Will AI Replace Rabbis?

The debate around AI in the rabbinate parallels conversations in other fields.

The buzz around artificial intelligence (AI) has reached nearly every profession, from law to medicine to accounting, and yes, even to the rabbinate. As more people discover the power of AI tools like ChatGPT, rabbis are experimenting with how this technology might assist them in crafting sermons, teaching Torah and connecting with their communities. But as with so many technological innovations, the rise of AI has sparked both fascination and fear. Could AI actually replace rabbis?

In December 2022, I watched my colleague Rabbi Joshua Franklin of the Jewish Center of the Hamptons put this question to the test in a Facebook video. He delivered a sermon written entirely by ChatGPT and only revealed the source at the end. The reaction was mixed — some congregants were amazed at the technology, while others were disturbed at the thought of a “robot rabbi.” Rabbi Franklin himself admitted that the AI sermon was coherent but lacked the depth, emotion and human connection that make one of his typical sermons truly impactful.

Michigan's Car Dealership Mogul Jay Feldman: Driven to Give Back

Over the past decade, Jay Feldman has established himself as one of Michigan’s most impactful philanthropists. Starting his career in the automotive industry at just 15, selling cars at his father’s Chevrolet dealership in Milford, Feldman demonstrated an entrepreneurial spirit early on. By age 25, he owned his first dealership. Through strategic acquisitions and partnerships, he expanded his business from a single dealership to a thriving network.

Today, the automotive mogul and Northwood University graduate combines his business acumen with a deep sense of compassion. Partnering with actor and business associate Mark Wahlberg, Feldman has raised millions for causes close to his heart, supporting children’s hospitals, abused children, first responders, and wounded veterans.

Feldman’s portfolio includes numerous car dealerships and RV centers across Michigan and Ohio, many co-owned with Wahlberg. While running his automotive empire occupies much of his time, philanthropy has become a second full-time passion.

“Jay’s generosity and philanthropy are impressive,” said Rabbi Michael Moskowitz of Temple Shir Shalom in West Bloomfield, where Feldman is a member. “We’ve had many conversations about the importance of giving back to the community. His work with the Children’s Miracle Network is truly inspiring, and we look forward to seeing the continued impact of his efforts.”

Dr. Jeffrey Ditkoff, Senior Vice President and Chief Quality Officer of Corewell Health, echoed this sentiment: “We are extremely grateful for Jay Feldman’s support. His generosity and commitment have greatly benefited our patients and health system.”

The Rise of Live Streaming High Holiday Services: A Blessing or a Challenge for Jewish Communities?

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Jewish world, like many religious communities, witnessed a dramatic shift in how synagogue services were conducted. With social distancing measures and public health concerns, synagogues across the globe turned to technology to keep their congregations connected. Now, several years later, the impact of live streaming services, especially during the High Holidays of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, continues to reshape synagogue attendance patterns. Like most changes to synagogue life sparked by technological innovation in the 21st Century, there are both positives and negatives.

Traditionally, the High Holidays have been a time when Jewish community members, regardless of observance level throughout the year, attend synagogue to reflect, pray, and connect with others. However, since the onset of the pandemic, streaming services have emerged as an alternative to in-person High Holiday attendance. What began as a necessity has become an option that many Jewish individuals and families now prefer. This shift is particularly noticeable this year, as Rosh Hashanah falls on weekdays, providing a convenient way for people to “attend” services from their home or office without missing work.

The Jewish Ethics of Google Reviews

A generation ago, if you experienced bad service in a restaurant or a dirty hotel room, you told a few friends about your unfortunate experience. It might have influenced their decision about future dining choices or where to stay on vacation, but the impact on those businesses was insignificant. In today’s digital age, the power of the internet allows users to broadcast their displeasure to thousands of people around the world within minutes.

The effects of an online review cannot be underestimated. Whether you’re choosing a venue for your daughter’s wedding, a tour guide for your family vacation or a new orthodontist to put braces on your kids, chances are you’ve consulted online reviews to help guide your decision. These reviews have become an integral part of how we interact with businesses, yet the ethical considerations of leaving a review are often overlooked. As both a rabbi and the owner of a technology company that manages Google reviews, I’ve given much thought to the Jewish ethical perspective on this modern phenomenon.

