All right, Rabbi Aklepi, thank you so much for
being on the podcast. We are so honored to have
you as one of the major faith leaders of South
Florida. Of course, Rabbi at Temple Beth Am and
one of our trusted dialogue partners for Jewish
Muslim Dialogue. You have so many leadership
roles that you play, I think, within the community.
We wanted to learn a little bit more about you,
your background, and kind of what brought you
to this position of leadership eventually here
in the Jewish community. Wow, that's a many years
question. But to make it brief, I would say...
Well, I'm a rabbi, part of the Reform Movement,
part of the liberal denominations within Judaism.
I was raised in a synagogue that was similar
to where I am now, and it was very, somewhat
different than today because it was more, it
was open politically, and it was just a place
where people could learn about their Judaism
and become more involved. And different from
what maybe the older generation then had experienced,
because most many people had come from a more
traditional aspect, and this was a more interpretive
understanding of observance and practice, and
even some of ideals. And then I did the kinds
of things which build Jewish leaders. I went
to a Jewish overnight summer camp, which is created
really just for those, somewhat for those purposes.
And when I went to university, I went to Brandeis
University, which at that time had a majority
of Jewish population. And it was created because
Jews were excluded from other universities. And
so this university was created in 1948. And so
I was also surrounded there by an environment
which made... like in camp, like at home, about
being Jewish as being something that was really
positive, life -affirming, community -affirming,
and the ideas of we become better people by following
the tenets and the laws and serving God and serving
others. It just fit with who I was and I really
liked it. I'm one of four kids. I'm the only
one who's a rabbi. My parents weren't religious
per se and they weren't really even observant.
I became the most observant of the family. Now
my siblings have really come back more. And so
that's, and then I went to, after undergrad too,
then I decided to become a rabbi and went through
a five -year rabbinic program and ended up in
my first. full -time rabbi job, the director
of the Hillel Jewish Student Center at the University
of Miami. And that's what brought me down to
South Florida and I was able to stay in South
Florida and move to a number of different positions
now, one of the rabbis at Temple Beth Am. So
I think that Judaism did and does afford me an
opportunity to grow spiritually, grow as a person
who's social -minded. grow as somebody who's
connected to the divine, connected to God, and
to think about how God wants me to live. And
it makes me be better and do better. So that's
my sort of religious component. As an undergrad,
I studied Near Eastern and Judaic studies. So
that was the Near East and Jewish life as well.
So that's what brought me, I think. to this position
and to this life that I've been living for 62
years now, I can say. And raising my children
the same way. What are the core values of Judaism
for you? The core values of Judaism would be
to love God, to love your neighbor, to do mitzvot,
which are Jewish obligations. Some are positive,
and some are to do things, and some are the not
to do, or other words, commandments. To recognize
that the world is a very big world, and that
we are part of it, and that there's a mission
involved in Judaism to make the world a better
place. And I would say... Also, I would say for
most Jews, a connection to the ancient homeland
in Israel and the state of Israel. Okay. Before
we get to Israel, I mean, one of the aspects
of Jewish theology that's important is this idea
of tikkun olam. Can you talk to us a little bit
about that? Sure. That's what I meant by social
justice. So tikkun olam... is a Hebrew phrase
which means to repair the world. And if we look
at many of the mitzvot and the commandments of
the Torah, they are all about repairing the world.
So last week we read, be holy because I, the
Lord your God, am holy. Simple things like, don't
hold a laborer's wages until the next day. I
always joke that when my kids were little, I
would have a babysitter. And in those days, we
didn't demo people. You had to use cash. If I
didn't have cash, I'm like, oh, I'm going to
give you the money tomorrow. It's totally against
the law. You can't do that. Leave the corners
of your field for those who are hungry. And so
that means feed people who are hungry. Don't
play stumbling blocks. before the blind and don't
curse the deaf. Don't take advantage of people
who are vulnerable in society. So those are really
some of the ideas of Tikkun Olam. It's a social
justice idea, how to protect those who are weaker.
