How much should you spend on a simcha?

This Sunday evening, the Young Israel of Teaneck will host a debate between Rabbi Larry Rothwachs and Dr. Leslie Ginsparg Klein on whether the current state of smachot in our community and the level of spending on them, as well as extravagance in lifestyle in general, is problematically excessive and should be significantly curtailed. (See box.)

YIOT, an Orthodox shul, has an active adult education committee that offers a variety of programming. As is the case in many shuls, that programming tends to consist mainly of speakers giving lectures, classes, or shiurim. Last year, the committee added a debate to the mix.

“We felt that it was something that would be really interesting, that it was something that’s really never done,” David Schwartz, a member of the committee, said at the time. “It was done 2,000 years ago, and every single page of the Talmud includes debates, obviously, but for whatever reason, it’s not something you ever really see any more in the Jewish world. There are speakers, there are scholars, there are sermons, there are panel discussions, but there’s never really a debate.

“While I don’t think the Jewish community needs more machloket” — more arguments — “I do think it needs more debating,” he added wryly.

Last year’s program explored whether there are moral principles and grounds for morality that exist and obligate us independent of the Torah, Judaism, and its teachings. It was a formal debate, with timed statements and rebuttals. “The committee, under the guidance of Rabbi Beni Krohn,” who leads the shul, “thought it would be very exciting to have a debate, not just because it’s something different, but because of the format and structure of a debate itself,” Daniel Lowe, the committee’s chair, said at the time.

“It’s such a unique type of forum, where an idea gets to really be tested by two sides. You don’t just have one person orating about something, but you have the two sides really challenging each other and forcing a sharpening of the ideas and getting at the heart of an issue.

“It’s a unique opportunity that you don’t really have in any other forum. We thought that it would be fascinating just as a way to look at an issue in a way that really forces everyone to crystallize the issue in a sharper way than you normally get the opportunity to think about something.”

That program was very well received, Rabbi Krohn said. David Schwartz spearheaded it; “he did an amazing job. We had almost 200 people there and a lot of views online afterwards. It was definitely a conversation that was very meaningful for people.”

Rabbi Krohn sees this year’s topic as even more relevant. “I think that finances in general are a big challenge in the world, but certainly in the Orthodox community,” he said. “I think everyone, no matter where you are on the spectrum in terms of finances, is trying to figure out that balance between having enough and spending in a way that they feel is fulfilling and works for their family. At the same time, there are concerns that I think a lot of people have about the sort of explosion of materialism, and not just in the Orthodox community — it’s in the world. The world has become obsessed with luxury, and acquiring things, and we can’t deny that that has impacted the Jewish community as well.

“I think these debates go on all the time, at Shabbos tables and in people’s living rooms, and I think having an opportunity to hear two very thoughtful community leaders talk about this issue is something that a lot of people are interested in.

“Just the general way that people in the community manage money is itself, I think, a worthy conversation,” Rabbi Krohn continued. “I think that’s the point. It’s something that people talk about, they joke about, they complain about, but what I think is so nice about the idea of a debate is that it’s a chance to really have the conversation out in public, which I hope will inspire more conversation. That’s sort of the goal of a conversation like this — to inspire more conversation.”

Mr. Schwartz agrees that the issue is important and worth discussing. “It intersects with a number of areas that are timely and of strong interest to our community, and to society in general, including the cost of living as an Orthodox Jew and the tuition crisis; prevailing societal ideas on capitalism, its associated incentives, and their relationship with Judaism; spirituality vs. materialism; keeping up with the Katzes; the meaning of tzniut,” a term generally referring to behavior that is modest or reserved rather than showy or attention-seeking; “the impact of American culture on our values; the scope of prohibited ba’al tashchit” [wastefulness]; increasing income disparity/inequality and class divide; and even career choices,” he said.

“There are valid arguments on both sides,” Mr. Schwartz continued. “On the one hand, one can argue against overindulgence, opulence, and waste, but on the other hand, people work hard for their material success and feel they have a right, especially when they may give a lot of charity, to spend their surplus however they see fit.

“Is there truly an obligation in spending to always be using that money toward its best possible use?” he added. “Where do we draw the line between discretionary/optional and obligatory behavior?”

Of course, some of these ideas are not new. “Judaism has always had rich people and poor people living side by side,” Mr. Schwartz said. “How much has this issue really played a role historically in our communal conversation? Is anything different now?”

Discretionary income for some is also not new, but what may be somewhat new is the extent of that discretionary income, the percentage of people with discretionary income, and the fact that they may live in the same neighborhoods with people facing different financial circumstances. “At a time of proliferating billionaires and immense wealth, it is increasingly rare to find communities in which extreme affluence and genuine financial hardship exist in such close daily proximity,” Mr. Schwartz pointed out. “So the Orthodox community,” where people generally live in walking distance to shuls, and therefore close to each other, “is almost unique in this regard, where you can have the super wealthy and the struggling often attending the same synagogues, sending their children to the same schools, and living within walking distance of one another.”

Rabbi Rothwachs, who leads Congregation Beth Aaron, another Orthodox shul in Teaneck, and is the director of professional rabbinics at Yeshiva University’s Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary, will argue in favor of the resolution. “Rabbi Rothwachs is well known in our community and has been publicly vocal on this topic,” encouraging moderation in spending on a communal level, Mr. Schwartz said. Dr. Klein, the dean and chief academic officer at Gratz College and an author and social media personality, “is a highly regarded speaker and thinker who takes the opposing view,” that people should be free to spend in ways that work for their own families, “who we thought would be a great spokesperson for that point of view.”

Rabbi Krohn hopes that the program “ignites a flame for people to think more about the issue, even just in their own personal lives. How do the decisions that I make impact somebody else? Is there a sensitivity there in any direction?

“I don’t think the goal is to emerge from a debate with an answer; I don’t think we’re going to resolve it in one evening. I think the goal is to emerge from a debate thinking more thoughtfully about the question. I think to be thinking about it more has a lot of value.”

Who: Rabbi Larry Rothwachs and Dr. Leslie Ginsparg Klein

What: Will debate whether the current state of smachot in our community and the level of spending on them, as well as extravagance in lifestyle in general, is problematically excessive and should be significantly curtailed. Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin will moderate.

Where: Young Israel of Teaneck

When: Sunday, June 7, 8 p.m.

How much: It’s free, but advance registration is necessary for everyone except YIOT members

To register: Go to www.yiot.org/form/DebateNightJune7

For more information: Email office@yiot.org