Dennis Prager

April 12, 2011

Dancing with the Rabbis?

By Dennis Prager

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On April 3, under the auspices of the American Jewish University, in its Gindi Auditorium, five Los Angeles rabbis competed with one another in an evening titled “Dancing With the Rabbis.” As reported in this newspaper, the sellout crowd loved the evening.

May I respectfully suggest — and I do mean respectfully, as I know that good intentions prompted the evening — that this be the “once in a lifetime” event that some who attended called it. It should not be repeated.

I say this in order to preserve the dignity of the rabbinate. When I was a child, the rabbi was an esteemed figure, by far the most esteemed figure in our Jewish community. Even though it was part and parcel of Jewish religious life to criticize the rabbi for what he said or didn’t say in his Shabbat sermon, we would stand up on those occasions when the rabbi walked by our row in shul. And not only did we not address our rabbi by his first name when we spoke to him, we never referred to him by his first name when we talked about him.

I have preserved this custom to this day. I address all rabbis by their title. In public, I do not even make exceptions for close friends who are rabbis, and in private I only make exceptions when the person is a close friend. I also call my physicians “doctor.” One of the characteristics of conservatism is conserving, and this is one of the many past values conservatives such as myself seek to preserve.

Beginning in the 1960s, this attitude, like so many other values in American, Jewish and Western life, was overthrown. Many non-Orthodox rabbis adopted the liberal egalitarian spirit and sought to end hierarchy wherever possible. They, their congregants and their students were to be on the same level. “Don’t call me ‘Rabbi,’ ” Jews were admonished. “Call me ‘Joe.’ ” And, so, the rabbi went from above us to one of us.

I guess one can say that with “Dancing With the Rabbis,” the movement toward “the rabbi is just one of us” reached its apotheosis. Our rabbis — or at least the rabbis who participated — are just one of the guys or girls. They, too, are hip. No more ivory tower rabbi. Our rabbi is so with it, he will dance with a 22-year-old swimsuit model: In the words of The Jewish Journal, the rabbi “twirls across the dance floor. His beautiful young partner reaches out her hand, and together they do a quick step and spin into each other’s arms.”

Had the rabbis danced with Jews with special needs, I could understand the message sent. But what was this message?

Though I was not present at the event, my opposition is to the concept, not the execution. I don’t think I am alone in the Los Angeles Jewish community in thinking that this was well-intended but not wise. Not only did no Orthodox rabbi participate — and not only for halachic reasons, I suspect — but some non-Orthodox rabbis also refused, and not because they were afraid to dance publicly. When I asked one of the country’s leading Reform rabbis, Rabbi David Woznica of Stephen S. Wise Temple, whether he would have participated had he been asked, he responded that he was asked, and refused.

If nothing else, what we have here is a learning moment. Good people can differ on the wisdom of the evening. But, as I believe that clarity is more important than agreement, it seems clear that we have a liberal-conservative divide here.

The liberal mindset is, first and foremost, one of egalitarianism. The notion of hierarchy is largely rejected. Thus, the rabbi is just like us, and we’ll prove it by having him or her dance with sexy professionals. The conservative mindset is that the rabbi is not, or at least should not be, like everyone else. This is no way means that a rabbi should lead an ascetic life. I would defend any rabbi’s decision to go with his spouse to Las Vegas, gamble and even see a Vegas show there. As regards a rabbi’s private life, I have nothing to say. That is between him and God. But what he does as a rabbi publicly should matter to any Jew who cares about Judaism and about the rabbinate.

Some will see this as an attack on the participating rabbis. It is not. It is a disagreement with their decision to participate and with the American Jewish University’s decision to sponsor the event — an event that ended with a performance by the professional dancers that The Journal described as “so racy that it may have had more than a few members of the audience wondering whether they should clap or head home for a cold shower.”

Moreover, my disagreement emanates solely from a desire to see these and all rabbis guard and preserve the prestige and dignity of their title. When Jews elevate rabbis, the whole Jewish people benefits.

I feel the same about teachers. We need to honor teachers and preserve their prestige. When they come into class wearing shorts or ask students to call them by their first names, they may be hip, but their profession loses prestige.

I am sure the evening was fun. But it was not the kind of fun a Jewish seminary should have sponsored, nor the kind of fun that its rabbis should have engaged in.

I understand the desire of some rabbis to be seen as real and human. But acting on a higher plane in public comes with the job description. You cannot have the reward of great communal respect without acting accordingly. And there are innumerable ways to humanize oneself — had the rabbis, for example, decided to put on a Shakespearean play or even a humorous skit, people would have had at least as much fun, and the rabbis would have just as successfully shown another side to their personalities. That, in at least one Jew’s opinion, would have been the wiser choice.

Dennis Prager’s nationally syndicated radio talk show is heard in Los Angeles on KRLA (AM 870) 9 a.m. to noon. His latest project is the Internet-based Prager University (prageru.com).

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I could not agree more with Dennis on this one! He is right on. 
What does it say about the Conservative movement that their rabbinic leadership participated in this event?