And if we look at the whole reason for a Torah,
it makes individual better, but how do you do
that? The whole role of Torah is really to protect
the powerless. And so the idea of marriage, which
is for us today, we would look like, oh, that
doesn't make sense. But it protected women who
are powerless. Don't oppress the stranger or
the widow or the child. We read approximately
36 times. They are the ones who didn't have any
power. And so, so many of the laws of Torah and
so much of Tikkun Olam is how do you protect
those who are powerless? And as an extension
of that, how do you make sure that people have
their own individual power and voice? Okay. Wow,
that's wonderful. I mean, it's a very beautiful
way of thinking about sort of your mission in
the world and kind of what you're trying to accomplish.
I think... So you were saying that you are the
first person in your family, or you were the
only person in your family to become a rabbi,
and it seems like you were the most observant
out of a lot of your family. Was there a moment
that changed you as you look back to say, okay,
well, this was something that happened that really
got me much more interested? I really need to
say that... My path was really an evolution helped,
shaped by my community. Okay. So there wasn't
really one point, except that as a child, I didn't
know any women rabbis. Right. Because they didn't
exist. Right. So I didn't know a woman rabbi,
probably personally, until I was in high school.
Okay. So before that... it would never occur
to me. Although I do know some women who always
thought they wanted to be rabbis, even though
they knew women weren't allowed to be rabbis.
That didn't occur to me, and I just didn't think
about it. And as I was in college, and I was
involved in Jewish movements on campus and religious
things and Zionist things, and I had a conversation
with... the rabbi who I grew up with, and he
was like, well, what are you going to do when
you graduate? It's a typical conversation. I
have that conversation all the time. You probably
have that here on campus all the time. And I
said, well, I don't know, graduate school, maybe
I'll do, there was a degree in New York that
was a Jewish education degree and social work
degree. And he was like, well, you know, as long
as you're going to do that, why don't you think
about going to rabbinic school? Because you have
aspects of that work. And it may be a better
lifestyle. So I was like, oh, that's an interesting
idea. So that could have been like the point
where I first initially started to think about
it. And then I actually read the letters I would
get from this reform movement. Recruitment letters
come to a weekend and learn about the graduate
programs we have. And then I was like, oh, okay,
these two make sense. I'll do it. And so that's
really what happened. But it wasn't sort of like
any divine thing that happened. It was more of
a... Okay, so thinking about my future career,
what's the best way I can be true to how I want
to live and what I enjoy doing? Yeah, so being
a female rabbi is something that exists in the
Reformed tradition. and the conservative and
now what we call the reconstructionist tradition
and so and sometimes the movements are a little
bit more fluid so there are others but yes okay
non -orthodoxy non -traditional non -traditional
okay so but from my understanding um your um
rabbinic credentials would not be accepted in
israel then is that right so this is how it works
okay there is a progressive what we call reform.
Other parts of the world will use the word progressive
movement in Israel. And there are reform women
rabbis in Israel. And, like in many parts of
the world, like in Europe, religion is state
-funded. Unlike the United States, religion is
state -funded. So, in terms of getting funding
or recognized by the state, Not so much. For
example, officiating at a wedding, which is a
legal document, the same as a traditional rabbi,
not really. That would not happen. So it is different,
and you don't have the same, I would say, availability.
You don't have the same privileges as... as traditional
rabbis. That is an ongoing struggle that the
liberal and progressive movement has in Israel.
