>> good morning and welcome to moi. the r mosaic. i would like you to meet our rabbi pierce. welcome. >> we have entire half hour together. let's start at the beginning. so let's just jump in and ask you how did

you actually as a young man still say yes. >> i went to a congregation and met lots of people who really believed that judaism had a message and i always wanted to do something to work with better and perhaps make their lives better and then came this critical period of what to do next. the war was raging and i applied to law school and i thought perhaps the better route would be to go to the rab and serve as chapel because that was what we could do in vietnam when we were ordained. >> did you ordain in vietnam?

>> no. they had no need for me but i was prepared to serve our jews that were serving in vietnam. >> every religious tradition seems to think even today how do we bring our jews and teach them our values and how to teach the stage to move them in the community with a spiritual richness and do good in the world. when you think back on those years and the influence this had, what is it about you think a youth group and peer support that is so potent for the religious community? >> the most important segment

for raising up the jews, the school that values the jewish tradition but what is described with regard to religion in general that it's three miles wide and three inches deep. i think it's one of my regrets but we now have the technology to move forward and transform that and we have been able to do that. >> do you think the jewish community in general but every jewish community would think of how to paradigm the structures and work with them? >> if you keep doing what you are doing and you keep getting the same results, you have to wake up and say there has to be a better way to do this. technology is that knowledge prod that is saying, there is good models out there for how to create commitment and deeper education and

the result is that we'll be able to train young people who have a much richer understanding of the tradition than has happened over the last couple of decades. >> when you were poised at organization looking at what your possibility was across the country, what were some of your choices at that time and what brought you into the choices that you actually made along the way? >> when you are 28 years old and you think you know everything and you know nothing, it's kind of learning on-the-job. i wound up at my first congregation in new york with a bunch of young people. it was always important to me. a couple of rabbis came to that period and led the

next generation. >> we are going to a break and we'll come back with rabbi. please join us here on mosaic. ,,,,,,

>> good morning and welcome back to mosaic. we are with the rabbi this morning. we were talking about earlier about the choice you made when you came. what would you consider some of the key points of your own learning and self reflection that in some way helped you hone in on your emerging rab net? >> it's a wonderful question because you start out as someone who doesn't know very much and you keep

learning on-the-job and i knew that i wanted to help jews, but had no idea of the magnitude of the kind of questions that i would be asked. i can remember as a young pick-up, a middle person as a middle age man and a man came to talk to me about personal problems. i drove down the interstate to saint john's university and enrolled in the masters program because that was out of my league. i went onto complete my doctorate to help others. >> so when you think back on that time and certainly i'm sure time since then, what do you think the draw

is for folks and in particular in the jewish community to actually take the time out of their business schedules, to make an appointment and show up at the privacy of the rabbi's office to have a conversation, to engage in that rabbis life. what do you think works that way? >> there are a couple of features. one is you already know the people and they see you in the public eye and they take readings on whether you are accessible and whether you are kind. another thing is, ghee, i'm having a problem with my teenager or my mother is dying and you can allow that to pass or say this requires more conversation. why don't you come in.

so there is easy accessibility. the other time is life cycle, in marriage, death, there are all kinds of gates that open for periods of time and if there is no intervention, that becomes a time. people are over to intervention and that's when you can become very helpful. >> what people don't always realize in especially helping professions social workers and psychiatrist is the degree that people actually do go to their clergy at moments of this kind of vulnerability and in your thinking with your complimentary background in psychology, what are some of the things that are important for other helping professions to know the role of clergy, the role of rabbi in

this arena of human help? >> there are organizations like hospice and organizations that reaches out to clergy that says this is a situation, we can use your help. but that's a model and also other service agencies that what possible good could that do for anybody. >> i can think the value of the american life and separation of church and state, is that a paradox, on the one hand we separate church and state and on the other hand we say that the united states is the most religious nations in the entire world. i wonder

sometimes if some of that juxtaposition and people don't always know what to do with the depths of religious interest and separation of state and church at the same time? >> we are living in a time where people are yearning for more. people are spiritual but not religious. i think it's a very important thing. of course there is always that tension between government and religion. it's unfortunate that in so many cases the solution is a barrier when it should be a help. i think religion is on the front line and religious movements in general can make a very big difference and do in the lives of most people that a veil themselves. but should government be an obstacle or

present. >> it's a social action when it comes to advocating a cause into rallying around an issue of immigration, same sex marriage or where people seem most comfortable in that kind of a relationship. >> that has always been among liberal jews or among jews to plant education because people feel it in their blood. if that's all it is, then it's a problem. what's happened of late is that there is a polarization in the jewish community and if you speak out you have this same sense of criticism. a lot of clergy are frightened of that and are backing away from it

