An Introduction to Ansche Chesed’s New Rabbi, Jeremy Kalmanofsky by Rivka Widerman

When Jeremy Kalmanofsky began work as Ansche Chesed’s new rabbi last month, he brought a multi-faceted approach to Jewish learning and worship and a profound love for the poetry of Jewish life.

“I feel really blessed to be able to do this,” he said. “This community has so many assets—intellectually, politically, spiritually, culturally. It’s going to be a fun challenge.”

Rabbi Kalmanofsky, 35, comes to Ansche Chesed from The Jewish Theological Seminary [JTS], where he served as Assistant Dean of the Rabbinical School. Originally from Louisville, Kentucky, he has worked at JTS as an instructor, adviser and administrator since his ordination in 1997.

Shifting from an academic institution to a synagogue is exciting, Rabbi Kalmanofsky said, because it creates opportunities for a broader range of religious leadership. “Studying Torah will always be a huge part of my life. But the Talmud also teaches that: ‘One who only studies Torah doesn’t really believe in God.’ I took on this pulpit so I could share more of religious life with more people. More kids, more seniors. More birth and death, more joy and sorrow.”

Even before attending JTS, Rabbi Kalmanofsky worked on issues of community as a newspaper reporter. Keeping citizens informed about society and politics is important work, he believes. He liked the immediacy of daily journalism but found it frustrating, too. “The Philadelphia Inquirer, where I worked, used to shred last week’s papers and sell them to farms as animal bedding,” he recalled. “It’s a depressing metaphor when your work becomes a sheep’s bathroom.”

Ultimately, he left journalism for the rabbinate because he “wanted to work on problems that have eternal significance, and cannot be measured in dollars and cents.”

Rabbi Kalmanofsky is married to Rabbi Amy Kalmanofsky, and they have three children, Yedidya, 7, Hadas, 4, and Isaiah, 2. His kids provide him with both great joy and challenge. “Parenthood is the most spiritual mystery in my life. It has deepened me theologically. I think it has taught me something about what God must experience, insofar as God is avinu she-bashamayim, our parent in heaven.”

Five minyanim and three children’s services meet regularly on Shabbat mornings at Ansche Chesed. So many different groups under one roof may seem like too much noise to some, but to Rabbi Kalmanofsky it is more like a symphony. “It is a good thing when people come together in a group to take responsibility for their davening. Each minyan contributes to the intellectual and spiritual diversity of Ansche Chesed, providing a different way in to the Shabbat service for different people.”

In addition to the autonomous minyanim, Ansche Chesed has many inter-minyan activities. Rabbi Kalmanofsky plans to take full advantage of them and to add a few more to intensify the community members’ ties to each other. Atop his agenda is strengthening the synagogue’s Friday night service, one of the few egalitarian, participatory Kabbalat Shabbat services on the West Side. Members of each minyan join together to welcome Shabbat each Friday night already. Rabbi Kalmanofsky hopes to attract not only more people from within the Ansche Chesed community but also outside of it who are seeking a place to refresh their spirit at the end of a long week. He sees it as a place to meet old friends and make new ones.

He has already planned a series of seudot shlishiot, the third (and most spiritual) Shabbat meal. This opportunity to sing, study and savor the final moments of the day of rest will become an important part of the community’s religious life. Check Ansche Chesed’s Opportunities in Learning brochure, Rabbi Kalmanofsky also plans to begin the only regularly scheduled egalitarian Shabbat mincha service on the West Side.

In addition to increasing occasions for prayer and learning for adults, Rabbi Kalmanofsky hopes to act as a mentor to Ansche Chesed’s schools and help the families whose children attend find what they want and need at Ansche Chesed.

Rabbi Kalmanofsky does not see his rabbinic leadership as synonymous with common perceptions of authority. “A good leader does not give you the answer. A good leader helps individuals or a group confront their problems and cope with them,” he says.

He sees himself primarily as a teacher and advisor. Rabbi Kalmanofsky wants to help people experience the spiritual dimension of mitzvot and Jewish life. He would like to see them appreciate the “constant dynamism of religious life,” he says. He wants to make people aware that in their everyday lives, they are “part of a drama of cosmic significance.”

For instance, he will begin with four free public classes in August and September entitled “Words for God: Confession, Speech and the Season of Repentance,” which will explore Jewish wisdom on the rituals of confession and apology. He hopes the classes will offer spiritual and intellectual preparation for the High Holidays. “One cannot walk into the Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur services,“ Rabbi Kalmanofsky maintains, “without inner preparation and expect to have a profound religious experience.”

This class is emblematic of Rabbi Kalmanofsky’s approach to learning and teaching, which has been influenced by Jewish mysticism. This tradition emphasizes the notion that creation was an act of chesed, of kindness, on the part of God, that God’s sanctity emanates throughout all existence and sanctifies even the most mundane matters. “To achieve this awareness one must approach Judaism not only with one’s head but also with one’s heart. We must look inward and outward at the same time.”

His mystical leanings also mesh with Ansche Chesed’s long history of social activism, which Rabbi Kalmanofsky will encourage. Mystics have always believed that their actions affect God—that doing evil causes God pain and that doing good causes divine delight. He hopes to help Ansche Chesed grow even more into “a critical mass of people making a difference in the world.”

Every synagogue wants new members, and Ansche Chesed is no exception. Rabbi Kalmanofsky does not believe in gimmicks. He would rather “build and maintain a community where people care about and for each other, where people are kind to each other and that others will want to join.”

By the way, you may have noticed that Rabbi Kalmanofsky wears an earring. “People often ask me about it,” he said. “But I don’t see why. At least half a dozen rabbis in this congregation wear earrings. Of course, they’re all women. But why can’t I have a little fun too?”

Rabbi Kalmanofsky can be reached at Ansche Chesed at 865-0600, or via e-mail at rjk@anschechesed.org. Please ask his assistant, Sharri Posen, for an appointment if you would like to meet with him.

August 2001