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NEW YORK – In response to the passing of Nelson Mandela, Leaders of the Rabbinical Assembly today issued the following statements:

Julie Schonfeld said,

"We mourn the loss of a great peacemaker and leader, Nelson Mandela, who passed away yesterday and whose many years of service to his country made him one of the world’s most beloved leaders. Nelson Mandela's signature contribution was demonstrating the power of and ethos of forgiveness as a political concept not only to prevent bloodshed but to bring to life the potential of a new society. Jews around the world shared with Mandela the commitment to continuing dialogue, even amidst difference, and the experience of how forgiveness and understanding can lead to the constant moral development of nations and peoples in an imperfect world.

"This week, Jews around the world read the story of Joseph, a boy betrayed by his own brothers who suffers numerous trials and unjust imprisonment. Yet he draws strength out of his trials and grows into a man who, through the act of forgiveness, saves his brothers and their families, physically as well as spiritually. We are in awe of Mandela’s emulation of such strength and principle as we see embodied in the stories of our tradition."

Gerald Skolnik, reflecting on Mandela’s leadership stated:

"Nelson Mandela’s dedication to the people of South Africa and his unceasing belief in peace underlaid a moral compass that pointed straight throughout his life. While we pray that the strife Mandela faced is never seen again on earth, we hope that his example will continue to inspire wherever humans are faced with difficulty.

"On behalf of the 1,700 Conservative rabbis of the Rabbinical Assembly, we thank Madiba for giving us strength and inspiration, and hope that the world is blessed with many people who emulate his ability to work past differences, see the best in people, and boldly advance the great projects of the human community."

By Elan Babchuck, Temple Emanu-El, Providence, Rhode Island

Five years ago, I sat in a cavernous room around a couple dozen mismatched folding tables set up to accommodate 50+ people in Marin County, California. It was part of my “tryout” to become a community organizer with OneLA, the Industrial Areas Foundation network in Los Angeles. The truth is that it wasn’t just a tryout for me, but it was part of the continued experiment to test whether or not rabbinical students and rabbis -- educated primarily as pastors, preachers, and programmers -- could fit into the shoes of tough organizers trained to carefully push, agitate, and engender discomfort in the name of leadership development and the pursuit of power and justice.

I ended up getting the job, finding ways for the next couple of years to balance my life as a rabbinical student with my work as an organizer. Most days, I would drive north to Bel Air and study talmud, alternating between English, Hebrew, and broken Aramaic. I took in the stories of my rabbinic predecessors and made them my own, all while basking in the warm, California sun on American Jewish University’s idyllic campus. By mid-day, I would drive back down to Mid-City LA for afternoon meetings in dingy, poorly-lit church basements, alternating between English and broken Spanish. There, I internalized the profound struggles of my neighbors while we stood together, shoulder-to-shoulder, and committed to support one another from here on out.

I look back on those years with great fondness and a deep sense of nostalgia for the two lives I led. Much as I tried to bridge the gap between Mid-City and Bel Air, between one form of education and another, I never did. Later, when I was presented with an opportunity to continue organizing upon returning from a year of study in Israel, I couldn’t quite see how the two worlds could live in harmony. I was -- and continue to be -- greatly humbled by the vast resources invested in me by the Ziegler School and by OneLA, but I felt that I had to choose, and I chose the life of a rabbi.

Supporting One Another Through Organizing

Last week, I experienced a deeply powerful combination of deja vu and a vision of the world to come, once again in a poorly-lit room, and once again shoulder to shoulder with my peers as we made a covenant to continue supporting one another from here on out. After years of conversation and relationship building, JOIN for Justice partnered with the Rabbinical Assembly to train 43 rabbis in the field on the principles of community organizing. As Ron Wolfson has so beautifully narrated in his book Relational Judaism, organizing isn’t only a means to the end for social justice; it’s about building communities, deepening relationships, developing leaders, and putting people before programs.

For one and a half precious days, 43 of us shared our stories, sharpened our tools, and developed a collective vision for a rabbinate replete with one-to-ones, house meetings, and thick networks of real relationships within - and across - our respective communities. The work is by no means done (we just barely scratched the surface of our immense potential), but it has begun. 10 years after rabbinical students before me started pushing for this training and later shared the torch with me and my colleagues, we have arrived.

