Rabbi Emmanuel Cantor learned during his college years that Jewish community organizing brought out the passion in him that sent him on the path to becoming a rabbi at the Den Collective, a local “intentional Jewish community.”
Cantor joined the Den at the start of August and has been using his pluralistic experience to guide the community through Jewish journeys together.
The Arlington, Virginia, resident was a Wexner Fellow in college, received his ordination from Hebrew College in June and is looking to continue engaging the local Jewish community.
What was your Jewish upbringing like and when did you know you wanted to become a rabbi?
Growing up in New York City, I was lucky to experience many kinds of Jewish life and practice. As a kid, I prayed with leaders of Conservative Judaism, danced in Hasidic shtiebels, attended Reform and Reconstructionist bnei mitzvahs, protested with secular Yiddishists and learned at my Modern Orthodox day school with classmates whose families came from countries around the world. I loved studying Jewish history and could feel the ways Jewish history shaped the communities I was part of — all while we were adding to its next chapter.
I became interested in community organizing as a college student. I loved community organizing’s vision of relationships at the bedrock of social movements, its belief that we can best act on our values when we come together with people we have taken the time to get to know and trust. Fresh off a gap year studying in an Israeli yeshiva, I was already seeing my life and the world around me through the lens of Jewish texts and spirituality. I served as an Avodah DC Service Corps member after graduation and worked as a community organizer at Jews United for Justice, which were both wonderful ways to integrate these different parts of myself.
In those days, I was always eager to ask people why they wanted to join a specifically-Jewish social justice organization or movement. What I heard were stories. Stories of spiritual seekers and Hebrew school troublemakers, of choosing to become Jewish as an adult and of honoring ancestors long past. People were inspired by the warmth of Shabbat, the rawness of Shiva, the searching honesty of Torah study and discussion. I realized I wanted to accompany and support people through all these moments. Becoming a rabbi has given me the honor of doing so.
Can you tell me about your experience as a rabbi before coming to the Den Collective?
I am grateful to have held a variety of rabbinic roles. I spent the past year serving as the spiritual leader of the Jewish Community of Greater Stowe, a pluralistic community in rural Vermont. I’ve worked as an interfaith chaplain at Boston’s Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, and as a student rabbi at Dorshei Tzedek, a Reconstructionist synagogue in Newton, Massachusetts. I also served at the Joseph Slifka Center for Jewish Life at Yale, supporting students at the height of the COVID crisis.
What drew you to join the Den as a rabbi through the interview process?
Members of the Den invariably shared how much they appreciated a one-to-one relationship with a rabbi, the depth and intimacy of the Jewish learning, and the friendships at the heart of the community. They also told stories about feeling empowered as Jewish leaders and teachers themselves, how they co-create the community together with the Den’s staff. All the work seemed to flow from the ways the Den strives to know every member in a real and meaningful way.
What have your first couple of weeks been like?
My rabbinical ordination document from Hebrew College references a Talmudic passage urging us to make our ears like an afarkeset, a funnel, to fully take in everyone’s voices. In my first few weeks, I am trying to make my ears like this funnel. I am meeting with members of the Den community and listening to their life stories, Jewish journeys, questions, and hopes. We are already beginning to incorporate what I am hearing into our gatherings for the month of Elul, the High Holy Days, and the year to come. Please reach out to us or visit our website to find out more!
What is something unique about your rabbinical style you’re hoping to bring to the community?
Unique is hard to say. Recently, one of my role models is Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi. The Talmud describes how he would sit and study Torah with people afflicted with a certain disease when other rabbis would stay away. I don’t think the story is about ignoring medical advice, and I don’t think the story is only about visiting people who are sick. I think Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi is calling us to not be afraid: to not be afraid to reach out to those hurting even when we aren’t sure what to say, to not be afraid to hold space for the inevitable vulnerability of being human. And like Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi, to do so in a way that uplifts the dignity of both people and the Torah itself.
Tell me something about yourself that people might not know.
I have been stretching myself with a few new hobbies: literally with yoga, and more figuratively with my flailing attempts at percussion. I have been a little more successful with dipping my toe into writing poetry. I’m always curious about the unique experience of trying new things as an adult — Jewish or otherwise.
