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Rabbi Robert Dobrusin talks with nominators Ruth Kraut and Laurel
Federbush, both of Ann Arbor; nominator Michael Appel was unavailable.

'Most Inspiring'

Ann Arbor's Rabbi Dobrusin makes a
national impression for his work.

Barbara Lewis

Contributing Writer

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12

April 16 • 2015

hat makes an inspiring
rabbi?
For three years, the
Jewish Daily Forward has explored
that question to prepare a list of the
"most inspiring rabbis" in the country.
Among the 33 religious leaders chosen
this year is Robert Dobrusin of Beth
Israel Congregation, a Conservative
synagogue in Ann Arbor.
In February, the newspaper pub-
lished a list and short profiles of each
of the rabbis chosen from hundreds of
nominations sent in by readers.
"Some of these leaders are employ-
ing the new technologies of social
media and blogs to teach and share
their experiences to a broader flock:'
said Jane Eisner, the Forward's editor-
in-chief.
"But in reading these stories, I am
also struck by the way the modern
rabbinate continues to successfully
dedicate itself to the traditional quali-
ties of religious and moral leadership.
Over and over, these stories telegraph
the power of personal connection —
through study, social action or simple
acts of kindness:'
The men and women designated as
inspiring rabbis come from 17 states,
with one each from Quebec and Israel.
The youngest is 32, the oldest, 81.
For Laurel Federbush, one of three
Forward readers who nominated Rabbi
Dobrusin, the reason was dramatic.
"Rabbi Robert Dobusin changed my
life she said, by helping her to detach
from a rabidly anti-Israel group and
learn about her Jewish heritage.
"I grew up as a secular Jew," said
Federbush, 49, a freelance musician in
Ann Arbor. "I had no Jewish educa-
tion. My parents were pretty staunch

atheists"
In the late 1990s, she and her moth-
er got involved with Jewish Witnesses
for Peace and Friends. The group is
known for the weekly "vigils" it holds
outside Beth Israel during Shabbat
services, where members stand with
signs critical of Israel. They believe the
synagogue is fair game for anti-Israel
criticism because displaying an Israeli
flag and including a prayer for Israel in
services make it a political entity.
"We hold vigils outside this syna-
gogue because Beth Israel is a political
institution as well as house of worship,
using its faith to promote a national-
ist political agenda: support of the
State of Israel, and by extension, its
actions: specifically, Israel's brutal
and illegal military occupation of
Palestinian lands and the suffering of
the Palestinian people says the orga-
nization's website.
Federbush said she saw the vigils as
a way to identify as a Jew in a socially
conscious way. "The feeling within the
group was if synagogue members were
offended it was because they were bad
people who didn't care about the poor
Palestinians:'
After Federbush's parents divorced,
her father started exploring Judaism
and encouraged her to do so as well.
Her stepmother, though not Jewish,
was upset by the anti-Israel vigils.
With her support, Federbush began to
pull away from the Jewish Witnesses
for Peace and Friends.
"I still believed in their message,
but I started to realize the group was
kind of like a cult: Anyone who doesn't
agree with their philosophy is an
enemy:' she said.
She started feeling guilty about her
past involvement in the vigils. She was
very moved by the film Atonement,

Inspiring on page 14

