By now you probably know that Rabbi Fred is leaving for a one-year sabbatical on June 30th. After a year of planning, we have finally figured out how we are going to fill his very busy shoes. We will miss Rabbi Fred, but while he is having a year of growth and rejuvenation we expect to have an exciting and enriching sabbatical year as well.
We have a plan for next year thanks to Sabbatical Replacement Search Committee Co-Chairs Gail Ross (Board Secretary) and Stan Newman (Immediate Past President) and their committee. After some committee members found the time commitment too burdensome and others had to recuse themselves due to connections to candidates, the final group included Rachel Hersh Epstein (representing clergy), Sheila Feldman (representing administrative staff), Judy Gelman (president), Arthur Berger (representing RPC), Barbara Berger (representing Life Cycle), Carol Feder (RRC Board Member and Adat Shalom founding member who has worn countless hats over the years), Donald Kane (veteran of the previous rabbi search process), and Myrna Seidman (representing Personnel and Adult Ed.) While Torah School, Youth Committee, and B’nai Mitzvah parents didn’t end up with their own reps, Gail and I did double duty. Together, the committee heard five rabbinical candidates, conducted interviews, and deliberated with great care. A smaller group (Rachel, Stan, Gail and Judy) culled through the many resumés we received from candidates for the student rabbi position and ultimately met with three of them. The committee made its recommendations to the Board, which unanimously approved the committee’s choices.
We started the process looking for one, full-time person to replace Rabbi Fred for the year. For a variety of reasons, we did not receive the caliber of resumes we wanted and expected for a full time slot. Inspired by Rabbi Sid to look at alternative approaches, we then pursued a “mosaic” approach, looking for individuals who could do parts of the job and complement one another.
In addition to the people outlined below, we expect the Adat Shalom’s Storahtelling troupe to be a factor in creating next year’s picture. (Come to the Retreat to learn more about this exciting program!)
As our senior clergy person and full time staff member, Hazzan Rachel Hersh Epstein stands at center of the mosaic and is its main coordinator. Recently invested in the Conservative movement’s Cantors Association (hence the change of title from “cantor” to “Hazzan”), Hazzan Rachel has a unique background, with training in voice, counseling and Judaics. Truly Adat Shalom’s bat bayit (beloved “daughter” of the community), Hazzan Rachel has grown from a talented lay leader to seasoned professional on our bimah. While she could do each of the tasks we need done by clergy if there were enough hours in the day, Hazzan Rachel is also raising three young children (Gideon, Gabriel and Coby) with her husband (and frequent gabbai) Jonathan Epstein. Next year, Hazzan Rachel will primarily put her energy into leading services and directing our music program, coordinating the b’nai mitzvah program, providing pastoral care, and taking on the tasks where the congregation most needs organizational continuity.
The main rabbinic presence next year will be Rav George Driesen. To paraphrase Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz, when we went look for our heart’s desire, we found it was in our own backyard all along. Rav George was the very first person we approached to help fill in the mosaic. At the time, he declined, due to other commitments. Fortunately, we had started him thinking and after several months, at the very last possible moment, he decided to formally apply for the job of part time rabbi at Adat Shalom. The members of the committee felt that we were familiar enough with his bimah style to interview him and recommend him to the Board without having him present a special Shabbat morning D’var Torah. While we had several very good candidates, Rav George brings us a combination of talents, experience and familiarity with the congregation we could get from no one else.
A lifelong Reconstructionist who studied with Rabbi Ira Eisenstein as a teenager, Rav George is a founding member of Adat Shalom. He left a long and illustrious career as a labor lawyer to attend the Reconstructionist Rabbincal College, graduating in 1999. His long list of published writings on Reconstructionism and related Jewish topics date back to 1966. Since graduation, Rav George has served two congregations part time while teaching theology at a Catholic seminary. His other major Jewish academic interests include Jewish history, Jewish thought, and liturgy. A master teacher, Rav George previously taught law at University of Virginia, Georgetown University, and The George Washington University. He is an experienced pastoral counselor and compassionate listener, who brings to his counseling the life experience of his long marriage to Sue Driesen and their shared parenthood and grandparenthood. While we haven’t worked out all the details, we expect Rav George to focus on primarily on leading services (including many Shabbat Slam services), pastoral counseling and support, and adult education.
Rabbi Sid Schwarz, Adat Shalom’s founding rabbi, will be increasing his presence next year by leading High Holiday services, one Shabbat morning service a month, and the 2004 Retreat. He will continue his Friday night presence by leading some Shabbat Slams and will also to teach one adult education series, as he has in the past.
For recent members who are less familiar with Rabbi Sid’s life outside Adat Shalom: Rabbi Sid, an RRC graduate who holds a doctorate in Jewish History, founded a second organization the same year he gave birth to Adat Shalom. As president of Panim: The Institute for Jewish Leadership and Values, Rabbi Sid has done path-breaking work in helping young Jews use the wisdom and values of our heritage to address contemporary social problems. Rabbi Sid is widely recognized as an innovative leader in Jewish education, recently receiving the Covenant Award for Exceptional Jewish Educators. Rabbi Sid’s book, Finding a Spiritual Home: How a New Generation of Jews Can Transform the American Synagogue, explores the synagogue-community model, the model on which Adat Shalom is based. He is a congregational consultant with a national reputation across denominations, as well as an intellectual leader within the Reconstructionist movement. Sandy Perlstein, co-chair of our Community Life Committee, is married to Rabbi Sid and together they are parents of 3 teenagers (Danny, Joel and Jenny.)
Rounding out our mosaic is fifth year Reconstructionist Rabbinical College student Moti Rieber. Moti, who has spent the previous two years of rabbinical school working as director of the JRF Mid Atlantic Region, will be with Adat Shalom two weekends a month. With his humor, hamishness, enthusiasm, and insight, Moti immediately struck the subcommittee interviewing him as our b’shert (intended one). Moti came to RRC after four years in Israel, teaching English to high school students. Prior to his teaching career in Israel, he worked as a journalist and editor, work that he has also done for the Reconstructionist movement while in rabbinical school.
Having worked with 22 JRF congregations as their resource staff person and community development consultant, Moti brings us a wealth of organizational knowledge, which will help us with the inner works of our community. In addition to spending time on the congregational bimah, we expect Moti and his guitar to be a familiar presence in family programming, in the Torah School and in the youth program next year. We hope to take advantage of Moti’s knowledge about Israel, religious pluralism, Jewish environmentalism, spirituality, and more, through adult education and social action projects. Moti’s latest publication is “Simplicity as a Jewish Path: Alternatives to Consumerism”, which appeared in Reconstructionism Today. Moti and his wife Suzie live outside of Philadelphia and are expecting their third child this spring.
Todah raba to the committee for their year of hard work. Thanks to the mosaic they put together, we can look forward to a beautiful year in 5764.
Shalom uv’racha (Peace and blessing),
Judy Gelman, President