by Yori Yanover

Rabbi Romm’s women’s class is a major Lower East Side attraction

t’s a quiet, warm October Monday night, and as I’m walking to Rabbi Zvi Romm’s women’s class I see them walking quickly, in small groups, gathering from all over the Grand Street area: Teenage girls, young mothers, grandmothers. They are 25 or 30 housewives and teachers, attorneys and doctors. Their religious education runs the gamut from FFB (Frum-religious from Birth) to recent returnees (Nouveau Frum). Eventually, we end up in the vast basement study hall of the Bialystoker Synagogue on Willett Street (also known as Bialystoker Place). Chatty and personable, the women take their seats, pressed together on the benches alongside the rabbi’s table, or spread out alone or in small groups on the prayer benches nearby.

Rabbi Romm, leader of the largest synagogue on the Lower East Side, is pleasant and self-confident. In my view, he is the epitome of the small L. liberal Jewish scholar: Open-minded, broadly educated, steeped in the culture and exceedingly, even stubbornly moderate. The proliferation of educational programs seeded by the Bialystoker is an unmistakable mark of Romm’s approach to his role in the neighborhood.

“I believe that study and education are the cornerstone of an informed Jewish life,” he says. “Study is not just a way of educating oneself but ultimately a way of perfecting one’s character and bringing one even closer to God.”

The challenge inherent in that statement, according to the rabbi, is in making the synagogue a Jewish resource for a wide variety of local men and women, coming from a variety of different educational and religious backgrounds and levels of observance.

The most recent endeavor of Romm and his very supportive membership has been the Hah-vah-nah (understanding) program, which is run in collaboration with the Educational Alliance.

Dubbed “Your Portal to Jewish Understanding,” the fall series offers a Crash Course in Hebrew Reading, The Story of Chanukah, Infusing Life with Spirituality, and the ever popular, Inside the Kosher Kitchen.

“Our goal at The Educational Alliance has always been to be a center for the whole community,” says Lauren Greilsheimer, Director of the Edgie’s Downtown Community Center. “By partnering with Bialystoker and the inspiring Rabbi Romm, we get a chance to add another important facet to our diverse range of offerings.”

Jewish adult education can be a tricky thing, according to Rabbi Romm. “You have to recognize that just because people are not educated Jewishly doesn’t mean that they’re unintelligent or unsophisticated. It just means that they lack certain discrete pieces of knowledge. The challenge is to recognize that we’re speaking to adults who have a tremendous educational background in secular fields and to respect that and bring that to bear on the Judaic material which we present them.” I ask for some concrete examples.

“I just gave this particular course the other night about Shabbos candles,” says Rabbi Romm. “I presented the topic of Shabbos lights not just as, okay, do this, do that, but utilized the conceptual model. We don’t skimp on the degree of philosophical sophistication in presenting the topic.”

Miriam Katz, a local yeshiva teacher living in East River Housing attends Rabbi Romm’s Monday night women’s class. “I’ve been taking it since he started,” she says. “The class topic changes every year. One year was devoted to understanding prayer and I got from it a very different outlook on praying. I understand what I’m saying, what’s behind it. It really changed my life. Rabbi Romm brought clarity to the words of God for me.”

I ask Rabbi Romm if he’d be happy to see that, after taking his program, students would attend a different synagogue or pursue a different, parallel spiritual path.

“Absolutely,” he says. “This is not an attempt to drum up membership, it’s not even a backhanded way to make people observant. This is a way to educate people. People can make choices about their Judaism when they’re educated about it.

“People often think – what do Jews study? So there’s this big cookbook that says, do this - don’t do this - kinda’ do this - do this but feel really guilty about it, and that’s basically it. People have to appreciate the depth of traditional Jewish philosophy and law. If people even walk away with just that appreciation—You know, this is deep stuff—it’s a major achievement.”

The Hebrew course now being offered at the Edgies has been running at the Bialystoker for some time now. Product designer Jac Zagoory and his wife, attorney Jodi Zagoory, who live in Seward Park Housing, took the Hebrew class together.

“The most important thing is that I felt welcome,” says Jac. “They went out of their way to inform us about the classes, reminding us, finding out afterwards how we felt about it.”

“The teacher, Israel Epstein, was wonderful,” says Jodi. “Very bright, very knowledgeable, very patient. It was a really nice experience.”

Rabbi Romm is cagey only about his syllabus for the December class at the Edgies, Infusing Life with Spirituality. “You should come and find out for yourself,” he says. “It’s something that the unaffiliated could appreciate, and people have started signing up already…”

Besides the kosher cooking class, one series promises to be distinctly unpredictable: Irreverent Heeb Magazine humorist / Ramaz history instructor David Deutsch is teaching the history of the Hasmoneans, right before Chanukah. That’s almost too much fun for the $5 price of admission.

HAH-VAH-NAH, all workshops begin at 8 pm at The Educational Alliance197 East Broadway, $5 per workshop, register by phone at 212.475.0165 ext. 11, or at info@bialystoker.org, get the complete brochure online at bialystoker.org