OF LA115111G
Hammer Away
From Home
-ZERO PERCENT FINANCING
1996 ES300 24 Month Buy!
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,,err..nwas.W
Author of The Jerusalem Anthology'
visits Conservative synagogues.
RUTH LITTMANN STAFF WRITER
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Tradition ! Tradition!
Call Alicia Nelson • (810) 557-0109
or
hen the scholar-in-resi-
dence takes to the
bimah at 7:30 p.m. Nov.
15 at Congregation
B'nai Moshe, he'll talk about a
heart turning 3,000 years old this
year.
Though aged, the heart is still
vital, pumping life into the Jew-
ish people. That heart, says Rabbi
Reuven Hammer, is Jerusalem.
Author of The Jerusalem An-
thology, a book celebrating the
Golden City's 3,000th anniver-
sary, Rabbi Hammer flew in from
Israel last month to serve as the
local Conservative movement's
scholar-in-residence.
Next Wednesday at Congre-
gation B'nai Moshe, during a
"Jerusalem Celebration," Rabbi
Hammer's keynote address to the
general public will pose questions
like: What is the message
Jerusalem has to offer worldwide
Jewry? What has Jerusalem
come to symbolize? How can
worldwide Jewry strengthen the
status of Jerusalem today?
"Jerusalem is a symbol of all of
Jewish history," he says. "It is
akin to the heart of the human
body. It has really come to sym-
bolize the highest ideals that Ju-
daism stands for, including the
hope for universal peace."
In recent weeks, Rabbi Ham-
mer's presentations have ad-
dressed other areas of Jewish
concern. Prayer, for instance. The
rabbi says many contemporary
Jews cannot spiritually connect
with religious services because
they haven't been trained to fol-
low along.
"The core of the synagogue is
the prayer. If you don't under-
stand what it's all about, you're
just sitting there wasting a lot of
time," he says.
Last spring, Rabbi Hammer
published a book, Entering Jew-
ish Prayer. For the lost and con-
fused, it attempts to provide an
introduction to liturgy in the Sid-
dur.
"People are looking for greater
spirituality," he says. "It's impor-
tant to make Judaism under-
standable so people don't feel that
they have to look to all sorts of
strange cults to feel as though
they can find a sacred dimension
to life."
Rabbi Hammer received his or-
dination and doctorate in theolo-
gy from the Jewish Theological
Seminary and a doctorate in com-
municative disorders from North-
western University.
After serving as a chaplain in
the U.S. Air Force and as con-
gregational rabbi for 15 years, he
and his wife, Rahel, an artist,
made aliyah in 1973. They have
five children and nine grandchil-
dren, all living in Israel.
A prolific writer, Rabbi Ham-
mer continued teaching in Israel
at Hebrew University, David
Yellin College and Oranim. Ad-
ditionally, he served as dean of
the Jewish Theological Seminary
in Jerusalem and president of the
Rabbinical Assembly of Israel. He
currently serves as head of its
rabbinic court for conversion.
Rabbi Hammer is heartened
by the growing Conservative
movement in Israel. When he, his
wife and children arrived 20 years
ago, Jews in the Holy Land were
either secular or Orthodox. To-
day, the Masorti movement (the
"It is akin to the
heart of the
human body."
— Rabbi Reuven Hammer
Conservative movement in Israel)
prides itself on 45 congregations,
nearly 20 schools, a Camp Ramah
and NOAM, a youth group simi-
lar to United Synagogue Youth
in the United States.
In addition, Masorti runs a rab-
binical school and Kibbutz Hana-
ton, located in the lower Galilee,
not far from Nazareth.
As the Conservative movement
grows, in Israel and elsewhere,
Rabbi Hammer calls for flexibil-
ity. He says leaders of congrega-
tions will need to accommodate
Jews' preferences for many styles
of prayer. Rabbis who lead large
congregations might be called
upon to supplement their con-
gregational services with small
chavurot. The future of institu-
tionalized religion, says Rabbi
Hammer, will require diversity.
"I think sometimes congrega-
tions are afraid of that," he says.
"But in the long run, I see it as
only helpful because the alterna-
tive can be total alienation." ❑
'Et For more information on
the Nov. 15 program and other
events on Rabbi Hammer's
schedule, call the Jewish Theo-
loo ical Seminary, (810) 258-
0055.
6