For those of us who work at OU Headquarters on 11 Broadway, the activities of the OU that take place beyond our walls are at time a bit remote, given everything that happens here in New York. This is less true for me, of course, because as Director of Public Relations, I am responsible for disseminating the news and activities of the entire organization to the media. This means being familiar with our work in Israel; with our NCSY Regions across the United States and Canada; with our JLIC campuses from Massachusetts to California, and Toronto; with the IPA in Washington; and of course, with our West Coast Region, based in Los Angeles.
The fact that I have always been intrigued by the West Coast as an incredibly beautiful part of our country where I love to travel, has given me a particular interest in the work of the Region, centered in Los Angeles but spreading up the Pacific Coast, down to Arizona and on to Colorado.
As a result, visiting our West Coast Region is always something on my mind. The annual December West Coast Convention (usually known as the West Coast Torah Convention) gives me my best opportunity to make the trip. This year's edition, with the theme of "There's an OU for You," highlighting the work of our different departments, seemed to give me my best chance in years to cross the country on behalf of the OU. I last attended the WCC (as I'll call the Convention) in 2003, after I had been in my position for a year; now I thought it was time to go again. I joked that since it had been eight years between Conventions, I was on a schmittah-plus-one cycle, that is, the seven-year Torah-mandated cycle for the land to lie fallow, and an extra year thrown in for good measure.
The fact that I would be celebrating my anniversary of coming to work at the OU and starting my tenth year on the job while the WCC was taking place was a sweetener as well. I knew that Rabbi Alan Kalinsky, the long-time Director of the Region, would be delighted to have me, as would his staff - Assistant Director Rabbi Adir Posy, Susie Srebro and Esther Rothberg.
OU Senior Communications Professional David Olivestone, to whom I report, checked his budget and said OK, and I was off to the Golden West.
The Convention that I came to participate in was not the kind of Convention I had attended years before, nor even like last year's. As Rabbi Kalinsky wrote in the Convention program, "In planning this year's event we decided that it was time for us to step out of the mold of the last 20 years (in which we presented ) a theme-based event and a faculty brought in from near and far to engage us on a particular theme. (For example, the theme in 2008 was 'Israel at 60.' The theme last year was 'Keeping Our Values for the Next Generation.') "We have instead devoted this year's Convention to an in-depth analysis of what the OU is all about...the essence of what the OU stands for globally."
Rabbi Posy, who served as the Program Chair, added in his program article, "The goal of this weekend is to stimulate the communal conversation and educate our community about the areas where the OU impacts our lives as Jews."
Relating to those areas, Dr. Steven Tabak, President of the West Coast Region, said, "The 2011 West Coast Torah Convention was an opportunity to turn the focus inward, and to highlight many of the services that are provided under the OU banner. The kashrut seminar highlighted the certification work done worldwide by OU Kosher, while other segments of the program focused on the IPA (Panel Discussion on Education Affordability Initiative) as well as the impact of OU Community and Synagogue Services. Furthermore it was an opportunity to effectively publicize the recent partnership between the OU and AIPAC on Israel advocacy."
As noted by Dr. Tabak, and perhaps the OU initiative receiving the greatest attention in this day and age, is the affordability issue of Orthodox Jewish life, particularly as it involves yeshiva/day school tuition. This is a particular priority of Orthodox Union President Dr. Simcha Katz. As he wrote in the OU magazine, Jewish Action, in its Fall 2011 issue, "No communal issue - none - is more crucial than making observant Jewish life affordable for families. The day school affordability challenge threatens the Jewish future."
Just a week or so before the WCC, the OU sponsored a "National Summit on Day School Affordability," in which more than 175 invited leaders representing more than 80 schools and organizations from across the spectrum of Orthodoxy, gathered in suburban New Jersey to discuss this all-pervading challenge and to seek solutions. At the Summit, the OU announced the six recipients of Day School Affordability Challenge Grants totaling $150,000, for developing "innovative and replicable solutions to address day school affordability."
It was only natural, therefore, that the WCC would feature a program on this issue -- in Los Angeles alone there are so many day schools - and in fact that it would open the Convention. The session was called "Tuition Symposium - Educators Forum: A special event geared toward educators, lay leaders and decision makers to discuss the issues and solutions in funding Orthodox Day School Education."
According to Rabbi Posy, "We had leaders in the education sector from the school professional side (heads of school); the lay leadership side (school presidents and board members); and school advocates (funders and tuition activists).
During dinner there were round-table discussions which preceded a panel consisting of Jennifer Weinstock, Strategy Manager, Growing Annual Fund Revenue, of the Partnership in Excellence in Jewish Education; Miriam Prum-Hess (who attended the national summit), Director of the Centers for Excellence in Day School Education and Educational Engagement of the Los Angeles Board of Jewish Education; Rob Toren, Director of the Samis Foundation; and Dr. Scott Goldberg, Director, Institute for University/School Partnership of Yeshiva University. The moderator was Rabbi Steven Weil, OU Executive Vice President.
