Rabbis start The New Shul

Husband-wife duo aim to build deep sense of community

LEISAH NAMM
Assistant Editor

Local rabbis Michael Wasserman and Elana Kanter are the forces behind a new traditional-egalitarian synagogue scheduled to open in north Scottsdale on Labor Day Weekend.

The husband-wife rabbinic team, with about 50 other families, plan to hold the first Shabbat service for The New Shul Aug. 31. The location, still unconfirmed, will be near the Ina Levine Jewish Community Campus at Sweetwater Avenue and Scottsdale Road, Wasserman said.

Wasserman, rabbi at the Conservative Beth El Congregation in Phoenix since August 2000, will finish his term there in August.

The New Shul will offer Shabbat and holiday services, adult and family education, retreats and social-action programs, but Wasserman said it is not the synagogue's intention to compete with existing organizations.

"We're not looking to duplicate what other institutions are offering," Wasserman said. "We want this to be something that complements what's already available."

Both rabbis will teach at the Jess Schwartz Jewish Community High School in the fall and will lead morning and afternoon minyans there.

"That's one example of how we hope to integrate," Wasserman said. "We want this to fit into the existing constellations of institutions in town. ... We just believe there's a natural synergy and that it's important for institutions to work together and to complement each other rather than to compete."

Wasserman said he supports members of other congregations retaining membership with their synagogues.

"We don't see this as an exclusive affiliation," he said. "No institution can meet every need, and because our philosophy is one of working with other institutions and fitting into a larger constellation, we support people belonging to more than one synagogue."

Alan and Dale Singer, both founding members of The New Shul, plan to remain active at Beth El Congregation, where they have been members for nine years.

Alan Singer said their primary reason for involvement with The New Shul is wanting "to continue our study and participation with (Wasserman and Kanter)."

He said they also prefer to attend services and celebrate "Jewish holidays and lifecycle events in a relatively small environment" and believe The New Shul will be about the right size.

However, the couple has many friends at Beth El and both regularly attend Beth El services and programs, Singer said. "Our house is about halfway between the two, so for us it's not a matter of territory, it's a matter of options at each place," he added.

Its mission statement describes The New Shul as "a community of Jews who have chosen to search for deeper purpose in their lives through learning, prayer and mutual caring."

"There's a real thirst for authenticity," Wasserman said. "People are looking for the real thing, and they're prepared to stretch themselves a little bit in order to find it. We hope to create the kind of community where people will be able to really grow in that way and to meet those kind of deep needs."

The name of the synagogue stems from a teaching of Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook, the first chief rabbi of modern Israel: "Let the old be made new; let the new be made holy."

"We were inspired by that teaching to name our shul," Wasserman said. "It's new now, and we're also hoping it will always be new. It'll be a place where people will constantly be renewing their spiritual lives."

The term "traditional-egalitarian" means traditional liturgy will be used, and men and women will participate equally during Shabbat and holiday services. Services will also include niggunim (Hasidic melodies).

An emphasis will be placed on education, Wasserman said. "We want this to be a place of real Jewish learning."

Although there will not be a formal Hebrew school, The New Shul will provide bar- and bat-mitzvah training according to a family's individual needs, Kanter said. "We will be putting a lot of energy into family education to help equip parents to be their children's teachers as well."

Rather than establishing a fixed dues structure, The New Shul will provide guidelines for voluntary giving. "By emphasizing that these are contributions rather than dues, we're reminding ourselves that membership in a spiritual community is something that you can't buy," Wasserman explained.

Claudia Gilburd of Paradise Valley, a founding member, was unaffiliated with a synagogue before her involvement with The New Shul. "I'm extremely fond of both rabbis... and just find a very deep affinity to their notion of Jewish living and to their notion of community," she said.

She looks forward to "being in the presence of like-minded Jews and building a real community. We live in a world where it's difficult to connect with people. This is a great opportunity."

Wasserman and Kanter envision prayer, study and social action as the three pillars on which to build a deep sense of community. "One of the things that people really want is ... a sense of being connected to other people and having that as an anchor in one's life," Kanter said.

Wasserman was ordained at the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York in 1987, Kanter in 1989. The couple have three children: Hannah, 13; Gabriel, 9; and Jonathan, 7.

Wasserman said the venture is exciting for the couple on a personal level because they've "dreamed of the opportunity to be able to work together as partners, to create a community."

Wasserman will remain at Beth El full time in June and part time in August. The couple will spend time in Israel in July.

Call 480-515-2272 or e-mail info@thenewshul.org.

Contact the writer at leisah_namm@jewishaz.com.

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