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May 6, 2005/Nisan 27 5765, Volume 57, No. 36
Abrams reflects on rabbinate
DONNA V. COHEN
Special to Jewish News
After serving congregations in nearly every region of the country, Rabbi Arthur J. Abrams is retiring.
His current synagogue, Temple Beth Shalom of Sun City, will host a special retirement Shabbat service in his honor on May 13.
The rabbi, who was ordained in 1961, has led the senior congregation at Temple Beth Shalom for the past eight years, topping off a 43-year career.
In an interview in his home in Peoria, Abrams reflects on his rabbinical career.
"I believe the interpersonal relationship between the rabbi and members of the congregation is almost like a communal family feeling," he says. "I think I have never enjoyed a congregation as much as this particular one because I have felt that I have been their facilitator, their counselor, their friend, their teacher, and they have responded to me."
The 700-member Reform congregation, which he describes as "active, athletic and adventuresome," also provides a social peer group for the 71-year-old rabbi, whose former congregations in Indiana, Kansas, Florida and California included younger people with growing families.
Those who attend a service led by Abrams can expect to read Torah on Friday night and experience modern music that has been intricately woven into the fabric of Shabbat festivities.
Abrams says his purpose at Temple Beth Shalom has been to modify the Sabbath service "so that the rituals would not be an obstacle" to the congregation's ability to experience a Jewish spiritual service.
"We read Torah Friday night, and that was an innovation, because for some of the classical Reform people, it wasn't really a familiar experience," he says.
"I changed a lot of the music," he adds. "What I did was introduce music that was sung by modern Jewish composers. Music is important because you can reach the congregation through a song a lot better sometimes than just reading a prayer. I want the music to raise them up to higher levels."
Abrams, a Bronx, N.Y., native, received a doctorate of law from Kansas Newman College in 1986, a doctorate of divinity from Hebrew Union College in 1985, and a master's degree in counseling from Nova University in Florida in 1976. He was ordained with a master's degree in Hebrew letters from Hebrew Union College.
He is an instructor in the Jewish Studies Institute of the Bureau of Jewish Education, chairman of the Holocaust Remembrance committee and a member of the Sun Cities Area Ministerial Association, to name just a few of his congregational activities.
He says that his focus on social action and social justice has always been a very important part of his work.
"I try to change the world bit by bit," he says. "The biggest frustration I have is that the world is just as violent now as when I started."
He further explains his point by referring to a proverb: "You try to change the world and you can't do that. You try to change the society and you can't do that. You try to change your family and you have a hard time doing that. And if you try to change yourself, you can start with yourself," he says.
Interfaith relations have been a substantial part of his efforts; he has served on many interfaith boards and committees and worked toward improving civil rights problems, especially in the 1960s, and throughout his career.
Among his awards and professional honors is "A Distinguished Merit Citation" from the National Conference of Christians and Jews in 1988. In recognition of his leadership, that same year, the mayor of Wichita, Kan., proclaimed June 8, 1988, "Rabbi Arthur J. Abrams Day."
This man who has had a day named in his honor decided to become a rabbi while he was in college. "There is so much meaning in the faith of Judaism," he says. "I have a vision of just what Jewish identity can mean to the human individual and to the community. It has a universal message and offers a guide to human fulfillment.
"I've always felt that religion is not supposed to have walls built around it, or be 'ghettoized,' but that our religion is part of the world, and Judaism is universal," he adds.
When Abrams retires, he hopes to travel, perhaps to Scandinavia, England and Israel, with his wife Claire, to whom he will be married 50 years this Dec. 25. He and Claire have two grown daughters who live in Marin County, Calif.
Although he is formally ending his rabbinical career, he says, "I will always be a rabbi."
"All in all, I love being a rabbi and ultimately remain an optimist, feeling that belief in God and Torah gives meaning to life's perplexities."
Details
- What: Special retirement Shabbat service
- Who: Rabbi Arthur J. Abrams
- When: 7:30 p.m. Friday, May 13
- Where: Temple Beth Shalom, 12202 N. 101st Ave., Sun City
- Call: 623-977-3240
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