As New Leader of L.A. Federation, Rabbi Farkas Will Expand His Leadership Horizon

The choice of a rabbi to lead a local Jewish federation is, above all, a bold and courageous one. The traditional approach, whether in L.A. or elsewhere, has been to hire seasoned Jewish professionals who know their way around committee meetings, strategy sessions, personnel management and, of course, fundraising drives.

But in choosing Rabbi Noah Farkas as its next President and CEO, replacing longtime leader Jay Sanderson, the Board of the Federation is banking that Farkas will marry the spiritual power of a rabbi with the strategic acumen of a business leader.

He has some of that experience.

In addition to his extensive rabbinic work at Valley Beth Shalom, a large Conservative congregation in the San Fernando Valley, Farkas has led a campaign to address homelessness in Los Angeles County, building a broad housing coalition to pass legislation and moving $5 billion to build housing and services for the homeless.

He currently serves as an appointed commissioner and former Chairperson of the L.A. Homelessness Services Authority, governing the strategy to end homelessness. He also currently serves as the chair of the Finance Contracts and Grants committee, overseeing a $770 million budget.

He is also founder of Netiya, a Los Angeles Jewish nonprofit that promotes urban agriculture through a network of interfaith partners.

In other words, Farkas is a rabbi of action. He’s been in plenty of committee meetings in leadership positions, and he seems to know how to get things done.

He also has a deep appreciation for nuance.

In an op-ed he wrote for the Journal in 2017, Farkas weighed in on the controversial issue of “politics on the pulpit.”

“There is something comforting about hunkering down against the weekly tweetstorm,” he wrote about the synagogue experience. However, he added, “our tradition forbids us to pray in a room without windows. We must be able to look outside and see the hour, including the pressing hour, the sha’a dakhaq, upon which our world is squeezed ever more presently.”

In his new position, Farkas will have plenty of windows facing him that will require both action and nuance.

In his new position, Farkas will have plenty of windows facing him that will require both action and nuance.

Since he will now be a leader of the whole community, he’ll have to wrestle with a new category of challenges: the intense political divisions within our community; the heated and polarized arguments over Israel; the balance between particularity (helping Jews) and universalism (helping the world); the many religious differences among denominations; the priorities in allocating limited funds and resources; the alarming rise in antisemitism; the fraying of Jewish identity among the new generation; and so on.

His challenge will be to expand his comfort zone and see things from others’ point of view, especially those he may disagree with. I faced a similar challenge four years ago when I went from weekly columnist at the Journal to editor-in-chief. Needless to say, it can be a thankless task to try to nourish a big, noisy, diverse and argumentative community, but it’s also a deeply rewarding and noble one.

Following one of the worst crises of our time, with many synagogues and organizations in a state of high anxiety, the community needs a healing and unifying energy that will help move it forward. Rabbi Farkas is fortunate that his predecessor has left him with a strong legacy of accomplishments. We all wish him the very best in his new journey, and if he ever needs to pick my brain, I’ll be there for him.