For Everything There Is A Season

As many of you have already heard, I have accepted a position with a congregation of my own to begin next summer. My new congregation is Cape Cod Synagogue in Hyannis, Massachusetts. Yes, if the Kennedy family is in need of any rabbinic services, I will be on call. I am very excited about the opportunity that has been given me to lead this community, and I hope that it is the last professional move I have to make. Still, many of you have quoted Ricky Ricardo to me, "Rabbi, you got some `splainin' to do!" So explain I will.

Temple Emanu-El has undergone truly spectacular growth in the last six years ago. At that time, serious debate was held as to whether or not the congregation should close its doors. Two years after Rabbi Cohon arrived, the question was not if the congregation would survive, but how many rabbis we would need! It was truly quite a turnaround. It was for this reason that I was brought in as assistant rabbi here at Temple. It was an unusual situation in congregational life that has lead to our present time, in which almost half of our congregants don't remember a time when both Rabbi Cohon and I were not here. This is where the `splainin' comes in.

The normal turn of events in a thriving congregation and community such as Temple, is to have the steady leadership of a senior rabbi, and a place for an assistant who moves on every two or three years. The sad fact of the matter is that this has not happened here at Emanu-El. It is with some pride that I can say that I am the first assistant rabbi to leave Temple Emanu-El under good circumstances in many, many years. I am so happy that this can be done in an orderly fashion, just like a regular shul! I would want nothing less for the community that gave me my first shot right out of school, and to which I have an enduring attachment.

So why am I leaving? The way I see it, I'm not leaving Temple Emanu-El, but rather going to Cape Cod Synagogue. There is a big difference. I have been very happy here at Temple and have made wonderful connections to so many congregants and to the larger Tucson community. Nothing is chasing me out! Rather, it is that the moment has come in my professional arc to take my own congregation. Given that reality, the opportunity at Cape Cod Synagogue was too special to let it go.

Cape Cod Synagogue has many of the qualities that I found here at Temple Emanu-El: a caring committed community, warm and genuine people, and a strong sense of Jewish purpose. I know that it is a good match for my family and me. Even with the snow and the cold, we will be happy on Cape Cod. Of course we will miss you, but this is just an unavoidable fact of life. Young rabbis move and go to new places, and established congregations send them on to their careers. I am no exception to this rule.

If you have connections to the Cape, please let me know before I leave in June. It will make the move a lot easier on me to stay in touch with any of you who might be coming my way!