In Israel, yeah. No, it's very interesting because
I think that it echoes kind of also within Christianity
as well, that there were these questions. mid
-20th century in terms of women sort of, you
know, being ordained and you see that in the
Episcopal tradition and other traditions. You
definitely don't have it in the Islamic tradition
at this point. Right. So, like, the way I understand
it, so, or the way that I envision it, like,
I do care and it's important. Right. But there
are certain things, like, there are certain legal
things that could change, right? And it's real
that there could be, and there are many rulings
for the Supreme Court that ruled in in favor
of a case fought by the progressive or reform
movement. So, right, so state can do that. But
in terms of someone's own religious thinking,
of what someone who's traditional will think,
and even among tradition, it's a spectrum. So
not everybody along tradition. There are plenty
of people who will claim themselves as observant
or orthodox who totally accept reform as a different
way of doing things. I don't really get involved
so much as people I know who observe a certain
way and I know that the way they observe doesn't
really have a place for me as a Jewish officiant,
as a rabbi. I don't care. Because I'm not really
going in that world. When I go into that world,
I'm a visitor. I'm a Jewish person. I'm not going
to have that fight because it doesn't matter.
I operate in a different world. Right, sure,
sure. So, yeah, that's... And again, when I explain
Judaism, Judaism is really almost Judaism. There's
a big spectrum of belief and practice and what
one person says. Even among the Orthodox, if
somebody has a specific question, the question
is, ask your rabbi. There's not a central authority
like the Catholic Church. So once there isn't
a central authority, there is interpretation,
no matter what stream of the faith. No matter
how observant or traditional you are, if there
isn't a central authority, there is interpretation.
So the majority of American Jews are Reform.
Is that right? The majority of the largest number
of affiliated Jews in the United States would
affiliate with Reform Judaism. There are plenty
of people who just call themselves Jews. So the
Pew Research Center does some studies on this.
And it is, so yes, but then there are the people
who don't answer. Okay. Okay. I mean, one of
the advantages I think you have as kind of a,
as a Jewish leader, and then, you know, connected
kind of to not just the larger reform movement,
but then, you know, the Jewish community worldwide,
is you kind of, you can have a different perspective.
You can kind of, kind of zoom in and zoom out
a little bit. Where is the American Jewish community
today? In terms of what? Just in terms of their
vitality, their perspective on sort of, you know,
the religious life that is here, the political
life of being American. Where do you see American
Jews? Yeah, so I can't even answer. I wouldn't
even be able to answer because there isn't one.
I can't say the American Jewish community. believes
X or believes Y. In terms of American politics,
in terms of the future of Jews in America, I
think that the only thing I may say is people
are worried about anti -Semitism today where
I never had that growing up and my children didn't
have that and they've just experienced it recently.
So except for that, I can't speak like the American
Jewish community believes X or believes Y. Right,
right. Okay. So what about you personally? How
do I think? Yeah, what do you think? Well, I
think that America is a great place to be Jewish.
If I could pick any other place in the world,
it would be... next to Israel, but for different
reasons than I would pick America. So it's not
the same witness test. America gives us the most
freedoms, the most protections, the most broad
way of living as a Jew. And so that's all great.
And I think that the community, you know, there
are a number of articles written that the golden
age of American jewelry seems to be ending, where
there was real access and growth. And I don't
necessarily believe that's true, because I still
believe that we have the mobility needed, and
I think we have the education still available
to us. Yes, there is anti -Semitism. There's
a very funny sort of joke, and I don't have the
whole thing, but can you imagine telling somebody
100 years ago or 150 years ago that there were
protests against Jews on college campuses, and
the person you're speaking to from Poland would
say, you mean Jews are allowed to go to college?
Right. So in those cases, in that instance, we
don't want it bad, we want it better. So I am
still... a believer that America is still a wonderful
place to be Jewish. Nothing's perfect and we
still need to make sure that we do have safety
and we do have a community to be a part of and
not to be, not to feel like isolated, but to
feel like we have done in the last 20, 30, I'd
say 20, 30, 40, even 50 years, a part of a community
not separate from the American community. Okay.