Israel's Memorial Day 2024

As I drove through Basel, Switzerland in my rental car yesterday, many thoughts raced through my head. Only a short five-minute walk from my hotel is the Stadtcasino in Basel, the location where the First Zionist Congress was held in 1897. This meeting was convened and chaired, of course, by Theodor Herzl, the founder of the modern Zionism movement. 

It was at this event they adopted the poem "Hatikvah" as the official anthem of the new Zionist Organization. Meaning the hope, it would later become the national anthem of the State of Israel. I often remark at bar and bat mitzvahs how fitting it is that the national anthem of Israel translates as "the hope" because that is what keeps us feeling optimistic for the future. We must remain hopeful to pass our Jewish heritage to the next generations.

As I drove I thought of how the city of Basel played such a prominent role in the story of the miraculous Nation of Israel. I also thought about how Yom Hazikaron, Israel's Day of Remembrance, would begin later that evening in Israel. Yom Hazikaron, a day in which we pay our respect to the fallen who died protecting the Jewish State, was built on the ashes of the Shoah. I smiled as I considered the irony of these thoughts while driving my rented Volkswagen.

As we honor those who defended the State of Israel today on Yom Hazikaron, I salute all those who serve Israel so that the Jewish people continue to have a homeland. At a time when anti-Semitism is once again permeating throughout the world and there are anti-Israel protests on most American college campuses, it is so dire that Israel be protected from its enemies on all sides. When the sun sets in Israel this evening on Yom Hazikaron, the Jewish people worldwide will celebrate Israel's 76th year of independence. We will sing Hatikvah with pride and be hopeful for the future. That is all we can ever do.

Norman Lear and Starbucks

With the ongoing Writers Guild of America strike meaning no Daily Show with Jon Stewart or Colbert Report (although the writers are putting funny stuff on YouTube), I've been forced to find other TV shows to watch.

One of my favorites has been the Iconoclasts series on the Sundance Channel. I first saw one of these programs several months ago when they featured Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder and surfing icon Laird Hamilton. The other day I watched the Iconoclasts episode matching Starbucks Chairman Howard Schultz (with me at below) and Norman Lear. The two men are very fond of each other, have much more in common than anyone would imagine, and have teamed up in some very lucrative ways. The combination made this a very Jewish episode.

I actually knew a great deal about Howard Schultz before I saw this program. I heard him speak about his upbringing, influences, and vision at a Jewish Federation event in Ann Arbor a few years ago. Earlier in the day of the event, I happened to be at a local Ann Arbor Starbucks having a meeting with a Hillel donor and Howard Schultz walked in. I observed him doing exactly what he says he does and what is portrayed in the Iconoclasts episode about him. He walked up to each worker ("partner") in the Starbucks store, shook their hand, patted them on the back, and told them that he genuinely was proud of their hard work. He then made his way over to our table, sat down, and shmoozed for a few minutes as if he wasn't the busy executive running a billion-dollar corporation that opens eight new stores per day. At the Jewish Federation event later that evening he remembered our conversation without any prompting.

Schultz speaks openly that his Judaism influences his code of business principles and I have used him as an example many times when teaching about Jewish business ethics. Our nanny, who has become a part of our family, moonlights as a part-time Starbucks manager and has confirmed to me that it really is a great place to work (full health care benefits for all part-time staff).

How much I knew about Howard Schultz is how little I knew about Norman Lear, the Jewish creator of all those 70's TV shows (All in the Family, Good Times, the Jeffersons, Sanford and Son, etc.). As Norman Lear describes in an online interview with Aish.com, Judaism has infused his life's work. In the interview, as in the Iconoclasts presentation, Lear explains the Talmudic story that he loves and and lives by:

There's a Talmudic story that I love, that seems to cover everything to me. A man should have a jacket with two pockets. In the first pocket there should be a piece of paper on which is written, "I am but dust and ashes." In the second, a piece of paper on which it is written "For me the world was created." That's mama loshon to me, real common sense. The person who can live between that ying and yang has it made.

