist magazine.
Just as language can be
abstracted to rules of gram-
mar and each Hebrew word
can be traced to structural
roots, every Jewish meeting
can be described by Rafi's
Rules, such as "Point of Con-
tempt," "Point of Grudge"
and "Point of Pious Postur-
mg.
Rabbi Hirsh, executive dir-
ector of the Board of Rabbis
of Greater Philadelphia, de-
veloped Rafi's Rules — a He-
brew-toned alliterative play
on Robert's Rules — as a
"Rafi's Rules"
makes sense
of Jewish
meetings.
Purim spoof of what goes on
at Jewish meetings.
"One day I just started jot-
ting down what people were
saying," the 38-year-old rabbi
said in telephone interview.
"People pretty much provid-
ed the material."
Rabbi Hirsh, who has had
some serious essays printed
in learned Jewish journals —
and others rejected — said he
has received notoriety in
Jewish communal circles far
beyond the 10,000-copy dis-
tribution of Reconstruction-
ist. Rafi's Rules have spread
by word of mouth and fax
machine.
"Like any humor, the
reason it's funny is it has
its base in reality" says
Rabbi Joy Levitt, editor of
Reconstructionist. "Any-
one who has sat through
the meeting of a syna-
gogue board or a Jewish agen-
cy knows what he's talking
about."
The meetings of non-Jews
may be just as intense, but
Jewish meetings seem so
contentious because exis-
tential issues are always at
the crux of the discussions,
Rabbi Hirsh explained.
"We don't just talk about
what the community does,
but who we are," he said.
"We discuss not just poli-
cies, but what we believe,
what we think is good for
the Jews and what's good
for Israel."
The Jewish disposition
toward disputation is often
traced back to the Talmud,
where the sages would
thrash out an issue from ev-
ery conceivable angle. But
those talmudic discussions
seem tame — and rational —
compared to many contem-
porary Jewish meetings.
But were they? Rabbi Hir-
sh points out that the Tal-
mud was subject to editing.
"We don't have the min-
utes of the meetings that
ended up in the Talmud," he
said.
And Rabbi Levitt believes
there ought to be more ar-
ticles like "Rafi's Rules."
"There's not enough
laughter in Jewish life," she
said. "A lot of times, that
which makes us laugh,
makes us think." ❑
David Holzel is a staff writer
for The Atlanta Jewish Times.
Rafi's Rules
As a service to the Jewish
community, we reprint Rafi's
Rules as written by Rabbi
Richard Hirsh. It is hoped
that dissemination of these
rules will result in the more
orderly conduct of Jewish
meetings. — Editor.
• Point of Personal Outrage:
At any time during a meeting
when a participant becomes
extremely upset, he or she
shall have the right to inter-
rupt any other speaker, will
not be required to wait for
recognition from the Chair.
• Point of Irrelevant Inter-