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| Tuesday, November 13, 2007 |
Six Who Matter: The Multi-Hyphenate
This is part of our Nov/Dec 2007 issue. More specifically, this article is part of our 2007 Six Who Matter series.
He's a rabbi, a lawyer, an actor, a producer, and was once even a dancer on MTV. Now he's using all those skills to help Jewish youth.
Improvisational actors are trained to avoid the word "no." More than any other word, it stops people and ideas dead in their tracks. For Moshe Bellows, an attorney, rabbi, actor, producer, social entrepreneur, teacher - and one-time student of improvisational acting - the mantra extends beyond the stage and permeates his entire life.
"I'm a connector," Bellows says of his wide-ranging resume and far-flung interests. He uses the improv analogy to describe his most recent venture, working with at-risk Jewish youth. "It's always, 'Yes, and'," he says. "It's a great lesson for them. Yes, I need boundaries, but within those boundaries I can be far more free."
I meet Bellows at his home on the Upper West Side, where he answers the door dressed casually in jeans and a button down shirt. He leads me to a patio in the backyard of his apartment where I prepare to understand how he has been able to find time for so many ventures and for his career, most recently, as director of social and organization leadership training at Yeshiva University's Center for the Jewish Future.
But then he drops a bomb, ever so gently. "By the way, FYI, I just gave notice last week. I'm going to be leaving," he says, once we've settled down with a pitcher of cold water. He says he does not know what his next step will be, but observes that his biggest fear is stagnation.
Luckily, Bellows requires only a few hours of sleep. "There is so much to do and life is so short," he says, his eyes glinting mischievously. "I really believe that adage."
A native of Chicago, Bellows at 38, already has had more career opportunities than most people do in one life. After graduating from Yeshiva University, his first job was as a dancer on Club MTV, a dance show that aired in the late '80s and early '90s. Bellows says that period of his life taught him to "scramble," or make it on his own, although years later he began to see the experience in a more profound way.
One Passover, he says, he was relaxing by the pool at a Miami resort with his siblings and some friends, when a man joined them and began telling them about his unusual return to Judaism. He had drifted away from religion for several years, distracted by drug use. One Friday night, he was watching the credits roll on a television show when he saw the name "Moshe" appear on the screen. "I realized for the first time, Jews can do anything," the man said. Bellows was dumbfounded. "That was me," he eked out, and began to weep.
Recalling the story, Bellows says, "To this day, I don't know why God put me in that position, but if that's the one thing that needed me to be a good dancer, to audition, to get that gig so that this kid in some way, shape, or form…" he trails off. "Worth it."
Indeed, it is only one example of how Bellows has been able to connect his experiences. In a conversation that unspools over several hours, Bellows jumps from topic to topic, from his formal education in law, business, and Judaism, to the informal one he received during his years acting and running his own television development company. He also is involved with various non-profit organizations, including the initiative targeting at-risk children, Project Extreme, as well as a volunteering Web portal, Smart Volunteer, and a campaign to provide more air raid shelters to Israelis, called Operation Lifeshield.
Within the Jewish world, it's hard to find an organization that Bellows has not touched. Asked how he would describe himself at a dinner party, he pauses. "It's hard," he says. "Some people will see my resume as fragmented. They can't understand how to connect the dots," he says. "To me, it's exceedingly linear."
"I love wearing different hats," he says, pointing out that many of his enterprises, "are variations of a theme."
As an example, he says he initially sought rabbinic ordination to fulfill his love of learning, and to quench an insatiable thirst for education. Recently, however, he has found himself officiating at weddings and baby namings for friends. "It's given me some nice opportunities to be there for people in a way I couldn't as a layperson," he says. "I get to be the go-to person. How lucky am I?"
--Text by E.B. Solomont / Photo by Sam Norval
This is part of our Nov/Dec 2007 issue. More specifically, this article is part of our 2007 Six Who Matter series.
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