By Donald H. Harrison

SAN DIEGO, Calif.— Memo to the Reform rabbis of Atlanta, Georgia, from a San Diego, California-based Jewish journalist.

Re: The Central Conference of American Rabbis Convention in Atlanta, March 11-14, 2007

You've heard about location, location, location being the secret to success for a restaurant or retail business?  Well, remember to highlight  "locals," ""locale" and maybe permitting  the rabbis to let down their hair and go a little "loco," (crazy)  at your convention next year if you want to have one as enjoyable as the recently concluded one in San Diego.

In what might be described as the "afterglow" of the Central Conference of American Rabbis' convention here in San Diego, I had the opportunity to shmooze with some Reform rabbis. They spent Sunday, June 18, through Wednesday, June 21, in each other's company in the mild climate of our resort city, and for the most part, they returned to their pulpits refreshed, relaxed and "re-jew-venated."

As Rabbi Neal Borovitz of Temple Sholom of River Edge, N.J., pointed out, this was not a convention riven by passions—there was no emotional debate such as there was 23 years ago when "patrilineal descent" was adopted by the CCAR. Instead, it was "a good time for friends to get together" not only to socialize, but to participate in some "good study sessions."  Being the son-in-law of Teedie Appelbaum of La Jolla, a well-loved activist in our local Jewish community, Borovitz is practically an honorary San Diegan himself.

Locals

Appearances by San Diego County rabbis, cantors, and scholars were threaded through the four-day conference, beginning with opening ceremonies on Sunday June 18, when the convention's local arrangements committee members  Rabbi Paul Citrin of Congregation Beth Israel of La Jolla introduced the keynote speaker Rabbi Harold Schulweis (of that settlement up the freeway called Los Angeles) and  Rabbi Martin S. Lawson of Temple Emanu-El of San Diego led the motzi prayer prior to a  bayside dinner featuring mariachi entertainment.

On Monday, June 19, the new chair of San Diego State University's Judaic Studies Program—Prof. Risa Levitt-Kohn—delivered the first in a two-part series on how early Christianity and rabbinic Judaism developed separately during the time of the Roman occupation.  Levitt-Kohn's scholarship in this area will be further showcased from July through December of 2007 when she will serve as the curator of a six-month-long exhibition of the Dead Sea Scrolls at San Diego's Museum of Natural History.

Shacharit services on Tuesday, June 20, featured separate prayer services in different styles, including one in the so-called "classical style," featuring robes and organs led by Rabbi David Lyon of Congregation Beth Israel of Houston, Tex.,  and Cantor Kathy Robbins of Temple Solel of Encinitas

That afternoon, some rabbis participated in a press conference in support of low-wage workers' rights to earn a decent living.  The event was coordinated by Rabbi Laurie Coskey, director of the local Interfaith Committee for Worker Justice.

On Wednesday, June 21, another such "classical style" Shacharit service was led this time by Rabbi Aaron Bisno of Rodef Shalom Congregation of Pittsburgh, Penn.,  and Cantor Arlene Bernstein of Congregation Beth Israel of La Jolla.   

Later that morning, UCSD Prof. Richard Elliott Friedman, author of Who Wrote the Bible? among other books, lectured  on "Israel and the Bible: Then and Now."  Reflecting on his speech afterwards, Rabbi Deborah Prinz of Temple Adat Shalom of Poway, noted that Friedman had "graciously and generously taught at SDRA (the San Diego Rabbinical Association) for some 20 years.  Not only was his topic about how the Bible informs today's conflict in the Middle East extremely helpful and informative, but it was his last San Diego presentation before he moves to Georgia.  How fortunate we were to be able to enjoy him here one last time as a rabbinic group!"

Friedman is heading to the University of Georgia in Athens to be the Davis Professor of Jewish Studies. You folks in Atlanta will have an erudite and community-minded scholar close by.  Definitely our loss and your gain, Georgia.

On Tuesday, Prof. Levitt-Kohn also gave her second lecture, which she titled "Where Did God Go?  Divine Presence in the Absence of the Temple."

