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September 26, 2008
Busch Takes Place on Bimah At BHC
Barbara Pash
Associate Editor
Since he officially took over July 1 as spiritual leader of Baltimore Hebrew Congre-gation, Rabbi Andrew Busch has been meeting and greeting. There have been gatherings and get-togethers, hospital visits and life-cycle events. Rabbi Busch estimates he has met more than half of the congregation’s 1,400 family members.
But next week is the big day, or more accurately, days. With the High Holidays, Rabbi Busch, 42, a tall, burly man with a friendly manner, will guide the Upper Park Heights congregation into the Jewish New Year.
Rabbi Busch and his family moved to Baltimore from New Orleans, where he was senior rabbi at Touro Synagogue. His wife, Rabbi Debbie Pine, is the former director of the New Orleans Hillel, and now is in charge of that Hillel’s capital campaign. The couple have three children: Johanna, 13, Ben, 11, and Ethan, 7.
Rabbi Busch arrived at Touro Synagogue in July 2005. Hurricane Katrina hit two months later, and life in New Orleans changed. Touro sustained $150,000 worth of damage and many of its 620 family members evacuated the city.
“I spent my first year trying to find members,” said Rabbi Busch. “By the end of that year, most who had left had come back. We lost less than 10 percent of our members.”
At a recent meeting in his book-lined office, Rabbi Busch talked about his hopes and goals for his rabbinate here. He said he is “thrilled” to be in Baltimore.
Although Rabbi Busch has come to a congregation that is more than twice the size of Touro, he said working in such a large setting is not unfamiliar territory for him. He started his career as associate and then assistant rabbi at the 1,600 family member Rodef Shalom Congregation in Pittsburgh.
In a large congregation, he said, the challenge is that “you want to engage the existing members more than they’ve already been, and you want to reach out to new members.” This is a challenge that faces all congregations, regardless of denomination and of size, he said.
“In American Judaism, we are in an age of choice, with conflicting priorities,” said Rabbi Busch. “The question is, how do you maintain and enhance Jewish identity and commitment? It’s a dilemma.”
Rabbi Busch said he does not believe that the answer lies solely in programming. After all, he said, BHC had already initiated several innovative programs before he arrived. In particular, he mentions Rosh Hashanah Under the Stars (see box); Chai Life, monthly chats with the rabbi in a downtown city setting; and an adult education series.
“The answer is less about programs and more about tone,” said Rabbi Busch. “The key is accessibility. I want [congregants] to get to know me as a person.”
As the congregation’s religious school starts, Rabbi Busch has been standing in the parking lot, chatting with arriving parents and children. He has been walking the halls of the school, doing the same.
He also has been reaching out to congregants with phone calls and visits. “My door is wide open,” he said of his office. “The foundation to an active, meaningful synagogue life is relationships and caring.”
Rabbi Busch said he also is looking forward to working with his clergy colleagues here. “They’ve been wonderful,” he said, “warm and helpful.”
In Baltimore, the Reform community has experienced a declining membership, in comparison to the rest of the country where the Reform movement is the fastest-growing of the denominations. “My reading is, the numbers are not constantly shrinking,” said Rabbi Busch. “And there are still a lot of us.”
If anything, Rabbi Busch said he is hopeful about the situation. The four local Reform congregations have already made moves for cooperative endeavors — BEIT-RJ, a joint Reform Jewish high school for grades 8 through 12 that will rotate among the congregations is one of them.
“The question is, how can we work together?” said Rabbi Busch. “This is an opportunity to do things differently.”
Starry Night
Baltimore Hebrew Congregation’s “Rosh Hashanah Under the Stars” will be held next Monday, Sept. 29, at Oregon Ridge Park, 13555 Beaver Dam Road in Cockeysville. The park opens at 4:30 p.m.; bring a picnic, blanket and lawn chairs. The family service begins at 6 p.m., led by Rabbi Elissa Sachs-Kohen and Cantor Ann G. Sacks.
The community is welcome. The event is free, but registration is required. Call 443-524-0284 or log on to http://www.rhunderthestars.com.