There is a feeling now of being more isolated
and on the outside. I mean, we took the first
150 years of 200 years of this country to try
to feel a part of. And I think we did for a long
time. And now there is a feeling of maybe not
being a part of it. Okay. So talk to me about
what does Israel mean to you? Okay. So Israel,
going back to biblical times, has been the origin
story of the Jewish people. And when I visit
Israel and you see something that was built in
King David's time, right? And you see... all
of these places that have gone back to biblical
times and you feel the stones and you see it
and you and um so historically and religiously
we've always had from our prayers and the destruction
of of Jerusalem in the year 586 before the common
era there's always been a constant returning
and people always being in Israel so Israel's
always a spiritual homeland And since the beginning
of Zionism in the 1800s, when other national
movements began to create a feeling of nationality,
then I also believe it's a political place, too.
So those two things are very much intertwined.
I would say, too, if I gave something else about
the American Jewish community, to most American
Jews, there is this... commitment and feeling
that it's not a separate part. It may not be
a primary residence or even a place that you
maybe have only visited once, but it's not completely
separate either. And what's interesting is in
our Jewish -Muslim dialogue and other interfaith
dialogue, I think that's the hardest idea that
I have to express to people. It's something that
I was first surprised that people didn't get,
especially people who are immigrants from other
countries. So, for example, there's a large Jewish
population that came from Arab countries, from
Morocco, Tunisia, Iran, Iraq. And that was the
Yemen, even. And that was their... the place
where they lived for hundreds of years. And yet
they had another soul that was in Israel. And
so that they were able to be a part of both societies.
So the idea of this kinship, and I think that's
really a good way to describe it because it's
not only historical and it's not something that
was only post - Holocaust, that it's a place
that came post -Holocaust for the safety of the
Jews, although that's when it ended up to be,
it's always been a part of Jewish life. And I
would say it feels more like a kinship than anything
else. And it really is still hard to express.
And I think for many years, we didn't have to
explain it. And maybe now more people are asking
about that. Maybe it's a feeling also. It doesn't
work for all Jews because not all Jews have gone
to Israel, but Miami is one of the cities with
the largest proportion of Jews who have visited
Israel in the country. There is a difference
in feeling like you're among the majority and
you don't have to explain who you are. Instead
of being 2%. And you have to explain to most
people you meet who you are, what you feel like,
what you eat, what you believe, how you dress.
And so I think that feeling is a feeling of family
and closeness. And it's good to feel sometimes
you're in the majority. Okay. Yeah, I can definitely
understand that. I think it's very different.
because you have a lot more Muslims in the world
as a whole. And as much as Mecca and Medina are
sacred and the society is important, it's a spiritual
center rather than the constitutive of all of
Islam. And so I think it's a very different sort
of relationship, I think, that Muslims have towards.
Mecca and Medina and sort of the land of Saudi
Arabia. But we can definitely understand, you
know, sort of the spiritual significance within
Judaism. The interfaith work that you do, why
is it important? It's important because we all
live together. Sure. And it's better to understand
people and be close to them than not understand
them. And I think our world is better. for when
we are able to understand people or able to hear
sometimes their perspectives or even what's important
to them. And different faiths hold different
beliefs and different things are important and
different practices are important and different
ways of seeing the world. So, you know, I do
work with people who are converting into Judaism.
And when I speak to them, and they're first trying
to explore, some people come from a religious
faith, some people don't. I'm like, well, religion
is really different ways to articulate a relationship
with God. So Judaism is one way to articulate
a relationship with God. And I think, and I believe
that's true. Now that's on a religious level,
but Judaism is also a kind of peoplehood, which
I think is a little different than Islam, because
Islam has, different ethno -religious groups
within it. You know, there are Africans and Southeast
Asians and Arabs, and Persians. And Jews, even
though they have different somewhat ethno -religious
groups, it's so much smaller. That is a closer
connection to a people, though. Jews from Morocco
are very different from Jews from Poland in their
origins. now that's blended together so so religion
is a way to articulate a relationship with God
and that's a little bit different than peoplehood
and you know from the day I got I got to Miami
I've loved living in Miami okay I just love it
and even though I lived in the Northeast which
is pretty diverse the cult maybe because it's
the warm weather I don't know the cultural diversity
in Miami brings a warmth and a flavor and a way
of, I think, more trying to have people participate
in somebody else's cultural, religious life than
in other places. And that's completely anecdotal.