Locale

The Manchester Grand Hyatt, where the convention was held, sits right on San Diego Bay.  Seaport Village, a quaint retail area on the water, is next door.  Within walking distance is San Diego's Gaslamp Quarter, which back in the late 19th century, was particularly known by sailors for its bars and bordellos.  Today, it features fine dining, century-plus buildings, and numerous night life spots. These attractions were available every day and night of the convention.

On Tuesday, June 20, however, the convention had a scheduled break for tourism with bus trips to such nearby attractions as the San Diego Zoo, Sea World, the Hotel del Coronado, the aircraft carrier USS Midway, cruises on San Diego harbor bay, and to the museums of Balboa Park.  In the case of the latter, it perhaps was no accident that the convention's  "free time" was scheduled on a Tuesday, because in an ongoing deal with the City of San Diego, which owns their buildings, every Tuesday some of the museums in Balboa Park offer free admission.  Such a deal!

Convention program writers suffused two of the attractions with biblical spirit, commenting about the San Diego Zoo, "If Noah had built a place like this, the animals never would have left the ark!"  As for SeaWorld, the program suggested, "You'll have a lot more fun looking for Jonah here than in Ninevah!"

"Loco" 

On the convention's opening evening, Cantor Arlene Bernstein of Congregation Beth Israel was among eight California chazans who performed for their fellow clergy  in a show titled "From Bimah to Broadway," in which songs written by Jewish composers were highlighted.  Bernstein of Congregation Beth Israel was joined by Cantors Roslyn Barak of Congregation Emanu-El of San Francisco, Jonathan Grant of Temple Bat Yahm of Newport Beach, Don Gurney of the Wilshire Boulevard Temple of Los Angeles, Evan Kent of Temple Isaiah of Los Angeles, Nathan Lam (the producer) of Stephen S. Wise Temple of Los Angeles, Patti Linsky of Temple Ahavat Shalom of Northridge and Alison Wissof of Temple Judea of Tarzana.

The next evening, Drs.. Eugene Borowitz and Wendy Zierler put on a show called "Reel Theology" in which they showed clips from both classic and contemporary movies and dialogued on the underlying lessons of the flicks.

Tuesday night, they called the show, "Second Schticky: An Evening of Comedy Entertainment" in which the opening act was called, "Rabbis Gone Wild: The Comedy, Song and Dance of Life on the Bima, in the Board Room, and at the Cemetery.  Oh Yeah, and at the Oneg Shabbat."  Starring in this production were Rabbis Val Lieber of Jamaica, New York;  Ellen Nemhauser of the education department of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations;  Myra Soifer of Temple Sinai of Reno, Nev.,  and Barbara Metzinger of Temple Emanuel of Beaumont, Tex.  That, believe it or not, was just the opening act.  Comedian Joel Chasnoff was the featured act.

In general

There were, of course, other elements of a jammed program contributing to the convention's success, including a video hookup from Jerusalem for a report from Rabbi EricYoffie, president of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, on the progress of the World Zionist Congress, presentations on the genocide in Darfur, Sudan, and a speech by Irshad Manji, author of The Trouble With Islam Today, on her efforts to fight against the abuse of women and to offer to the world a voice for moderate Islam.

Rabbi Prinz commented that "under the new leadership of our executive vice president, Rabbi Steven Fox, we see an atmosphere of openness and accessibility which bodes well for the work of the organization as well as its ability to work with others in the Reform and general Jewish community." 

Rabbi David Frank of Temple Solel of Encinitas commented that he was encouraged by Manji's closing night speech because she told of a growing movement for moderation within the worldwide Muslim community that is being conducted in Internet chat rooms in such languages as Arabic, Farsi and Urdu.  

"There are a lot of moderates out there, but their voices are being stifled by fundamentalist regimes," said Frank, noting admiringly that Manji, despite being the recipient of constant death threats, urges other Muslims to continue to speak out, particularly in opposition to the abuse of women within some fundamentalist Muslim societies.
.