Robert B. Sklaroff, M.D., F.A.C.P. Medical Arts Building - Suite 130
Associates 50 East Township Line Road
Medical Oncology/Hematology Elkins Park, PA 19027-2253
Telephone: (215) 663-8200 rsklaroff@comcast.net
Facsimile: (215) 663-8388 http://www.doctor-bob.biz/rsklaroff
E-Fax: (215) 689-2461
April 30, 2007
To: RS Membership (Present & Past)
Re: Atonement for the Destruction of a Jewish Community…a Prescription
The loss of ~400 families from RS after the sale of Suburban (to Kol Ami) represents a tremendous setback to Jewish Outreach in the Delaware Valley, for many disenfranchised people chose not to re-affiliate. RS continues to have an obligation to pursue a version of Tikkun Olam—the repair of a consciously-inflicted wound upon our Community—and its leadership should begin to plan how to convert this disaster into a benefit for all Jews.
A decade ago, I told Rabbi Kuhn (during a one-on-one luncheon @ the Union League) that RS should develop the networking theme established a half-century previously by Rabbi/Dr. David H. Wice. He was behaviorally abandoning Suburban programmatically (e.g., persistent lack of Saturday-a.m. Sabbath Services, rudimentary and contrasting with “the competition”), but I advised that he develop a two-pronged “inclusive” approach. First, build on Suburban’s strengths, even if that entailed its relocation to Bucks County, and develop a collaborative relationship with any synagogue in the Main Line region.
The goal was to increase usage of the Center City Sanctuary, surely the most gorgeous of any in the region, and a potential-“draw” for Reform Jews seeking efficiency-of-scale. This cradle-to-grave concept would accommodate Jews at each stage-of-life (recalling the message of the Riddle of the Sphinx) and it would bond the benefits of Metropolitan with the attractions of the ‘burbs…scaling psychological/operational/traditional barriers and creating a win-win for all the players. RS had a unique “charge,” incompletely satisfied.
Instead, Suburban was jettisoned; my demographic-projection was reflexly confirmed (recall citation of ~375 families in Cheltenham/Abington & ~25 families in NE-Philly). This contrasts with that of H. Robert Fiebach, Esquire (an RS-Veep) who predicted that RS would lose “no more than 100 families. RS (in the 1960’s) had ~2200 families, but less than 1000 families were members in 2005; I guess the current figure is ~600 families (enough to support a scaled-down staff), even as the Condo-Boom is already fizzling. [Also, a possible conversion of Wilkie Buick to a Sixers Training Center has bombed, leaving the immediate-neighborhood as under-developed as is the rest of the northern extension of the Avenue of the Arts, not withstanding rosy construction-predictions.]
It may be recalled that Rabbi Kuhn’s assertions during the initial effort to close Suburban (“This is not just a real estate sale” because people’s lives and RS-traditions are at-stake) were contradicted less than two years later; I had diagnosed an “Edifice Complex.”
This pathological state persists. Note how hastily-contrived compensatory efforts died (e.g., busing to Center City, Services at Gratz and at Abington Friends), all too quickly:
[President Susan] Klehr emphasized that a probable sale of the suburban campus…will not affect the availability of activities for the nearly 33% of the membership body that use the facility. She said that renting out space in Elkins Park for some services is a possibility. Regarding the preschool housed in the suburban campus, Klehr said that discussions between the school and other locations are in the works. [n.b., Blanck simply closed.]
http://www.jewishexponent.com/ViewArticle.asp?ArtID=1946 [12/22/2005 Issue]
Indeed, the major “force” behind this abrogation of RS’s History has repeatedly parlayed a million-dollar pledge to leverage his flawed goals. Richard L. Berkman, then President, first told the Congregation (in a December meeting in the Sanctuary a half-decade ago) that he would donate these monies without strings attached, despite the (temporary, as it turned-out) demise of his plan to sell Suburban. Two years later, he pushed the sale by noting that a secret-donor (himself, as it was subsequently revealed, as most predicted) would only provide these monies if Suburban were sold. Now, he morphed this yet-to-be honored, thrice-uttered unambiguous pledge into a newly-conjured option that he elected (spitting at anyone with an “institutional memory”) to upgrade the downtown building:
After long and ambivalent consideration, Toni and I have arranged to contribute $1 million to RS. We are making this contribution out of a sense of responsibility, not only to RS, but for the future of progressive Judaism in Philadelphia. [Emphasis added.]