Comment by JL on 4/12/11 at 6:53 pm

If Dennis Prager wants to see some
rabbis dancing with dignity he should
stop by any Chabad house on Purim,
watch the Chabad telethon
just seach “Dancing Rabbis” on
youtube.

Comment by GL on 4/14/11 at 6:12 pm

Mr. (yes, Mr.!) Prager,

Part 1 of 2 (due to character count limits):

You got it 1/2 right. I’m a Left wing Liberal and I too, felt it was a crappy idea from the beginning. I agree with your reasoning, but my reasoning goes a bit further, actually: should a Rabbi publicly embrace someone of the opposite gender who isn’t their spouse or family member? I didn’t see the event either. The ad campaign gave me the creeps and had a weird “ick factor”.

So whereas your commentary was right on, your thesis that Liberals like the idea of no hierarchy; Conservatives don’t, doesn’t hold. I think it’s more an individual—as opposed to collective—thing.

Next: Part 2 of 2

Comment by Laurel on 4/14/11 at 11:07 pm

Part 2 of 2

Also, you referred to American Jewish University as a seminary in the line, “But it was not the kind of fun a Jewish seminary should have sponsored…”

Is AJU really a seminary? Last time I looked, it was a private co-ed university that charges its students around $15K a year (or perhaps today, a semester?). Does that, a seminary make? So I think you used the seminary terminology LIBERALLY in that case. And since it’s not really a seminary, it probably CAN get away with sponsoring just the type of event DWTR was.

Comment by Laurel on 4/14/11 at 11:13 pm

Dear Dennis,
I agree with one statement in your response to “Dancing with The Rabbi’s” that this is a learning moment. I disagree that this is a difference between Liberal and Conservative, between Egalitarian and Hierarchal. I think the difference is between those who worship titles (idols) and those who worship the true G-d of Transparency and authenticity, the separation between public and private, between image and self, the myth of above us and one of us IS the problem.In my opinion the Rabbi needs to be the Exemplar of “wrestling” with our Yetzers, teaching us how to subdue our evil inclinations, not pretend he/she doesn’t have them.

Comment by Harriet Rossetto on 4/18/11 at 4:15 pm

2/2The essence of Jewish Teaching is spiritual egalitarianism; each of us is created in the image of G-d endowed with the capacity to do good or evil. The “highest plane” it seems to me is not Acting but living from ones highest self…accepting ones imperfections and humanness, accepting responsibility for wrong-doing and making T’Shuvah when and where appropriate. In the movie “Keeping the Faith”, the young Rabbi (Ben Stiller) tells the priest that Jews want their Rabbi to be everything that they are not. I respectfully suggest that we would all benefit more if our Rabbi’s showed us the way to be everything WE ARE.
Harriet Rossetto
Beit T’Shuvah CEO/Wife of Rabbi Mark Borovitz

Comment by Harriet Rossetto on 4/18/11 at 4:18 pm

I couldn’t agree with Dennis more. A rabbi is a Jewish leader who is supposed to be respected for their depth of knowledge of Torah, as well as their ethical behavior. He is supposed to be a role model and a teacher to the Jewish community. The liberal streams have relegated the position of the Rabbi to one of the boys, or girls. I am a campus rabbi on a campus with a large Jewish population and a number of other rabbis. I am the only one who does not allow students to call me by my first name. Over the years, many students have commented to me that they appreciate this fact because in their minds the rabbi should NOT be sees as one of their buddies.

Comment by Daniel on 4/22/11 at 8:24 am

I am a college professor and I agree with Dennis’ point about conserving prestige.  I wear a coat and tie to class, always, and most of my colleagues wear jeans and an open shirt.  Some of my students ask me about my attire and I tell them that I take what I do seriously, and I want them to take learning seriously as well. Symbolic gestures (attire, rabbis dancing) may seem a trivial thing, but they are not.  If we want our professions to be treated with respect, then we must uphold those visible standards that make them respectable.

Comment by John on 4/29/11 at 7:52 am

I couldn’t DISAGREE with Dennis more. I am a conservative and agree with 99% of Dennis’ views, but in this one he got it all wrong. Participating in this event did not make the rabbi equal to us, just merely another human being who wanted to have some fun. Now that it is over, I still respect our rabbi. I just now know that he can’t dance!

Comment by Paul Goldman on 4/30/11 at 3:40 pm

I agree with Mr. Prager that Jewish Rabbis should not have participated in this event.  A Rabbi is to be revered.  A Rabbi can have a sense of humor and they can and should show their human side… “Dancing with the Stars” is not the way to go

Comment by marcjacobs on 5/09/11 at 7:03 pm

The answer is simple: In the liberal Jewish world rabbis are NOT teachers, they are actually ignoramuses in Judaism for the most part.  How many of them can read a page of Talmud??? The average orthodox 15 year old knows more than they do.  The job of rabbi in a reform or conservative synagogue is primarily pastoral not educational.

Comment by Joe on 6/30/11 at 11:54 am

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