The World As It Is and the World As It Should Be

In organizing lingo, we often talk about the World As It Is and the World As It Should Be. Much like the biblical prophets before us preached from the mountaintops about their visions of an idyllic world, 43 of us came together to paint our own version of that picture. The work of organizing is about bridging the gap between the World As It Is and the World As It Should Be, about bringing our world one step closer to what it could be, what it Should Be.

For me, after years of struggling to bridge the gap between the world of organizing and the world of the rabbinate, between My World As It Is and My World As It Should Be, last week’s training brought them one step closer, and I look forward to continuing to build that bridge in partnership with the RA, JOIN for Justice, and the many dedicated colleagues who have invested their time, talent, and treasure into bringing this prophetic vision to fruition.

On Monday and Tuesday, October 28-29, 2013, over 40 colleagues took advantage of an opportunity to receive training in community organizing from experts in the field. The conference was co-sponsored by the RA and JOIN for Justice.

Read divrei Torah inspired by the conference: David Baum | Michael Pont

Reactions to the conference follow below.

Benjamin Adler had a great time:

What a great conference this week. It took years to plan, and many conference calls, but all the work was worth it. So glad to be a part of training more Conservative rabbis in community organizing (and catching up with old friends).

As did David Baum:

I returned late Tuesday night from a conference that many of us have been dreaming about for years, Clergy 2.0: Leading Through Relationship. We had close to 50 Conservative Rabbis who came together to learn how the methods of community organizing can be used to transform your synagogue or organization. So much Torah was shared, so many relationships built, and we know it's just the beginning. I wanted to share one quote from a house meeting I ran from one of the new participating rabbis: "My congregants think that my job is to inspire them, but they don't realize something: they inspire me." Our relationship goes both ways - they aren't our clients, and we aren't just their 'employees', rather it's a holy relationship. Thank you to the Rabbinical Assembly, especially our executive vice president, Rabbi Julie Schonfeld, JOIN for Justice, and many more. I return inspired and hopeful for our movement and our people's future. I can't wait to see what happens next!

Susan Grossman was inspired:

Just returned from an inspiring conference on transforming communities through relationship building. The part I liked best was sharing my story and listening to others' stories about where we come from, how we come to be here, what we care deeply about, and why.

Randy Konigsburg utilized what he learned at the conference in his own community:

Yesterday I used the group meeting formulas that I learned at the JOIN conference at a parlor meeting that was held as a "meet the new rabbi" but I turned it into a meeting where everyone affirmed their committment to the synagogue by telling a story of a significant Jewish moment in their life or how they came to join our congregation. It was quite moving and already, there are people talking about how wonderful the meeting was and others who have scheduled meet and greet sessions are already eager to have them in their homes.

Thank you for the training to make this happen for my community.

David Small was also excited to take home the training he experienced:

This week I had an exciting and useful experience at JTS participating in a training in Synagogue-based Community Organizing. I have imagined for years that this approach that stresses relationship, sharing stories and joining energies to act around our deeply held values can help build strong and dynamic synagogue life. The move from transactional to covenantal community is of especial importance to me. I appreciate that the RA provided this opportunity to get started learning in earnest. It was heartening to have a ground-breaking event like this take place at the Seminary. This reflects well on the Movement at a time of great challenge.

I appreciate that JOIN is earnestly interested in and understands rabbis and synagogues and seeks to share this "derekh" with us. Up until now, I felt frustrated by the difficulty of accessing this kind of training in my home community of Hartford CT, not in NYC or Boston or LA. Now I can help bring these ideas and practices home and am confident I will have support including mentors and friends who are just learning, as I am. This training may prove to be an important step in revitalizing my own practice and the congregation I serve.

The thing that moved me the most was the spirit of colleagues at the training, both rabbis and JOIN staff. There were "vatikim" represented in the group that was there, but the preponderance of rabbis and trainers were young. Their excellence, focus, commitment and belief in the importance of our work gives me great hope for the future.