WHO WE ARE
The Massachusetts Board of Rabbis (MBR) is an organization of rabbis of various streams and groups serving congregations, agencies and institutions within Massachusetts. Its membership consists of men and women from across the denominational spectrum who come together for fellowship, religious camaraderie, educational enrichment, and to speak with a single voice on behalf of our Jewish community.
Thanks to the efforts of an active Executive Committee, led by President Allan Lehmann and Managing Director, Alan Teperow, the MBR has grown dramatically as an organization over the past few years. The organization has become reenergized, and the result has been outstanding, timely, and relevant programming.
Our membership has expanded from 40 several years ago to now over 130 members, and the outreach continues with a focus on non-pulpit rabbis (Hillel staff, rabbis in academia and chaplaincy work, retired colleagues and others) who crave the collegiality of an organization such as the MBR. The MBR creates an online directory of members each year, which eases communication among rabbis as well as between rabbis and a variety of Jewish organizations. Indeed the rabbinic community is beginning to speak with a more confident voice through the MBR, and the future looks even brighter.
The MBR hopes to expand programming and community-building efforts in the future, to find more venues for rabbis of the different denominations to come together and to continue to reach out to rabbinic colleagues in the area to connect them to the community at large.
COMING EVENTS
Hold these dates for upcoming MBR meetings:
- Thursday, June 6 from 9:30 am - 1:00 pm (High Holy Day Seminar and Israel Bonds Luncheon)
REDEEMING LOST OBJECTS. Some of the most luminous texts and ideas for the Days of Awe have been lost or at least temporarily misplaced. What are they, and how can we recover them? Jeffrey Salkin, noted author and teacher, will lead us on a journey of discovery that will allow us to find text, sermon ideas, hooks, and ideas for reinvigorating our worship experiences.
Click here for more information
PAST EVENTS
April 2012 - "Grunting Eloquently at the Nexus of Judaism and Masculinity:
Successful Strategies for Engaging Boys and Men in Jewish Spiritual Life"
Rabbi Daniel Brenner, Director of Initiatives for Boys and Men, Moving Tradition, was our Yom Iyyun teacher and facilitator on April 25, 2012. A combination of lecture, text study and lively conversation made this year's Yom Iyyun a particularly interesting day of learning. Everyone in attendance found the conversation both stimulating and relevant to those working in congregations, schools or other communal settings. Our learning focused on sibling relationships in Tanach, especially between brothers; the role of boys and men in Jewish life (primarily synagogues); concerns about the lack of male role models in our educational settings; and the impact of these factors on engagement by males in youth groups, Hillel, camping, and in adult roles within our synagogues.
February 2012 - Consul General Shai Bazak
The MBR was pleased to welcome the Consul General of Israel to New England,
Shai Bazak, for a comprehensive briefing on the current situation in Israel. Instead of a formal presentation, Consul General Bazak entertained questions from the audience ranging from concerns about extremism in Israel & the Arab world, to international relations, to ways that we might increase support for Israel right here in Greater Boston. In concluding his remarks, Bazak thanked the rabbis and the Boston Jewish community for their steadfast interest in, and unwavering support for Israel.
The February program was made possible through a generous gift from Stanetsky Memorial Chapels. Several members of Stanetsky's staff attended the gathering which included brief comments to the rabbis from Bruce Schlossberg. In this photo, Bruce Schlossberg and Carl Goldman (right) are being welcomed by Alan Teperow, managing director and Rabbis Allan Lehmann, president and Neal Gold (from L to R).
December 2011 - Secrets of the Seventh Candle:
Recovering Hanukkah texts and traditions of women and girls
At the MBR's learning session on December 21st with Dr. Lori Lefkovitz, we had the privilege to review classic sources on Hanukkah to discover that this holiday, ordinarily understood as having origins in miracle-working Temple priests and heroic warriors, has another set of origin stories and later ritual practices that feature women and girls. It was fascinating to use our text study to consider how Jewish origin stories and ritual practices evolve. We left the morning with the conviction that "faith will triumph over fear" and that "the future will redeem the past", both teachings of Dr. Lefkovitz.
We appreciate the sponsorship of MBR's Hanukkah program by Levine Chapels and were pleased to welcome David Decter to our celebration, which included the requisite latkes and sufganiot. In this photo, David (2nd from right) is thanked by Rabbi Allan Lehmann (center), MBR president, and Executive Committee members (from left to right) Rabbis Randy Kafka, Jonathan Kraus and Toba Spitzer.