TJ Hirst

Rabbi Morris Zimbalist and Bishop Paul Hirst conclude their conversation on similarities in their respective congregation. Read previous entries here.

Rabbi Zimbalist is the rabbi of Montebello Jewish Center in Montebello, NY. Bishop Hirst is the bishop of the Brainerd Ward of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Brainerd, MN.

In what ways do you participate in the larger community?

Rabbi Zimbalist: I am currently the President of the Rockland County Board of Rabbis, a group consisting of all non-Orthodox rabbis in the county. I am a trustee of the Holocaust Museum and Study Center in Rockland County. I am involved with the Jewish Federation, a member of the admissions committe for the Rabbinical School at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, and the chaplain for the local fire department. I am a former member of the editorial board for the Rockland Jewish Reporter and the former chaplain for the Jewish War Veterans of the State of New York.

Bishop Hirst: Personally, I’ve been a board member and president of a local arts group. However, because of church responsibilities, I’ve had to give some of that up. We are encouraging our members to reach out and participate as they are able in the community. We’re working on a community blood drive with the Red Cross this spring.

What is the most difficult aspect of your job?

Rabbi Zimbalist: Trying to please everyone. Facing every interpersonal interaction with a sense of uncertainty as to whether or not I am going to be able to help or guide someone with whatever questions or concerns they may be facing.

Bishop Hirst: Knowing how to reach those who, at one time, felt the Spirit and were participants but now, for all sorts of reasons, are not. They aren’t receiving and feeling the blessings that can be theirs.

Church discipline is also a difficult. Imposing consequences on others for their actions and choices is not pleasant. But there is often joy with it, too, as people repent and return to God.

What is the best part of your responsibilities?

Rabbi Zimbalist: Helping people through the more difficult life experiences - pastoral visits in hospitals, comforting and counseling families at a time of loss, taking care of the final needs of those who have passed away. When I do those things, I really feel that I am helping people, particularly helping them through a time of crisis, and I also feel like all of those efforts are appreciated.

Bishop Hirst: Interviewing the children before their baptisms. Watching people rise to the challenge.

What has surprised you, either in a positive or negative way, about your role as clergy?

Rabbi Zimbalist: I am most surprised that it is so incredibly hard to motivate volunteers to do anything, and that people look to me for more than spiritual, ritual or religious things.

Bishop Hirst: The mantle of the office is, in some ways, heavier than I anticipated. I’m also amazed, that while I’m not really a different person since being called and set apart, that people respect the office. I’m still the same, but the office I hold is sacred and people respond to that more than me personally. I was counseled when I was called to put my own “stamp” on the ward. I’ve been surprised how difficult this is, too.

I’ve also been surprised at how few middle-of-the-night calls I’ve received, so far. But I’ve also been told by others that it takes about a year for the members to start trusting, so I may have some more interesting experiences to look forward to, too.

To you, what is the most meaningful part of your faith?

Rabbi Zimbalist: The most meaningful part of my faith is constantly trying to grow closer to God in all that I do, both as a rabbi and as a Jew.

Bishop Hirst: My personal relationship with Christ. This relationship grows through living the covenants I have made with him, which covenants teach me to love my fellowman (Matt 22:36-40).

In Conclusion

This conversation has mostly illustrated that regardless of religious identification, the clergy and their families experience many similar joys and frustrations, and that practicing faith, teaching faith, and encouraging others to have faith is very challenging.

On a personal level, Alison said:

This conversation has taken me back to many memories of our adolescent friendship. The J family was much more religious than my family, and I remember going to church with you on Sunday mornings and sitting in your kitchen doing homework while your family had family prayer time in the next room. I never felt strange or out-of-place as a Jew in these situations. It never even occurred to me that maybe others would feel that way in that situation! It is that same religious respect that I think is reflected throughout this “e-conversation.” I think we can only hope that our children will grow up with those same views towards others who practice different religions, even as they live very different religious lives

Reconnecting in this way with Alison and Morrie reminded Teresa of her interest in and respect of their Jewish faith back in high school. Teresa said:

The rich symbolism and history appealed to me then and it still does. I teach a religion class about the Old Testament to high school students. The personal connection with the practices of a modern Jewish family enriched that study and the class discussions with the LDS youth. And in our own family, as Paul said, we learned some new interesting things about Judaism that we didn’t know before.

Overall, we have been amazed at the similarities this conversation uncovered. Most of all, our goals seem to be the same—that is to have our members draw nearer to God through living the commandments and their covenants.

