Steven Weil moves to New York in January to run the Orthodox Union.
Unlike Shaarey Zedek in the Valley which split into moderns vs. traditionalists in its rabbi search, Beth Jacob has no controversy raging.
The shul agreed Sunday night on its selection of cantor Nati Baram.
Joe emails:
Dude, the comparison to SZ in the valley is totally unfair. The power at BJ are the older jews who are more modern than the kids, and the kids who flock to BJ are not right wing (at least religiously) types. They are purim jews, not yom kippurim jews. The body politic at Beth Jacob is more split over age issues and who will control the shul, but it is christians and lions, it is run for the older folks, but the younger folks are given lots of running room. It is a happy place cause everyone is rich.
SZ is like rural pennsylvania, they are bitter people and still cling to the mishna berura and their black hats. Like Arabs, they are convinced of their own superiority and obsessed by their eident inferiority (as compared to Beverlywood). So the right wingers are the more passionate and there are more of them – right wingers cannot afford to live in Beverlywood or the Hills, they can afford to live north of Chandler and have the rabbi teach gemara up the yin yang while the moderns at SZ wonder when the right wingers will finally break off.
A better project for you is to research which orthodox shuls are failing. Orthodoxy in a way has a guaranteed success plan, indoctrinate, rinse, repeat. Yet some orthodox shuls simply fail. I understand Reform and Conservative shuls failing, no intelligent person would attend a Conservative or Reform shul – they are not Judaism, they are merely social movements and campaigning to heal the bay is far more entertaining. So which local orthodox shuls are going down the tubes?
AT SZ, there was yet another “new minyan” formed, apparently the followers of Rabbi Edelstein are forming yet another breakaway minyan.
