Spiritual explorer: New Hillel rabbi brings unique perspective to service / LJWorld.com

Archive for Saturday, October 3, 2009

Rabbi Neal Schuster is the new senior Jewish educator to KU Hillel. He keeps an electric scooter at the Hobbs-Taylor Lofts location to commute back and forth to the KU campus.

By Sarah Henning

October 3, 2009

Photo by Kevin Anderson

Rabbi Neal Schuster is the new senior Jewish educator to KU Hillel. The laid back leader uses a sofa and coffee table as a desk in his Hobbs Lofts office.

Photo by Kevin Anderson

A mezuzah is placed on the front door to KU Hillel, located on the second floor of the Hobbs-Taylor Lofts, 730 N.H. Rabbi Neal Schuster is the new senior Jewish educator for KU Hillel.

First Kansas University’s Hillel chapter got a new space. Now it has a new face: Rabbi Neal Schuster.

The KU Jewish organization moved from its former home — a cute old house at 940 Miss. — into the very modern Hobbs-Taylor Lofts, 730 N.H., in the spring. Then this summer it added Schuster as a senior Jewish educator — one of only 10 at Hillels across the country. The position is made possible through a grant from the national arm of the Hillel organization and gives the chapter not only its first on-staff rabbi, but also a chance to engage more students, says Jay Lewis, the chapter’s executive director.

“It is intended to not be a clergy member in terms of leading services or just doing pastoral counseling necessarily,” Lewis says of the position, which is paid for through the next four years. “The two big goals are to engage more students in Jewish life at KU and to infuse everything we do with more Jewish depth. And he’s the perfect guy for that.”

Indeed, Schuster’s personality seems to be tailor-made for the kinds of deep conversations about life and spirituality that can go hand-in-hand with college life. Sitting in his office in Hillel’s temporary loft space — the group will move into its 3,000-square-foot permanent home on the first floor sometime next month — he sinks into a couch, surrounded by warm light, books and technology, including a laptop and, strangely, a microscope. With its clean lines and comfy feel, the space looks like something of the sort of office a cool teacher would have on a movie set — perfect for conversations ranging from homesickness to how rock ‘n’ roll works into the religious world. Nothing is not a part of Jewish life, he says.

“There is this saying that you see in the Talmud ... ‘This, too, is Torah,’ which means this, too, is sacred knowledge. Everything is Torah, whether we’re talking about literally the Torah, or we’re talking about the latest studies in neurology,” Schuster says. “Exploration of the world and how it works and how we work and what it’s all about is a religious activity to me.”

Whether art, music, philosophy, neuroscience or a fly on the wall — everything is part of his particular belief in spirituality. That’s where the microscope comes in — it’s used as a metaphor for the religious duty of exploring creation.

“I often say science and music are branches of theology,” Schuster says. “So, I can connect with a person who’s into music instead of coming to them and saying, ‘OK, King David was ... a musician and he wrote all these great songs, so let’s look at the Psalms,’ I can do something like, ‘Let’s look at “The Dark Side of the Moon” ... so it’s almost Sukkot, the festival of booths.’”

It’s that kind of creativity about the Jewish faith that make Schuster a unique find for Hillel and the 1,800 or so Jewish students on KU’s campus that Hillel is hoping to connect with, Lewis says. He fully expects students to flock to Hillel’s brand-new space just to sit on Schuster’s couch and talk about Pink Floyd and Sukkot.

“He has a gift for relationships of any-age person, that he’s a phenomenal listener, he gives great insight and feedback, but really of all of his other gifts, when you talk to him, you really feel like he’s 100 percent present and he’s 100 percent there with you,” Lewis says. “Which is great for any age, but for these 18- to 22-year-olds, which are the primary age that we work with, to have somebody of his knowledge base and his life experience to be there for them in that way — it’s just incredible, and that’s why they are responding so well to him.”

