Congregation Beth Torah has selected Rabbi Rick Shapiro to begin serving as its interim rabbi. He will join the congregation July 1. Rabbi Mark H. Levin, who has been Beth Torah’s sole pulpit rabbi since its inception and is now being called founding rabbi, will step down from that role and assume new responsibilities, which have not yet been announced, this summer.
Rabbi Shapiro currently serves as the interim senior rabbi of Temple Israel in Westport, Conn. From 1981 to 2006, Rabbi Shapiro served as the rabbi for congregations in Denver and in Stockton, Santa Barbara, and Palm Desert, all in California. He chose to work as an interim rabbi beginning in 2007. Since that time he has served congregations in Great Neck, N.Y., Cincinnati, Ohio, Pensacola, Fla., and San Diego.
Linda Zappulla, co-chair of Beth Torah’s Rabbi Transition Committee, explained that as interim rabbi, Rabbi Shapiro will handle all rabbinic functions at the congregation.
“As an interim rabbi Rabbi Shapiro has been trained to help us move smoothly through our transition. Having him here will give us time to review and refine our strategic plan, and thoughtfully proceed with our search for a successor rabbi. It will give us time to get used to our beloved founding rabbi (Rabbi Levin) in a different role, and to explore different rabbinic models as we move into our next 25 years,” Zappulla said.
Zappulla said Rabbi Shapiro was the unanimous choice of the Rabbi Transition Committee and the board of trustees to fill this position. During his three-day visit to Beth Torah in December, he met with more than 60 committee, staff, board and congregation members.
“Rabbi Shapiro ranked highly on the criteria we established for this role. He impressed all of us with his warmth, his intellect and his experience with the challenges he faced in a variety of interim experiences. Comments we received about his visit included ‘he’s very warm, he seems to understand the issues we will face, he’s dynamic, and has a sense of humor. He eased our anxiety and made us feel that it will be OK,’ ” she reported.
Rabbi Shapiro said he is delighted to be coming to Beth Torah.
“Rabbi Levin and CBT have an amazing reputation for being an innovative, progressive and caring community, and I am looking forward to working with the lay leadership and staff as they plan for the next chapter in their congregational life,” Rabbi Shapiro said.
Rabbi Shapiro was raised in Southern California. Upon completion of his military service in 1974, Rabbi Shapiro earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Jewish studies at UCLA and began his studies at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, where he received his Master of Arts degree in Hebrew letters in 1979, rabbinic ordination in 1981 and his doctor of divinity (Honorus Causa) in 2006.
Rabbi Shapiro is a nationally recognized expert in the area of synagogue transition. He has extensive training and experience as a synagogue transition specialist/intentional interim rabbi. As one of only a handful of rabbis trained in this field, he speaks and writes extensively on the national level. He has been a presenter on synagogue transition issues at the URJ National Biennial as well as to his colleagues at the CCAR National Convention.
Rabbi Shapiro is also a nationally recognized expert in the area of abortion and religious morality. He is the author of “Judaism and Abortion,” a publication detailing the 3,000 year old Jewish position on abortion. He served from 1982 to 1987 as chairman of the Colorado Religious Coalition for Abortion Rights, and from 1986-1988 as a member of the national board of the same organization. He has spoken throughout the United States on the issue of abortion and a woman’s right to choose, and continues to serve as a counselor for women of all faiths who are faced with a problem pregnancy.
Rabbi Shapiro has been an active participant, on both the local and national levels, in the pursuit of religious and social justice, including advocating for reproductive rights, fair and just treatment for agricultural and casino workers, the elimination of racial and religious discrimination, and the promotion of equity in all areas of life for gays and lesbians. He has spoken extensively at both the local and national levels on these issues. He served from 1986-1989 on the Human Relations Commission of Aurora, Colo., and was designated to be the next chair of the commission. In March of 2001 he was honored as the John Chadbourne Humanitarian of the Year by the Santa Barbara Gay & Lesbian Business Association.
Throughout his career, Rabbi Shapiro has also been deeply involved in interfaith issues in every community where he has served. In Denver he served on the executive board of the Denver Area Interfaith Clergy Conference, as well as the steering committee for the Denver Interfaith Consortium for Pluralism in American Life. During his time in Stockton he was an active participant in both in Stockton Metro Ministries and the Stockton Ministerial Association. In his third year in Santa Barbara, Rabbi Shapiro was invited to serve on the board of the Greater Santa Barbara Clergy Association, which he did for five years, two as president.
Rabbi Shapiro is married and he and his wife Lynn are the parents of two grown sons: Ari, an attorney who, with his wife Melissa, lives in Atlanta and Aaron, a senior congressional legislative aide who, with his wife Erin, lives in Washington, D.C.
