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by Matt Levine

"A person who is charitable and just,
fills the world with kindness."
—The Talmud

What first made you interested in becoming a rabbi?

I think I first became interested because I didn't have a rabbi. Where I grew up in Waverly, New York, our synagogue was a house. A person would come in on a train to lead our services for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. We called him "rabbi", but looking back I'm not sure that he actually was a rabbi. His arrival was always a big deal. We'd go down to the train station to see this person come in and lead the service and [pray] in Hebrew. Those memories are still very vivid.

So the idea to be a rabbi got into my young head early on. But I was asthmatic, so I was in the hospital continually. Any idea of the rabbinate was squelched, by my mom in particular. So I put it aside. In college, I majored in Spanish and studied in Madrid for a year and loved it. When I came back I did a year of graduate school in Spanish. I taught Spanish for a year after I got married, and it still wasn't fulfilling, so I studied with a rabbi on Shabbat during that year.

We talked again about the rabbinate, and he said in the spring, "Why don't you apply?" So I did, not thinking I would get in. I got in and took a summer of intensive Hebrew, but even then I wasn't sure I wanted to do this kind of work. I thought maybe I can teach in college or be a Hillel counselor or something like that. But I interviewed with a congregation in Omaha with a wonderful man who became my mentor for twelve years when this job opened up.

So my motivation this morning, and for all of my career, is really to serve the Jewish people — to help people. I always enjoyed helping people and teaching others about Judaism. I wanted to learn more about Judaism, and still do. And now I can do it all in this line of work; I've been very lucky to be here and with this congregation.

In your time here, you've played a very active role in serving the greater Baton Rouge community. Can you share some of the ways you've helped make a difference?

I helped found the Holy Grill, our emergency food program for people in poverty. I helped found our federation of Churches and Synagogues, which is really unique around the country. I participated on the board of United Way, and helped create Volunteer Baton Rouge.

I've also been active in interfaith and interrelations work. I'm very comfortable as a minority, but I also know it's very important to educate to overcome prejudice. As a kid, I used to go to churches with Hanukkah menorahs and Shabbat candles to talk about Judaism. We have really opened the doors at B'nai Israel, to show this is a friendly, welcoming place. We have groups of visitors almost all the time, and I believe that has had a positive impact on the community.

These are all ways to express a basic Jewish teaching that we shouldn't separate ourselves because the fate of Jewish life is inextricably linked to the fate of the larger community.

Where do you think our community still has room to improve?

My wife Linda and I moved here from 12 years in Nebraska after having grown up in upstate New York. Neither Nebraska nor New York state nor Cincinnati where I studied had the kinds of problems that Louisiana has. None of those locations has an incredible level of illiteracy, children born outside marriage, poverty, Title I schools. This is really a different kind of place in terms of things that, in other parts of the country, people take for granted. My property tax in Omaha was enormous, and the schools reflected the large investment from the community, both financially and personally. Here, we're still working towards that.

I know that public education gave my grandparents, who came here from Russia, and Linda's family, who came from Poland and Greece, a foothold in America. I went through public school all the way through college, and my kids graduated from public schools here, so I'm very devoted to the concept of public education.

Regardless of where our kids might go to school, public, private or sectarian, we all have an investment in as good a public education as possible. Specifically, in Baton Rouge, we need to solicit the business community for quality in public education. We also need to continue to educate the over 30% of the city who have their children in private or sectarian schools that they have a lot at stake in public education. Good, quality public education is necessary for the quality and welfare of the whole region; we need to do a better job of getting private school parents to be ready to ante up in terms of property taxes to help our woefully under-funded public schools. It is really mind-boggling to me that we have such a hard time convincing the body politic that education is central to Louisiana's progress.

And it will help everything! Greater literacy, greater education will help provide a better pool of labor for industry, better schools will be a better inducement for people to come here, and so forth.

Do you see any signs of progress?

I see tons of things. I see the Baton Rouge Community College, which I believe is among the fastest growing community colleges in America. I see Southeastern Louisiana University, which is one of the fastest growing small colleges of its kind. I see the TOPS program, which is tremendous and innovative. I see groups like A6. I see the end of the desegregation case that brings back local control of the schools. I favor our local superintendent candidate, Charlotte Placide. I see a new Chamber of Commerce emphasis on political action, the raising of admissions standards at LSU, and tremendous commercial development in the city.

Now we are about to inaugurate our first mayor of color, which I think is tremendously important for our city. It bodes very well and signals the country that we're ready to move forward.

Does your faith inform the prominence you place on education?

Sure. Judaism values education and study. An ignorant person can never be a serious Jewish person. We're taught that our learning and our knowledge can never be taken away from you. Historically, the Jewish people have been deprived of possessions, land, businesses, and even lives by persecution, but what we learn is always a part of who we are.

When we have a service, we study Torah. For Jews, study is a form of worship and prayer. Along with Tikkun Olam, the Jewish value of "repairing the world," correcting the ills of society, that compels you to step out of the four walls of the synagogue and get active. Tzedakah — charity — as well, to help make life a better opportunity while we're here. Judaism informs almost all of my life.

Every moment is filled with potentiality and holiness, and knowing that every moment is blessed makes me aware of all the blessings that I have.

We have just celebrated our 40th wedding anniversary; we are blessed with two fantastic daughters. Baton Rouge is particularly good in terms of interrelations interfaith activity. We have never had any anti-Semitic incident, I have never been the victim of any prejudice or discrimination. This is a very fine and healthy community and it is a blessing to be part of it.

Matt Levine is a graduate of Dartmouth University and a member of the highly regarded Teach for America program. He is a congregant of B'nai Israel, where he studies with Rabbi Weinstein.

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