Har Sinai-Oheb Shalom Congregation recently experienced the departure of its inaugural senior rabbi, Rabbi Rachel Sabath Beit- Halachmi. With the new vacancy, the congregation has formed a committee in search of an interim rabbi to help aid the transition.
Utilizing interim rabbis during a congregation’s transition period is a common practice in most synagogue settings. The search is much shorter and the committee conducting the search is typically much smaller. Unlike when searching for a sitting rabbi, which can take up to a year in some instances, the interim rabbi search is meant to last around two to three months.
“We are hopeful that it will take two to three months. Right now, we’re just about a little bit more than a month in, and we’re well on our way,” said Jessica Krasnick, the search committee’s co-chair.
According to Krasnick, the congregation decided on an interim rabbi search instead of jumping into a search for a more permanent replacement on the recommendation of the Union for Reform Judaism and the Central Conference of American Rabbis, the governing body of Reform rabbis.
“An interim rabbi is really focused on transition and supporting, maintaining status quo while also looking forward,” Krasnick explained. “The settled rabbi will really support new innovations if they wish, or if that’s what the community desires. Not a lot of change will happen during an interim’s tenure, but a settled rabbi … is where possible change could occur if that’s what the community wants.”
The congregation has formed a committee of seven members, including two past presidents, the vice president of the Women’s Club, someone representing the young family cohort, and other representatives from different areas of the congregation.
“We have been soliciting input and feedback forms from our congregants, and it’s been very engaged. Lots of people from the whole breadth of our community have contributed their input in prose and in lots of different ways,” she added. “I feel like they’re very excited and looking forward, and they are really contributing to this process through their feedback.”
Krasnick said the congregation had 12 applicants from a variety of different cities across the United States and has so far narrowed down the potential candidate pool to four.
“We’re looking for someone who can really help us with our transition and focus on the community and our next steps,” she added.
For Har Sinai-Oheb Shalom, once the search committee was formed, the committee members participated in implicit bias training, set committee goals, solicited feedback from congregants and then created the application to be posted through the CCAR.
The committee has reviewed the applications and hosted the first round of interviews. After deliberating, it will host a second round of interviews and check applicant references of those being considered as finalists.
Then, the committee will deliberate again, deciding on one or two candidates to invite to the synagogue for congregants to meet. Finally, based on feedback from congregants who met with the candidates, the search committee will make a recommendation to the board of trustees.
“You want to fill that position quickly. With an interim, it means there’s a vacancy or something coming up that’s a transition,” Krasnick explained. “There’s a possibility that you might want to invite more than one or two finalists in for a settled rabbi. But other than that, the process is very similar, [the interim search process is] just a little bit smaller and a little bit quicker.”
The interim rabbi is set to begin at Har Sinai-Oheb Shalom by July 1.
“Har Sinai-Oheb Shalom Congregation is moving forward with strength, purpose, and a deep sense of community,” the congregation wrote in a statement to Baltimore Jewish Times. “Our focus is on our congregation. Our cantor, staff, and lay leaders are fully engaged in ensuring continuity of worship, pastoral care, education, and congregation life. HSOSC’s services, programs, and celebrations continue as planned and remain as meaningful as ever. We are seeing strong participation in our services, learning, and community events, and we are confident in the path ahead as we build on the enduring values and shared commitments that define our congregation.”
