Rabbi Barry Dov Lerner - The Jewish Theological Seminary of America - Religious Careers - Religion/Spirituality

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Expert Profile: Rabbi Barry Dov Lerner

Expertise: Write to me with questions about Jewish customs and law, history, philosophy and tradition for answers from a Conservative perspective or conversion. I am a graduate of The Jewish Theological Seminary and a member of the Conservative Rabbinical Assembly. Having served in congregational pulpits since 1970, I now am President of the Foundation For Family Education, Inc. a non-profit educational endeavor. I established it to create new formats of hands-on programs and provide free educational downloads at www.jewishfreeware.org. In addition to general informational questions I welcome your questions about programs for social action, outreach to dual-faith families, inter-faith clergy projects, healing services, education for conversion, adult education for the congregation and the community. If you have questions about Informal and Formal Education I am ready to share my extensive experience with Youth Activities, Camping and Religious School/Hebrew High School on a congregational, community and national/international level.
I have served in a Conservative = United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism (USCJ) pulpit for more than 35 years and serve the Conservative movement, the Jewish community and the community at large on a wide variety of Boards and Committees. I have worked enthusiastically with dual-faith families and taught candidates for conversion with a great sense of fulfillment, and I am very proud of 25 years on the Jewish camping staff of Camps Ramah and United Synagogue Youth. My greatest source of pride is my family! Ask me about them, please!:-)

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What do you like about this subject? I received several degrees from the Seminary (JTSA) and have been a doctoral candidate in Midrash. Members of our family have studied at the Seminary. I have strong historical affection and respect for the Seminary's staff and programs after a relationship for more than 40 years. I would also welcome questions about the University of Judaism and Ma

What do you still hope to achieve/learn in this field? The creative writings of our Sages in Midrash Aggadah deserve to be studied carefully and closely, mining them for hints and bits about life as it was lived by Jews thousands of years ago, their questions and their problems as they searched for meaning in the face of challenge. It's a form of "literary archaeology" which I relish.

Something interesting about this subject that others may not know: I am fascinated by the fact that Jews have always had an enthusiasm about questioning their tradition, especially the texts (now written but have been oral and also in "scraps" of written records). I am impressed by our recovery from various resources - e.g. Cairo Geniza - the consistency of questions over the past several thousand years - generation after generation. People don't really change.

Something controversial or provocative about this subject I am still hoping that as we continue to "dig" in the texts of our tradition and research the origins of early Christianity and Islam, we will discover much more than we know now about the origins of modern Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

Average Ratings
Prestige Points: 7610
Knowledge	9.91 Best of the best
Clarity of Response	9.91 Best of the best
Timeliness	10.0 Best of the best
Politeness	10.0 Best of the best
Number Of Questions (in Past 24 Hours)		0
Max Questions to be Asked (in 24 Hour period)		5
Total Questions (since joining AllExperts)		79

Recent Reviews from Users

Knowl	Clarity	Time	Politeness	Date
10	10	10	10	09/14/08
10	10	10	10	08/26/08
10	10	10	10	07/08/07
10	10	10	10	04/14/07
10	10	10	10	02/23/07

User Comments

Thank you very much, Rabbi, and even if written music of a Jewish meorial piece would be helpful, preferably written in Bflat, or I can compose it to
(Chuck on 09/14/08)

His answer was very informative, and he also used sources and pointed me to some more places to research. He was very polite in his answer and s
(Timothy on 08/26/08)

thanks a lot.this Q&A was useful , i learned some new things.
(soheil on 07/08/07)

Thanks!
(Penny on 02/23/07)

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Recent Answers from Rabbi Barry Dov Lerner

2008-11-06 Psalms commentary: Dear Scott, Thanks for writing. I'd recommend Dr. Martin Cohen's commentary on the Book of Psalms available through Amazon. An older commentary would be published by Soncino Press and individual...

2008-09-13 Jewish proper song at funerals/memorials: Dear Chuck, Thanks for writing and much more importantly thank you for your service to our country from then through the present. To the best of my knowledge, taps is still the most appropriate bugel...

2008-08-26 Psalms of Assent: Dear Timothy, In terms of reliable information, the best source is the new second edition of the Encyclopedia Judaica; the older version I know is in most libraries and it is reliable. For information...

2008-08-06 Psalms of Assent: Dear Timothy Thanks for writing. The first part of my response is a selection from the jewishencyclopedia.com which is available on-line and useful, as a resource that was prublished in the 1920's...

2008-01-15 diet: Dear Karen, Thank you for writing. I am a Conservtive Rabbi, an observant Jew who follows the traditional kosher laws. It is hard for me to describe my personal "diet" except to say that I eat...

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