simply because of the polarization we feel in the political sphere as well. >> it's made itself known on the pulpit? >> it has and has created a lot of problems for the clergy people. >> we'll be back in a moment. please join us back here on mosaic. ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

welcome back to mosaic. i'm honored to be your host. we are here with rabbi steven pierce. welcome back. we were talking about your observations and talking about issues around social action and people really looking for what is spiritual nurturing for them and i'm wondering what your observations been

about how you fulfill people's needs that way and by implication change in congregation and people. i wonder what your experience has been around that issue of what change is in a congregation? >> i think you are honing for any challenge in any organization particularly religious organizations, we jews have a statement before the office with know whom you stand. which is what should be we've always done it that way. any new opportunity gets dismissed as that will never work or we tried. in many congregations change is painful. in one of my congregations when i wanted something, when i wanted

to get it, it was so painful and i didn't want it anymore. governs and management. everything is a management issue. where they say look, it's congregation and what would you like to do. so we go to a collaborative approach where each rabbi is wonderful. each has his portfolio and constituency and people don't even know who i am because we have 22 congregations where people maybe lost. every one has one rab i devoted

to them and they stay much longer. >> do you think it's a core of a need for a relationship that you can have someone to relate with and that you actually on a day to day level interact with and grow with? >> i think the relationship part is probably the most critical thing. unfortunately, people often choose congregations because of the leader. i know that it's the case. i know that each individual finds somebody that they can draw closer to and that's what we promote at the congregation. >> what you do you see as you see these kinds of relationships of the kind of portfolios that you

rabbi with a relationship what do you see a relationship with a younger person as far as a senior with a relationship component? >> the reality is there is more need for that because of the isolation of the internet and telecommunications has created. people are hungry for real personal contact and that is something that churches and synagogues have always provided but the need is much greater. there is a lot of people who need a sounding board. there are people who are lonely and lost and they can't get their answers by tapping something out through a search on a computer. >> it seems to me that every synagogues or church, it seems how we

can make something as concrete and the experience, the prayer book experience that had tradition and communal orientation to it on a more personal value so it has one depth and value how one experience can support that relationship? >> it's a wonderful question. when i went back to visit my last congregation we had a last dialogue and people said what is different? i said we don't have committees in management. they said what do people do? i said we stress learning. we want jews to deepen their experience about god.

jews are uncomfortable. when we interviewed our most recent newly ordained rabbi, when i said what do you believe about god and could you pray to god? they gave an unclear answer where they were not able to form their opinions and these were new rabbis. >> this is a phenomenon in the jewish community because in the christian world there is a different assumptions about how jews understand that question. in a moment we'll pick up on that conversation. join us back here on mosaic in just a moment. ,, [ male announcer ] the new subway® $4 lunch is for everyone.

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with rabbi pierce. before the break we were talking about god and the jewish community and picking up on that, i think the christian community has a different set of assumptions around issues of spirituality and the ways those things are articulated and i'm wondering what your observations are about that? >> they are comfortable with god because it's been laid out to them. we jews have too many options where god is holiness to god is a man on a throne and everything in between. martin and leo and kaplan who said a god is a natural and order form.

but because many jews leaves education at age 13, they remain this at their lives and they have a 13-year-old jew and of course they don't believe god because a man with a beard is a silly feeling and that's a big challenge. >> what do you think is in our future? >> we need to totally transform the way we teach our children by uncoupling the education experience. what we have done is to provide our students with pods where they can begin to move at their own rate. if there is eight levels of the religious education, if it takes eight years, when you come to the congregation, if you want to do it in 6 weeks and

you do the competency, we give you the next one. you can finish it in two or three years and then go to advanced material so we have a population that are coming out very well educated. and we give them the tutorial that brings them up to snuff. >> if you bring a child into religious identity and moving at their pace, then i'm thinking, in just a variable life where you get a kid up on sunday to make religious school like you would a private school on monday through friday. it takes a certain time commitment in a different way in an out of a family life. >> for one thing, we call our

education family education because we do involve parents and it's remarkable how many of them show up and how hungry they are. that's important. the other piece is you don't have to be physically on-site. in los angeles because of the freeways, they can't get there in the afternoon. so in the afternoon they sit in front of their computers and if they ask a question you can see the teachers and that's the way of the future. >> believe it or not, we have about 30 seconds left. i want to ask you, what kind of thoughts do you have as you move on the future. what do you see for the future? >> i plan to do more writing.

it's always best to hear could you stay longer. >> we are going to say good-bye to rabbi pierce and wish you just and wonderful day. thank you for joining us here on mosaic. ,,,,,, [ slurps ]

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>> welcome to bay sunday. i'm your host filling in for our host who will return next week. if you have an idea, click on kpix.com. now on the show. the issue of molestation is pervasive in our community and issues of boys being molested. please welcome executive producer okay scully and one of our producers on the show. thank