Rabbi Morris Zimbalist is the rabbi of Montebello Jewish Center in Montebello, NY. Bishop Paul Hirst is the bishop of the Brainerd Ward of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Brainerd, MN. Rabbi Zimbalist and Bishop Hirst continue their conversation on similarities in their respective congregation. Read previous entries here.

What responsibilities do you have beyond worship services?

Rabbi Zimbalist: I teach in all aspects of synagogue life, from the religious school to the Bar and Bat Mitzvah students to adult education classes. I am also the ma’ara d’atra—final religious authority—in all ritual aspects of congregational life. I lead daily religious services in the morning. Much of my day is spent counseling members of the congregation, visiting the sick, and tending to the needs of the community. I regularly officiate at all life cycle events, including funerals, weddings, circumcisions and baby namings. As the rabbi, I attend most committee meetings and provide counsel and direction to the lay leaders in the community.

Bishop Hirst: I have 6 basic doctrinal responsibilities: First, the bishop is the president of the Aaronic Priesthood. The priesthood is divided in two, Melchizedek priesthood and Aaronic priesthood. The Aaronic Priesthood is the priesthood of temporal needs. I’m responsible for the young men (12-18 years old), and more particularly those 16-18.

Second, I am the presiding high priest in the ward of the Melchizedek priesthood. This priesthood is the priesthood of leadership and holds the keys of spiritual blessings in the Church.

Third, as a common judge, I’m responsible for making sure there is no iniquity in the Church. Some sins require confession to a priesthood leader. Depending on the severity of the transgression, the position and/or maturity of the member, a Church disciplinary council can be conducted to determine the member’s standing in the Church.

Fourth, I’m responsible for the spending of funds to help the poor and needy in the ward. Most of the time, people come to me. However, I’m also responsible to find them, too.

Fifth, I can (and do) delegate the administrative functions of recordkeeping to clerks. I’m responsible, but I have them do most of the work.

Sixth, we are an evangelical church. We want to share the Gospel with others. The members are the best ones to share the joy it brings them with their friends and neighbors. Having said that, we’re also certainly respectful of other peoples beliefs, see our Article of Faith 11. We have full-time missionaries, 19-year-old young men, who serve in our area and teach people who are interested. I also have a member called as the ward mission leader who coordinates and leads these efforts.

How do you manage staffing other responsibilities?

Rabbi Zimbalist: Being at a small synagogue, we have very few paid professionals running the daily and religious activities. In addition to myself, we have a full-time secretary, a part-time principal, a part-time nursery director, and a part-time custodian. We rely heavily on volunteers, and for most of our volunteers, they try to make as much time as possible to tend to synagogue needs, but oftentimes many important projects get left behind, or I end up trying my best to pick up the slack.

We don’t give formal assignments; however I try to find the capable leaders in my community and inspire and impress upon them the need to rise to leadership positions.

Bishop Hirst: The Church functions with a lay-priesthood and unpaid volunteers (including my position). I’m responsible for calling various individuals to the various assignments in the ward organization. I call them just like I’m called. I seek inspiration for the right person for the right call, counsel with my counselors and then we issue the call, asking them to serve in that particular capacity. Most calls do not have time frames or limits, but we try and be aware of individual circumstances that would necessitate a change.

Each member should have a calling or responsibility. It is through serving others that we often grow the most. It is also a way to fellowship, learn and discover new things.

There never seems to be enough people—at least not enough dedicated and committed people. For the most part, people fulfill their callings. But, some of those called struggle to fulfill their responsibility, and others don’t do it at all. We do our best to encourage, train, teach and provide the resources necessary to be successful in their responsibility.

What do you do to inspire volunteers to give, either in time, financially, or otherwise?

Rabbi Zimbalist: I try to impress upon my entire congregation the need to care for community and to take care of each other. Whether it’s from the pulpit, private conversations, or modeling my own behavior, I try to help them see that we’re all part of something much greater than ourselves.

Bishop Hirst: What do we do? Or what do we do effectively to inspire them? If I could answer the latter question, it’d be a different world. The most effective inspiration comes from the Spirit—when the members sense the importance of what they do and that feeling comes from God. My efforts are geared towards helping them feel the Spirit so they’ll want to be motivated from Him, not because of guilt, or other things.

Do you make people mad in the course of trying to accomplish your responsibilities?

Rabbi Zimbalist: I certainly try not to make people mad; however, in the course of accomplishing any goal, there are bound to be people who disagree, be it respectfully or not respectfully. I try hard in everything that I do to be as sensitive to other people’s feelings and emotions and needs as possible, but unfortunately, sometimes people get upset. More often than not, those who are upset either speak directly to me or to others, which allows me the opportunity to reach out to them and try to resolve the situation.

