Rabbi Stephen Lewis Fuchs is a former president of the World Union for Progressive Judaism and rabbi emeritus of Congregation Beth Israel in West Hartford, CT. He currently serves Bat Yam Temple of the Islands in Sanibel, FL. A prolific writer, he is the author of several books, the most recent of which is …And Often the First Jew. Rabbi Fuchs earned a D. Min in Biblical Interpretation from Vanderbilt Divinity School, which, in 2017, named him its “Distinguished Alumnus of the Year.”
As we do for several weeks each year, my wife and I are in Germany, teaching and speaking to students and religious leaders, including a convention of Lutheran pastors.
Recently, members of my temple demonstrated at a Wendy’s, urging the company to join the Fair Food Program to ensure living wages and safe conditions for farm workers.
It may be foolish for a young boy to interpret an ordinary experience as an encounter with God, but I cling to my belief that it was – and it changed my life.