#orthodox-judaism

#orthodox-judaism

When people picture a rabbi, they may imagine a man standing in front of a congregation in a synagogue. But "rabbi" means much more than that. For example, a rabbi could be a teacher, a nonprofit executive for a Jewish organization or a scholar of Jewish law - and, increasingly, some of those roles are held by Orthodox women. For decades, liberal denominations have permitted women to be ordained.

For the past 25 years, this process has been the rabbi's routine on both Thursday and Friday mornings: leaving his home in Monsey, an Orthodox enclave in Rockland County, hours before sunrise in order to circumnavigate the entire island of Manhattan. His mission: to check every part of the borough's eruv - the symbolic boundary, marked by strings and other man-made and natural elements, inside of which observant Jews may carry objects like food, keys and even babies on Shabbat and certain holidays.

"He lived a pure life of unadulterated love, of unconditional kindness," said Lipskar's nephew. This reflects Lipskar's approach to both faith and humanitarian efforts.