Yeshiva U. head challenges Orthodox communities in U.S., here to open up

Modern Orthodox communities in Israel and the US need to do a better job of reaching out to the larger Jewish communities in their respective countries and should exert influence through increased "openness," Richard Joel, president of Yeshiva University, said this week.

Speaking at the Mandel Leadership Institute in Jerusalem, he said, "We need to find ways to become part of the larger Jewish community, even though it's hard to find common ground. We need to influence through openness." He noted the "liberal movements have made decisions that make it difficult to say, 'let's sit down and have chulent together,' but it would be a mistake to shut the door." Joel stressed the need "to remind ourselves that we are family."

During the evening, which addressed the perceived gap between modern Orthodoxy in Israel and North America, Joel noted there was a drifting apart between the two communities but said it was not "radical." Nevertheless, the former Hillel president urged educators to give American post-high school students studying here an "Israel experience." Some of post-high school yeshiva programs in Israel, he said, "might as well be in Idaho."

Other speakers included in the event Malka Bina, director of Matan Women's Institute for Torah Studies in Jerusalem and Rabbi Yehuda Gilad, a former MK and the head of the Maaleh Gilboa yeshiva. Gilad spoke of the close ties between the communities, but said Israelis-who live in a constant state of war-face different issues from their American counterparts. "We need to strengthen the feeling of solidarity, but we cannot ignore the gaps," he said.