Metro

Nevins Named JTS Dean

Adat Shalom rabbi to head rabbincal school in New York.

Shelli Liebman Dorfman

Senior Writer

R

abbi Daniel Nevins sees his
new job as dean of the rabbini-
cal school at the Conservative
movement's Jewish Theological Seminary
in New York as "both an honor and a chal-
lenge."
The rabbi has served Adat Shalom
Synagogue in Farmington Hills for 13
years. He will begin his new post on July
1, moving to New York with his wife, Lynn,
and their three children. The move also
will take him nearer to his family in New
Jersey.
"As dean, I will recruit and direct hun-
dreds of new rabbis as they begin their
journey of serving God and the Jewish
people," wrote Rabbi Nevins, 40, in a Jan.
29 letter to congregants of the 1,050-
family synagogue. "Without doubt, it is
the great reputation of Adat Shalom that
inspired the JTS search committee to ask
me to serve as dean of our movement's
oldest and largest rabbinical school."
Of becoming the dean of the school
from which he received rabbinic ordina-
tion in 1994, he said, "I am honored and
excited by the opportunity to serve as
Pearl Resnick dean: Rabbi Nevins said. "I
have had an extraordinary experience as
rabbi of Adat Shalom Synagogue. I have
experimented in the ultimate labora-
tory of Jewish life, learning what works
through the prism of countless pastoral,
intellectual and spiritual interactions with
my congregation. I will miss my com-
munity, but I will take what I have learned
from them to benefit the next generation
of rabbis:'
Adat Shalom leadership is already work-
ing on choosing a successor for Rabbi
Nevins.
The synagogue also is served by Rabbis
Herbert Yoskowitz and Rachel Lawson
Shere. A cantorial search has been under
way since last summer's departure of
Cantor Yevsey Guttman.

Background Of A Rabbi
Rabbi Nevins, who came to Adat Shalom
in 1994 as assistant rabbi, currently
serves the congregation as senior rabbi.
He received a master of arts in Hebrew
Letters from JTS in 1991, and a bachelor
of arts, magna cum laude, from Harvard
College in 1989, where he also received a

master's in history. A native of New Jersey,
Rabbi Nevins studied at Yeshivat HaMivtar
in Jerusalem and was the recipient of the
prestigious Wexner Foundation Graduate
Fellowship.
"Rabbi Nevins brings to his new tasks
the wealth of experience, wisdom and
compassion gained during his 13 years as
a congregational rabbi in a thriving com-
munity," said Arnold M. Eisen, JTS chan-
cellor-elect. "He also impressed the search
committee and me with his energy, his
ideas and his passionate commitment to
Torah, the Jewish people and Conservative
Judaism.
"Danny's deep appreciation for our
movement's standards, its principles and
its pluralistic nature will serve us well
at this time of challenge and transition
for the movement. His years of work
on the Rabbinical Assembly (RA) Law
Committee are a testament to his vision,
his leadership and his scholarship. I am
excited at the prospect of working with
Rabbi Nevins as I assume the leadership
of JTS, certain that he will meet our chal-
lenges with confidence and seize hold with
both hands the many opportunities before
us.
Rabbi Nevins serves on the RAs
International Executive Council and is a
member of its Committee on Jewish Law
and Standards (CJLS). His halachic writ-
ings include several responsa approved
by the CJLS as well as co-authorship of
"Homosexuality, Human Dignity and
Halakhah," a responsum arguing for the
normalization of the status of gay and
lesbian Jews approved by the CJLS last
December. His essays have been published
by various Jewish publications.
Locally, Rabbi Nevins is past president
of the Michigan region of the RA and
serves on the board of the Frankel Jewish
Academy of Metropolitan Detroit in West
Bloomfield. He is past president of the
Farmington Area Interfaith Association
and the Michigan Board of Rabbis, and
a member of the board of the Detroit
chapter of the Michigan Roundtable for
Diversity and Inclusion.
In May 2005, Rabbi Nevins led a group
of Protestant and Catholic leaders on a
unique trip that included Pope Benedict
XVI's first public audience, Yom HaShoah
(Holocaust Memorial Day) at Titus' Arch
in Rome, and a week in Israel visiting
Jewish and Christian holy places.

Rabbi Daniel Nevins will leave Detroit.

1 1 Will Miss Hi
Communal reaction to Rabbi Nevins' new
post is bittersweet.
"A perfect shiddach (match)," said Rabbi
Paul Yedwab of the Reform Temple Israel
in West Bloomfield. "I know that I will
miss him. Danny is intellectual but not
detached. He is warm and will provide a
caring presence for the students, while
at the same time having the academic
integrity that an institution such as JTS
requires. He will make a wonderful role
model for future generations of rabbis. It
is a great move for JTS and for Danny, but
it is a sad loss for our community"
That sentiment was echoed by Adat
Shalom members, community leaders and
other colleagues.
"He is my rabbi, and I think that
we'll all miss him terribly:' said Robert
Aronson, CEO of the Jewish Federation
of Metropolitan Detroit. "On the other
hand, I'm very happy for him and for the
seminary, for which I serve on the board,
because I think Danny is just a great hire.
He will bring tremendous vitality and
creativity to a much-needed part of the
seminary — the rabbinic school. After all,
the rabbis of the seminary will be the ones
really transforming the movement in the
years ahead — and that's what the move-
ment needs.
"It's a credit to the Detroit Jewish com-
munity when we have somebody who goes
on to major national office," Aronson said.
"It's a reflection of how great this com-
munity is in terms of our professional and
spiritual leaders."

Rabbi Jason Miller, who grew up at Adat
Shalom and now serves Congregation
Agudas Achim in Columbus, Ohio, said,
"Danny is a rabbi's rabbi and always seems
to just 'get it When I was in rabbinical
school at JTS, my classmates would ask me
to call Danny when they had questions.
"He is an academic and a spiritual
guide. He is progressive and yet always
guarding the tradition. This is a wonder-
ful choice for JTS and for our movement.
Together with Chancellor Arnie Eisen,
Dean Danny Nevins will help get us to
where we need to be
Joshua Wohl, an Adat Shalom member
and current JTS rabbinical student study-
ing in Israel, said, "I, along with many of
my classmates in Israel, are thrilled that
my rabbi and mentor has been chosen as
the new dean.
"The rabbinical school community at
JTS is no different than any other Jewish
community around the country. We want
a leader who inspires us with words of
Torah. We want a leader who works with
us to create a meaningful community. We
want a leader who is a mentsh of the high-
est order. Rabbi Nevins embodies these
characteristics, along with many oth-
ers. Rabbi Nevins was a driving force in
transforming Adat Shalom into one of the
most vibrant and powerful Conservative
synagogues in the entire country. I have no
doubt that he will have the same impact
upon the JTS Rabbinical School."
Rabbi Nevins succeeds Rabbi William
Lebeau, who twice served as dean of the
rabbinic school.
In a letter to his congregation, Adat
Shalom President David Schostak wrote:
"We are very sorry to see him go, but we
take pride in the fact that he has excelled
to the point that he has been asked to be
dean of the rabbinical school, one of the
highest and most important positions in
our movement"
In his congregational letter, Rabbi
Nevins wrote: "As I reflect upon these
years, I am filled with gratitude to God for
allowing me to work with such an extraor-
dinary community. These years have
been ones of deep satisfaction. I feel truly
blessed and cannot imagine being happier
as a congregational rabbi:'
Praising his rabbinic colleagues, profes-
sional staff and lay leadership, he said, "I
am confident that our congregation will
continue to flourish."

February 1. 2007

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