“It must be hard to leave a congregation.”

I hear that just about every year. It is hard to leave the people and community that have been a loving home as Temple Shaaray Tefila has been for me these last two years. My farewell service on Friday night is an example of the kind of place Temple Shaaray Tefila is for the uplifting music and words that touched me deeply. I will miss you. Yet, I keep in mind that we are part of a larger Reform movement of Judaism, with more than 800 congregations in the United States and Canada, more than 1,200 congregations worldwide, including Israel, serving 2 million Reform Jews each year. We are the largest movement of Judaism in North America. Now, as I prepare to serve my eighth congregation as an Intentional Interim Rabbi, I believe more than ever that these synagogues are all the same place. We are one movement, one people, and one really big congregation. Our paths have crossed before in this large life world temple, for some of us, during my nine years at Temple Beth El in Chappaqua, and for others, through the Union for Reform Judaism. Do let me know if you are planning to attend the Union for Reform Judaism biennial convention in Philadelphia in December, and we can see each other there. Ultimately, the relationships and experiences we have as members of a URJ congregation bring benefits and blessings decades later.

If you come to Torah study, you have heard me tell and repeat one of my favorite midrashim, that we were all together once before, long before some of us knew each other through Temple Shaaray Tefila or anywhere else. Our Rabbis teach that every Jew who ever lived, or will live, was at Mount Sinai, at the foot of that mountain, when our people of Israel received the Torah. Just as that legend teaches that we stood together then, we will, no doubt be with one another again, someday soon.

I will be here through June 30, and I hope you get in touch with me at RabbiRoss@TempleST.org to set a time to share a personal goodbye.

With love for the Jewish people and my best wishes,

Rabbi Dennis Ross