FRONT fil CENTER

"It's nice to see someone grow. I think he's found his
voice, and he knows how to use it in a very effective way,"
says Dr. Lerner.
As chief fundraiser for the institution, which has five
divisions, Dr. Schorsch — who prefers to climb stairs rather
than wait for an elevator — spends about 60 percent of
his time cultivating donors.
`There was a lot of anxiety when I became chancellor
about whether I could raise a nickel," he says, smiling.
Not only has he proved to be an adequate fundraiser, he
excels at it, observers say. He has attracted many signif-
icant donations and helped errs achieve a balanced bud-
get for two consecutive years.
He also has continued to emphasize academic excel-
lence and strengthened the seminary's role as the ideo-
logical seat of the Conservative movement, Dr. Wertheimer
says.
"It's a wonderful job," says Dr. Schorsch. "I'm thoroughly
enjoying myself I still like getting up in the morning, and
the challenge is endless."
Dr. Schorsch replaced Chancellor Gerson Cohen at a
difficult time for the seminary — shortly after the first
women were admitted to the rabbinical school. A Con-
servative splinter group, the Union for Traditional Ju-
daism, formed in rebellion. The calm and gentle graduate
school dean was looked on as a "healer" who could ease
the seminary through the transition.

North America that the Reform and Conservative move-
ments were "not Judaism."
In his speech, made at the Conservative movement's
annual Rabbinical Assembly conference in Boston, and
later mailed to 1,400 Conservative rabbis international-
ly, Dr. Schorsch called for the dismantling of Israel's chief
rabbinate and its network of courts. "Sustained by a po-
litical alliance between cynicism and fundamentalism,
the system is today without a scintilla of moral worth," he
wrote. "At stake is the ultimate nature of the Jewish state.
Israel will not long survive wholly secular or sectarian.
Its welfare begs for a religious center for whom piety and
sanity are not polar opposites."
But he truly made himself a lightning rod by suggest-
ing that "ultra-Orthodox" groups who denounce the non-
Orthodox are no better than those who use "medieval"
Jewish law to justify Yigal Amir's 1995 assassination .of
Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin — even implying
that they would sanction violence against non-Orthodox
Jews. In a page one article in the April 17 New York
Times, some American Orthodox leaders accused Dr.
Schorsch of political posturing through irresponsible ac-
cusations. His colleague from the Reform movement's
Union of American Hebrew Congregations, Rabbi Eric
Yoffie, supported Dr. Schorsch's position and received
similar rebukes.
Rabbi David Hollander, of the Union of Orthodox Rab-

of reckless things, and I think it's our responsibility to de-
nounce them for it."
But even centrist Orthodox leaders with whom Dr.
Schorsch shares a respectful, working relationship stop
short of endorsing his stand on pluralism in Israel.
Rabbi Saul Berman, director of Edah, a think tank
for the furtherance of modem Orthodoxy, has known Dr.
Schorsch for more than eight years and works with him
in the Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life (CO-
EJL). While he praises his colleague's contributions to the
spiritual aspect of environmental concern, he differs with
Dr. Schorsch on the role of Israel's Orthodox rabbinate.
While the chief rabbinate is "not perfect," Rabbi Berman
says, "I don't think it's appropriate to condemn the chief
rabbinate or call for its dissolution because of the politi-
cal conflicts that are being imported to Israel from the
American Jewish community."
Adds Rabbi Berman: "I would hope that reasonable dis-
course could allow for the development of ways in which
the free marketplace of ideas could be allowed more play
in Israel, while the maintenance of the rabbis' central au-
thority over divorce and conversion could be maintained."
For the German-born Dr. Schorsch, whose family fled
the Nazis when he was just a toddler, tolerance is a val-
ue of utmost importance. As Rabbi Loeb points out, it's
one thing to be attacked for being a Jew, and quite an-
other to be attacked by fellow Jews who challenge your

"It's religion that divides us right now.
The denominations are really a pain in the buttocks."

— Dr. Ismar Schorsch

Dr. Schorsch maintained a minyan with separate seat- bis, called Dr. Schorsch's letter "a terrible, shocking,
ing, out of respect for those traditional faculty members groundless indictment." Rabbi Avi Shafran, spokesman
who prefer not to pray in the new egalitarian minyan for Agudath Israel of America, a large Orthodox group
set up by the female students. Even today, both minyan- with ties to Israel's United Torah Judaism Party, object-
im are operating and both are well-attended. 'The semi- ed to Dr. Schorsch's proposal to dismantle Israel's Ortho-
nary community continues to hold a broad range of views," dox rabbinate.
says Dr. Wertheimer. "The existence of multiple minyan-
"They say they want what they call 'religious plural-
im is one way of accommodating that. Rather than push ism,' " Rabbi Shafran said, adding, "in less kind words,
people out, he's maintained a number of programs to main- anarchy."
tain a kind of umbrella here for different groups."
In the interest of rapprochement, Dr. Schorsch quick-
Says Dr. Schorsch: "We don't just preach pluralism, we ly contacted some modern-Orthodox colleagues to set up
practice it."
a meeting on the topic. In attendance were "nine promi-
nent rabbis, some of whom have suffered from ultra-Or-
thodox vitriol for expressing their own moderate views,"
111) r. Schorsch's conflict with the Orthodox he wrote in his June end-of-year letter to the greater JTS
began last winter. In a strongly worded community.
letter to the JTS faculty, dated Feb. 18,
The two-hour meeting allowed both sides to clarify their
1997, he called for American Jewish fed- points of view, Dr. Schorsch says. "I think they were con-
erations to earmark the bulk of their Is- cerned about all Orthodox being tarred with the same
rael appropriations to support the brush," he says. "I think they were concerned about the
Conservative and Reform movements in Israel. Only if Is- references to Yigal Amir."
raelis learn about diverse ways of practicing Judaism, he
For his part, Dr. Schorsch reiterated his unwavering
contended, can a united Jewish state be possible.
ideology. "Responsible leadership needs to speak out soon-
Six weeks later, Dr. Schorsch spoke in response to a er rather than later on what constitutes irresponsible use
March 31 declaration by the Union of Orthodox Rabbis in of this explosive material," he says. "They've said all sorts

50

authenticity.
"It's religion that divides us right now. The denomi-
nations are really a pain in the buttocks," says Dr.
Schorsch. "I am not doing this for the greater glory of Con-
servative Judaism. I do this as an unconditional Zionist.
`There is no middle in Israel," he says. 'There is a huge
vacuum between the secular and the ultra-Orthodox. That
society is not going to remain united if that vacuum is not
filled with some reasonable and legitimate alternatives.
'We're really talking about the kind of Israel we'd like
to see. And if it's the wrong kind of Israel, the Diaspora's
just going to slip away."

11)

r. Schorsch advocates pluralism not only
with respect to Jewish observance, but
also in approaching public policy. Two of
his most important involvements — pro-
tecting the environment and making af-
fordable health care more available to
Americans — are interfaith efforts.
He's a leader in the National Religious Partnership on
the Environment, and is considered the leading Jewish
spokesman on the issue.
"I find this partnership one of the most interesting in-