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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’