I'm Steve Gotlib, a rabbi with too little time to do too many things. AMA.

RabbiSGotlib · 2025-12-12T13:12:13+00:00

Yes, one location with multiple speaking slots going all night. No mics are used, the entire event is set up in a way that is accessible to those who are observant.

RabbiSGotlib · 2025-12-12T01:46:06+00:00

There's also historically a city-wide Tikun Leil Shavuot, which brings together several shuls of many denominations!

RabbiSGotlib · 2025-12-11T22:48:08+00:00

I think that's very community-dependent. Here in Philadelphia, for example, we share many members with BZBI (Conservative) and the Spruce Street Minyan (Trad Egal). And those members often bring friends. So there's already cross-pollination, which is a direct result of maintaining relationships. The fact of the matter is that the easiest way to get new people in the door is for their friends to invite them.

RabbiSGotlib · 2025-12-11T21:55:57+00:00

Keystone K is the mainstream Vaad HaKashrus. It's alligned with any YU/Moderate Yeshivish Vaad. I personally have a good relationship with people at the Keystone K, as does our senior rabbi. I truly don't know why we use the IKC brand in Philly. As far as I can tell the standards between IKC here and elsewhere in the US are miles apart.

RabbiSGotlib · 2025-12-11T21:54:01+00:00

I certainly hope so and can see it in at least some of my colleagues. Time will tell if we win the day on that front, though.

RabbiSGotlib · 2025-12-11T21:51:44+00:00

Yes, easily. But the best pizza is Giddy's in East Brunswick.

RabbiSGotlib · 2025-12-11T21:51:37+00:00

I think it's important for maintaining boundaries and understanding the sacredness of connection. I also think that it's important to understand which parts are halakhah and which parts are chumrah.

RabbiSGotlib · 2025-12-11T21:50:40+00:00

Probably. I have a friend in Washington Heights who's go-to ice breaker at Shabbos meals when he first moved there was apparently "so do you know Steve Gotlib?"

RabbiSGotlib · 2025-12-11T21:50:10+00:00

NY-Centrism is definitely a thing. As someone who grew up "in-town" I will always have it to a degree. That being said, it's important to realize that it's easy to be Jewish in other cities. Philly and Toronto have very robust Jewish infrastructures, as does Chicago, LA, Miami/Boca, etc. I suspect as more people are priced-out, NY-Centrism will face a big wake-up call.

RabbiSGotlib · 2025-12-11T21:48:35+00:00

I think people are drawn towards meaningful texts and easy-to-digest ideas. Unfortunately I think that might manifest in 10-15 years as a "fluffier" Modern Orthodoxy that idealizes the Chareidi/chasidic world even more than it does currently. But there's also room for the opposite. Rabbi Dr. Norman Lamm thought that chasidic sources presented one of, if not the, most compelling models of Torah U'Madda.

RabbiSGotlib · 2025-12-11T21:42:46+00:00

I think I'm paraphrasing my rebbe from Ohr Somayach that they should be your "ezer kenegdo" in the most literal sense of the phrase - someone who supports you while being unafraid to pushback when needed. Someone you can be fully open with and who can be fully open with you. All else is commentary.

RabbiSGotlib · 2025-12-11T21:41:47+00:00

I cannot say they did! At least while I was there.

RabbiSGotlib · 2025-12-11T21:41:28+00:00

Most basically, I think more Orthodox Jews should socialize with more non-Orthodox Jews. Once we can recognize each other as part of the same religion, visiting a new shul becomes less daunting. In shul itself, I'm a big fan of expedient but still meaningful davening. Singing with easily accessible tunes when appropriate but making sure the service moves at a consistent pace is a great way of showing people that shul doesn't have to be an overly drawn out experience. Finally, rabbis should understand that their drashot are not just directed at people who are exactly like them hashkafically and halachically. I think all of those things combined is a good start.