Finding perfect

Schuster grew up in Seattle, the youngest of five brothers. He studied business administration at the University of Washington and had a real estate company with one brother before graduation. Soon, he quit the real estate game and began taking youths on trips to Israel. Though he has always been heavily involved in spirituality, the last thing he thought he wanted to be was a rabbi.

“I was living the kind of life where people were always saying to me, ‘Hey Neal, when are you going to be a rabbi?’ ... and I always had this kind of stock answer. I would always say, ‘I don’t want to be a rabbi because I want to be able to teach the message that you don’t have to be a rabbi to take Judaism seriously.’ And if I’m a rabbi, who’s going to listen to that message?” he says. “But when I asked myself these questions (about life) — ran the numbers, so to speak — every time it came up rabbi. So I said, ‘I’m not going to spite myself. If this is the best job for me, then I’m going to do that.’”

He went to rabbinical school at Hebrew Union College’s Jewish Institute of Religion in Los Angeles. His first full-time rabbinical job out of school? With Overland Park’s Congregation B’nai Jehudah. There, he met Lewis, who is a member of the congregation. They became friends, and when Lewis was mulling over a chance to get the senior Jewish educator grant, he went to Schuster to get a rabbi’s perspective on such a position.

“I went to breakfast with him and I showed him the proposal and I said, ‘Tell me, is this something that rabbis would be interested in? What do you think about this kind of a job?’ — not recruiting him at all, just to pick his brain,” Lewis says. “And he responded with, ‘I think this would be the ideal kind of job for a rabbi to have.’”

Innovative and effective

KU was one of only two schools to receive the grant that didn’t already have a rabbi on staff. Lewis says adding a clergy member to the staff is important, but the fact that KU Hillel had done so well without one may also be why it was given the grant to begin with.

“One of the main reasons is that we’ve shown over the last number of years is that we’ve proven to be one of the most successful Hillels in the country,” Lewis says. “That we engage lots of students, but ... we’re seen as being one of the more innovative Hillels and most effective and impactful Hillels in the country.”

Schuster is excited about being a part of that impact.

“It’s really a confluence of perfect factors — the right partner in Jay and the rest of the staff here, the right place in terms of KU, where there’s already a connection to this community and the right kind of work,” Schuster says. “This is really exactly what I want to be doing. It’s the kind of work that I became a rabbi to do.”

Discussion

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3 October 2009
at 12:11 a.m.

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Marion (Marion Lynn) says…

Well, Reb, tell everyone about “Kosher Saughter”, will you and just why it is OK in the eyes of “God” to torture animals in that manner?
3 October 2009
at 6:46 a.m.

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Plurilingual (Anonymous) says…

Hi Marion,

My understanding of the kashrut laws regarding the slaughter of animals is that they are meant to reduce the suffering of the animal. Why don't you explain what you think qualifies kashrut as being torture to animals, that way Rabbi Schuster can address your specific concern?
3 October 2009
at 8:41 a.m.

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Marion (Marion Lynn) says…

Plurilingual says…

Hi Marion,

My understanding of the kashrut laws regarding the slaughter of animals is that they are meant to reduce the suffering of the animal. Why don't you explain what you think qualifies kashrut as being torture to animals, that way Rabbi Schuster can address your specific concern?”

Marion writes:

OK.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/29…

Halal and Kosher slaughter must end

The method of animal slaughter used by Jews and Muslims should be banned immediately, according to an independent advisory group. The Farm Animal Welfare Council, which advises the government on how to avoid cruelty to livestock, says the way Kosher and Halal meat is produced causes severe suffering to animals.

Both the Jewish and Muslim religions demand that slaughter is carried out with a single cut to the throat, rather than the more widespread method of stunning with a bolt into the head before slaughter.

Kosher and Halal butchers deny their method of killing animals is cruel and have expressed anger over the recommendation.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4HZnQm…

http://www.petitiononline.com/nokoshe…

Kosher Slaughter.

