Denominational Judaism is SO Last Century

By Rabbi Jason A. Miller

I am often asked the question: "What kind of rabbi are you?" My tongue firmly
planted in my cheek, I usually answer: "A good one!"

Of course, the questioner is trying to ascertain in

which denomination of Judaism I affiliate and will then
make a whole host of assumptions about me.
Denominational labels, whether for rabbis or lay people,
are thought to reveal such things as congregational
affiliation, personal theology, daily practice, views on
Israel, the role of women in Judaism, etc. However, we
are now in a post-denominational age of modern
Judaism and denominational labels have been rendered
useless.

We are in a time when Jewish people identify

their religion in their Facebook profile as "Recon-
newel-ortho-conserva-form." No, these people aren't
confused about their Jewish identity, rather they have realized that there is "meaning" to
be made from the various pathways to Torah.

Rabbi Yitz Greenberg, when asked about the different streams of Judaism,
remarked that this is the reason that Baskin Robbins offers thirty-one flavors of ice
cream. And to this I would add that it's possible to order a mixture of flavors too. Yitz
Greenberg also famously said, "I personally don't care which denomination in Judaism
you belong to as long as you're ashamed of it."

To those who ask what type of rabbi I am, perhaps a better response would be an
invitation to sit and shmooze over coffee so that I may share my narrative. I was raised in
the Conservative Movement attending Shabbat services, going to the synagogue pre-
school, and studying at a Solomon Schechter Day School from kindergarten through the
end of the seventh grade. In high school, I was active in the Conservative Movement's
youth group, and traveled across the country and to Israel with other Conservative Jewish
teens.
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When I decided to become a rabbi during my second year of college, there was
never a doubt that it would be at the Jewish Theological Seminary in NYC, known as the
flagship educational institution of the Conservative Movement. It was in rabbinical
school, however, that I really came into contact with other "flavors" of Judaism.

I was chosen for an interfaith dialogue program called Seminarians Interacting.

We went on a week-long retreat and stayed at a Catholic seminary outside of Baltimore. I
learned a bit about other faith traditions, but it was sharing a room with a Reform
rabbinical student and talking to Reconstructionist rabbinical students that was the most
eye-opening experience for me. We talked about our individual calling to become a rabbi,
matters of belief and practice, and the future of the Jewish community.

Not long after this experience, I returned to the Detroit area to spend a summer
training as a hospital chaplain. There were Christian seminary students representing
different denominations, but I spent the most time with a Reform rabbinical student who
also attended that Conservative Jewish day school. We studied Torah together, prayed
together, and debated Jewish law. It was wonderful. We each had our own "torah" to
teach and we were both deeply engaged in learning from our rabbis, but we also gained
so much from each other.

It was also in rabbinical school that I become involved with Clal, a pluralistic
organization that employs teaching fellows from every Jewish stream. In the Clal offices
I found Reform, Conservative, Reconstructionist, and Orthodox scholars who were so
deeply engrossed in discussing the issues of the day. It didn't matter where they prayed or
how they thought the Torah was revealed to the Jewish people; all that mattered was that
they could challenge each other to think outside of the box and help people make
meaning out of their lives.

Rabbinical School was a time when I prayed at an Orthodox shul in which men
and women sat separately. But I also led a very Reform service on Friday nights for a
nice group of thirty elderly people at the local nursing home. All the while spending my
days studying Torah and Talmud in a Conservative seminary with professors who had all
studied under Mordechai Kaplan, the founding father of Reconstructionist Judaism.

After graduating from rabbinical school and becoming a card-carrying

Conservative rabbi, I took a job at a Hillel foundation on a college campus. There, my job
was to advise the leaders of the various student minyans, from Reform and Conservative
to Humanistic and Traditional. I spent time in each of these different prayer groups and
noticed that many students sampled the various offerings regardless of their upbringing or
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their family's affiliation. During this time, I also consulted a Conservative synagogue that
didn't have a rabbi and taught adult education classes at a Reform temple.

Today, I serve as the rabbi of a non-denominational camping agency in which I

help run Shabbat services at our summer camp. The services tend more toward the
Reform liturgy. I also serve as the part-time rabbi of a Reconstructionist congregation,
and as the director of a consolidated, weekly high school program for the Conservative
synagogues. I am part of two national rabbinic fellowship programs in which I learn and
dialogue with rabbis from just about every Jewish flavor imaginable. When we come
together at retreats, we forget at which institution we were each made into rabbis and just
allow our Torah to permeate the room so that we may learn from each other.

Whether with my colleagues at the STAR Foundation's PEER program or at Clal's

Rabbis Without Borders, I've learned that if we perpetuate the arguments of whose Torah
is true Judaism, we'll only do damage to the Jewish people. When we recognize that the
labels don't help and that we're living in a post-denominational world we will be able to
bring more of our collective Jewish wisdom to the world.

I may find that my theology resonates the most with what has historically been
considered a Conservative approach, but I still like to pray in an Orthodox minyan at
times. The strong emphasis on social action in the Reform Movement motivates me to
see the world beyond my nose and my responsibility to humanity. But the deep-rooted
sense of a heimish community in the Orthodox world is something that I find gratifying
and reaffirming. And the focus on egalitarianism and human dignity that has been critical
to the Reconstructionist Movement since its inception is important to me.

Conservative Jews are keeping Orthodox yeshivahs open with their generous
philanthropy. Reform Jews are showing their strong support for Israel by becoming
AIPAC leaders, traveling to Israel on solidarity missions, and planning community events
to honor Israel -- all actions to which their Reform forebears would object. Orthodox
synagogues are finding innovative ways to increase the role of women in the prayer
service and in the community. And independent minyanim are forming around the
country with no denominational affiliation and made up of young people who were raised
in different traditions.

So, the next time someone asks me what kind of rabbi I am, I think I'll just ask
them: "Well, how much time do you have?"
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Jason A. Miller created Kosher Michigan, a kosher certification company. He is also the
rabbi of Tamarack Camps in Michigan, the part-time rabbi of Congregation T’chiyah
and the director of ATID: Alliance for Teens in Detroit. He writes the Jewish Techs blog
for The NY Jewish Week.