THE ENTERTAINMENT
EVENT OF THE YEAR
BALFOUR 61
Perfect Match
ANNUAL
CELEBRATION
DICK LOUISE
MAL Z.
FREDDIE
ROMAN LAWRENCE CAPRI DUART
New Temple Israel rabbi was looking for a
large congregation to serve.
STEVE STEIN STAFF WRITER
oshua Bennett doesn't find
Temple Israel to be big and
impersonal. Just the oppo-
site, as a matter of fact.
That's why the Texas-born,
suburban Chicago-raised June
graduate of the Hebrew Union
College-Jewish Institute of Reli-
gion in Cincinnati was happy to
accept the job as Temple Israel's
fourth rabbi. Rabbi Bennett's first
day of work was July 1.
With 2,700 families on its
membership list, Temple Israel
is the largest Jewish congrega-
tion in Michigan. The West
Bloomfield synagogue ranks in
the top five nationally among Re-
form temples. "This is a warm,
caring community," Rabbi Ben-
nett, 26, said last week. "It feels
like I've shaken hands with 700
or 800 people already.
"I was looking for a place that
had extensive programming and
the resources here are enormous,"
Rabbi Bennett said. "It's exciting
to drive in here and see cars in the
parking lot all the time.
"I'm eagerly awaiting the op-
portunity to work with the other
three rabbis, whom I consider
role models. Their advice and
counsel will be very beneficial."
No other synagogue in the De-
troit area has more than three
rabbis. A Union of American He-
brew Congregations' survey of
Reform congregations through-
out the United States showed
only three synagogues which
have more than four rabbis.
The Stephen S. Wise Temple
and the Wilshire Boulevard Tem-
ple in Los Angeles have six and
five rabbis, respectively, and
Temple Emanu-El in Dallas has
five rabbis.
Temple Israel Rabbi Harold
Loss said Rabbi Bennett was the
only person offered the new job.
If he had turned it down, the syn-
agogue would not have added a
rabbi.
"The main reason we decided
to bring in a fourth rabbi is we
have some wonderful projects we
want to do to serve our member-
ship better," Rabbi Loss said. "We
didn't need to hire someone out
of desperation. We would have
functioned nicely with three rab-
bis, but we think we found pre-
cisely the person we were looking
for in Rabbi Bennett."
Rabbi Loss said Rabbi Ben-
nett's warm personality and in-
terest in young people impressed
him and the other Temple Israel
rabbis during interviews.
"And he seemed excited about
161
Temple Israel, too," Rabbi Loss
said. "He had done his home-
work, finding out as much as he
could about us.
"Another important factor in
our minds was Rabbi Bennett's
desire to be a rabbi for the entire
congregation, not just the youth.
We have a unique partnership
among the clergy at Temple Is-
rael, so it was important for our
new rabbi to want to do all the
rabbinical duties."
Since Temple Israel was
founded in 1941, no rabbi has left
for another job. No rabbi has had
a contract.
"Everything is done by a hand-
shake," said Rabbi Loss, who has
been at Temple Israel for 23
years.
Rabbi Bennett was ordained
June 4. In late April, he under-
went first interviews at the He-
brew Union College for 12
rabbinical positions. He was
called for second interviews in 11
of the 12.
Rabbi Bennett was offered as-
sociate rabbi positions in Atlanta,
Chicago and Omaha, but he
turned them down for the Tem-
ple Israel job.
"Here, I'm considered a full
rabbi and I'm expected to perform
all the duties," Rabbi Bennett
said. "We are a clergy team. We
all do everything."
Rabbi Bennett said one of his
main duties at Temple Israel is
rabbinical adviser to the temple's
youth group. The approximately
300 students in Temple Israel's
religious high school (grades 9-
12) are members.
Rabbi Bennett wants to form
young couples and young profes-
sionals groups.
"I've spent the past 18 years at
Jewish summer camps both as a
camper and on the staff," Rabbi
Bennett said. "I've seen rabbis in
a different light, off the bimah,
and noticed how much influence
they can have."
Another key responsibility for
Rabbi Bennett will be assisting
with the computers in the new
Temple Israel library and media
center, which are under con-
struction.
Born in Fort Worth, Texas,
Rabbi Bennett grew up in Floss-
moor, Ill., a suburb of Chicago.
He graduated from the Univer-
sity of Illinois with a degree in
psychology.
Rabbi Bennett and his fiance,
Meg Waterman of Louisville, Ky.,
have set May 28, 1995 as their
wedding date.
❑
Thursday, 7:30 p.m.
September 22,1994
_
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