It may have nothing to do with anything, but
I feel like in Miami, there's more of an invitation
to participate in how somebody else lives. Oh,
I definitely agree with that, yeah. And I think
that's... makes this town better. It makes it
more understanding. It makes it closer to each
other. It makes kids go to school better together.
Again, you know, not perfect. I am speaking somewhat
ideally. So I think that those are like the practical
reasons why I do interfaith work. And of course,
Judaism was never a proselytizing religion. So
Jews were always forced to convert to other religions
but never looked to have people join them. And
so in that way, traditionally we were somewhat
afraid of mixing with others because others wanted
you to believe like they believe. But I think
we've reached a point where we don't have to
be so worried about that. We can say no if we
don't want to and we can embrace other people's
differences and ways of doing things and see
how it adds to the richness of the mosaic, tapestry,
whatever you want to call this city that we live
in. Yeah, no, I agree. I mean, I think that's
something that's been, even for me, I think that
working with Temple Beth Am and kind of the Jewish
community, you don't have that, the challenge,
I mean, of wanting to be, feeling that someone
is trying to convert you either. And I think
that that's a big challenge, particularly for
when you do interfaith work, especially with
the evangelical community and stuff like that,
the Christian community. There is this, not necessarily
explicit, but there is this implicit desire to
see Christ as a savior. But I think overall it's
been, I mean, I'm very excited about, you know,
where we're headed in terms of, you know, as
the discussions get deeper and sort of more theologically
sort of nuanced and also we're able to talk about
the political, you know, sort of challenges of
Palestine and Israel and how the conflict hopefully
is. gearing towards a more peaceful resolution,
or at least as much as... Well, I think theology
is a lot easier to discuss than the real world.
Again, Jews have always lived among others and
always lived among Muslims. And there were times
that were better and times that were less good
in traditionally Muslim countries. So I don't
think that... that that is so much of initially
the way one sees how God wants them to live.
But I think if one sees that, if one's faith
wants another faith, again, to live differently
or believe differently or live in a certain place
and not another place, I think that's where the
discrepancies and the difficulties come in. But
how one believes, and certainly for Jews, how
somebody else believes, it's okay. Live and let
live according to that. And I think also the
experience I have in the times that I've lived
in Israel and the university where I studied
in Israel, where it was a real mixing of cultures.
And yes, neighborhoods were mostly different,
but not completely. That there was more Miami
life, that people were able to live together.
Not always. not believe necessarily the same
things but in the big picture of what do people
want from their life they want to be they want
to be safe they want to be productive they want
to raise families I mean those very basic instincts
of of humanity that that people have I think
that is that is shared that is shared among many
people I recently we haven't seen that but I
believe that For many people, it is shared. And
I think that's what I feel like is good to build
on. That's why we always eat when we have. Agreed.
Absolutely. We always eat when we come together.
Exactly correct. Any final message that you want
to give to our listeners? Okay. I would say that
if you're a person of faith, no matter what faith,
it's good to get out there and see how other
people live. It may not resonate with you at
all. It may even say, oh, I don't care for that.
I really like what I do better. But it does let
you see that there's more than one way to go
through this life. It's almost like the way that
people choose different careers. And you would
say, oh, my parents only wanted me to be an engineer.
And if I'm not an engineer, I certainly can't
be an artist. But then you see, oh, my goodness,
there are paths for people, so many different
paths. And I think that if we can acknowledge
other people's paths and find what is good in
them and what's honest and built with integrity,
then we can help make this world a better place.
All right. Well, thank you so much, Rabbi. I
really appreciate your time. your leadership,
you know, not just your interfaith work and for
the Jewish community, but particularly engaging
in this sort of dialogue. So we really appreciate
it. My pleasure. Thanks.