Earlier this fall, Congregation Beth Israel became the first Milwaukee Conservative synagogue to take part in a quiet but significant change in the movement.
As many Conservative shuls throughout the country have done, Beth Israel replaced the old Hertz Torah commentary with a brand new chumash created by the movement.
Called “Etz Hayim: Torah and Commentary,” the new chumash was officially published on Oct. 12; and Beth Israel began using it at Shabbat morning services Oct. 13, according to Rabbi Paul D. Kerbel, the congregation’s spiritual leader.
Kerbel said the new chumash “is just what we needed. I am very happy with it.” Moreover, several congregants “have already commented positively on it,” he said.
In fact, Kerbel believes non-Conservative Jews should study it as well. “I think all those that love studying Torah will find this to be a very meaningful commentary,” he said.
Beth El Ner Tamid Synagogue and Temple Menorah, two other Milwaukee-area Conservative congregations, are not currently using “Etz Hayim,” but Rabbi Gideon Goldenholz, spiritual leader of Beth El, said his congregation would probably use it in the future.
Aimee Powalisz, administrative director at Beth Israel Center in Madison, said that Conservative synagogue is discussing adopting “Etz Hayim” but hasn’t decided yet. She added that the shul has purchased 30 for its own use, and that 11 of the 12 copies in the gift shop have been sold.
For almost 70 years, the Torah commentary by British Chief Rabbi Joseph Hertz (1872-1946) was standard in most English-speaking Conservative movement synagogues.
But the Jewish world has changed since that work was composed (1929-36). The pre-Holocaust, pre-State of Israel and pre-feminist era Hertz chumash no longer speaks to the hearts and minds of many Jews today, according to many Conservative leaders.
Modern language, concerns
In response, the Rabbinical Assembly — the international association of Conservative rabbis — and the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism teamed with the Jewish Publication Society to create the new chumash.
“Each generation needs to bring forth its own interpreters,” said senior editor Rabbi David L. Lieber in a publication announcement. “This volume addresses the new concerns and contemporary sensibilities of our community.”
According to one of the book’s contributors and editors, former Milwaukeean Rabbi Elliot N. Dorff of the University of Judaism in Los Angeles, “Etz Hayim” (“Tree of Life”) reflects archaeological discoveries related to the Bible and uses the updated (1985) version of the JPS translation of the Bible.
Kerbel said the JPS translation makes the language in “Etz Hayim” sound “modern” and added that one does not come across words such as “thou” and “hast,” plentiful in the 1917 translation found in the Hertz.
While the Hertz contained just one commentary by its namesake, “Etz Hayim” contains several commentaries. One is called “Halakha le-Ma’aseh,” which Dorff co-edited with Rabbi Susan Grossman, a fellow member of the movement’s Law and Standards Committee.
This commentary examines how Jewish law has been shaped by historical influences, and shows how many biblical verses have “implications for how we practice Judaism today as Conservative Jews,” said Dorff.
There are also commentaries on each Haftorah by Bible scholar Michael Fishbane, and 41 essays by leading biblical scholars and writers on a variety of topics considered germane to modern Jewish life.
“Etz Hayim” also reflects the influence of Jewish feminism. It uses gender-neutral language, when possible, and includes greater sensitivity to women’s roles in the Bible.
Grossman, who was a member of the first class of women accepted to rabbinical school at the Jewish Theological Seminary, said that “In the halachic section we deal with women’s life cycles, [women’s relationship] to the covenant, baby naming, infertility and miscarriage; things that would not have been discussed in the previous editions.”
Finally, the new commentary reflects a more confident Judaism, according to Dorff. Because Hertz wrote during the rise of Nazism, “Jews felt a need to defend themselves against a lot of anti-Semitism going on. As a result, many of [Hertz’s] comments are apologetic in tone.”
“The comment in ‘Etz Hayim’ are not that way at all,” Dorff continued. “It’s statements are very affirmative of what we believe and what we do.”
“Etz Hayim” has been selling well. Rabbi Joel Meyers, executive vice president of the Rabbinical Assembly, said 97,000 have been sold so far.
He also said more than 50 percent of Conservative synagogues are using it, and the number “is growing faster all the time. We are now going back and going through a second printing. Our goal is to not run out of copies.”
MORE STORIES
Loading ...