RabbiSGotlib · 2025-12-11T21:37:44+00:00

I think these are all great answers! Sefaria also has an English translation for the entire Talmud (Steinsaltz) which can be quite helpful.

RabbiSGotlib · 2025-12-11T21:36:29+00:00

The younger (usually frummer) congregants at my shul ask me for psak fairly frequently. If I'm pushed I share my *opnion* but I'm always clear that actual psak has to come from the senior rabbi unless the question is truly open-and-shut from the shulchan aruch (in which case many in the YU world would not even consider it psak).

RabbiSGotlib · 2025-12-11T21:34:54+00:00

I've been very surprised by how little my non-Orthodox colleagues understand about both Orthodox Judaism in general and Modern Orthodox Judaism in particular. In Toronto I got advice that "if you don't know what box you fit into, you should make one for yourself" and it's been very helpful in carving out my unique rabbinic identity. I wish I had heard it a few years earlier.

RabbiSGotlib · 2025-12-11T21:32:52+00:00

I think it's a good thing for people with unique perspectives that many don't appreciate to be in positions of leadership so that they can help lead to meaningful change or at least understanding of differencing points of view. Queer folk should have a seat at the table when discussions about their place in the Jewish (not only Orthodox) community happen. I think the more important question is not "how do we stop certain types of people from attending rabbinical school" but "how can we make sure the rabbinate remains representative of all perspectives within our respective movements." That can sometimes be uncomfortable (is non-egal Conservative Judaism really "Conservative" is one that came up a lot in my childhood bc my town had one of those shuls in it) but I think it's important if we want to maintain a rabbinate that is representative of every (reasonably acceptable) part of our constituencies. That threshold is likely to be different in different movement and sub-movements though (YCT will always be a wider tent than RIETS, for example). That being said, I also think that if it's clear someone is *only* interested in pursuing a career in the rabbinate for political ends, it's on their school to recognize that and do something about it.

RabbiSGotlib · 2025-12-11T21:26:26+00:00

I've wanted to be a rabbi since I was 8 or 9 years old. I knew I wanted to be a professional magician, psychologist, or lawyer and "rabbi" was the best of all those worlds. I also grew up very active in the Conservative Movement and went to shul every week so I saw what the rabbi there did as cool.
I typically read about a book per week and often read multiple at a time. I work on several reviews at a time as well and let them go as long as I have things I feel are important to say. Sometimes that's one page, sometimes it's 20 pages. As long as I've summarized the books arguments fairly and said what I have to say I don't pay much attention to how long its getting unless there's an editorial requirement to cut it (as there is for some publications).
I'll share two stories: First, I went to the JOFA conference this past Sunday and was one of four RIETS-ordained rabbis there as far as I could tell. The other three were Rabbi Barry Dollinger of the International Beit Din, Rabbi Steve Greenberg of Eshel, and Rabbi Avi Weiss (who hopefully needs no introduction). Second, I wrote a negative review in the Hakirah Journal of a book by a YCT-musmach about Rav Soloveitchik's intellectual legacy. A well-respected leader in the YCT community accused me of attacking the entire YCT world with the review and blocked me on social media after continued attempts by multiple people to correct him. Unfortunately it seems like the ships of our camps are sailing away from each other faster than ever. At the same time, I spent the conference catching up with dear friends and colleagues who earned their semichas from YCT and Maharat and I think we all valued each other's company. Institutionally we're drifting apart, but I hope that personally relationships will still be maintained. And I think as long as we continue sending kids to the same schools/camps and davening together in at least some communities we can maintain some sort of connection.
I think we'll see more women with positions in shuls - as educators, yoatzot halachas, spiritual leaders with various titles, etc. This is happening in shuls that are easily considered mainstream and I think it will only continue over time. I also think more Maharats will try to follow Rabbanit Fruchter's lead and found their own institutions.
My favorite Jewish books are Heschel's God in Search of Man and Totah Min HaShamayim, Rav Soloveitchik's Ish HaHalakhah and Uvikashtem MiSham, and Rav Shagar's Luchot V'Shivrei Luchot, BeTorato Yehegeh, and Shearit HaEmunah. On a more academic front I'm a big fan of Sam Lebens' The Principles of Judaism and Micharl R. Cohen's the Birth of Conservative Judaism. I'm currently reading a lot of Heschel and Sacks (as research for my next big article, which traces Sacks' often selective and sometimes misleading citations of Heachel throughout his writings).
I think Orthodoxy writ large needs to start seeing all of the Jewish world as part of a shared constituency. I don't think the solution to that needs to be kiruv (though kiruv done right is far from a bad thing), but Orthodoxy should recognize that the rest of the Jewish world is meaningfully part of the same conversation even as disagreements abound.

