Monday, June 30 to Wednesday, July 2, 2014 Westchester Renaissance 80 West Red Oak Lane West Harrison, New York Championing the Rabbi Championing the Rabbi hank you for participating in the 54th Annual Conference of the Rabbinical T Council of America. The theme of this conference is “Championing the Rabbi.” What does this mean? By working together as rabbis, through our rabbinic organization, we are able to bett er serve our communities and Am Yisrael. By developing meaningful collegial relationships, we are able to learn from one another and to develop a sense of joint mission. By gathering today’s Torah luminaries and studying Torah with them, we are able to rejuvenate and build the spiritual energy that we need to lead our communities. In creating forums to broadcast the message of Torah and Mitzvot, we reach a wider audience than any one of us can reach on our own. This is what it means to “Champion the Rabbi.” There are three components to our program for this year. The fi rst is methodology. Each methodology session asks the question “how can we be bett er” at doing our work as rabbis. The second component is morality. We have chosen this “big issue” as a component for our convention because it is a perennial challenge that we as religious leaders face. How do we respond when members of our communities are found guilty of wrongdoing? How do we educate our communities to do what is right in the face of temptation? The third component is the rabbi and the rabbinate. This is a chance to gain chizzuk in our unique avoda and to think together about what challenges and opportunities we will face in the future. Our goal is to provide an experience that will be valuable to you as a ben Torah and as a rav b’Yisrael. We hope that you leave the conference feeling more proud in your chosen profession with a sense of hope in what you can accomplish as a rabbi. 1 54th Annual Conference of the Rabbinical Council of America. Monday, June 30, 2014 10:00 am GPS Masefi eld 12:00 pm Registration Opens Outside Harrison 12-2:00 pm Buff et Lunch Harrison 1:00 pm RCA Executive Meeting Cooper A 2:00 pm Welcome-Session: “Championing the Rabbi” Irving Chair: Chaim Strauchler 2:15 pm Rabbinic Conversations - Cooper A & B A series of peer facilitated conversations on what matt ers to us as rabbis. This format will allow us to share (with one another and with our rabbinic organization) what we are seeing in the fi eld and allow us to brain storm on how we can bett er work together to meet the needs of Am Yisrael. These will be moderated discussions, not formal sessions. The moderators do not pretend to have any expertise on these subjects, only an interest in engaging these issues with their colleagues. Our hope is to conduct an interesting conversation and to share ideas that may help us bett er serve our communities and more clearly think about challenges and opportunities. Moderators: R. Howard Zack: The Role of Women R. Ephraim Epstein: The Contemporary Jewish Family R. Mark Fishman: Our Young People R. Zev Goldberg: The Orthodox Community R. Akiva Males: The Challenge of Shrinking Jewish Communities R. Jonathan Morgenstern: Our Education System R. Benjamin Samuels: What aren’t we thinking about that we should be thinking about? R. Josh Strulowitz: The Position/Offi ce of the Rabbi 4:00 pm Methodology: How to teach a bett er Gemara shiur Irving Rav Saul Zucker Morality: What if “right and wrong” crumbles? Cooper A Moral Injury in the Military and Our Community Havah Schneider, Ph.D. Moral injury describes what a person experiences when one’s actions (or non- actions) confl ict with one’s beliefs about what is moral and ethical. This talk will explore moral injury as it relates to soldiers in war, treatment considerations for spiritual leaders, and implications for cases of abuse within the Jewish community. 2 Championing the Rabbi 4:00 pm Methodology: How to be a bett er manager of your Cooper B cont. shul and community R. Yechezkel Freundlicht and R. Efrem Goldberg Most of us entered the rabbinate with high hopes and loft y dreams of inspiring our congregants with uplift ing shiurim and meaningful drashot. And then we discovered the reality of the position: It’s a lot about managing the emotions, confl icts and personalities of our offi ce staff , Board, and of course, baal habatim. When were we supposed to train for that? This session (based on Devora Zak’s best- selling book) includes a brief self-assessment to understand our natural management style. Armed with that knowledge and with the tools to identify the personalities of those around us, it turns out managing all of those crucial conversations isn’t all that bad. We might even be able to focus more on what we’re really excited to do! 5:00 pm Methodology: How to be a bett er modern Irving communicator Carmine Gallo Tailored specifi cally to rabbis, Gallo will apply the lessons outlined in his latest book, “Talk Like TED: The 9 Public Speaking Secrets of the World’s Top Minds.” Carmine interviewed dozens of popular TED speakers as well as top neuroscientists. In Talk Like TED, Carmine lays out techniques and the science behind each technique that teach anyone how to deliver the most impassioned and persuasive presentation of their lives. 