"Everyone agreed that we are going to have to engage in a multi-pronged attack including legislative changes in different state houses," Rabbi Weil summed up after the session. "The approach also calls for endowment and bequest funds being matched by federations or other foundations. It requires changes in the Federal tax code. And it depends on benchmarks, in terms of making sure that what is being spent in the various areas of school budgets falls in line with benchmarks of other schools. The first three are trying to generate funds from other sources; the other is cutting costs."
An email from a participant in the Symposium declared, "(You presented) such smart, committed professionals, who have a wealth of accomplishments and insights about these formidable challenges. Yasher koach to the OU in taking initiative regarding these issues."
Shabbat is always the centerpiece of the WCC, and it was a very special Shabbat for me. Rabbi Kalinsky invited me to join a select group to have Shabbat dinner with him and his wife, Sandy, and we proceeded to his home after daveningat the new Link Kollel, which featured a brief shiur by Rav Hershel Schachter, Rosh Yeshiva at Yeshiva University's Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary; posek (halachic decisor) for OU Kosher for the past 25 years (for which he was honored at the staff Chanukah party in New York a few days after the Convention ended), and one of the most well-renowned and brilliant talmudists in the world. After dinner, Rav Schachter returned to LINK for an Oneg Shabbat in which he spoke to an enthralled audience of more than 100 for an hour - even though he only had to speak for half that time.
In all, Rav Schachter spoke 12 separate times at the Convention, from school children, to his fellow rabbis, whom he enlightened and entertained at a session on Friday morning at West Coast OU headquarters, to an audience at an OU Kosher presentation. I sat in on the session with the rabbis, understood less than they did, but was delighted by the Rav's easy manner of speaking - not lecturing, but rather having a conversation, filled with humor, as evidenced by the frequent laughter I heard.
I've seen Rav Schachter speak many times over the years, and I've always been impressed by how informal he is, even while commenting on the most abstruse points of halacha or Gemara. His hand motions, his body language, his rapport with his audience (and sometimes the audience only sees him on the OU website, not in person) show a master at work - although of course he doesn't call it work.
I asked him upon our return to New York if he didn't get exhausted by having to speak so many times, in so many venues, and in many cases, for lengthy sessions. "I get to sleep at night," he told me with a big smile. Rav Schachter loves coming to Los Angeles, he continued, because his audiences there seem to pay extra attention, and even remind him of points he made in previous visits.
"Rav Schachter was once again the backbone of our convention," said Rabbi Kalinsky. "While the OU does many things in many arenas, we are defined by being rooted in Torah values. It is for this reason that we wanted a convention that highlighted the OU to feature a Gadol like Rav Schachter so prominently, as it makes the statement that ultimately, Torah stands behind everything that the OU does."
At Shabbat dinner, Rav Schachter sat at one head of the table, opposite Rabbi Kalinsky. I sat next to him. The food was delicious, the wine was first rate, the company was outstanding, but years from now I will remember that dinner because I could just sit and have an easy conversation with him over an extraordinary meal.
The next morning, I proceeded to the synagogue that I had davened in back in 2003, Congregation Beth Jacob in Beverly Hills, when the young spiritual leader there was Rabbi Steven Weil. Little could I imagine that in my next visit there he would be my boss. Rabbi Weil came to the OU three years ago as Executive Vice President, that is, the Chief Professional Officer, leaving Beth Jacob after nine years of service. Following the davening(I was Kohen), and a huge luncheon (both in amount of food and attendance) jointly sponsored by OU and AIPAC, we all returned to the main sanctuary for a program on Israel featuring Rabbi Weil and AIPAC President Lee Rosenberg.
"Many of our member shuls are looking for a way of channeling their constituents' pro-Israel feelings into meaningful activism," explained Rabbi Weil. "By partnering with AIPAC it facilitates both for the community as a whole, as well as for individuals, the opportunity to be engaged in the political process in a healthy, productive manner."
"One of the messages of our session was that those who can afford to, need to participate in a political leadership network in support of the legislators who are at the forefront in making a difference vis-a-vis the existential threat of a nuclear Iran; the security of our tiny, precious homeland; and furthering the relationship between the United States and Israel."
Rabbi Kalinsky added, "One of the great things about being a national organization that represents such a diverse community is that we have the opportunity to partner with other national voices to create a whole greater than the sum of its parts. Instead of working in parallel to the great things that AIPAC does, the OU is able to join AIPAC in spreading the message of Advocacy for Israel to all of our kehillot."
I must tell you that as I saw Rabbi Weil at lunch surrounded by so many of his former congregants, and then speaking in the sanctuary he dominated for almost a decade, the thought occurred to me about what it was like for him to return there as a guest speaker, but not as the Rav. (Thomas Hardy's novel, The Return of the Native, which I read in high school, came to mind.) So I asked him.
"It felt like it was coming back home, he responded. "This is the institution that raised my children. This is the institution that nurtured and developed myself as well as my family."
