After a nine-month search, Kehilath Israel Synagogue has hired Rabbi Moshe Grussgott as its next senior rabbi. He will join the congregation on August 1.
Rabbi Grussgott replaces Rabbi Jeffrey Shron, who left the congregation to make aliyah in October 2017. The traditional congregation’s rabbi emeritus, Rabbi Herbert Mandl, has been serving as interim rabbi.
K.I. President Marty Gorin made the announcement in an email to members June 6, writing “Rabbi Grussgott will bring knowledge, experience, compassion and enthusiasm to our congregation and community.”
Gorin said K.I. was impressed by Rabbi Grussgott, who was also recommended by several New York-based rabbis, when he visited the 450-member traditional congregation in April. While there, Rabbi Grussgott led services, gave a d’var Torah and a sermon and visited with members.
“He’s very knowledgeable and relates to people well.” Gorin said.
Rabbi Grussgott comes to K.I. from Congregation Ramath Orah in New York City, a 150-member congregation described as a traditional, inclusive Orthodox synagogue in Manhattan’s Upper West Side. He has been at the New York synagogue for 11 years, first joining the congregation in 2007 as associate rabbi and taking over as senior rabbi in 2011.
Rabbi Grussgott was trained at Yeshiva University’s rabbinical school, where he studied from 2004-2007. He also holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Yeshiva University and a master’s degree in medieval Jewish history from Yeshiva’s Bernard Revel Graduate School of Jewish Studies.
For the past 10 years Rabbi Grussgott has also spent time as a chaplain, first serving soldiers of all religious faiths in the U.S. Army Reserve in Farmingdale, New York, as well as stints at Beth Israel Medical Center, NYU Langone Medical Center and Mount Sinai Hospital, all in New York City.
Rabbi Grussgott attended a traditional congregation in Philadelphia when he was young where his father was the rabbi. (His father is now a rabbi at a traditional congregation in New Jersey.) Rabbi Grussgott said he feels “a special connection to these kinds of shuls.”
“I’d say (traditional) used to be the most popular mode of Judaism and now those shuls are all too uncommon in America,” he said in a phone interview Monday. “I think as Orthodox and Conservative continue to drift further apart, it’s nice to have space for Jews who are just plain traditional and not so easy to pin down denominationally, and I’m attracted to that.”
Rabbi Grussgott has lived in New York the past 18 years, but he and his wife of three years are looking forward to moving to Kansas, where they were intrigued by Overland Park’s ranking as one of the best places to live in America.
“We have a 1-year-old son named Ari. We have a nice apartment on Central Park West overlooking the park, but we figured it’s time for a home and a backyard. My wife (Becca) is from Denver and we love the pace of life in the Midwest and the wide-open space and we are looking forward to adjusting to that.”
The Grussgotts were also impressed with Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy.
“We were very intrigued by the fact it is a community-based school with an Orthodox track where we plan to send our son and our future kids. We really liked that model of community and pluralism where our children can get an Orthodox education together with Jews of all stripes. It’s the best of both worlds in that regard.”
On his resume, Rabbi Grussgott notes he has been blessed with multiple opportunities to travel the world engaging all sorts of Jews in their Judaism. Those travels have taken him to Belarus on three occasions; Rostock, Germany; Australia; and New Zealand. He has served as rabbi and educational director of Achva West, a travelling program for Orthodox Jewish teenagers; and rabbi and educational director of Aryeh Adventures, a travelling program for teenagers with special needs.
These experiences, and those as a hospital and military chaplain, have enriched his perspective as a congregational rabbi — “my life’s main passion, and the role which has turned out to be the greatest and most exciting adventure of all.”
K.I.’s President Gorin is hoping the new rabbi will appeal to unaffiliated members of the Kansas City Jewish community.
“Our shul is open to everybody. We particularly invite the unaffiliated to come and visit and learn and listen from him,” Gorin said.