Rabbi Rick Jacobs was installed Sunday as head of the largest Jewish movement on the continent, The Washington Post reports. a ceremony that included cheers, ominous warnings and tearful, pleading prayers for his success.
Jacobs, 55, a Reform congregational rabbi known for his progressive politics and past as a modern dancer, told an audience of thousands something they already believe: The system most American synagogues use is broken.
Reform Judaism, with 1.5 million members, may be bigger than other branches of Judaism, including the Orthodox or Conservative movements, he said, but its youths are quicker to drop out. For decades, Jewish parents have treated synagogues like gas stations, dropping their kids off at feeble religious education classes to be filled up with “Jewish gas” but not becoming involved themselves, he said.
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