I saw Rabbi Weil in action again that night, at a reception in a private home for Trustees/Sponsors of the West Coast Region, and in which the topic of discussion was the new Koren Mesorat HaRav Siddur, jointly published by OU Press and Koren Publishers of Jerusalem, which features the commentary of Rav Joseph Soloveitchik, the guiding light for so many decades of centrist Orthodoxy. Rabbi Weil gave his insights into the Rav's teachings on tefilla - prayer -- covering such topics as "The Role of Shema in Tefillah."
"One of the great challenges that modern man has is communicating and creating a meaningful relationship with God," Rabbi Weil summed up his discussion. "Rav Soloveitchik held us by the hand and opened up new vistas into the meaning of prayer, the structure of prayer, and the ability to rendezvous with the Almighty."
Rabbi Weil and Rav Schachter were not the only great teachers of Torah on the WCC program. I had the pleasure of attending the Sunday morning Beit Medrash Session at the Young Israel of Century City, taught by Mrs.Geri Wiener, who conducts Women's Torah Network programs for West Coast OU. The Convention program was held in memory of Dr. Beth Sharon Samuels a"h", the brilliant mathematician and mother of two who died of cancer at the age of 31 in 2007.
The topic was "Torah Chesed: A Great Return on Your Investment," and featured a lengthy reading from I Samuel, Chapter 24, in which David has the opportunity to kill King Saul, but doesn't. As Saul told him, "You have proven today that you have done (only) good with me, for Hashem delivered me into your hand but you did not kill me." (24:19)
After watching her animated teaching style (no lectern can restrain her as she moves through the room) I asked Mrs. Wiener why she chose that topic and that selection to illustrate the concept of chesed: loving kindness. "I selected the topic since I feel that it applies perfectly to the life of Dr. Beth Samuels, a"h", and to the lasting legacy that she bequeathed to her family, to her students, and to the untold generations who will benefit from her teaching of Torah and her acts of chesed," Mrs. Wiener replied.
"We learned that King David was a tremendous talmid chacham. And in I Samuel, Chapter 24, we see that David allowed King Saul to go free when David had the legal right and the opportunity to kill him. The Malbim, in his commentary on I Samuel 24:19, teaches us that because this act of kindness was publicized, each time anyone in the future performs this same act of kindness, the actor will receive a reward, and King David will continue to receive an additional reward as well."
I asked her what conclusion the group came to by the end of the session. Mrs. Wiener explained, "Gemara Sukkah 49b teaches us that Torat Chesed - words that we recite in the famous Eishet Chayil (Mishlei 31:26) - is both Torah learned l'shmah (for its own sake) and Torah that is vocalized, i.e., taught to others. And Gemara Avodah Zarah 17b notes the superiority of one who engages in both Torah study and acts of kindness. Dr. Beth Samuels personified both of these elements in her lifetime through her passionate learning and teaching of Torah, and through her countless acts of chesed. We all know that she will continue to receive her eternal reward for her Torat Chesed - a "great return on her investment."
There was more to the Convention that I did not see - and would make this piece too long to write about in detail. An ASK OU Kashrut session Sunday night held at Young Israel of Hancock Park in conjunction with the Rabbinical Council of California, provided much enjoyment and education from Rav Schachter; Rabbi Chaim Goldberg, OU Kosher Rabbinic Coordinator; Rabbi Nachum Sauer posek for the RCC (Rabbinic Council of California); and Rabbi Yaakov Vann, Director of Kashrut Services for the RCC.
Rabbi Goldberg is a specialist on fish, and I understand that he went to Ralph's supermarket and purchased a variety of fish to pull apart as he lectured. And Rav Schachter was, of course, Rav Schachter. In the audience was Rabbi Noach Vogel, a California based Rabbinic Field Representative for OU Kosher. He said, "The program was "very enlightening -even for a mashgiach - there were a lot of interesting things that were very practical, not just theory."
A Shabbat afternoon session at Beth Jacob in Beverly Hills for NCSY was represented by Associate Regional Director Solly Hess and Los Angeles City Director Avi Spiegel. According to Rabbi Posy, who besides his title at the West Coast Region is Assistant Rabbi at Beth Jacob, "Avi wowed the crowd with an emotional story and a true picture of the impact of NCSY."
OU Vice President Dr. David Luchins was assigned to the San Fernando Valley. Rabbi Posy explained, "I spoke to Rabbi Rosenberg (the Rav of Shaarey Zedek in Valley Village, the shul that hosted him) and he conveyed that the talks by Dr. Luchins were quite positively received. We got similar reports from Rabbi Ciner of Beth Jacob Congregation of Irvine who hosted OU Partner Dr. Scott Goldberg of Yeshiva University."
As I returned to New York, fully satisfied, well-fed, and deeply appreciative of what I had witnessed over the four-day period, I could only think about how to get myself back there again without going through a schmittah- plus-one cycle. Meanwhile, I can't help but reflect on Rabbi Kalinsky's summary of the proceedings.
"It is often the case," he said, "that the community sees a small window into what we do through discreet events but is not aware of the bigger picture of what the OU represents. The goal of this Convention was to showcase the wide variety of areas across the spectrum of Jewish life -- from a teen program to a Washington office and from a kosher symbol on their food to the siddur in their hand - in which the OU impacts each and every one of us."