Bishop Hirst: Most of the time, people get mad when I don’t help them financially. We do have occasional other times when individuals feel too much might be expected of them. Most disagreements of this sort are more administrative in nature, but somewhat rooted in doctrinal misunderstandings. I suppose there may also be times when I’ve said something that someone has taken offense to when no offense was intended.

In one particular case, a member called the stake president to complain about things I supposedly said or did. They were looking to have the Church help them in the way they wanted to be helped, rather than accept the conditions upon which they receive help (which is a whole conversation in itself).

What aspect of faith in your members is most inspiring?

Rabbi Zimbalist: Seeing a commitment to something bigger than themselves, their desire to create and foster a sacred relationship with God, and how familial traditions get passed down from generation to generation in accordance with religious tradition and ritual.

Bishop Hirst: The dramatic change that takes place in the lives of people as they live according to the covenants they have personally made with God and seeing people with challenges in their life draw strength from their faith in God and Jesus Christ.

What do you see in members of other faiths that your members could learn from?

Rabbi Zimbalist: I feel strongly that people of all faiths can learn from each other because all share the common sentiments of responsibility for their community, teaching, and love of God.

Bishop Hirst: To be less insular, more outgoing. But mostly, being happy in their faith; it shouldn’t be a drudgery (something I should remember, too). Maybe even being less afraid to be who they are.

This conversation will continue next Wednesday, April 23. Read previous entries or join the conversation by leaving your own comments below.

Rabbi Morris Zimbalist is the rabbi of Montebello Jewish Center in Montebello, New York. He was ordained from the Jewish Theological Seminary of America in 2002 and was the recipient of the Lillian M. Lowenfeld Prize for excellence in the field of practical theology. A native of St. Louis, Missouri, Rabbi Zimbalist grew up in the Conservative movement and was very active in his synagogue, participated in United Synagogue Youth and attended both Camp Herzl and Camp Ramah. He firmly believes in the importance of living a Jewish life and that there must be continuity in Jewish education from the classroom, to the synagogue and in the home. Rabbi Zimbalist graduated from Boston University where he earned a B.A. in Psychology and a minor in Political Science.

Bishop Paul Hirst is the bishop of the Brainerd Ward of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Brainerd, MN. He was ordained and set apart on April 29, 2007. A native of Salt Lake City, Utah, he was baptized a member of the LDS Church when he was eight years old and served a two-year full-time mission for the Church in Finland. Bishop Hirst graduated from Brigham Young University, receiving a B.S. in civil engineering, and from the Washington University (in St. Louis) Graduate School of Architecture, receiving a masters of architecture. He is a licensed and practicing architect.

How did you come to be a member of the clergy in your religion?
Rabbi Zimbalist: I always felt the strong need to help others, and being raised in a fairly observant Jewish home, I was ingrained with the core religious value that we should care for one another. While in college, I pursued psychology, which gave me a deeper understanding of people but left me with a certain sense of a religious void. So I took my passion to help and the insights from the study of psychology and pursued Judaism from a more serious and in-depth perspective. The rabbinate seemed like a natural and logical path.

Bishop Hirst: I was “called” to the position by the Duluth stake president, who received approval for the call from the First Presidency, the highest governing body of the Church. This is not a call you can “sign up for” or volunteer. You usually don’t directly know you’re being considered until you’ve been called.

What education and/or training have you received or do you continue to receive?
Rabbi Zimbalist: I graduated Boston University with an undergraduate degree in psychology and a minor in political science. I then attended The Jewish Theological Seminary of America in Manhattan (a six-year program), in which I earned a Masters in Judaic Studies and was ordained as a rabbi. I am currently finishing a two-year program, studying the laws and acquiring the skills to write writs of Jewish divorce (a get). For four of my six years there, I served as the student rabbi at Congregation Sons of Israel in Amsterdam, NY, a very small, elderly and loving community near Albany. I assumed all rabbinic duties there, and Alison and I went there twice a month and for all Jewish holidays so that I could lead services, visit the sick, etc.

Bishop Hirst: There is little formal training. We receive a “Church Handbook of Instructions” that outlines the basic policies and procedures for the Church. Additional administrative training is available from the stake president, other stake leaders and online at the Church’s web site. Ecclesiastical training, however, comes through experience in the Church, personal study, and occasional leadership training meetings provided by the leaders of our stake (a stake is a group of congregations in a geographical area).

