A local “pastor’s kid” was recently ordained at a Bronx rabbinical school. She now leads a 100-family congregation at a synagogue in Brooklyn.
A NYT profile Monday guesses Heidi Hoover is a first — a Jewish convert, now rabbi, with a father in the Christian clergy.
Rabbi Heidi Hoover, 40, grew up attending Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Lancaster, where her dad, the Rev. B. Penrose Hoover, was associate pastor.
The elder Hoover, who lives in Fairview Township, has since beenelected bishop of the 122,000-member, regional synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Rabbi Hoover, then a rabbinical student, read the selection from the Hebrew Scriptures at his 2007 installation in Harrisburg.
A 2008 story in the church-owned magazine The Lutheran explored the interfaith relationship between father and daughter and provoked controversy among some readers. One reader disapproved of the article’s “editorial tone of happy approval.”
Bishop Hoover, 64, didn’t agree with his daughter’s decision to convert but told the Times, “We tried to raise our children to be critical thinkers, to make independent decisions and to accept responsibility for their actions.”
“How can I object to that?” he added.
Could someone explain “progressive” Judaism? Is it a new term for Messianic?
Dianne:
No, it’s not related to messianic Judaism/Jews for Jesus. It’s shorthand for the more progressive movements within Judaism: Reform, Reconstructionist, the Chavurah movement and some other smaller offshoots. Contrast with more traditional movements: Conservative, Orthodox, Haredi/Chasidic, etc.
In the UK and other places outside the US, capital-P ‘Progressive’ Judaism is the equivalent of Reform Judaism in the US.
In this story, however, ‘Progressive’ is part of the name of the synagogue where Rabbi Hoover works. Temple Beth Emeth v’Ohr Progressive Shaari Zedek is the product of several congregational mergers: Temple Beth Emeth, Beth Ohr, Progressive of Flatbush, and Congregation Shaari Zedek.
Mike,
Thank you for taking the time to explain.
That’s the best asnwer of all time! JMHO
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