RABBI WEIN ON THE IRRELEVANCE OF IT ALL

In attempting to be currently relevant, in the long view of history and human events, is the danger of becoming totally irrelevant. This occurs when dealing with transient issues, when a long-term view is what is really necessary. By reading and listening to the media, the bloggers, and the party and convention planners among us, one would believe that the fate of the Jewish people, the State of Israel, the salvation of Torah Judaism and the general welfare of humankind is dependent on empowering women rabbis or excluding them, destroying or preserving an illegally built synagogue building and giving pat answers to very complex and complicated personal and family problems and issues. All of these issues have an importance in their own right but none of them, in the long run, are relevant to Jewish survival in a general sense. Women rabbis have been around for decades in the non-Orthodox synagogue world. Has their presence strengthened any of these faltering and failing groups?