Meet an innoFaither is our new series to introduce the inspiring optimists in the innoFaith world and what they’re working on and thinking about. We hope it helps you find and engage with each other across the network to advance faith-rooted social innovation and interfaith collaboration for social impact. Or just meet some cool people.
Meet one of our favorite rabbis, Elan Babchuck, Founding Director of Glean Network and Director of Innovation at Clal, But more importantly, an amazing human being. Don’t miss his TEDx talk, link at the end.
What faith, if any, do you practice?
I'm Jewish, and was ordained as a rabbi in 2012. My rabbinic ancestry began seven generations ago, when my great, great, great, great grandfather served as the Chief Sephardic (Jews who descended from Spain and Portugal) rabbi in Tiberias. My father's family was Ashkenazi (E. European descent), and my practice today blends traditions and liturgy from both of those strands.
Where do you live?
I live in Providence, Rhode Island, and love everything about the city. Rhode Island was the first state to offer religious freedom, and its political history is as a state that incubated radical ideas and ideals, many of which were later adopted by the US on a national scale. I think Rhode Island has that same potential today.
One other thing I love about this place is that when you ask for directions, you'll get landmarks that describe something that used to be here or there..."Turn right at the old Sears parking lot"..."If you've gotten to where Benny's used to be, you've gone too far". That kind of historical memory serves as a grounding counterbalance to the rising innovation and design sector here.
What's your favorite pastime?
Rock climbing. It’s the kind of activity that engages my mind and body simultaneously, and that requires me to be fully present, always. Anything short of my full attention spells disaster, so whenever I slip into my climbing gear, I slip out of the stream of “to-do”s, “what if“s, and ”why not”s that usually occupy my mind. And by the time I’m done with my climb, my spirit is revived and my body is exhausted.
Climbing gyms have become a sanctuary of sorts for me...a place I go to find myself. Just like any great worship space, they’re big enough to remind me how small I am, imposing enough to humble me, and inviting enough to push me to overcome fear and take on whatever is calling me in the moment.
What are you working on currently?
Learning how to be a father of three. My kids teach me new things every day, and raising them with my wife has been one of the greatest joys I could have ever dreamed of. And with the arrival of our third just a few weeks ago, everything feels a bit more heightened - more joy, less sleep, more to do, less time to do it. It's a steep learning curve, for sure.
But once I return to work, I'm very excited about a new course we've designed called Leading Through Innovation, which will launch in 13 seminaries this spring. It offers a new leadership path for rising seminary students, and equips them with new tools and mindsets for the uncertain journey ahead, like design thinking and innovation.
What question are you thinking about these days?
"Why not?"
I have a great deal of respect for inherited religious traditions, and teaching them to others is one of the great joys of my rabbinate. And the more I learn, the more I discover that behind certain traditions are a set of strongly-enforced, unwritten rules, many of which continue to be upheld simply because "we've always done it this way". So when I come across one of these in my work - whether in my own communities or as a guest teacher in other communities - I like to ask "why not?" Why can't we do things differently? And if there's a good reason, then I let it go. But if not, then we can open up a conversation that has the potential to lift an unnecessary barrier or remove a (potentially) harmful restriction, thereby opening up this tradition to more people and more possibility.
Where can folks find you?
https://www.linkedin.com/in/elan-babchuck/
Photo Credit Dominique Reid