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Dana leads Congregation B'nai Israel in Albany, Georgia. He holds a Ph.D. in American Jewish History from Tel Aviv University, where he studied with Professor Lloyd Gartner, and also has rabbinic ordination from Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Jerusalem. He is a Visiting Research Scholar at the Sue and Leonard Miller Center for Contemporary Jewish Studies at the University of Miami.
The author of over 60 scholarly essays and general audience articles, Dana’s books include the Cambridge Companion to American Judaism (Cambridge University Press, 2005), American Reform Judaism (Rutgers University Press, 2003), Platforms and Prayer Books : Theological and Liturgical Perspectives on Reform Judaism (Rowman & Littlefield, 2002) and Contemporary Debates in American Reform Judaism: Conflicting Visions (Routledge, 2001).
“I have been interested in Jewish studies since I was a first grader at Ramaz School in Manhattan. I have found Judaism to be very intellectually stimulating and have enjoyed grappling with its complexities. I enjoy being a rabbi because it is so connected with people, and I like to balance my community activities with study, research, and writing.”
“I studied at Yeshiva University, one of the few non-Orthodox students in the undergraduate college. I went there because I wanted to study Judaic texts, although I was a bit intimidated by the ultra-frum environment of the beit hamidrash. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the experience, even becoming junior class president. I graduated magna cum laude.”
“I studied at the Hebrew Union College- Jewish Institute of Religion in Jerusalem. Usually an American student studies there for one year and returns to one of three American campuses for the next four years. But I did my entire rabbinic program in Israel. All of the courses were in Hebrew. Initially I was told that I could write my papers in English but that policy was reversed in my 2nd or 3rd year. Being a Reform rabbinical student in Israel was very difficult. Only about 20 percent of the country is Orthodox, but very few Israelis were actively supporting the rights of non-Orthodox religious movements at that time. I understand that things have been changing for the better.”
“I wrote my PhD dissertation on conversion to Judaism in nineteenth century America. When I tell people that, they usually look at me and say, ‘there were people who converted in the nineteenth century?’ Well, yes there were. I even found a number of cases from the eighteenth century. Most are connected to marriage but there were some strictly ideological proselytes.”
Dana has lived and worked in South Africa, Australia, and Israel, as well as the United States. He also travels extensively. “I have visited three countries that are regarded as among the more dangerous in the world: South Africa, Colombia, and Israel. In reality, South Africa is probably the most dangerous of the three. None are in the same category with really dangerous countries such as Nigeria.”
Dana travels around the country speaking at Scholar in Residence weekends. “Originally, I had expected that congregations would want to pick one theme and stick with it throughout the weekend. I have found, however, that most temples prefer to offer programs on a variety of topics. I usually talk briefly Friday night about Reform Judaism, and then will do different types of programs on American Jewish history, Reform liturgy, and controversial issues facing American Judaism. We may have a brotherhood breakfast on Sunday on Jewish humor or Jewish love and romance in Hollywood. I also always try to do a program for the children. I think if the temple is bringing in a scholar in residence, the congregation’s children have a right to enjoy a program with the guest presenter. I do different types pf programs, some of which use PowerPoint and others with DVD film clips.”
He enjoys scuba diving. “The first time I scuba dived was on the Great Barrier reef in Australia. I had been invited to Queensland to work as a student rabbi in Brisbane, the third largest city in Australia. During my 4 month stay I made contact with a Jewish guy living up in Cairns, which is a tourist town located very near to the reef. They didn’t have a congregation of any sort. For many years there was only one Jewish family. They joined a Reform temple in Sydney and flew down there every year for the High Holy Days. Slowly the Jewish people in town started to get together, usually for a Passover Seder once a year. On my way out of the country I was asked to stop in Cairns for a week.”
“Once I arrived in Cairns everyone told me that I had to dive the reef. They have a system where you can scuba dive even without certification. The boat ride from shore to reef was about 2 hours. Some of the larger boats go out and dock there. The reef was incredible, with tropical fish of every possible variety. I remember seeing a clam that was about the size of a laptop with colorful sparkles on the outside, like someone had dropped ‘fairy dust’ on it. I loved diving down into the ocean and knew that I would do it again.”
The most rugged dive he ever did was in Natal, South Africa. “They put about 12 of us in an ultra high speed launch. They started in an inlet and built up speed and crashed thru the waves and into the open ocean. Everyone in the launch looked like they were members of the South African Special Forces. Once we got to the site the dive master just jumped in and descended rapidly. Everyone followed him extremely quickly, including my buddy. I found myself alone in the water. I couldn’t go down very quickly because I was having trouble equalizing my ears. I looked for the group for 1 or 2 minutes and then, following the standard instructions, began to ascend.”
“There were about 20 sharks circling around me. This sounds much worse than it was. People come from all over the world to see these sharks, and as far as I know, they haven’t eaten any scuba divers. The sharks actually didn’t seem very interested in me. I was hoping to see a giant turtle, but maybe they were scared off by the sharks. When I got back to the surface, the ocean was extremely choppy and the boat was very far away. I realized I did not have a flare gun or any other way to get attention. So I inflated my vest, and waved my hands at the boat. I don’t know how the skipper saw me but he did. It took him about ten minutes to reach me.”
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