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.
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: 9980
Knowledge	9.85 Best of the best
Clarity of Response	9.75 Best of the best
Timeliness	9.90 Best of the best
Politeness	9.95 Best of the best
Number Of Questions (in Past 24 Hours)		0
Max Questions to be Asked (in 24 Hour period)		15
Total Questions (since joining AllExperts)		1868

Recent Reviews from Users

Knowl	Clarity	Time	Politeness	Date
10	10	10	10	11/10/08
10	7	10	10	11/07/08
10	10	10	10	11/05/08
10	10	10	10	11/03/08
10	10	10	10	10/20/08

User Comments

Thank you so much for your in depth and quick response. I completely agree that converting to Judaism out of convenience is wrong and I would ne
(Aimee on 11/10/08)

Thanks for your answer. May you be blessed to see the Messiah enter the temple as G-d has promised.
(Beth on 11/07/08)

Thank you for your prompt and helpful repsonse.
(Janet on 11/05/08)

I appreciate your thoughtful response!
(Dave on 11/03/08)

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Recent Answers from Rabbi Barry Dov Lerner

2008-11-15 ossuaries: Dear Carly, Thank you for writing. I really am not a trained archaeologist. I turned to various resources and I am going to attached some text form the new Encyclopedia Judaica. There were a variety...

2008-11-11 1st century burial laws and customs: Dear David, Thanks again for your information. I wish you luck in your search. "Proper Halakha" from a Jewish point of view has long left the first century CE and has been codified in the Talmudic...

2008-11-10 Raising jewish children as a catholic mother: Dear Aimee, Thanks for writing. Let's take the easier items first. A Jew is someone who is born to a Jewish mother [ by birth or conversion ] or who converts to Judaism. If your boyfriend's mother...

2008-11-09 1st century burial laws and customs: Dear David, Thanks for writing. I don't know the answer at this moment and have begun a search. Be patient please. I'll get back when I have a helpful answer. I do want to ask why you asked this...

2008-11-05 women in the temple: Dear Beth, Thanks for writing. If one is a literalist in terms of the Torah, there is some correspondence between the "layout" of the Sanctuary in the desert and the Temples in Jerusalem. I know...