How many families/members in your congregation?
Rabbi Zimbalist: We have 270 families in our congregation, approximately 950 individuals.

Bishop Hirst: We have about 250 families in our congregation, which is called a ward, with about 475 members. Ward boundaries are determined geographically.

When and how do you participate in Sabbath worship?
Rabbi Zimbalist: The Jewish Sabbath (Shabbat) begins at sundown on Friday evening and ends an hour after sundown on Saturday evening. I conduct worship services on Friday evenings, which last approximately one hour. Services are primarily in Hebrew, and the liturgy focuses on welcoming in Shabbat. On Saturday mornings, services last approximately three hours. We read from the Torah (the Old Testament), and I deliver a sermon on a teaching from the Torah or the books of the prophets. The liturgy includes morning hymns (psalms), the daily morning prayers with special inclusions for Shabbat, a service centered around the Torah, and an additional service for Shabbat. After services, the entire congregation shares lunch together.

On a personal level, the Sabbath is a time of complete rest in which I refrain from normal work day activities. For example, I do not use the car, computer, telephone, etc. on Shabbat. I do not turn on appliances or cook, write, or spend money. In Judaism, there are 39 major categories of work that are prohibited on Shabbat, all of which were derived from the work that our biblical ancestors did as they constructed the Tabernacle.

Bishop Hirst: For us, sabbath worship is very personal. As a church, we try and keep the sabbath, which means avoiding certain things and making an effort to do other things. There aren’t any hard rules about keeping the sabbath. The doctrine is that we take one day a week (Sunday) to rest from our wordly labors and spend time on more spiritual things. We’ve been asked to avoid working (where possible), shopping, recreating, etc. on the sabbath. We’ve been encouraged to attend worship services, spend time studying the scriptures, visiting the sick and lonely. The principle is to do those things that increase our spirituality and draw us closer to God, and avoid those that don’t. I would add that it is probably one of the most difficult commandments for our members to keep.

Our main meeting on Sunday is sacrament meeting. The most important aspect of the meeting is the partaking of the sacrament (or communion). Since it’s an ordinance, I make sure it’s conducted properly. We sing hymns, occasionally conduct business and hear messages from members of the congregation previously invited to prepare remarks. Once a month, we have a “testimony” meeting where members of the congregation are able to bear testimony of various principles of the gospel-what they’ve learned and know spiritually.

What are your responsibilities for the Sabbath worship?

Rabbi Zimbalist: I conduct services, read Torah, deliver sermons, sometimes lead congregational prayer, and sometimes teach study sessions.

Bishop Hirst: My primary responsibility is to preside at the sacrament meeting, making sure that it is conducted appropriately. I share the sacrament meeting conducting duties with my two counselors. We rotate each month. The person responsible suggests who speaks and makes the invitations. We ensure those asked to speak know where to get their information and stay on topic and within doctrine. I also can, and do, occasionally take a few minutes at the end of the meeting to teach, exhort, expound or encourage the members in attendance. When it’s my month to conduct, I have the opportunity to also bear testimony at the beginning of the monthly testimony meeting.

Rabbi Zimbalist and Bishop Hirst will continue this conversation on Wednesdays throughout April. A new entry will be posted next Wednesday, April 16. You may read previous entires here and are welcome to share your comments below.

The beginning of this conversation started in a suburban St. Louis high school in the late 1980’s. Alison, a member of a Conservative Jewish synagogue, and Teresa, a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, were best friends during those years.

After years of pursuing educational and career paths in different parts of the United States, solidifying their own belief systems and establishing their own families, Alison and Teresa are now reconnecting with something new in common—they are both wives of clergy.

Alison is the wife of Morrie Zimbalist, a rabbi of a Conservative synagogue in Suffern, NY. Teresa is the wife of Paul Hirst, a bishop in the LDS Church in Brainerd, MN.

Their seemingly different life paths have brought them together in a common conversation about their husbands’ roles. This series is a comparative look into those roles. These conversations begin where they started, from the wives’ perspectives:

What kind of involvement do you as the wife have in the congregation? How do you support him there?

Alison: As a rabbinic family, we strive to be examples, in all ways, for those in the congregation to follow. This is true not only in our religious observance in public and at home but also in our dedication to the synagogue. When Morrie became a pulpit rabbi six years ago, I decided that my dedication to and involvement in the synagogue would be focused on the things that most interest me and where I can be truly useful, rather than spreading myself too thin across every element of synagogue life.

