Rabbi Steven Gotlib practices as a Modern Orthodox Jew as rabbi at Mekor Habracha in Center City, but he grew up in a traditional Conservative family. This background has given Gotlib a deep appreciation for the variety of Jewish life, and it is part of the reason he and some colleagues created the informal Rittenhouse Square Jewish community.
In one of Philadelphia’s most affluent and desired neighborhoods, Mekor Habracha, Spruce Street Minyan and Temple Beth Zion-Beth Israel have joined forces to create a diverse group of Jews who share the goal of enriching each other’s lives regardless of how they worship.
“We had been discussing ways that we could better work together and collaborate because we have a lot of overlap amongst our members. It’s not uncommon for people to be participants in all three of our communities, and we’ve had a lot of overlap socially for a long time,” Gotlib said.
While Jews have traditionally been grouped into one of three categories — Reform, Conservative or Orthodox — those labels are becoming less accurate as families meld and culture shifts. Gotlib has only been a rabbi at Mekor Habracha since last September, but he said he has seen firsthand how younger members of his congregation have forged ahead to create their own brands of Judaism.
“There’s certainly a perception that we kind of stay within our world and we don’t really do anything beyond it. And in certain communities, that’s certainly true. But I think especially amongst the younger generations, let’s say 35 and under roughly, I think there’s a lot more exploration, and there’s a lot more of a willingness to live within multiple worlds,” he said.
Melanie Hilman is one of those young people. She is a congregant at Spruce Street Minyan, but she also attends events at Beth Zion-Beth Israel.
“Part of what makes Philadelphia so intimate and friendly is having events like Rittenhouse Square Shabbat that brings folks from different denominations and different backgrounds into a shared space. We can be Jewish together for an evening, and that’s such a beautiful thing,” she said.
On May 9, the aforementioned Jewish communities joined together as one for a Shabbat service. This included an egalitarian Kabbalat Shabbat and Maariv at Beth Zion-Beth Israel and a traditional Orthodox Kabbalat Shabbat and Maariv at Mekor Habracha. After that, they will join together at a Shabbat dinner table at the Ethical Society to light candles and enjoy a spread of Jewish food.
Gotlib said that the feedback on the event has been overwhelmingly positive. The three organizations expected more than 200 people. He added that there was actually surprise from some members of Beth Zion-Beth Israel that an Orthodox shul would want to share a space with a Conservative one, but that quelling those perceptions is exactly why the Rittenhouse Square Jewish Community matters.
“I think once we really get to know each other as a community and get to sit down with each other, we see that, yeah, there are differences in the style that we daven. There are differences in the physical makeup of our sanctuaries. There are differences in levels of observance. But beyond that, there’s a lot more that we have in common than would separate us,” he said.
Gotlib said that he is proud of his diverse Jewish background, and he is happy to set an example for how separate Jewish communities can become one.
“You see that within people like me, who transition from one to the other in a more formal capacity, but you also see that in a lot of our demographics that really are switching off between these spaces, not necessarily because of their hard-held religious convictions but for various social reasons,” he said.
It’s about being Jewish with other Jews.
“There’s nothing that’s more special than being able to connect two Jews who might not have thought that much in common, but now [they’re] seeing each other at this meal and really bonding in that way. So I’m really excited just to be able to say that we’re coming together as this expanded community, and that this is really what we stand for — community, together.”
