Congregation Beth Ami

Meet the Rabbi

Rabbi Joel Rembaum

Haverim, Shalom.

I am honored to join you as Congregation Beth Ami’s Interim Rabbi for 5772. I look forward to working with you as we continue the effort to make Shimon Ha-Tzaddik’s three pillars upon which the world stands – Torah, Worship of God and Acts of Loving-kindness (Mishnah Avot, 1:2) – the foundation of Jewish life in Santa Rosa. I will be with you every other week from Thursday through Sunday, beginning the last weekend in July 2011 through July 2012, and for the coming High Holidays. When I am with you I will teach adults and children, conduct worship services, officiate at life cycle events, participate in Beth Ami programming, meet with
the Beth Ami Board and various committees and be available for counseling as needed. And, if there is any time left over, I would love to take in the natural beauty of Sonoma County. (Rumor has it that there are also some wineries in the area that might be worth visiting.)

I am writing this column on June 14, 2011. The Torah portion this week is Sh’lah L’kha, in which we read the account of the twelve scouts who were sent by Moses to check out and report back what the land of Canaan was like. All twelve saw the same thing, but
two very different reports were made. While all of the twelve agreed that the land was great for farming and herding, ten of them felt that the challenges posed by the people who lived in the
well-fortified towns that dotted the land were too great for the Israelites to overcome. Two of the spies – Caleb and Joshua, however, responded that, with God on their side, these were not
challenges but opportunities for God’s power to manifest itself and the Israelites would prevail.

I learned a great lesson from a person named Leonard Smith. He was the second of eleven Presidents with whom I worked during my tenure as Senior Rabbi of our shul in Los Angeles, Temple Beth Am. Leonard explained to me that he was one of those people who looked at a situation as an opportunity when others considered it a challenge. He was a Caleb and a Joshua. I try to follow in their footsteps. Challenges or opportunities – it all depends on your point of view and how you assess your strength and commitment.

I have been privileged to have met many of the leaders of Beth Ami, and I understand that during the coming months important decisions must be made that will shape the future of the congregation. I hope that all of us will see these decisions as opportunities to create a bright future for our synagogue in the course of which the lives of our members will be enriched by the amazing gifts of our Jewish heritage, and we, in turn, will share those gifts with the Sonoma County community.

There are many dedicated members at Beth Ami who look for opportunities and are eager to convert them into realities. I hope everyone will participate in this effort, and I look forward to joining you in this sacred task. And, I can assure you that were Caleb and Joshua with us now, they would urge us on with the same words of faith with which they exhorted the Israelites: “Adonai is with us!”

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