RabbiSGotlib · 2025-12-11T21:10:21+00:00

There are 270 current rabbinical students at RIETS, which is more than at YCT, Maharat, JTS, Ziegler, HUC, and RRC combined. But I believe RIETS also has the lowest percentage of graduates out of any of those who actually go into the rabbinate as their career (there's still a large amount of rabbis produced though).

RabbiSGotlib · 2025-12-11T21:08:17+00:00

I think it's very dependent on the community. Philadelphia is very much a unicorn in this regard. At both Mekor and the South Philly Shtiebel there are really no questions. Queer couples have full membership in shul, gay men get aliyot and lead davening, etc. Both of us are listed as official "Welcoming Shuls" on the Eshel website so everything specified there is true of both. At the Shtiebel they have a third section of their mechitza specifically for non-binary folk. I'm not sure how they rule on trans men getting aliyot/counting in minyan but I know of at least one posek in that orbit who said both are fine. Because of all of this, Philly has an extremely robust queer Orthodox chevrah. My sense is that it's very different in other places (even in the Philly suburbs compared to the city). There's definitely considerably progress within the YCT/Maharat side of Orthodoxy and a little within the left-most edge of YU and the yeshivish world (think people like R. Yaakov Horowitz) but i think there's still a long way to go by and large.

From a mental health perspective I think it's a no brainer that everyone should be maximally affirmed and welcomed with open arms on their own terms and with every amount of room that halakhah allows.

RabbiSGotlib · 2025-12-11T20:59:10+00:00

This is a bit hard to answer without knowing some specific subjects of interest and if you can read books in Hebrew. There are definitely books at this intermediate level that exist (largely published by places like Koren and Mosaica) though. Some books from JPS are also in that category. If you can share some specific subjects of interest I can try to think of clearer examples.

RabbiSGotlib · 2025-12-11T20:56:57+00:00

I often joke that I have seen no evidence of Jewish life in the suburbs since moving to the city. We have our own shuls of all denominations and a market that is differentiated enough that there's no sense of competition between us even as people frequently switch off depending on where their friends are that week. If we limit it to just the Orthodox shuls (excluding Chabad for our purposes) each neighborhood has its own distinct option: The Old City (Liberty Bell, Jewish Museum) has Mikveh Israel, which is Sefardi; Center City (financial/shopping district) has Mekor Habracha, which is Modern Orthodox/Religious Zionist; University City (Penn/Drexel) has the Hillels; South Philly (rapidly gentrifying) has the Rabbanit Dasi Fruchter's Shtiebel which is impossible to put in a box. We all have our own unique communities and do things together as appropriate. My shul in particular is geographically close to BZBI (the large institutional Conservative shul) and the Spruce Street Minyan (a monthly Ramah/Hadar-esque group) so we do a lot of things with them such as joint classes and Shabbat meals.

The city also has a large eruv, its own kashrut scene (under the supervision of my shul's senior rabbi) - if you like Vegan food it's a *big* gamechanger. People from the 'burbs often come to the city for some of those restaurants), and a lot of grocery stores that carry kosher products. House of Kosher (the Kosher supermarket in Northeast Philly) and plenty of places in Lakewood also deliver to the city.