This atrocious act of sadism is carried out by members of the Orthodox Jewish community.If you've ever bought canned meat, and the label was stamped with either a “K” or a “U”, then that means that the animal was killed in a Kosher fashion.

You might be asking ” What does this mean? How does Kosher slaughter differ from any other form of slaughter?”.Allow me to enlighten you.

In a normal, non-Kosher slaughter, the animal is killed by a gas-powered mechanism which fires a retractable steel bolt through the skull and into the brain.Sounds gruesome, but when it's done properly, the animal dies instantly, and feels little or no pain.Afterwards, the lifeless animal is decapitated, and drained of blood.

On the other hand, Orthodox Jewish slaughter law requires that an animal being slaughtered must be ALIVE and AWARE while being rendered exsanguine(bloodless). A “shochet” ( Kosher butcher) binds the animal with rope, or has assistants hold it down. He then produces a long-bladed knife( not unlike a large straight razor with a fixed blade) and slits the live animals throat. The shochet then merely allows the animal to bleed to death on the floor, writhing in agony.In some instances, the assistants will began cutting open the torso and removing innards while the animal is still alive.

It normally takes at least a minute for the unfortunate creature to finally die.

Many proponents of this practice claim that Kosher slaughter is somehow, more humane than a normal slaughter( how they can say this with a straight face is beyond me). Some make the ridiculous claim that the animal dies instantly, which is complete nonsense to anyone who was actually witnessed a living thing have its throat cut.”
3 October 2009
at 2:25 p.m.

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Marion (Marion Lynn) says…

Well?
3 October 2009
at 5:46 p.m.

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maxcrabb (Anonymous) says…

Marion, no one has to answer to you.
3 October 2009
at 6:52 p.m.

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Made_in_China (Paul R. Getto) says…

This is a great program and a welcome addition to the KU family. Particularly impressive is the Rabbi's approach to the spiritual journey. Religion and science are on parallel journeys, one of the spirit and one of the mind. Separating the two is difficult, although I did see a recent headline they were close to isolating brain cells that fire during a 'religious' experience. All religions have problems satisfying nonbelievers in certain areas. At heart, however, their messages center on social justice and the golden rule. All of us, particularly on the internet should better emulate the three jewels of the Tao: compassion, moderation and humility.
3 October 2009
at 8:32 p.m.

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Marion (Marion Lynn) says…

maxcrabb (Anonymous) says…

Marion, no one has to answer to you”

Marion writes:

You are correct but that doesn't keep me from asking the quetions.

By the way, Reb, since you don't like the topic of Kosher slaughter, any chance you'll comment on this one for us, published by the University Press of Kansas, mkay?

http://www.kansaspress.ku.edu/righit….

Hitler's Jewish Soldiers
The Untold Story of Nazi Racial Laws and Men of Jewish Descent in the German Military

Bryan Mark Rigg

New in Paperback: September 2004

“Contrary to conventional views, Rigg reveals that a startlingly large number of German military men were classified by the Nazis as Jews or “partial-Jews” (Mischlinge), in the wake of racial laws first enacted in the mid-1930s. Rigg demonstrates that the actual number was much higher than previously thought—perhaps as many as 150,000 men, including decorated veterans and high-ranking officers, even generals and admirals.”

As Rigg fully documents for the first time, a great many of these men did not even consider themselves Jewish and had embraced the military as a way of life and as devoted patriots eager to serve a revived German nation. In turn, they had been embraced by the Wehrmacht, which prior to Hitler had given little thought to the “race” of these men but which was now forced to look deeply into the ancestry of its soldiers.”

