At least four Reform student rabbis will live and work in the slums of major cities this summer in the second year of the Rabbinic Internship in Urban Affairs program, Rabbi Balfour Brickner reported today.
The project is sponsored by the Commission on Interfaith Activities of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, the Central Conference of American Rabbis, and the Jewish Chautauqua Society, all institutions of Reform Judaism. The Protestant and Catholic churches have sponsored such activities widely for several years, but the Reform program is the first under Jewish religious sponsorship, according to Rabbi Brickner, director of the commission. He explained that efforts were continuing to arrange for more such placements for student rabbis this summer.
The rabbinic interne works with Protestant and Catholic urban ministers to study at first hand the problems of the urban poor, to provide help in specific anti-poverty efforts, to probe the tensions between whites and Negroes, evaluate the response of public and private agencies to the problems of the inner cities, and examine the attitudes of the Jewish community toward the urban crisis. He also is expected to make proposals on action programs the Jewish community might undertake for the urban poor, Rabbi Brickner said.
In each instance, the internship is under sponsorship of the local Reform congregations, or, as in St. Louis, under sponsorship of the St. Louis Federation of Reform Congregations. The other cities for this summer are Washington, Chicago and Milwaukee. The student rabbi reports to the local community relations council executive and to the commission, on a weekly basis.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
