14
together for our community in the decades ahead.
But to speak of the future, the past, and the present
situation of our people, we must form an essential
backdrop. First, we must begin by considering
nahalateinu
–
our inheritance. Then,
mesimateinu
–
our mission. And finally,
atideinu
–
our future.
Nahalateinu
–
Our Inheritance
This gorgeous sanctuary is filled with memories
of those exemplary Presidents who came before –
Isaac Mayer Wise and Moses Mielziner, Gotthard
Deutsch and Kaufmann Kohler, Julian Morgen-
stern and Stephen S. Wise, Nelson Glueck and
Alfred Gottschalk. One can almost hear their
powerful voices echoing still among the pillars and
the pews of Plum Street Temple. We can imagine
the classes that took place in this building’s base-
ment, for it was, for a few years, an early home
of the Hebrew Union College, where high school
students studied in an eight-year preparatory course
for the rabbinate. One can feel the spirit of the
extraordinary professors and preachers, rabbis and
cantors, educators and scholars, whose mighty acts
of creating community and transmitting knowledge
shaped a vital North American Judaism that has
stood the test of time.
If we are to look carefully at our
nahalah
–
our
inheritance – since our founding in 1875, we
can see three phases within it, which for today
I will term: immigration, integration, and individu-
alization. During the 1800s and early 1900s, in
a departure of Abrahamic proportions, most of our
forbears left their homes in Europe. They set off
for America to join the small number of Jews who
had come here earlier, seeking the “promised land”
perceived by some to be “the new Zion.” Economic
need, the quest for religious freedom and safety
from persecution, and the compelling lure of new
opportunities combined to lead young and old to
set off to make their fortunes. From Ellis Island and
Galveston, Baltimore, Boston, Philadelphia, and
San Francisco, millions of these Jewish immigrants
fanned out across the country, driving their humble
pushcarts into unknown territory and establishing
Jewish communities in places where they had never
before existed.
Rabbi Panken with
HUC-JIR’s former
Presidents: (from left)
Rabbi David Ellenson,
Ph.D., (2001-13),
Rabbi Norman J. Cohen,
Ph.D., (2000-01),
and Rabbi Sheldon
Zimmerman (1996-2000).
Joyce Rosenzweig,
Artist-in-Residence,
conducting the
Debbie Friedman School
of Sacred Music Choir.