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November 16, 2001/Kislev 1, 5762, Vol. 54, No. 10
Temple founder moves on
LEISAH NAMM
Assistant Editor
Rabbi Frederick Grosse, founder of Beth Ami Temple in Paradise Valley, is "transitioning to a new career."
"I don't believe in retiring," he said.
Grosse, who also has been a psychotherapist and a management consultant to business "super achievers," plans to work as a personal coach and mentor from a base in New Zealand, where he and his wife, Victoria Sinclair, have had a second residence.
Grosse founded Beth Ami in 1978, after serving as rabbi at Temple Solel from 1970-1977.
"I designed the synagogue and I invited the membership personally," Grosse said. He designed it as his "ideal synagogue" - with no fund-raising or political activities. "My view basically is a religious, spiritual synagogue," he added.
The temple has operated on $10,000-$20,000 annually, mainly because no one was paid a salary, Grosse said. He and all officers worked as volunteers. "It was a hobby," he said.
Until several years ago, Grosse and the late Cantor Seymour Raboy led biweekly Shabbat services and High Holiday services for the congregation.
More recently, Grosse has led High Holiday services and conducted Passover seders and special events. Cantorial Soloist Shelle Witten and congregants lead most services; and Rabbi Martin Scharf, chaplain at Kivel Campus of Care and community chaplain, leads seven services a year.
The 60-family congregation does not meet in the summer.
Scharf, a member of Temple Chai in Phoenix, said he plans to invite members of Beth Ami to High Holiday services at Kivel next year.
Grosse was ordained in 1965 by Hebrew Union College in Manhattan. He also holds a doctorate in psychosomatic medicine. He "fell in love" with New Zealand in 1980 when he visited there to train medical students, family physicians and psychiatrists.
"I've traveled all over the world," Grosse said. "I'm a person who's had about 10 careers."
Grosse and Sinclair will still have a home in the Valley, where Grosse's parents, Pat and Ruth Grosse, and son, David Grosse, reside.
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