Dear VBS Friends,
I am very pleased to share with you that the VBS Boards of Directors and Trustees have elected Rabbi Nolan Lebovitz as our next Senior Rabbi. The grandchild of four survivors of the Holocaust, Rabbi Lebovitz was raised in the suburbs outside of Chicago. He attended the Solomon Schechter Day School and North Suburban Synagogue Beth El in Highland Park. He came to Los Angeles to attend USC Film School and spent ten years as a filmmaker before enrolling in the Ziegler Rabbinical School of the American Jewish University, where he was my student. For the past seven years, Rabbi Lebovitz has served with great distinction as rabbi of Adat Shalom in West Los Angeles. He will be joining our community with his wife, Blair and their three children in July. Over these past years, Rabbi Lebovitz and I have collaborated on several projects and initiatives. I cherish his creativity and his vision and I look forward to working closely with him in his new role as our Senior Rabbi at Valley Beth Shalom.
As I have written to you previously, it is my intention to continue as rabbi at Valley Beth Shalom for many years. I am pleased to inform you, as well, that the VBS leadership and I have concluded a long-term agreement for my new role at Valley Beth Shalom. I look forward to continuing to serve and teach and celebrate our VBS community.
As our Rabbinic Search process comes to this happy conclusion, we offer our deepest gratitude to Roslyn Grinberg and Nurit Robin, our extraordinary Rabbinic Search Committee Chairs, and to the members of the committee – Donna Bender, Alan Feit, Lisa Lainer Fagan, Nathan Firer, Victor Kohn, Megan Laufman, Jeff Levine, Rita Sinder, and Melody Torbati – for all the time, dedication and care they invested in our search process. Thank you to all our VBS members who participated in our search process. Our highest blessings go to Jeff Goss, for his wise, inspired leadership as our president through this momentous time in our congregation’s life.
Rabbi Lebovitz will be starting his new position with VBS in July. We will celebrate his formal installation later in the Fall. Until then, he will be visiting VBS frequently and joining us at many events. I hope you will come by to introduce yourself to him and to enjoy his warmth and spirit.
Thank you for sharing our VBS community. I wish you and your loved ones a joyful and sweet Passover holiday.
Yours,
