Congregation Beth Torah President Linda Zappulla announced to members late last week that due to budgetary considerations the Reform congregation will eliminate the position of rabbi educator when Rabbi Rebecca Reice’s four-year contract expires on June 30, 2016.
“After a great deal of thought and considerable deliberation, the board has determined that we no longer have the financial resources to continue to maintain two rabbis on our Beth Torah staff,” Zappulla’s email to members read in part.
In an interview with The Chronicle this week, Zappulla pointed out that most congregations the size of Beth Torah, which boasts a membership of approximately 550 members, operate using a one-rabbi model.
“Beth Torah has been extremely lucky to have been able to afford the privilege of having two rabbis on staff for 15 years,” Zappulla said.
Rabbi Reice began her tenure at Beth Torah on July 1, 2012, after she was ordained that May from the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Los Angeles.
In an email to The Chronicle regarding the announcement, Rabbi Reice said, “The Beth Torah community means a great deal to me. I have not yet determined my plans for July 2016 and forward.”
Zappulla’s email to the congregation said the decision to eliminate the second rabbi position “in no way reflects on (Rabbi Reice’s) performance or our appreciation for her skill and capabilities as our rabbi educator.”
“The board was required to make this decision now as part of the 2015-2016 annual budget process and to provide the Rabbi Search Committee the information necessary for them to file an application for our new rabbi,” the email continued.
Zappulla told The Chronicle Rabbi Reice has been a wonderful addition to the Beth Torah staff.
“We really value the warmth and the spirituality that she has brought to us. We want nothing but the best for her with Beth Torah for the next 18 months and whatever she decides to do or wherever she decides to go in the future,” Zappulla said.
Committing to financial stability
Beth Torah’s board of trustees has been finding ways to reduce the budget and improve financial stability for the past several years. Those cost-cutting measures have included the restructuring of the administrative staff this past year following the resignation and/or retirement of several key administrators; closing the building completely on Tuesdays to save utility costs; having volunteers handle babysitting responsibilities for services and take on more responsibilities for providing nosh served on Friday evenings prior to erev Shabbat services.
One of the reasons the congregation decided last spring to eliminate its midweek Hebrew program was also budgetary. The Chronicle reported in May 2014 that enrollment in the Hebrew school program had dropped to only 33 students for the 2013-2014 school year. The enrollment in the NATE accredited Weiner Religious School has also shrunk in recent years.
While the membership has dropped from its heyday of 650, as the congregation self-reported in the 2013-14 edition of The Chronicle’s annual Guide to Jewish Life, it has remained relatively steady over the past several years according to its president.
“We budget for 550. We probably have more members than that at any given time, but that’s the budget number that we are working against,” Zappulla said this week.
Beth Torah’s board of trustees began thinking about what its rabbinic staff should look like following Rabbi Mark Levin’s decision more than two years ago to retire as senior rabbi in 2014. He retired from day-to-day duties this summer and now holds the title of founding rabbi. Rabbi Rick Shapiro began serving as interim rabbi in July and will remain in that position through June 30, 2016. The plan is to hire a permanent rabbi to begin serving the congregation in July 2016.
“We’re always reviewing what the staff structure should look like to make sure that we can deliver the clergy services and the education and programming that we all value,” Zappulla explained.
As Beth Torah searches for the person to be its permanent and now sole rabbi, Zappulla said it will be very clear that the congregation is looking for a candidate who wants to take on a comprehensive role of leading the congregation for both spiritual and educational needs.
“We will be conducting an assessment of our organizational structure over the next 18 months and figuring out exactly what the roles and responsibilities are going to be for that person,” she said.
“We will be looking at what are the tasks that we need to accomplish and what resources we have that can help us make those things happen,” she continued.
Zappulla said she believes there will be a good number of candidates “who will really welcome the opportunity to be the solo rabbi at a congregation like Beth Torah that is so engaged.”
“I think it’s important that we go into the rabbi search looking for that kind of person rather than somebody who might want a larger or more complex staff.”