Chancellor Arnold Eisen often states that JTS is the center of the Conservative world (“JTS Chancellor Charting New Course For Outreach,” May 21). He dismisses the efforts and results that Rabbi Bradley Artson of the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies in Los Angeles has realized.
Gary Rosenblatt’s article spoke of combining “heart” and “head.” There is a difference between the two schools: whereas JTS aims for the head, the Ziegler School goes directly to the heart.
An example: I suggested to the clergy at our synagogue to start their meetings and classes with a soulful niggun, or wordless melody. Our junior rabbi, who attended the Ziegler School, adopted this immediately and had great results, while our senior rabbi, who is a wonderful man who went to JTS, thought it was a gimmick and refused to even try it out.
Southfield, Mich.
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