Word: riskin
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...Rabbi Riskin is something of a shofar himself, calling nonreligious Manhattan Jews to God-and to Orthodoxy-in surprising numbers. Even on ordinary Sabbaths his new synagogue in the round is filled, and more than half the worshipers are young adults under 30. But Riskin has prepared middle-aged men as well as teenagers for Bar Mitzvah, and last Yom Kippur gave an 80-year-old man his first prayer shawl...
...Rabbi Riskin is a charismatic speaker, flexing his voice like a Bible Belt preacher, punctuating his ideas with his hands. He is also a widely respected Talmudic scholar who stresses that the most important function of the synagogue is to be a Bet Midrash-a "house of study." More than 250 people regularly jam his weekly class on Jewish Law and its application to such modern problems as contraception, prison reform and war. But concern, not relevance, is probably the ultimate key to Riskin's appeal. "The ministry must create a community of people whom the rabbi cares about...
Life and Law. Steven Riskin came from a family of Brooklyn Jews who went to synagogue only three times a year. Young Steven wanted more, and entered Manhattan's Orthodox Yeshiva University High School. There he first came under the influence of Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchek, a preeminent U.S. Orthodox authority and Kantian scholar who emphasizes Orthodoxy's basic compatibility with secular learning. Riskin went on to become valedictorian at Yeshiva University. Then, journeying to Israel to attend Hebrew University, he sought out Martin Buber, whose works he had been reading since he was twelve. Riskin found that...
...only 23, Riskin was ordained and began teaching at a special branch of Yeshiva University for Jews with little religious education. Soon Yeshiva had a side job for him, as minister to a tiny Conservative congregation whose dozen or so members met only for the High Holy Days in an upper West Side hotel room. Riskin accepted for a six-month trial period after setting three conditions: 1) he would hold weekly services and weekly classes on Jewish law, 2) he would accept no salary, and 3) the congregation must drop "Conservative" from its name...
Before the year was out, the young scholar became the congregation's permanent rabbi, and his Orthodox teachings their guide. Even now, however, with 500 families (including his own parents), and scores of drop-ins, Riskin admits that many of his congregation are not yet fully observant Jews. If they were, he says, "there would be no need for me." He is pleased enough that they have found "a place to grow" in appreciation of the Law. Orthodox Judaism, he insists, is a living religion, and its laws provide practical guides for behavior. On the issue of abortion...