Jewish Leaders Launch North Carolina Jewish Clergy Association

Charlotte Jewish News, June/July 2022

Pictured above: Rabbi Judy Schindler, Sklut professor of Jewish studies at Queens University Charlotte and NCJCA co-chair. Pictured below: Rabbi Eric Solomon, Beth Meyer Synaogogue and NCJCA co-chair.

By Shira Firestone

Clergy and community leaders from across North Carolina gathered online on April 12 to launch the North Carolina Jewish Clergy Association (NCJCA). “We are establishing the NCJCA so that the more than 80 Jewish clergy in North Carolina today can join together to support the Jewish community statewide and globally and to support each other in learning and in life,” said co-chair Rabbi Judy Schindler.

Governor Roy Cooper was among the community leaders gathered on the Zoom call to share his congratulations. He opened the gathering by sharing his appreciation and encouragement for the newly convened association, acknowledging the integral part that Jewish North Carolinians have played in the history of North Carolina for more than 400 years in arts and culture, education, business, and beyond. The governor reiterated the importance of the association, remarking on its potential, saying, “I have seen firsthand the good that can come when faith leaders come together — ideas, courage, support, action, all of these can result from this association.”

Others present included civic leaders and leaders of the Jewish community, including Congresswoman Kathy Manning. Like Governor Cooper, she acknowledged the critical nature of the NCJCA’ s work and its strong potential. “At a time when we see so much divisiveness, it is particularly important to see rabbis from different denominations, with different views, from different parts of the state come together to form an association where I am assuming important issues will be discussed with civility, with respect, and to reach common goals . . . We come from a tradition in which discussion and dissent are not only tolerated but encouraged — a tradition where the majority view and the minority view were recorded and viewed as legitimate.”

Though the NCJCA is new, the idea is not. In 1950, North Carolina had 15 rabbis, nine of whom convened to establish the North Carolina Association of Rabbis to support one another, study together, and strengthen Jewish life. The North Carolina Association of Rabbis thrived from 1950 to 1969.

Many of the goals of the NCJ- CA echo the goals of the association upon which it was modeled. Supporting one another remains

a primary goal. In her remarks, Rabbi Schindler said, “Only we know the tremendous weight that North Carolina Jewish clergy carry. Denominational lines did not matter then, sensitivity was consistently shown for observance, and they do not matter today.” Seventy-two years since the founding of the North Carolina Association of Rabbis, North Carolina has more than 80 ordained Jewish clergy across the state, and the NCJCA is open to all rabbis and cantors, representing all streams of Judaism, from organizations that are sanctioned in the newly ratified NCJCA organizational framework.

Jewish study is another important goal of the NCJCA. While serving as friends and teachers for one another, the group will also develop programming to benefit from the wisdom and knowledge of both national and international scholars.

Of utmost importance is its third goal, strengthening Jewish life. Creating collaborative or mutually supportive educational, cultural, and religious opportunities will be on the NCJCA agenda. The pandemic has revealed the ease with which the clergy can come together statewide to support the broader Jewish community — especially smaller Jewish communities in rural or isolated areas whose congregations are served by lay leaders rather than ordained clergy.

Strengthening Jewish life has always included combatting antisemitism — and all forms of hate. In light of the newly released ADL report finding an unprecedented and alarming increase in antisemitism (with an average of more than seven incidents per day and a 34% increase over last year), the establishment of the NCJCA at this time is momentous and critical. Though not a political organization, leaders of NCJCA recognize that issues affecting Jews have always intersected with politics, and the lines may at times appear blurry. In the 1950s, the rabbis of the North Carolina Association of Rabbis addressed issues such as the teaching of religion in schools, segregation, and teacher salaries, among others. Of the role of NC- JCA in similar issues, Schindler said, “We will use our collective voice in the public realm where needed.”

Congresswoman Manning charged the dozens of clergy in attendance, saying, “You have important work to do . . . we are seeing a frightening acceptance of antisemitic comments and actions from the far right and from the far left . . . that are often not even called out or condemned, and we cannot allow them to become acceptable.”

Manning additionally addressed anti-Israel rhetoric that crosses the line. We are seeing “rising anti-Israel activity from college campuses to Amnesty International and the United Nations, and we cannot stand idly by,” Manning noted. “While even-handed, fair criticism of the Israeli government’s policies may be acceptable, the demonization and delegitimization of the only Jewish state in the world is not.”

The NCJCA steering committee comprises seven clergy members with more than 125 years of service in North Carolina. It includes Rabbi Schindler of Charlotte (co-chair), Rabbi Eric Solomon of Raleigh (cochair),

Rabbi Mark Cohn of Winston-Salem, Rabbi Lucy Dinner of Raleigh, Rabbi Andy Koren of Greensboro, Cantor Shira Lissek of Charlotte, and Rabbi Batsheva Meiri of Asheville. As part of their launch, NCJCA leaders created a 2022 Passover Seder Supplement so Jews across the state could bring relevant issues to their holiday tables from Ukraine to the once in an approximately 33-year event when Passover, Easter, and Ramadan all coincide.

Rabbi Schindler closed her remarks by expressing the hopes the leading clergy have for the association. “In Genesis, Isaac dug in the wells of his father, and his community found mayim chayim — living waters — the waters of life. Water sustains. May the friendships we have and form sustain us. Water nourishes. May our collective programs nourish our minds and souls. And may our strength as clergy sustain and nourish the Jewish community of our state. And water in the Passover holiday represents liberation, redemption, and freedom. May we work to create a more just society through our work, through our words, through our collective voice, and our strength and wisdom to achieve that redemption that our community and world so deeply needs.”

For more information about the North Carolina Clergy Association, contact NCJCA Co- Chairs, Rabbi Eric Solomon (erics@bethmayer.org) or Rabbi Judy Schindler (schindlerj@ queens.edu).