The Jewish community is one of ongoing change. We can learn how to use this time as an opportunity for dramatic change, using historical texts and examples.

1. Disruption, Change,
Innovation in the
COVID-19 Era
Mayberg Foundation Board
February 2021
Rabbi Arnie Samlan, Chief Jewish Education Officer,
Jewish Federation of Broward County

2. From Innovation in a crisis:Why it is more critical
than ever
By Jordan Bar Am, Laura Furstenthal, Felicitas Jorge, and Erik Roth

3. Eight Essentials of Innovation

4. Disruptive Crisis : Leaving Egyptian Slavery for
Self-Reliance in the Desert – AText Study
Talmud Ta’anit 9a
‫ר‬
'
‫בר‬ ‫יוסי‬
'
‫וג‬ ‫ומרים‬ ‫ואהרן‬ ‫משה‬ ‫הן‬ ‫אלו‬ ‫לישראל‬ ‫עמדו‬ ‫טובים‬ ‫פרנסים‬ ‫שלשה‬ ‫אומר‬ ‫יהודה‬
'
‫מן‬ ‫אהרן‬ ‫בזכות‬ ‫ענן‬ ‫עמוד‬ ‫מרים‬ ‫בזכות‬ ‫באר‬ ‫ומן‬ ‫וענן‬ ‫באר‬ ‫הן‬ ‫ואלו‬ ‫ידם‬ ‫על‬ ‫ניתנו‬ ‫טובות‬ ‫מתנות‬
‫משה‬ ‫בזכות‬
RabbiYosei, son of RabbiYehuda, says:Three good sustainers rose up for the Jewish people during
the exodus from Egypt, and they are: Moses, Aaron and Miriam.And three good gifts were given
from Heaven through their agency, and these are they:The well of water, the pillar of cloud, and
the manna. He elaborates:The well was given to the Jewish people in the merit of Miriam; the pillar
of cloud was in the merit of Aaron; and the manna in the merit of Moses.
ForYourThought: How must leaders today position themselves to be the Moses, Aaron, and
Miriam, who position themselves to provide creativity in response to disruption?

5. Disruptive Crisis : Re-inventing Judaism After
Destruction of theTemple / Bet HaMikdash –
Using Art
Working in Chavuta groups, please explore artwork fromWilshire BoulevardTemple that reflects
the disruption of Judaism (temple, sacrifices, self-determination, prophecy) at the time of the
destruction and the innovative spirit that created a Judaism that could travel anywhere
(synagogues, rabbis, prayer,Talmud/Jewish practice).
http://murals.wbtla.org/destruction-of-the-second-temple--the-survival-of-judaism.html
ForYourThought: What themes do you see reflected in the art work? How does each
exhibit demonstrate innovation as a response to disruptionWhat is the creative freedom
we need to give to Jewish communal (including educational) professionals to build a
future that might look radically different from the past and present?

6. Disruptive Crisis : Hasidism – An Innovative Response to Social
and Religious Disruptions – A Historical Narrative
Hasidism is a movement of religious revival with a distinctive social profile. Originating in the second quarter of the eighteenth
century, it has continued to exist without interruption up to the present day. Its ideological and historical origins are generally
associated with the figure and unique teachings ofYisra’el ben Eli‘ezer (1698/1700–1760), known as the Ba‘al ShemTov (Master of the
Good Name; abbreviated Besht), his self-awareness as a leader of his people, and his activities as the purveyor of a new
religious message…
Poland experienced dramatic political changes during the 1700s, culminating in the last quarter of the century with that country’s
partition among the surrounding absolutist states; at the same time, the autonomous Jewish community began to weaken, making
way for new sources of religious inspiration and authority. Hasidism prospered and spread against the background of the collapse of
the old social order, a collapse that saw the abolition of the Council of Four Lands in 1764; the loss of faith in traditional institutions of
community leadership, including the rabbinate, which were increasingly identified with the interests of the Polish nobility; and many
manifestations of social and interclass tensions.These were further compounded by a religious–ethical crisis due to the remnants
of Sabbatian messianism and Frankism, as well as the weakened position of the rabbis, many of whom were suspected of owing their
posts largely to their wealth and contacts with authorities.
Despite attempts by Misnagdim (opponents) to vilify Hasidism and describe its leaders as ignorant and corrupt, most ordinary people
rejected these charges and considered Hasidic leaders, the tsadikim (lit., “righteous ones”), to be superior spiritual figures.The
weakening of the authority of communal institutions provided an opportunity for the leaders of Hasidism, thanks to their personal
prestige and moral position.While originally they had intended not to replace the old institutions but only to reinforce and become
part of them, they essentially appropriated powers that had previously been held by the community.
ForYourThought:The Chasidic movement’s leaders were excommunicated by their Lithuanian (and other) opponents
(misnagdim). Do we have the courage to stand strong against those who demand allegiance to an outdated status quo?

