JSLI educates Rabbis and Cantors through the lens of Conservative Judaism because one must be rooted in tradition to understand the best ways to evolve to meet the needs of interfaith couples and unaffiliated Jews.
A rabbi ordained through JSLI is not required to adhere to the dogma of any particular Jewish movement, but rather encouraged to continue to grow in his or her personal faith and to meet the needs of the communities in which they serve.
Rabbi Blane is the founder of Jewish Universalism (UJUC.org). Its seven key doctrines are:
- The Holy Book of Torah is divinely inspired
- Jewish Universalism honors our Jewish teachings, traditions, texts, and rituals, and seeks to repair the world through compassionate actions.
- There is one and only one god!
- Judaism is a continually developing spiritual practice
- One’s religion is not the single source of truth, and all paths to the divine are Holy in equal measures.
- People who follow the command to love their neighbors as they love themselves are the ‘chosen’ ones.
- Everyone is welcome to participate in Jewish worship and rituals.
According to Rabbi Blane, stepping a foot towards the path of the divine is all about understanding that G-d is communicated, explained, and established by ‘sacred myth’, which does not weaken the Torah or the holiness of its writings.