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JUNE 1• 2023 | 7

summer camps. “Even if you 
can get them the scholarship, 
Rachel,
” she said, “the teasing 
they might endure might not 
make it worth it.
”
Why aren’t we talking about 
class? The topic is tender 
because class is inextricably 
linked with our dignity. In 
Hebrew, the word for dignity 
is kavod and it shares the same 
root with kaved, heavy. Dignity 
is about how much leverage 
we have — in creating a world 
that gives us what we need and 
brings us into spaces with the 
promise of fullness, respect and 
agency. 
And the inequitable distribu-
tion of this kavod is impacting 
the ability of the American 
Jewish establishment to sustain 
functional, holy communities 
equitably nationwide.
For many small-town rabbis 
like myself who travel back and 
forth regularly between large 
cities and our small-town syna-
gogues, the disparity in services, 
luxuries and opportunities we 
witness between urban com-
munities and our home shuls is 
striking and often painful.
Synagogues like ours are 
struggling to pay their heating 
bills so that their pipes don’t 
freeze. Our congregants often 
cannot make their rent or pay 
college application fees, and our 
boards struggle mightily to raise 
the funds for paltry part-time 
rabbinic salaries. These heroic 
small-town lay leaders work the 
equivalent of unpaid, full-time 
jobs so that every member of 
their congregation can have a 
human hand to hold when life 
gets real — during times both 
of transcendent joy and deep 
distress.
Over the past 50 years, wealth 
and social power have been 
increasingly concentrated in 
12 metro areas to the exclusion 
of large swaths of our nation. 

The organization I lead, the 
Center for Small Town Jewish 
Life at Colby College, estimates 
that 1 in 8 American Jews lives 
outside one of these areas. At 
the same time, we must also see 
that class disparities exist within 
every locale. 

POINTS TO CONSIDER
And so, as we plan pro-
grams and craft policies as an 
American Jewish community, I 
would challenge all of us to ask 
ourselves and our institutions 
questions out loud that we usu-
ally don’t ask.
• Who is included or exclud-
ed by the price of this event or 
membership?
• What services should every 
member of a Jewish community 
be able to access, regardless 
of price? Who will provide it? 
Who will pay for those who are 
providing those services, and 
will they be paid a fair wage?
• How do we work to address 
the pain and shame caused by 
unacknowledged class differ-
ences within our community?
Not all of these questions 
have simple answers, but we 
have to start addressing them. 
There are three steps we should 
be taking as an American 
Jewish community to make our 
community more economically 
equitable now.
First, even though live- 
streaming has been a blessing 
and increased accessibility and 

access in ways that cannot be 
overstated or taken for granted, 
we still need to reiterate — in 
all of our communities — that 
it doesn’t replace the impor-
tance of physical presence. For 
most of us, to be human is to 
be embodied, and we cannot let 
physical presence and contact 
become a luxury good.
Second, every state in 
America should have at bare 
minimum one full-time, 
at-large, pluralistically ori-
ented rabbi with an endowed 
salary that serves the entire 
Jewish community of that state, 
regardless of ability to donate 
or pay.
Third, we need to find ways 
to make sure that everyone has 
a seat at the table, so that every 
Jew’s soul is fed. We cannot 
afford to lose anyone. The eter-
nal faith of the people Israel is 
a covenant that should not be 
contingent on one’s class — it 
is up to all of us to make sure 
that every member of our peo-
ple is spiritually sated, held by 
community, known and called 
by name. 
We need a new American 
Jewish budget that fulfills the 
basic birthright of every Jew in 
this nation — to be served and 
held as a worthy member of our 
people.
Recently, I turned to Central 
Synagogue in New York City to 
support the work of the Center 
for Small Town Jewish Life. 

They answered the call immedi-
ately — partnering with us not 
only financially, but as thought 
partners in building community 
and capacity through Central’s 
The Neighborhood online com-
munity and my organization’s 
programs. 
Two other Manhattan syn-
agogues — Rodeph Sholom 
and Park Avenue Synagogue 
— came in alongside them, 
eager to help us spread the story 
of small-town Jewish life and 
advance our mission. They are 
funding our National Impact 
program, Makom, that trains 
small-town lay leaders and 
Jewish communal professionals 
in order to make small-town 
Jewish life sustainable. They are 
also supporting our Shaliach 
Tzibur program that trains 
small-town Jews to lead rituals 
and services when no clergy are 
present.
But there is so much more 
to be done on a strategic, 
national scale to ensure that 
we are touching and serving 
every member of the American 
Jewish community with dignity. 
We will need to continue this 
work together, large and small 
Jewish congregations working 
together to serve the entirety of 
our people with dignity.
On every Shabbat to come, 
let’s dream of lechem mishneh, a 
double portion for all, and let’s 
start ensuring that everyone, at 
the very least, has the flour for a 
single loaf. As our rabbis teach, 
“eyn kemach, eyn Torah” — 
without flour, without physical 
sustenance, our Torah cannot 
live. 

Rabbi Rachel Isaacs is the Executive 

Director of the Center for Small Town 

Jewish Life at Colby College. Her 

website is rabbirachelisaacs.com. This 

essay was adapted from her guest 

sermon given at Central Synagogue in 

Manhattan. 

JTA ILLUSTRATION BY MOLLIE SUSS’

