H eadlines
Shavuot a Special Holiday for Goodblatt Students
L OCA L
JESSE BERNSTEIN | JE STAFF
IN THE FIRST CHAPTER of
Ruth, read during the holiday of
Shavuot, the eponymous convert
speaks her most famous line.

Ruth, a Moabite woman, is
widowed around the same time
as her Jewish in-laws, Naomi
and Orpah. Naomi, mother-
in-law to Ruth and Orpah,
encourages them to leave her
and pursue new husbands. But
Ruth refuses, opting to remain
with Naomi. “Wherever you go
I will go, wherever you lodge I
will lodge; your people shall be
my people and your God shall
be my God,” Ruth says.

Over the course of her life,
Ruth’s pledge to Naomi is
bolstered by a litany of righteous
acts and, by the time of her
death, the woman who is often
described as the first convert
to Judaism has given birth to
the family line that eventually
produces King David.

The story of Ruth is
especially resonant this time
of year for the teachers and
students at the Rabbi Morris
Goodblatt Academy, a local
educational program that
provides introduction to
Judaism courses. Many of the
students join the academy
as a part of their conver-
sion processes, attending by
themselves or alongside their
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Gill Segal (left) and Eric Papa (right) with their children, Joseph and Shawn-
Benjamin. Papa was introduced to the Rabbi Morris Goodblatt Academy by
a rabbi in Durham, North Carolina.
Courtesy of Eric Papa
cca@conservest.com 4
MAY 20, 2021
JEWISH EXPONENT
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As Rabbi Neil Cooper
explained, the holiday-based
structure of the 23-week class
ends each year with Shavuot,
a fitting conclusion to the
students’ declarations that they,
too, will be like Ruth — in more
ways than one. The academy is
supported by the Rabbinical
Assembly (Philadelphia
Region), and the Louis and
Judith Miller Introduction to
Judaism Program of American
Jewish University.

“What we’re seeing today
is not only a steady flow of
people who are converting,
but people who are converting,
not because they have to, but
because they want to,” said
Cooper, who runs the academy
and is also the senior rabbi at
Temple Beth Hillel-Beth El in
Wynnewood. The academy’s namesake,
Rabbi Morris Goodblatt, started
the school in 1959, according to
the archives of the Jewish Post &
Opinion, a Jewish newspaper in
Indianapolis. Goodblatt started
the school as the “Academy for
See Shavuot, Page 13
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM