Har Sinai – Oheb Shalom Congregation recently concluded its search for an interim rabbi, welcoming Rabbi Allison Vann from Cleveland, Ohio.
After the departure of the congregation’s inaugural senior rabbi, Rabbi Rachel Sabath Beit- Halachmi, and more than two months of an interim rabbi search, Vann began her term on July 1 and will serve for the duration of the sitting rabbi search process.
“Her experience and her personality, her approachability, her wisdom, we thought was going to be exactly what we needed during this chapter,” said Har Sinai – Oheb Shalom President Katie Applefeld.
The congregation is still in the early phases of the search process, but the search committee has started working with focus groups to hear from congregants on what they are looking for in a rabbi.
“The biggest goal is to set ourselves up so we’re in the best position to find the best settled rabbi to take us into the future,” added Applefeld.
Vann grew up in the Reform movement and was ordained as a Reform rabbi by Hebrew Union College in 1999. She has served congregations in San Antonio and Beachwood, Ohio as well as on congregation and Jewish organizational boards. She is also serving as the special initiatives coordinator for the Central Conference of American Rabbis and is an ICF-certified life coach.
While Vann still maintains her home and has a partner in Cleveland, she has settled in Pikesville for the duration of her work at Har Sinai – Oheb Shalom.
“I really am drawn to supporting organizations and systems in transition and people in transition,” she said. “With the meaningful work that I have done as a one-on-one life coach and the consulting that I’ve done, I really found that synagogues need support when they are in transition and I really love being a rabbi … I wanted to marry the two.”
Vann said that she was drawn to Har Sinai – Oheb Shalom because of the congregation’s devoted volunteers and that the five-hour drive to Cleveland makes the interim rabbi lifestyle convenient.
“Obviously my job is the rabbi. So, to do all of the regular ‘quote, unquote’ work of the rabbi; Shabbat services, life cycle, pastoral care, and to be a safe and sacred space for congregants who need to share their concerns,” Vann said. “That looks like listening sessions. It looks like education. It looks like a stable, non-anxious presence.”
Vann will serve a yearlong term with the congregation and help it prepare for its next sitting rabbi.
“My work is to prepare the congregation for the long-term settled rabbi, to support the congregation, to make healthy, sacred choices for their rabbinic search,” Vann added. “To support the congregation and congregants that are struggling with whatever is going on in the congregation and so that when I leave next summer, the congregation is as strong as possible when they welcome their long-term rabbi.”
While Vann has served as an interim rabbi for a number of different organizations, she said she’s grown fond of the Baltimore Jewish community.
“I’m really honored to be here. I have really fallen for the Baltimore area,” she added. “I am really deeply impressed with the Baltimore Jewish community, so impressed with Har Sinai – Oheb Shalom Congregation and what it brings to the Jewish community, and what its potential is to keep growing stronger.”
“Rabbi Vann has just been a wonderful addition to our community,” Applefeld said. “Our services have just been joyful and engaging, and the learning opportunities have continued … obviously it’s the summer so there’s no religious school at the moment, but we’re really looking forward to seeing what she’s going to contribute.”
mresnicow@midatlanticmedia.com
