Rabbi Barry Dov Lerner - Conservative Judaism - Judaism - Homework Help

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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.

Experience in the area
I have served on the National Youth Commission for more than 25 years and serve on the Boards of the Conservative Zionist movement MERCAZ and the World Council of Synagogues. I have always dual-families and taught candidates for conversion with a great sense of fulfillment. I am very proud of 25 years on the Jewish camping staff of Camps Ramah. 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 have always enjoyed sharing my enthusiasm for learning about our Jewish heritage with members of the Jewish community and with others who are interested in our tradition. I have always enjoyed asking questions, and I appreciate the opportunity to research answers to answer the questions of others - that's a special opportunity and blessing.

What do you still hope to achieve/learn in this field? I enjoy most studying the classical texts - the primary text and commentaries - of our Rabbis and Sages 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 like "literary archaeology."

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: 10910
Knowledge	9.86 Best of the best
Clarity of Response	9.76 Best of the best
Timeliness	9.89 Best of the best
Politeness	9.95 Best of the best
Number Of Questions Today (GMT time)		0
Max Questions to be Asked (Per Day, in GMT time)		15
Total Questions (since joining AllExperts)		1960

Recent Reviews from Users

Knowl	Clarity	Time	Politeness	Date
10	10	10	10	06/11/09
10	10	10	10	06/05/09
10	10	10	10	06/08/09
10	10	10	10	05/22/09
10	10	10	10	05/22/09

User Comments

Thank you very much for your suggestion. I think this is something I will do. Clark
(Clark on 06/11/09)

Thank you
(Don on 06/05/09)

Thanks very much again for your help.
(Tony on 06/08/09)

Thanks very much for your quick response. The information is helpful and much appreciated!
(Tony on 05/22/09)

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Recent Answers from Rabbi Barry Dov Lerner

2009-06-24 Judaism and Peace: Dear Thanh, Thanks for writing. Yes, Judaism has many different terms for the ways in which Judaism promotes peace in the world. "Tikkun Olam," "repair /mending of the world," is but one of them...

2009-06-05 Conversion: Dear Dave, Thanks for writing about a very complicated question. On the one hand, traditional Jewish law has held that even if a Jew converts out of Judaism, that Jew is regarded as a "sinning" Jew...

2009-06-04 Help choosing Hebrew name?: Dear Jessica, Thanks for writing and congratulations on your forthcoming celebration. It would be inappropriate for me to interfere with our Rabbi and I would urge you to follow the lead and advice...

2009-06-04 David: Dear Don, Thanks for writing. Unfortunately we know very little about many of the Biblical characters except for what is in the Biblical narrative. There is a rich literature of legends, stories...

2009-06-04 To convert or not to convert: Dear James, Thanks for writing and for the background information. As a Conservative Rabbi and following Jewish traditional law, one is Jewish when they are born to a Jewish mother or they convert...