Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By admin on September 10, 2021

NEW HAVEN Rabbi Eric Woodward plans to encourage the members of Congregation Beth El-Keser Israel to be their true, best selves, no matter how nontraditional that may be.

However, when it comes to following Jewish laws and teaching, tradition is paramount.

Members of BEKI say those qualities are just what they seek as a congregation, and Woodward, who began July 1 as rabbi of the Conservative synagogue in Westville, is the spiritual leader they want to lead them into the Jewish year 5782.

He follows Rabbi Jon-Jay Tilsen, who retired after 28 years at BEKI. Rosh Hashana, the beginning of the High Holy Days, begins at sundown Monday.

In this file photo, Rabbi Jon-Jay Tilsen demonstrates blowing a shofar at Congregation Beth-El Keser Israel in New Haven on Sept. 19, 2017.

It helps to know his background, Woodward said: My mother is Jewish and my father is not Jewish. And he grew up in a family where his mother was a Mexican immigrant. And she immigrated to America from Mexico in 1926. And his father was a white guy who left home in the Dust Bowl from Oklahoma and his mother really shaped his upbringing.

Woodward thought of himself as both Jewish and Mexican American. His family practiced the faith, but casually.

Over the years I struggled with what it meant to be of mixed background, he said. Because sometimes you feel less than. If Im not a hundred percent anything, does that mean Im just nothing?

It was at Williams College that he became more interested in his Jewish faith.

It really excited me and I realized that I started to love these Jewish texts and Jewish living, Woodward said. I realized I really want to facilitate communities to live around the values and the stories and the practices that gave me a sense of meaning. And I realized thats what a rabbi does.

He also knew that his background and faith journey would help others who also felt like outsiders. A lot of my rabbinic work has been trying to help people who come from interfaith background or who are Jews of color to feel like they belong, and to help Jewish spaces change so that they can be more welcoming and engaging, he said.

Woodward has served synagogues in Blue Bell in southeastern Pennsylvania and Columbus, Ohio, and said during his career he has seen changes in the Jewish world in terms of their ability to meet those expectations of being a welcoming community and of being kind. And thats one of the things I really connected to at BEKI very quickly.

He called the congregation a diverse and open-minded Jewish community that really walks the walk in terms of honoring the experiences of different people. And it doesnt mean theres not work to do; theres always plenty of work to do. But this feels like its a kind of environment where that work feels like its compelling and important.

Carole Bass, who led the search committee for the new rabbi, said it seemed pretty clear Woodward was the right person for BEKIs 300 families. He said to us that he thought it was bashert, which is a Yiddish word that means meant to be, she said. He has energy and enthusiasm.

Bass praised his inclusiveness, his warmth, his excitement, his approach to Judaism, which is a combination of traditional and modern. Hes very committed to traditional practices and legal structure, and at the same time he views all of that in a framework of, Why are we doing this? What is the meaning of these practices? How do these practices help us relate to each other and the rest of the world and ourselves and God, for those that think about it that way?

BEKI is a diverse community, with members of color and LGBTQ members, but Woodward wants to affirm others who, like him, may not feel totally part of the community. Traditional Jewish law states that Judaism is passed down through the mother or through conversion. (Reform Judaism accepts children with Jewish fathers as Jews if they are raised in the religion, according to reformjudaism.org.)

Woodward recognizes his Jewish identity is partly an accident of his birth, and wants to affirm those without Jewish mothers as well.

I often encounter Jews, and Im using that word on purpose, Jews who have a Jewish father and a non-Jewish mother, he said. And I see it as important to affirm their Jewish nature and I will encourage them to go to the mikvah, the ritual immersion in water.

And so you could say Im doing a conversion ceremony for them, but I never call it that. I say that its an affirmation of status and affirmation of who they are, Woodward said.

Rather than seeing identity as a binary sort of either-or thing, Woodward said he believes, Lets go down this path together. The truth is, everybodys identity is mixed up. Identity is complicated. And we dont experience it as a sort of on-off switch, but its a complicated mixture of stories and commitments and values and history.

Woodwards hopes for BEKIs members start with working their way through the pandemic and its aftermath. I want to make sure that people have a sense of hope and possibility for the future, he said. I really want to make sure that people are able to think of themselves as having changed and grown, even during the pandemic, that we havent just been like sitting here spinning our wheels.

COVID-19 has increased isolation for many people, and Woodward wants to help people not feel so alone and to really find ways to build community among different people here, he said.

Synagogues, churches and mosques can no longer be places where people go because they are expected to, Woodward said. People have looked at synagogues during the pandemic because they need to be inspired and they need to feel a sense of hope, he said. And they havent looked at them because they think, Well, I guess I better join a synagogue. And I think that the world has been moving in that direction for a long time anyway. And I think the pandemic sped up that trend by 15 years.

For a while this summer, BEKI didnt require masks to attend; now it does. It hasnt made a difference in attendance, Woodward said. People streamed in ... People really showed up with their feet because this means something to me. You suddenly dont take for granted that you can sit next to another person in a meal or in services. And thats really lovely.

In the long term, Woodward wants to further the synagogues commitment to social justice and to interfaith work, addressing the climate emergency, racial inequities in health care and welcoming immigrants.

The Torah tells us 36 times that we are supposed to love and protect the stranger, he said. And to me, what that means is that we need to pay special attention to the way that our society can otherize and demonize. We need to think about people who are strangers, who come here as immigrants. And I think that we Jews have a special responsibility to take care of the vulnerable.

Im thrilled that hes joined our community, said Judy Alperin, CEO of the Jewish Federation of Greater New Haven. I think he brings a fresh and exciting energy and I think that hell be a true community partner as we build a bright future together. The first time I met him I couldnt stop smiling when I was talking to him.

The members of BEKI are equally enthusiastic. I love him, said BEKI President Yaron Lew. Hes a wonderful person and everything we ever hoped for. I was actually hoping for someone who would take our congregation forward to the future. Someone who would bring ruach [spirit], as we say, and enthusiasm and get people excited about coming to shul.

Lew said Woodward is becoming a magnet for young families and others and making sure everybody will feel included and happy to attend.

Mark Oppenheimer, a member of the search committee, called Woodward the best of the old and the best of the new. Hes deeply rooted in tradition. His range of sources covers all 3,000 years of Jewish history from the Hebrew Bible to Jewish mystics and contemporary thinkers, focusing on gender and racial inclusion.

Oppenheimer said Woodward brings a more worldly talent as well. Ive also heard hes an amazing cook, Oppenheimer said. One of his references would not shut up about what a good chef he is.

edward.stannard@hearstmediact.com; 203-680-9382

More here:

Rosh Hashana brings bright future to New Haven synagogue and new rabbi: It was 'meant to be' - New Haven Register

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