The two men appear like a loving father and son that had been separated for years. They share similar ethics and have each revolutionized their own trade (Schultz by selling coffee in new ways and treating his workers in better ways, and Lear with racy TV characters like Archie Bunker to get Americans to think about racial and religious tolerance in new ways). Together, they have teamed up on entrepreneurial initiatives like selling music at Starbucks (the award-winning Ray Charles CD -- the last of his life -- being their first attempt) and on social and political issues (getting young people to vote).

The highlights of the presentation are in Lear's home, where he shows his original copy of the Declaration of Independence to Howard Schultz, and in their tour of the Seattle warehouse where Starbucks coffee is produced. Each man shows remarkable pride in the other and the Jewish people should take great pride in these men. It is their Judaism that has made them who they are.

Sam Woll - A Charismatic, Passionate Pursuer of Peace and Justice

“Rabbi, our Hillel needs to stop buying Coke products.”

This was the first thing Samantha Woll said to me when I started my new job at the University of Michigan Hillel Foundation in 2004. It was odd hearing Sam call me “Rabbi.” First, I had only very recently been ordained so I still wasn’t used to the title. And, second, I had known Sam since she was in elementary school – a classmate and friend of my younger brother – so the formality felt unnecessary and perhaps dramatic. But Sam was being respectful.

Ban Coke at Hillel? I thought the request seemed odd. I grew up in a home that never had Pepsi because that company adhered to a boycott of Israel when I was a kid. I seem to recall my mom telling me that Jews drink Coke and non-Jews drink Pepsi. Looking back it seems like she was getting her information less from Middle East politics and more from Lenny Bruce.

I listened to Sam’s impassioned arguments that the Coca-Cola corporation was complicit in human rights abuses and environmental violations in Colombia and India. She knew her stuff. I would come to learn that about Sam Woll – agree or disagree with her, she always knew the facts of the case. As Sam continued her argument about why not only Hillel should stop buying Coca-Cola products, but the entire University should suspend their contracts, my mind immediately went to the more than 100 two-liter bottles of Coke and Sprite in the Hillel basement. We put two bottles on every table for Shabbat dinner every Friday night, not to mention all the Coke bottles we served in our daily kosher lunch program and just about every event we hosted in the building. Weekly, we’d receive deliveries of pallets of these Coke bottles. I likely had a 6-pack of Diet Coke in my office at the time and I was most likely sipping on a can as Sam pleaded her case with me. Two thoughts crossed my mind after that conversation with Sam. One, this energetic young person was going to be an amazing congresswoman someday. And, two, what had I gotten myself into with this new job? 

I hadn’t planned to be a Hillel rabbi. After six years at the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York, I had only looked for jobs at synagogues around the country. But, with a newborn baby and all of our family in the Metro Detroit area, when I got a call from the executive director I jumped at the opportunity. Looking back it was the ideal first job for me as a rabbi. Precisely because of students like Samantha Woll. 

Sam taught me how to listen. She would ride her bicycle with the wide handlebars to Hillel wearing her hippy-slash-Modern Orthodox chic clothing with a large scarf and a bandana in her jet-black curls. Sam was a regular at Shabbat dinners and holiday meals, often bringing her non-Jewish friends to join her. She had friends in just about every faith community on campus. She was involved in anything related to social justice. Sam was the chairperson of both the Tzedek (social action) group and the VIA (Volunteers in Action) group. She seemed to show up at every event. Usually at the tail end. And she’d stay long after most people had left, sticking around to engage in heated discussions. Sam was captivating when she spoke. She always spoke from her heart, but she was whip-smart too. What a combination! When you talked with Sam she would always look you directly in the eyes and her gaze stayed there throughout the discussion. She would let you talk and her active listening skills were evident as she nodded repeatedly to your every argument. But then she would take over and you had no choice but to listen. Our mantra at Hillel was that the students run the show and the staff was there in a supporting role. It was an important first stop for me in my rabbinate because it taught me the value of stepping back and letting the students develop their leadership skills. I learned to hear others' opinions and consider different ways of thinking about a myriad of important topics. I was the rabbi at Hillel, but Samantha Woll was my teacher there. 