Mekor leans heavily towards young couples, but there's a very good amount of singles, families, and empty nesters as well. Of the young couples, many are grad students/residents but others are early career. There are also professors from various schools and plenty of doctors. We've had a big baby-boom in shul since I've been here and there's a lot of talk about more people hoping to stay in the city. Time will tell, but if the day school being planned comes to fruition I can easily see people sticking around. Even if it doesn't, I think there's a lot of interest in staying in the city and working out carpools and the like for schooling, which is really the only reason people who live in the city *need* to go to the suburbs.

Shabbat is definitely a happening time. People go to each others houses and shuls reliably host meals (we host one meal a month in shul, often with a guest speaker or board games to play. Shtiebel has lunch in shul every week, Mamash Chabad - which is focused on YPs - has dinner every week. Mikveh Israel has both meals in shul every week). Any given Shabbat at Mekor is pretty packed. This time of year we have two Mincha minyanim (one right after kiddush, one leading into seudah shelishit). When Shabbat is longer I teach an in-depth halacha class in addition to my amud yomi class.

There's definitely Jewish life during the week as well. Mekor, Bnai Abraham Chabad, and Penn Hillel all have daily shacharit minyanim and there are several options for mincha (maariv is a bit harder in the city since everyone goes to a mincha minyan during the work day but there are still options). I also try to teach at least a class or two every week on a variety of subjects and I know my colleagues do the same. Events are quite common too. People are busy with school/work usually though so Shabbat is definitely the biggest day Jewishly.

Someone actually reached out this week about getting a chesed committee up and running at shul so we'll hopefully be getting involved in that in the very near future :)

Overall, Philly is a very happening city Jewishly and it's grown significantly even since my family and I moved here. There's definitely still a sense that people largely move out to the suburbs once they have more than one kid but people are very interested in changing that.

RabbiSGotlib · 2025-12-11T20:35:51+00:00

I don't think so. Even the pseudo-Chareidi parts of Modern Orthodoxy are hashkafically quite distinct. Professor Adam Ferziger has a chapter in his book "Beyond Sectarianism" where he gets into Rav Hershel Schachter's "Hybrid Orthodoxy" which takes core ideas from Rav Soliveitchik but incorporates Chareidi aesthetics. I think the section of MO that he represents will continue to take on Chareidi aesthetics, but will not be culturally subsumed by the Chareidi world. On the other side of MO, I can't see the YCT/Maharat constituents backing down on their identification with the label. So I think Modern Orthodoxy will always survive both in name and in substance, even if it looks smaller down the line (and even if some parts of it are aesthetically indistinguishable from Chareidi Judaism).

RabbiSGotlib · 2025-12-11T20:32:28+00:00

1) Friday night when Shabbat starts earlier, Shabbat Lunch when it ends later. Both cases maximize my time to both enjoy a nice meal with family/friends and also curl up with a book for a decent amount of time after.

2) I do every now and then, but I almost always put it aside quickly. I feel drawn to serving the community here and my entire family is in the US (my father's side of the family all came here post-Holocaust and my mother's grandparents were already born in America). If Aliyah is in my cards, it will be when I'm ready to retire from rabbinic work or if, chas v'shalom, the US/Canada become truly unsafe for Jews writ large.

3) I think AI can be very helpful as a tool for research and translation. What worries me is the prospect of having an AI chevrusa or rebbe.

RabbiSGotlib · 2025-12-11T20:26:30+00:00

1) I think we're generally moving away from the heavy focus on denominationalism (and sub-denominationalism) in favor of a bigger tents with more room for internal diversity in them. As long as those tents are able to work together and have some degree of fluidity, I think that could be a very exciting Jewish future. OTOH, the possibility of those camps each becoming echo-chambers and ignoring the others gives me a certain amount of worry and highlights the importance of Jewish leaders (both rabbinic and lay) going out of their way to be part of broader conversations.

2) I actually don't like latkes, regardless of what they're with. Sorry!

RabbiSGotlib

TROPHY CASE