6:00 pm Mincha Irving 6:15 pm Dinner Harrison Divrei Bracha: R. David Lau Executive VP: R. Mark Dratch 3 54th Annual Conference of the Rabbinical Council of America. 8:00 pm R3CA TALKS Greeley A platform to showcase RCA members’ ideas and talent and to broadcast it to a wide audience: RCA rabbis will initiate dialogues around issues facing the North American Jewish community and the human condition more broadly from the unique perspective aff orded us as bearers of Torah tradition who also work through the day-to-day struggles of our people. Emcee: Comedian Joel Chasnoff R. Daniel Cohen: Leading a Life of Legacy: Discovering Your Elijah Moment R. Dovid Cohen: The Perfection of Imperfection R. Mark Fishman: Sex Traffi cking and the Synagogue: Raising the engagement of our young adults R. Kenny Hain: Why Humor Matt ers to Jews? R. Jacob Jaff e: Revealing the Author, Hidden Behind the Words R. Chaim Steinmetz: Holocaust survivors’ secret to happiness R. Steve Weil: In the Aft ermath of the Apocalypse R. Eli Weissman: Why I teach? R. Daniel Yolkut: The Torah of Brokenness 10:30 pm Ma’ariv Irving 4 Championing the Rabbi Tuesday, July 1, 2014 7:00 am Daf Yomi - R. Yehoshua Weber Irving 7:45 am Shacharit Irving 8:15 am Breakfast Harrison 9:20 am Torah: Ask the Posek Irving R. Gedalia Dov Schwartz Torah: The Life of a Rabbanit Cooper A Rabbanit Tzippora Lau 10:30 am Methodology: How to teach a bett er Jewish history Cooper A shiur R. Dr. Ephraim Kanarfogel Using his study in “Developing a Historical and Rabbinic Perspective on Shidduchim and Marital Choice in the Period of the Rishonim,” R. Kanarfogel will help rabbis develop skills for historical and halakhic research. Methodology: What Rabbis Need to Know about the Irving OU and Contemporary Kashrut R. Menachem Genack Methodology: The Rabbi as a Leader of a Yishuv, in Cooper B Tzahal, and in Your Community R. Avichai Rontzki (in Hebrew) Speaking from his perspective as former Chief Military Rabbi of the Israel Defense Forces (2006 -2010 ) as well as Rosh Yeshivah of Itamar Yeshivat Hesder, R. Rontzki will speak about the responsibility of a rabbi in dealing with challenging contemporary issues. 11:40 am “A Rabbanut of the People” Irving Rav Ha-Rashi R. David Lau 12:45 pm Lunch Chaplain Awards Harrison Health Care Chaplaincy: R. Gary Lavitt Military Chaplaincy: U.S. Army chaplain R. (LtCol) Avi Weiss Rabbi Jacob Rubenstein Memorial Award R. Daniel Korobkin 5 54th Annual Conference of the Rabbinical Council of America. 2:30 pm Methodology: The Rabbi as Posek: Irving Emunat Chachamim R. Moshe Lichtenstein and R. Eli Shulman The authority of Da’as Torah, Emunas Chachamim, and Masorah have changed and strengthened in the past decade or two. What is the place of “Emunat Chachamim” in our modern Orthodox context? What is the defi nition and weight of masorah in the contemporary Orthodox world? How do these ideas impact on the role of the community rabbi as mara d’atra and posek? How does the growing centralization of authority in poskim and rashei yeshiva impact on the authority and discretion of community rabbis? How much latitude do they/should they have in establishing policies and positions that may “push the envelope” in response to the needs of individual community members and their institutions 4:15 pm Methodology: Darkei Pesak Irving R. Hershel Schachter A look at the approaches to pesak Halakhah of diff erent poskim from diff erent halakhic traditions 5:15 pm Mincha Irving Azkarah (R. Ira Ebbin) 6:00 pm Dinner Presidential Address: R. Lenny Matanky Harrison Greetings: Counsel General Ido Aharoni Comments: Allen Fagin, CEO, OU 8:00 pm Torah/ A View from Halakhah: “How are Irving Morality Rabbis to Respond To Dishonesty Within Our Community.” Mr. Benjamin Brafman, Esq. 9:00 pm A halakhah le-ma’aseh response to the issues raised by Irving Mr. Brafman R. Hershel Schachter 10:o0 pm Ma’ariv Irving 6 Championing the Rabbi Wednesday, July 2, 2014 7:00 am Daf Yomi - R.