7. Disruptive Crisis : Judaism and the Modern Jewish
State – Classical and ContemporaryTexts
The rebirth of a Jewish country created challenges of adapting historical Jewish practices and life to the modern state.
Israel continues to wrestle with these challenges and will for years to come. Here are two examples in which Israel’s
Chief Rabbis intervened to make changes to marriage practices.
Text 1: From Levirate Marriage in the State of Israel: Ethnic Encounter and the Challenge of a
Jewish State, by ElimelechWestreich
ChiefAshkenazi Rabbi Herzog supported the abolishment of levirate marriages and
attempted to impose on all ethnic communities the Ashkenazi approach, which since the 13th
century favored chalitza.Chief Sephardic Rabbi Uziel supported rabbi Herzog although the
levirate commandment takes precedence over chalitza in the Sephardic and oriental traditions
and is practiced in these communities. In 1950, the two Chief Rabbis led a council of rabbis
that enacted a regulation rejecting levirate marriages and favoring chalitza. Rabbi Uziel
believed that two opposing traditions governing an issue as central as family law are not
appropriate in a modern state. He perceived the levirate marriage, which binds women in
matrimonial relations against their will, to be inconsistent with their status in the modern era.
The strong roots of the Ashkenazi Halachic tradition, which has for many generations rejected
levirate marriages, allowed him to demand that all ethnic groups adopt it.

8. Judaism and the Modern Jewish State
• Text 2: Background From Shulchan Aruch, Even HaEzra 1
‫ר‬
"
‫אשתו‬ ‫על‬ ‫הנושא‬ ‫על‬ ‫החרים‬ ‫ג‬
‫ומ‬ ‫הגה‬
"
‫ב‬ ‫נושאין‬ ‫ואין‬ ‫עומד‬ ‫במקומו‬ ‫והמנהג‬ ‫התקנה‬ ‫אלו‬ ‫מדינות‬ ‫בכל‬ ‫מ‬
'
‫ונושא‬ ‫שעובר‬ ‫מי‬ ‫ונדויין‬ ‫בחרמות‬ ‫וכופין‬ ‫נשים‬
‫ב‬
'
‫מהן‬ ‫אחת‬ ‫לגרש‬ ‫נשים‬
‫הארצות‬ ‫בכל‬ ‫תקנתו‬ ‫פשטה‬ ‫ולא‬
…
(
‫יא‬
)
‫אשתו‬ ‫על‬ ‫אשה‬ ‫שישא‬ ‫מי‬ ‫על‬ ‫ונידויים‬ ‫בחרמות‬ ‫תקנה‬ ‫לעשות‬ ‫טוב‬
…
RABBEINUGERSHOM DECREEDCHEREM (excommunication for one who marries [another] in addition to his
wife…AND HIS [Rabbeinu Gershom's] DECREE was not unilaterally accepted in all the lands. Rema:
Particularly in a place where it is known that his decree wasn't unilaterally accepted, but basically it applies
everywhere. Rema: In any case, in all of these lands, the decree and the custom stand in their place, and we
don't marry two women, and this is a punishable offense, and we force someone who did marry two wives to
divorce one of them…It is good to make aTakanah (new enactment) in relation to forbidding and to
excommunicate a person who takes more than one wife

9. Judaism and the Modern Jewish State
Text 3: Rabbi Ben Zion Meir Hai Ouziel, From Jewish Women’s Archive Encyclopedia
In 1950 Rabbis Herzog and Ouziel initiated regulations prohibiting the marriage of
minor girls (under the age of sixteen), bigamy [polygamy] (i.e., extending the ban to
all Jewish communities) and the requirement to perform halizah, and not yibbum.
These regulations were passed by the Chief Rabbinate Council and, in order to give
them binding force, were defined as “heremYerushalayim”
ForYourThought: Changes in how Jewish matrimonial law is practiced were the
result of the societies in which Jews were living. How do Jews today, living at a
time of change, make determinations as to what we take from our past and what
we adapt for today and tomorrow?

10. Disruptive Crisis : Pandemic Interrupting Jewish
Educational Institutions and Synagogue Life –
ExploringToday andTomorrow
What are the texts and innovative responses WE
are going to write as we emerge into a world that
has changed and should not “return to business
as usual”?