For example, I’m not really very active in Sisterhood (the women’s branch of the temple), and I don’t attend every service that many probably think I “should” attend. But, when our son was an infant, I decided to start a mommy-and-me class that would hopefully develop into a nursery school.

We started that class twice a week in one classroom with eight moms and babies, and now, four years later, we have over 50 children ages 4 months through Pre-Kindergarten, five days a week, taking over six classrooms. We even have a summer camp!

I help direct the school and serve as its registrar and as a baby-and-me teacher. I also saw the need for toddler services (we call it Tot Shabbat), and I designed and lead those. I am a founder of the Young Couples Club, and I run junior congregation for the kindergarten through second graders on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.

In terms of directly supporting my husband, I think he’d agree that I’m his right-hand woman. I support him in every way, from being a sounding board to helping him develop programming to nagging him to get things done (people tend to nag me to nag him!) to occassionally filling in for his secretary.

Teresa: In the LDS church we do not have a paid clergy. All leadership, teaching and service is provided by the members themselves. In our congregation, called a ward, each member is given a responsibility, known as a calling, which is prayerfully determined by the bishop and his counselors who work with him. As a member of the ward I also receive a calling, just like the other ward members, but out of respect to the burdens placed on a bishop, the calling for a bishop’s wife is generally not a leadership responsibility.

When Paul was called to be a bishop in April 2007, I was a president of the Relief Society, the organization for women in our church, and served women and trained presidencies in the eleven Relief Societies in our area. Shortly after he became bishop, I was given a new calling as a family history consultant, helping members to research their own family history. I also teach a youth religion class two days a week, and I am a visitng teacher, which is an assignment in the Relief Society to watch over several women by visitng and calling them regularly.

Although I do feel my responsibilities support his efforts, I often want to do more when I know that human resources to meet needs and accomplish goals are limited. However, I restrain my tendencies to offer my own time and talents (or even opinions or reminders) so that other individuals can have the opportunities to develop their capacity by fulfilling assignments.

What is the personal impact of his responsibilities on you? On your family?

Alison: As much (or more) as he is a spiritual leader, Morrie is an employee of the synagogue. His “employer” is about 1,000 members. Thus, he’s on call 24 hours a day, and days off are scheduled but certainly not always used. We are fortunate that we live on the synagogue grounds, and he is able to arrange his schedule so that we usually have three meals a day as a family! And with Zachary in the nursery school and me as a work-at-home mom, we do see each other a lot. I would say that’s a very, very rare situation for a rabbinic family.

Teresa: Paul gives a lot of time as bishop. He has a full-time job in addition to being a bishop, and so he fulfills most of his church responsibilities in the evenings and on the weekends, more than 20 hours per week. Much of that time is put in on Sundays, which can be long and a little lonely for me, at home and at church. Sometimes I feel somewhat invisible as the bishop’s wife to other members of the congregation.

We do set aside time for just our family, though, like Sunday dinner followed by a walk, Monday night for a family home evening, and Friday night for dates. Despite the sacrifices, I see more positive impact than negative and appreciate the blessings from his service. The most important blessing is the increase of spiritual strength I feel in our home because he and I and our children are more focused on living the doctrine he is teaching and leading others to live.

How do you give him support at home for his responsibilities?

Alison: The biggest way I support him at home is making sure things are being taken care of so he doesn’t have to worry about them. In Yiddush, the expression is “ba’alah bust’ah” - the woman head of the house who basically is a whirlwind of psychotic energy. I’m the very hands-on mommy, the cleaner, the cook, the fishtank cleaner, the bill payer, the laundress, the errand-runner. I’m also his at-home secretary, sounding board, and head cheerleader. Fortunately, he is all of those things and more for me too.

Teresa: In a temporal sense, I make sure his needs are met. My husband always wears a suit with a white shirt and tie when he serves, and I keep busy ironing white shirts. While he does have an office at the church and an executive secretary, he still receives many phone calls and all his mail at our home, which involves me staying organized. He used to cook dinner on Sundays when I was a leader; now, I do that for him. In a spiritual sense, I try to create a calm, spiritual tone in our home with regular routines like family and couple prayer, eating dinner together as a family, and studying the scriptures. We try not to add too much mental and emotional stress to his load. And all this creates a good atmosphere so that he may receive the inspiration he needs.

Alison and Teresa continue their conversation next Wednesday, April 7, when they introduce their husbands, the rabbi and the bishop, and share some of the similarities between the congregations they lead.

Six she prepares,

the seventh he wears.

In this silent time

set apart to serve Him.