Dear Fellow Congregants,
I have some great news. After six months of pondering, planning, and pursuing, we have found and hired a new rabbi! His name is Rabbi Jeremy Fine. He and his wife, Jessica, grew up in Deerfield, and they have two daughters. He is presently the Rabbi at Temple of Aaron in St. Paul, Minnesota. He has been there for eight years and has done a marvelous job. There is no greater testimony to this than the fact that their membership has grown dramatically during his tenure.
While he loves them and they love him (his references were stellar), he is anxious to get back home to Deerfield. As you would imagine, the Bubbies and Zaydes are also very excited. As a parent, I am kvelling for the whole family. He will be starting July 7. I am looking forward to welcoming Rabbi Jeremy Fine to Congregation B‘nai Tikvah in the coming months. In the meantime, Rabbi Ebstein will continue to do the wonderful job he has been doing as our interim Rabbi. Both Rabbis, Cantor Hery, and the rest of the staff have all gotten together to form some kind of Superhero Jewish Mission as we prepare to transition from just Zooming to really zooming! I would like to thank all of you as we have been navigating the new realities and challenges of a pandemic existence. We all appreciate your patience and commitment to B‘nai Tikvah.
I would also like to thank the Board of Trustees, as well as the two Rabbi search committees led by Sheri Hokin and Logan Rosenthal, that worked tirelessly to do a thorough and well executed search. Additionally, the adult education committee, the social action committee, the newly-constituted ritual committee, and the religious school and many others have been doing great things to connect with our congregants.
As always, feel free to email or call me. Much to my surprise, I have not been impeached yet. I take that as a positive.
With Hope and Persistence,
