Dear TBE Community,
I hope you all enjoyed a wonderful Passover. Spring is here.
As you know, plans are being made as TBE begins its search for a new Senior Rabbi to succeed Rabbi Hammerman when he assumes Emeritus status on July 1, 2024. I have appointed Lisa Manheim, our Immediate Past President, and Devra Jaffe-Berkowitz, our First Vice President, to co-chair the search for a new Senior Rabbi. I am also pleased to announce that the following congregants will serve with them on the Rabbi Search Committee: Wil Brewer, Kahla Cooper, Amy Davidson, Gary Lessen, Chris Maroc, Craig Olin, Leon Shapiro, Eileen Springer, and Stephanie Zelazny.
The committee was carefully chosen to reflect a cross-section of our congregation: young families, including those with children in our Kesher Religious School; empty nesters; members with varied religious backgrounds; long-time members; and congregants with significant connections to the greater Stamford Jewish community. All are committed to engaging in a collaborative, transparent and intensive search effort. We are immensely fortunate to have assembled such a highly qualified, diverse, and dedicated group of individuals to serve on the search committee.
At the same time, we recognize the critical importance of involving all interested TBE members in this momentous task. We invite and encourage everyone to join us for bagels and coffee on Sunday, April 30, from 9:30-11 am in the TBE Social Hall for an informational meeting. The meeting will allow us to describe the search process in more detail, answer questions you may have, and provide opportunities for you to become involved on committees and in focus groups that will inform and support the search. If you are unable to make the meeting, these opportunities will still be available. And please know that all information pertaining to the search will be included in a specially created section of our TBE website.
The Rabbi Search Committee’s responsibility is to make a recommendation to the Board of Trustees of a candidate who speaks to our needs and aspirations. To do so, we must first define and prioritize the characteristics we are looking for in our new rabbi and articulate who we are as a congregation – not only where we stand at this moment in time, but also the direction we see ourselves moving in the future. The two congregational surveys we conducted recently were intended to help in that way. Beginning with the April 30 meeting, we will have a special email address where you can further communicate your thoughts and opinions regarding these matters, including the personal, intellectual, religious, spiritual and ethical qualities in a rabbi that are important to you.
There is a lot of work to do. TBE has been blessed with Rabbi Hammerman’s leadership for the past three decades. Now, we are faced with the responsibility to choose a new rabbi who will help us shape TBE’s future. I encourage you to attend the April 30 meeting and participate as much as possible.
B’shalom,
