Senior Rabbi Search Updates

Fellow Congregants,

As we begin this journey together, we thought you might like an overview of the entire search process. There are six key stages:

Our governing body, the Union for Reform Judaism (URJ) provides both structure and guidance to the process, so that all the congregations are operating on roughly the same schedule as all the rabbis who are seeking new pulpits. All congregations will post their opportunities just after the High Holy Days, and will be meeting and interviewing candidates through the fall and early winter. While this coordination drives some constraints, ultimately it benefits all; we are lucky to have the resources of the URJ behind us.

As congregants, you will be most involved in the Community Listening stage. Your input will be incorporated into our description of ourselves, the Application, and of course will be critical when we get to choosing the best rabbi for Beth Am. You will have many opportunities to share your thoughts; we will be providing more detail soon about hows and wheres.

A quick process check:

Since the last update, the search committee had its first Workshop, developed a brit for ourselves, and built out several of the major work-streams that are outlined in the chart above.

Right now, we are finalizing membership and responsibilities of the Search Advisory Group, and reaching ot to those who had expressed an interest. We are also delving deeply into the recently published Hazon report for learnings both on the search process itself and on Beth Am as a community.

Looking ahead, we will be launching a variety of avenues for listening and input.

Comments or questions? Send them to search@betham.org — we are eager to hear from you. Our next update will be on Thursday, August 10.  

L’shalom, 

Ben Lloyd | Loree Farrar | Deb Radin
Senior Rabbi Search Committee Co-chairs