I just returned from the Embassy Suites Hotel in Deerfield Beach, Florida, a resort which recently was overrun by ninety-seven sandal wearing reconstructionist rabbis. It was the annual convention of the rabbinic body I am a member of – the RRA - Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association- and I had the honor of co-chairing the show with Rabbi Vivie Mayer, a colleague from Connecticut.
The highlight of the conference for me was watching the 87 year old Rabbi Jack Cohen (pictured here- thanks to Rabbi Shai Gluskin, from whom I stole this photo) who for over twenty years served as the rabbi of Hebrew University in Jerusalem (and is a founder of the reconstrucionist based congregation M’vakshe Derech in the Holy City) dance with his wife to the turntablist infused sounds of the Latin Jazz/funk band the Spam All-Stars. Two civilization were brought together to form what Rabbi Joshua Lesser termed a 'religious groovement.'
