To our Temple Beth Or Family
This month, I am filled with yirah. For those of you who do not take notes at
every sermon or teaching, I’ll remind you about this word – the core of my
rabbinic thesis. Yirah is the experience of being awe-struck by those powerful
moments in which we are reminded that we are a part of something bigger than ourselves.
My current sense of yirah
comes out of reflecting on the love that I have for my TBO family. The amount of volunteerism and communal care that
I see daily is inspiring. The
connections formed here, whether in our chavurah
program or our 6th Grade family B’nei
Mitzvah retreat, fill me up with warmth for our community and hope for the
future of the Jewish people. Our worship and music move me, even when I am given
the opportunity and responsibility of leading it. Our youth are active and love to be here,
learning with one another, finding a home away from home. The team of
congregational leaders and staff that we have here is full of talented,
dedicated, caring people who want only the best for the TBO community. As an advisor to the membership committee, I
feel that it is a “no-brainer” to extend an invitation to someone new to join our
TBO family, because I genuinely feel perplexed at how someone would not want to
be a part of such a great Jewish home.
For the past 5 years, I have been given the privilege and
awe-filled responsibility of serving our incredible TBO community as a rabbi
and an educator. So it is with a heavy
mix of emotions that I share with you that I have been offered the opportunity
to lead Congregation Or Shalom in Vernon Hills, IL, outside of Chicago, as
their next senior rabbi, starting in July.
While this is an incredible opportunity for me to employ the plethora of
leadership skills that you have endowed in me through your trust, support, and
openness, it also means that I will be moving away from Temple Beth Or. Rabbi Dinner and Bryan Wiggins and the rest
of the TBO leadership have stood by me, allowing Rachel and I to find the right
next opportunity for us with the awareness that if that right fit was not
there, we would be welcomed back to TBO with open arms.
Over these years, I have journeyed with so many of you through
both trying and tragic times and also those incredibly uplifting moments of joy
and wonder. You have given me the
awe-inspiring responsibility of bolstering our children’s Jewish
education. In close partnership with our
religious school committee and our various principals, we have developed a
strong sense of mission and vision for our religious school. We have experimented together, we have
learned together, we have laughed together, and we have cried together – these
shared experiences have shaped us all, and I know that they will continue to
shape the future of TBO.
My family has found a home here at Temple Beth Or. Rachel and I have made countless friendships,
and the TBO preschool community has lovingly embraced our daughters, Laila and
Adaya, helping them to grow and develop their own sense of what it means to be
a part of a community. We are excited for our next adventure, as we move to the
greater Chicago area and get our girls adjusted to a real winter while further
indoctrinating them as Cubs fans! And
yet, we are also incredibly sad to leave TBO and our TBO family.
Which brings us back to yirah.
TBO is so much bigger than any one person. My family and I cannot thank you
enough for all the ways you have embraced us, supported us, and helped us find
a home. I am so proud of all we have
done together, and I know that TBO is going to continue to be a warm source of
community and love and learning and social action – a place where our Jewish
values are not only discussed, but lived.
Rabbi Dinner’s wisdom, Zemer Lexie’s ruach
(spirit), and Robert’s governance will continue to bolster TBO. Thank you for the privilege of allowing me to
serve you as a rabbi and for the embrace you have put around my family. Rachel and I are filled with yirah because we now have come to
realize, we may be leaving TBO, but we will always be a part of the TBO family,
as you have become a part of ours.
With love,
Ari, Rachel, Laila, and Adaya