Oftentimes, Sam and I would be engaged in a deep conversation at Hillel after Friday night dinner and she would want to continue the discussion so she'd join me on my walk home. I remember watching in awe as Sam debated with an Orthodox student about the Jewish view of abortion during a Passover lunch. From Muslim-Jewish relations to Israel to income inequality to the Coca-Cola corporation, Sam was always fired up. She was a Zionist. She was an advocate. She wanted to fix our broken world. This was Sam’s agenda on a daily basis.

I might not have always agreed with her opinion, but I respected it and I was always left in awe of how much she knew and how much she cared. She truly exemplified tikkun olam, which came from a deep place in her heart. In 2005, Sam was presented with an award at our annual end-of-the-year gala for her dedication to tzedakah (charitable righteousness) and social action.

In more recent years, I relived these discussions with Sam and that fire was still there. Whenever I saw her, she would ask me, "How's Jake?" She was genuinely interested to know how my brother was doing. We sat together at a Hillary Clinton event in 2016. We immediately became engaged in a discussion about the campaign, the impact of the upcoming election, and the issues with which Sam was involved. As Hillary approached our section, Sam handed me her phone and I took a photo of these two remarkable women. 

At the end of February 2020 (right before the pandemic), I was a guest rabbi at a synagogue in Lansing for Shabbat. Seeing Sam's friendly face in the congregation made my day. When I saw her walk into the hallway, I left the service and followed her out so we could catch up. Sam invited me to an Elissa Slotkin event the next day and explained why she found Elissa to be the type of politician she could back 100%. Again, Sam's passion was remarkable and her insight into so many issues was impressive. 

The past couple of summers, Sam and her parents and her sister's family have been at Camp Michigania during the same week as our family. This past summer, Sam eagerly told me about the renovation project of her beloved Downtown Synagogue, where she had been serving as the congregational president. She told me about the work she was doing with Dana Nessel, Michigan's Attorney General. And of course, she told me (with that same fire) about the many social justice initiatives she was working on in the City of Detroit. The revitalization of Detroit was one of Sam's righteous causes and her role as a change agent has been obvious.

Sam was such a kind and generous soul. Sam loved all people. She cared deeply about the livelihood, freedom, and fairness that everyone, from all walks of life, deserved. There’s a photo that’s been circulating on social media of Sam holding a Torah scroll close to her body on the Detroit River Walk. When I first saw the photo I immediately thought that Samantha Woll is literally holding the Torah close to her heart just as she has always held her own torah close to her heart. Her deeply held convictions and her sense of justice – those were the values that made up Sam’s torah. 

What happened to her is so horrific, so tragic and so terrible. Our broken world is even more broken now that Sam has left us. We've lost one of our globe's best and brightest. May the memory of Samantha Woll be for blessings and may her family and all who loved Sam find comfort during this time of shock and sorrow. 

Rabbi Jason Miller taught Samantha Woll’s 8th grade Mishna class at Hillel Day School as a substitute teacher and had the honor of learning with and from her at the University of Michigan Hillel. He is not the least bit surprised that the University of Michigan suspended its contracts with the Coca-Cola corporation in 2006 as a result of pressure from students like Sam. He also considers himself a better human being for having known Sam Woll, z”l.

Magen David Adom (MDA) Saves Lives in Israel with Advanced Technology

In the ever-changing medical industry, Israel stands out as a frontrunner in making significant technological strides in the field. Leading this advancement is Magen David Adom, an organization founded almost 100 years ago that has harnessed Israel’s advanced technology to develop faster ways of saving lives throughout the country. On a recent visit to Metro Detroit, MDA leaders spoke about the tech innovations that are helping the organization respond quicker to medical emergencies, both large and small. This tech innovation is also being shared with other emergency response organizations throughout North America.

