“Fractured Dialogues – Understanding Polarization In Our Jewish And American Thought Worlds”

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 Rabbi Jeffrey Schein, Senior Consultant for Jewish Education of the Mordecai Kaplan Center for Jewish Peoplehood, will speak on “Fractured Dialogues – Understanding Polarization In Our Jewish And American Thought Worlds.” 

 Deborah Tannen called it the “argument culture” in 1998.  Ezra Klein explored it in “Why We Are Polarized” in 2020, and, most recently, in 2024, Frank Bruni of the New York Times described it as “The Age of Grievance.”

 We Jews often think of ourselves as too sophisticated for such polarities. Yet, we compete fiercely in the marketplace of Jewish ideas to lift our own understanding of Judaism above others.  WE DRAW A CASE STUDY FROM THE RECONSTRUCTIONIST MOVEMENT

 Let's explore why such behavior would have Reconstructionism Founder, Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan, turning in his METAPHORIC grave. Discover how the enduring value of Mordecai Kaplan's thought and the Center that is devoted to discovering his ongoing relevance to 21st -century Judaism – The Mordecai Kaplan Center for Jewish Peoplehood – rests in resolving polarities within a Jewish concept of shlemut (wholeness).  In other words, what is Reconstructionism today!

 Rabbi Jeffrey Schein is a graduate of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College (1977) and Temple University’s doctoral program in curriculum studies (1980).   He has authored 10 books and over 50 articles on Jewish education and Jewish life.  In 2002, he was the first non-pulpit Rabbi to receive the RRA’s Ira Eisenstein Prize for distinguished community service.

 For 15 years, Rabbi Schein was the director of education programs in synagogues.  From 1984-2004, he was the national education director of the Reconstructionist movement.  From 1991-2014, he guided over 100 students through the Master’s program in Jewish education at the Siegal College in Cleveland.

 From 2015 to the present, he was a board member of the Mordecai Kaplan Center for Jewish Peoplehood and their Senior Consultant for Jewish Education.  From 2022 to 2024, he was the executive director of the Kaplan Center.