H eadlines
Synagogues Close to Finding New Rabbis
L OCA L
JARRAD SAFFREN | JE STAFF
TWO AREA SYNAGOGUES
— Temple Beth Hillel-
Beth El in Wynnewood and
Congregation Beth El in
Voorhees, New Jersey — have
reached the final stage of their
searches for new rabbis.

Both Conservative congre-
gations will welcome their
final candidates for Sabbath
weekends in January. The
prospective rabbis will mingle
with congregants, look at the
temple’s religious schools,
attend services and deliver
sermons. To be fair to the
candidates, synagogue leaders
did not want to mention their
names. Rabbi Neil Cooper, 68, is
retiring from Temple Beth
Hillel-Beth El in June after
three decades as synagogue
leader. Rabbi Aaron Krupnick,
60, is stepping down in the
summer after 27 years of
guiding Congregation Beth El.

Regarding their decisions
to retire, both men pretty
much said what Cooper said in
August: “It’s time.” Krupnick
further explained that, at 60,
he didn’t feel like he could see
the future of Judaism like he
could in his 30s.

“Jewish life needs to evolve,”
Krupnick said then.

According to Beth Hillel-
Beth El President Barbara
Bookman, one of the challenges
moving forward is figuring
out the new, post-pandemic
normal. How
much does
a synagogue do in person versus
over Zoom? Also, how much
of its programming can be a
combination of the two?
These are questions that will
help drive Jewish life in the
next generation of rabbinical
leaders. “Things are different. We’ve
had a Zoom minyan where
that’s been very successful,”
6 JANUARY 6, 2022
Congregation Beth El in Voorhees, New Jersey
Courtesy of Congregation Beth El
Bookman said. “I’m not sure if
it’s going to be as easy for the
morning minyan to get people
to come back in person, instead
of over Zoom.”
Stuart Sauer, the president
of Beth El, echoed a similar
theme. During the pandemic, the
Voorhees temple used virtual
services and programs to
remain accessible to congre-
gants who had moved to
Florida or the Jersey shore.

Based on that success,
synagogue leaders see Zoom
as a part of Beth El’s future.

Every rabbi they inter-
viewed, over Zoom, naturally,
agreed. “All the candidates felt as
though Zoom was going to be a
major part of spiritual services
for the foreseeable future,”
Sauer said.

One rabbinical candidate
visited Beth Hillel-Beth El in
December. The other two final-
ists are coming in January.

Beth El also is using the first
month of the new year for the
final step in its search process.

At both places, the candi-
dates who made it this far
showed a combination of
old- and new-school priori-
ties, according to synagogue
leaders. “Relationships
and building relationships were
really important,” Bookman
said. “Getting to know people
and families.”
But Bookman said that
rabbis expressed unique ideas
she hadn’t heard before, like
forming groups around congre-
gant interests and study groups
that grew because they focused
on whatever the groups were
interested in.

No matter how unique
those ideas were, though, they
still came back to the oldest
and most important rabbinical
priority: listening to people.

Sauer said that, during
Beth El’s interview process, he
looked for that quality more
than any other.

Tone of voice, mannerisms,
eye contact with the camera,
direct answers to questions.

“We asked a question, and
we got an answer,” he said.

Sauer explained
that synagogues are still relevant
because people depend on them
for baby namings, bar and bat
mitzvahs, weddings and funerals
— the big life cycle events.

In many cases, Jewish
people talk to their rabbis
about more intimate subjects
than they do to their friends.

Therefore, without the ability
JEWISH EXPONENT
to listen well, no candidate can
move on to the final round.

“You want them to have a
connection with you,” Sauer
said. In 2022 and beyond,
building a connection also
means bringing people and,
in particular, younger families
back to the synagogue. Not just
virtually, but in person, too.

Sauer wants his new rabbi
to offer young parents the
democratic and transparent
qualities that younger genera-
tions value. He said they have
to feel not just like part of the
synagogue, but like part of the
process of building social and
educational programming, too.

“The growth of the
synagogue is dependent on
young families coming in,”
he said.

While that’s true, both Beth
Hillel-Beth El and Beth El are
in good shape at the moment.

Beth Hillel-Beth El has about
700 families in its congrega-
tion; Beth El has roughly 825.

The synagogue leaders hope
to complete their searches by
February and begin the transi-
tion process that will culminate
in the summer.

“We’re optimistic,” Sauer
said. l
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