TORONTO — Toronto labour lawyer Michael Mitchell is, to the best of his knowledge, the first Canadian president of the Jewish Reconstructionist Federation (JRF). His first official – and unquestionably memorable – duty was a trip to the White House last month for U.S. President Barack Obama’s Chanukah party.
Michael Mitchell [Frances Kraft photo]
“From a Jewish perspective, it was very exciting and interesting to stand in the East Room of the White House with 400 or so Jewish people, and the president of the United States and his wife, and sing the brachot,” Mitchell said.
“It was a pretty unique Jewish experience. The thing that impressed me was the extent to which it symbolized the inclusion of Jews in American society.
“I wouldn’t say we should be special, but it felt very good to see how Jews were included… I’d want it for all communities. I wouldn’t want the Jewish community to be the only one.”
A Winnipeg native who received his law degree from the University of Toronto in 1977, Mitchell grew up in a modern Orthodox/Conservative synagogue environment (his family belonged to two shuls) and attended a modern Orthodox day school, as well as Joseph Wolinsky Collegiate through Grade 10.
In Toronto, Mitchell came to Reconstructionism – a movement founded in the last century by Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan – because it offered a place where he and his wife could both be comfortable, he said.
Toronto’s Congregation Darchei Noam, where Mitchell sometimes leads services, is one of only three Reconstructionist congregations in Canada. The other two are in Ottawa and Montreal. The JRF represents more than 100 congregations and chavurot in North America.
A former president of Darchei Noam, Mitchell said it had “a strong traditional bent” that he was comfortable with, but it was also completely egalitarian, which appealed to his wife, Lynne.
However, people are more familiar with Orthodox, Conservative and Reform Judaism, he noted. “In Canada in particular, people wonder if [Reconstructionism] is really Jewish, and really authentic – and of course it’s very Jewish and very authentic.”
A marketing initiative that is in the works to increase awareness is one of his top priorities in his new role.
He’s also involved in talks about the possibility of merging the movement’s institutions, including the JRF and the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College in Philadelphia, to create “a more cohesive and effective organization.”
Mitchell said that Reconstructionism answers the “need for Judaism to change and keep modern, evolve and yet have very strong respect for tradition without being bound by it.”
