Rabbis of L.A. | Rabbi Freedman Builds a Different Kind of Career

When Rabbi Daniel Freedman returned to Temple Akiba in the spring to oversee the Culver City Reform synagogue’s religious school program, he brought with him new, groundbreaking viewpoints. Akiba’s former rabbinic intern (2018-2020) arrived declaring “Everything I do is aimed at how do we bring people into the community?”

Religious school parents may be hearing lines new to them.

“Judaism is not just meant to be learned about,” in Rabbi Freedman’s view, “it’s an active religion. One of my goals is not making Jewish education seem like just another school. It is about creating opportunities for you to personalize things you do  — to build your spiritual muscles. How does Judaism give you an entryway into that?” 

The intellectually inclined St. Louis native cringes, and is saddened when he hears cynical parents tell their charges “I had to suffer through religious school. It’s your turn to do the same.”

Young and curious, the rabbi acknowledged that halacha and Reform Judaism are rarely seen in the same sentence. As a rabbinical student, he was interested in probing why not.

“Many Reform Jews have a way of pushing Shabbat aside,” Rabbi Freedman said. “They’ll say, ‘It’s not the way we observe Shabbat. Okay then, how do we create a contemporary Shabbat practice based on our tradition and through the halachic process? I want to bring Judaism here for people to actively engage with, to ask, ‘What are we going to do on Shabbat?’”

You could call him a thinking Jew’s rabbi. He says being a rabbi is about people skills – understanding how people are experiencing things. How do they interact? How do you meet them where they are and bring them along with you? How do you connect with them? 

”Everyone has different ways,” said Rabbi Freedman. “As rabbis, we have to see everyone as a unique individual. It’s about everyone being created in the image of God. “What individual spark does each person have? Connect with it and help them see how their purpose can be developed, how they can be brought into the community.”

What is the difference between connecting with children and with adults? It’s important, he believes, to figure out the different stages of life for the different age groupings. What engages them? What do they need to feel purpose? “Everybody needs a sense of safety and security to be connected,” he said. However, what a child needs to feel safe differs from adult needs. “If we give students, both young people and adults,  a rich environment in which to experience challenges, to connect with peers, it will bring strong connections both to the community and their peers.”

When leading adults, Rabbi Freedman tries to have an intention behind cohorts of learning. “There is something meaningful in inviting certain common groups to study a topic together,” he said. 

Before dedicating himself to the rabbinate, Rabbi Freedman was interested in architecture. He explained the commonality. “Growing up, I was interested in architecture – I still am – because the built environment is all about how people interact with the world, how they see the world and go through it. I can have a profound effect in people’s lives, positively or negatively. I always felt that connection between what I was experiencing in different buildings or houses, how it impacted me. I thought it could be really fun to be a person who creates that. Scale, he said, certainly has “impact.” Whether small makes you feel intimate and something larger makes you feel it could be important.” He also was intrigued by the way space is utilized. “The room we are sitting in could be set up in different ways,” he said. “Even though the ceiling won’t change, we could set up a different experience if the seats were arranged differently.”

As an undergraduate at Ohio State, he thought he wanted to create and interact with people through buildings, but he made a life-changing discovery. “I figured out the design and creation of buildings, for me, was not the most meaningful way for me to interact with people. I would not be in close enough contact with people.”

That reminded Rabbi Freedman of a revealing moment on the way to the rabbinate. He was exploring an architecture program at a school.

“I was asking questions to the students, trying to figure if this was the right path,” he recalled. “One said ‘Look, architecture is like a religion. You have to be completely committed if you are going to be successful. It’s intense, basically a lifestyle.’  It took some time before I realized that is not the religion I want to be devoted to.”

Rabbi Freedman hasn’t entirely let go. “Architecture is interesting,” he said. “I still enjoy it. The connection between the Jewish world and how its buildings are designed – synagogues, museums – and how they impact us.”

Yad Vashem fascinates the rabbi. “It is purposely designed in an interesting way to bring you into the experience of the Holocaust,” he says. “But the religion I really wanted to devote myself to, what I want to create and build, is Jewish community.”

“The religion I really wanted to devote myself to, what I want to create and build, is Jewish community.“ 

Young Daniel was strongly grounded in Judaism – via his family —  as a schoolboy in St. Louis.  When he went off to Ohio State, Hillel was the last piece that made up his mind. “I discovered how Jewish community truly could have an impact on someone,” he said.

Fast Takes with Rabbi Freedman

Jewish Journal: What is your next goal?

Rabbi Freedman: My biggest goal in the next year, for the school, is to assess what is going well, and get to know the parents, kids and teachers. Then I would ask what can strengthen the school and the community. I’ll visit classrooms and speak with parents about what is important to them. Goals will be reached through partnerships. 

J.J.: What is your favorite non-Jewish book?

R.F.: “In Five Years,” by Rebecca Serle. I enjoyed it because it is about looking forward in five years. While it is important to live in the moment, if you are not also thinking about where you want to be, you may miss out on much you want to change.

J.J.: Your favorite Jewish food?

R.F.: Matzah ball soup, and Passover is one of my favorite Jewish holidays. The combination is a winner for me.