RS Bulletin [4/15/2007 Issue, page 5, citing his 3/20/2007 Address to the RS Board]
In ages past, failed-leaders have “fallen on their swords” and (at the very least) resigned. [Note pressures on Israeli-PM Ehud Olmert for a contemporary metaphor.] RS leaders may enjoy vibrant center-city lifestyles (“idols” erected in their self-images, perhaps), but they cannot cite any flock of new members (although I know of one, from Mount Airy), nor can they reasonably project new high-rise residents will choose to affiliate en masse. Membership-loss (plus Rabbi’s Circle donations, as three Sklaroffs had annually given) cannot fund new construction, newly-announced endowment goals, and operational costs. The never-ending capital (Joshua) campaigns seem always to avoid the deepest-pockets.
RS now uses Sephardic pronunciation, but its stellar past (dating from 1795) establishes it as “The Oldest Ashkenazic Synagogue in the Western Hemisphere,” with Rabbinic Leadership (through Rabbi Wice) that consistently and concomitantly had international reputations for scholarship and political activism. [Reference: The Balch Institute, reviewed while composing a Brotherhood Service a half-decade ago.] RS now milks Rabbi Wice’s memory—even as he would be “turning in his grave” if he knew his unique personal legacy (linking city/suburbs) would be destroyed so quickly after his death— by urging membership in the new “Wice Society,” for those who cite RS in their wills.]
The most recent issue of the RS Bulletin, which has experienced a renaissance under the stewardship of Ms. Carol Perloff, sadly reflects even loss of the four thematic symbols of what a synagogue entails (study, community, prayer, social action). Delete citation of what is occurring externally (e.g., lectures at Gratz on Hospice) and what’s left? Announcements of rudimentary activities of a once-great synagogue (plus a Synaplex). What should now occur is presaged by what I said to anyone listening [as quoted in the Exponent article, supra]: “Don't blame Suburban when it's a systemic problem.”
When a pragmatic review of RS’s finances is aired at its Annual Meeting (5/11/2007), someone might wish to ask why this contrasts with projections of only two years ago and to suggest that someone should be held accountable for undermining RS’s basic survival.
So, what should RS do? I had proposed efforts be made to preserve Suburban’s identity (creating a spin-off for its members, or preserving a legacy at nearby-Gratz) to no avail. The 400 families precipitously cut-loose by RS constitute a moderate-sized “synagogue,” but RS can’t re-attract unaffiliated/lost members. (I chose Or Hadash, Reconstructionist.) RS is obligated to “give back” a synagogue to Delaware Valley’s Jewish Community, to recompense damages-done and to honor the dual-campus vision of Rabbi Wice. Here, the challenge is larger than RS, affecting more than Reform, impacting Jewish Outreach.
I would be just as misguided as have been Berkman/Perloff/et al. were I to presume to be replete with universal answers to a festering quandary, only 18 months after-the-crime. Critics would accuse me of lacking “standing” (legal or moral) to interfere in what is now subject to the stewardship of others. That’s why I reformulate the problem facing RS as a community opportunity, benefiting all in the tri-state region who claim, “I am Jewish!”
RS should sell Metropolitan to Federation and then lease it back (for 180 years?). Remember how everyone reflexly flocked to the Sanctuary after Rabin’s Assassination? Remember how the major local news networks routinely highlight the Sanctuary during High Holiday newscasts? (I do, because I ushered them in-and-out from the Balcony.) Remember how the Sanctuary “rocks” when joint-activities transpire (e.g., MLK Day)?
RS could provide a magnet for all the unique Federation activities (events, speakers) that otherwise are conducted at an Arch St. locale that has TERRIBLE on-street parking (which will predictably WORSEN when the Comcast Building opens). RS could provide a campus for a REFORM Jewish Day School (recall Ramon, isolated in Bucks County). RS could still contribute to Philly’s urban fabric (particularly after Mayor Street departs), having enhanced its visibility among those who fail to appreciate its unrealized potential.
This would instantly satisfy realistic acute/subacute/chronic needs of Federation and RS. It is consistent with Rabbi Wice’s sociological prescience and Reform Jewry’s true ambit (filling an educational vacuum, no matter how narrowly/broadly defined geographically). Thinkers who are in-the-know might link it with a relocated Akiba Hebrew High School (which my son LOVES!), perhaps affording a dual-site for selected programs. RS could centralize the fundamental changes which major Jewish institutions are experiencing.