Yoni Yagodovsky, senior paramedic and director of international relations, along with his colleague, Raphael Herbst, senior paramedic, and trainer, visited Midwestern U.S. cities to conduct life-saving training sessions called “First 7 Minutes.” The program’s name is derived from the first seven minutes it typically takes for first responders to arrive on the scene of an emergency. Yagodovsky and Herbst taught participants at local Metro Detroit synagogues how to remain safe and offer critical first-aid assistance during the hectic time following an attack. Rather than focusing on specific protocols, the training covered seven principles for the first seven minutes: safety, call for help, saving lives together, organizing the scene, bleeding control, reporting, and assisting EMS.

L to R - Richard D. Zelin (American Friends of Magen David Adom in Chicago MDA), Yoni Yagodovsky, Raphael Herbst, Rabbi Jason Miller, Jonah Miller, and Robert Rosenthal (American Friends of Magen David Adom in NY)

Snapchat’s Effect on Our Teens’ Mental Health

Co-authored by Joshua Miller

Parents are more concerned than ever about their children’s mental health. Studies show that social media use has a strong effect on our teens’ daily emotions and behavior. Rather than write yet another article lamenting teens’ social media usage, I invited my nineteen-year-old son, Joshua, to co-author this Jews in the Digital Age column with me to ensure it includes perspectives from both a parent and a teen. 

Parents of teens are familiar with and use social network applications like Facebook and Instagram. They have also, in recent years, begun to use TikTok, the popular video application. However, Snapchat is different since most parents do not use it and are generally unaware of their teens’ activity on the platform.

Snapchat’s own annual reports explain that it is used primarily by high school and college students. The mobile application allows users to share photos, videos, and messages. As of February 2023, Snapchat has approximately 750 million monthly active users, 63% of which use the application regularly, and more than three billion snaps are created and exchanged each day.

Snapchat causes negative mental health issues, such as anxiety and depression, in high school and college students, making it an activity that should be high on the concern list of parents, teachers and mental health professionals. There exists a worldwide mental health crisis among teens and college students, and the use of Snapchat is prevalent among this age demographic. Studies have been conducted to show a causal relationship between Snapchat use and this mental health crisis.

Many teens will be enjoying a fun experience with family or friends, and then experience a sudden mood swing upon opening the Snapchat application on their phone. The phone screen will display photos of their friends' activities, who they’re with, and where they are currently located using Snapchat’s “Snap Map” GPS (global positioning system) feature. The teen who seemed to be happy and content is now feeling lonely, anxious and depressed thanks to the “fear of missing out.” Commonly known by the acronym “FOMO,” Snapchat contributes to this fear by making it appear that others in the teen’s peer group are enjoying life more. The teen often feels that they have not been invited or included in a competing activity even though they were satisfied with their situation prior to looking at the “Snap Map.” Seeing what others are posting on Snapchat, the teen loses focus and cannot be present with the people they are actually with in real life (“IRL”).

The Off-the-Derech Viral YouTube Star from Williamsburg, Brooklyn

Jews and non-Jews alike were drawn to “Unorthodox” and “Shtisel,” the two popular Netflix miniseries dramas about Hasidic life. These voyeuristic deep dives into the ultra-Orthodox lifestyle of the adherents of Hasidism were the first exposure many had to these insular communities. “Unorthodox” is based on the book by Deborah Feldman, who cut ties with her ultra-Orthodox Williamsburg, Brooklyn community in 2006. Her insider’s perspective was candid and insightful, revealing much of the secretive culture of the Satmar neighborhoods.

I too was mesmerized by both “Shtisel” and “Unorthodox,” binge-watching them during the early months of the COVID pandemic. So when I was asked to take a guided walking tour of Williamsburg with tour guide Frieda Vizel, whose “Off the Derech” (the label for those who leave their ultra-Orthodox lifestyle behind) biography sounded a lot like Deborah Feldman’s, I was intrigued. 

 

I had planned to be in Brooklyn to officiate a bat mitzvah, so I scheduled the tour for a Friday morning, which is a wonderful time to walk around Williamsburg as men, women and children are hurriedly shopping to prepare for the Sabbath. My mother and my teenage daughter joined me as well. They had already planned to spend the weekend in New York, and I thought it would be meaningful for these two Jewish women in my life to see how Hasidic women live.