“The revelation that Germans of Jewish blood, knowing the Nazi regime for what it was, served Hitler as uniformed members of his armed forces must come as a profound shock. It will surprise even professional historians of the Nazi years.” —John Keegan, author of The Face of Battle and The Second World War”

“Startling and unexpected, Rigg's study conclusively demonstrates the degree of flexibility in German policy toward the Mischlinge, the extent of Hitler's involvement, and, most importantly, that not all who served in the armed forces were anti-Semitic, even as their service aided the killing process.”—Michael Berenbaum, author of The World Must Know: The History of the Holocaust”

“Rigg's work has discovered new academic territory.”—Manfred Messerschmidt, Freiburg University, author of Die Wehrmacht im NS-Staat (The Wehrmacht in the Nazi State)

“Rigg's bracing and unintimidated study lays bare the contradiction, confusion and expedience that governed Mischlinge policy and the maiming cost to those whose lives were burdened by anxiety, guilt and collusion. In the end we must be grateful for his book, a penetrating light cast on some of the murkier corners of the human psyche.”—Michael Skakun, Aufbau

“Rigg has opened brand new territory for historians and students of war, offering new insight into the Nazi mentality on race.”—World War II Magazine

“Rigg has done a very significant piece of historical research and writing.”—Milt Rosenberg, WGN Radio, Chicago

5 October 2009
at 10:15 a.m.

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Plurilingual (Anonymous) says…

Marion (Marion Lynn) says…
Well?

Sorry, I didn't realize you were waiting in apprehension for my answer. Instead of linking and pasting, I'll just link:

http://www.oukosher.org/index.php/com…

http://www.grandin.com/ritual/kosher….

Marion (Marion Lynn) also says…

In a normal, non-Kosher slaughter, the animal is killed by a gas-powered mechanism which fires a retractable steel bolt through the skull and into the brain.Sounds gruesome, but when it's done properly, the animal dies instantly, and feels little or no pain.Afterwards, the lifeless animal is decapitated, and drained of blood.

On the other hand, Orthodox Jewish slaughter law requires that an animal being slaughtered must be ALIVE and AWARE while being rendered exsanguine(bloodless). A “shochet” ( Kosher butcher) binds the animal with rope, or has assistants hold it down. He then produces a long-bladed knife( not unlike a large straight razor with a fixed blade) and slits the live animals throat. The shochet then merely allows the animal to bleed to death on the floor, writhing in agony.In some instances, the assistants will began cutting open the torso and removing innards while the animal is still alive.

It normally takes at least a minute for the unfortunate creature to finally die.

Plurilingual responds…

And when Kosher or Halal slaughter is done properly they feel little or no pain.

Can you verify that Jewish Ritual Law requires the animal to be alive while it is drained of blood? This hardly makes sense as there is no way that an animal can survive long enough for all of it's blood to be drained. Can you also verify that methods of restraint are ordained in Jewish Ritual Law?

Alive does not imply the ability to feel pain. Once an animal has lost blood pressure to the brain, they quickly lose consciousness. This time period is variable of course. The rules are in place to minimize suffering while taking into account the need for meat.
5 October 2009
at 10:20 a.m.

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Plurilingual (Anonymous) says…

Marion (Marion Lynn) says…

By the way, Reb, since you don't like the topic of Kosher slaughter, any chance you'll comment on this one for us, published by the University Press of Kansas, mkay?

http://www.kansaspress.ku.edu/righit….

Plurilingual responds…

So there were members of the standing German army who were descendants of Jews during the rise of Hitler and during the Third Reich. What is your point? I'm sure that there were also homosexuals in the Wehrmacht as well, does that somehow minimize the persecution that homosexuals suffered at the hands of the Nazi regime?

What is your agenda anyways Marion?
5 October 2009
at 10:38 a.m.

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denak (Anonymous) says…

Plurilingual,

Don't waste your time trying to argue with Marion. He revels in his attempt to educate all of us backward hicks who believe in “superstition.”

It isn't anything personal against Jewish people per se. He tries this on every religious blog, article etc regardless if the religion is Christian, Jewish, Islamic, Buddahist, Santarian, etc.

Dena
5 October 2009
at 11:20 a.m.

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Dennis (Dennis Anderson) says…

A note to posters to this story:
Please bring the conversation back to the topic of this story or we will have to cut off comments.
Regards.
Dennis Anderson
Managing Editor