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Theory
continued from page 13
Brett Mountain
“My calling is to help others
along their Jewish journey.”
West Bloomfield
248-851-1260
Thursday & Friday, 10am-6pm I Saturday, 10am-5:30pm I Sunday, 12-4pm
Hidden
Treasure
Discovered in Oakland County
2068370
Shalom Kantor, Congregation
B’nai Moshe
Hometowns: Oakland, Calif.,
and Sun Valley, Idaho
Ordained: Ziegler School of Rabbinic
Studies, American Jewish University, Los
Angeles, 2007
Residence: Farmington Hills
Married to Shana Kantor; children Rena, 9,
Noam, 7, Ari, 2
John Hardwick
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Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday 10am-5:30pm Thursday, 10am-7:30pm
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14 September 8 • 2016
Ariana Silverman, Isaac Agree
Downtown Synagogue
Hometown: Chicago
Ordained: Hebrew Union College-Jewish
Institute of Religion, 2010
Residence: Detroit
Married to Justin Long; children Rebecca, 2,
and August, born in July
On becoming a rabbi: “My path toward
the rabbinate started in my college years
at Willamette, where I founded the first
Jewish Student Union on campus. In
Salem, Ore., I became involved with the
local synagogue and, through that process,
I got a great piece of advice from the rabbi
there: ‘Go work a secular job, but live an
observant life before becoming a rabbi.
Then see if you want to be a rabbi or just a
knowledgeable, observant Jew.’
“So I took his advice, moved to
Jerusalem and got a job as a wine stew-
ard at the King David Hotel. Working at
the hotel, I found myself reaching out
to guests, inviting them to my house for
Shabbos dinners, building a community
— and it was in that way that I realized
my calling was to help others along their
Jewish journey.”
On coming to Detroit: “The profes-
sional and volunteer leaders of the com-
munity are genuinely dedicated to helping
one another and working together to
advance Jewish living into the next gen-
eration.”
On becoming a rabbi: “I was 16 when my
rabbi told me I should be a rabbi. I thought
he was joking. And as far as I knew, only
men with gray beards could be rabbis.
“At Harvard, I was involved with Hillel
and, though I loved Jewish studies, I
also felt there we so many other things
to do. After graduation, I moved to D.C.,
where I worked for the Religious Action
Center for Reform Judaism, focusing on
their environmental portfolio.
“A year later, I took a job with the Sierra
Club, and it was there I realized why I
cared so much about environmentalism:
I believe deeply that the world is sacred
and holy; how we use the resources of our
planet is not just a matter of policy, it’s
a matter of ethics. Suddenly, it became
clear: If that’s how I framed the world, I
belonged in rabbinical school.
On coming to Detroit: “The synagogue
is home to a very diverse membership,
and while it is impossible to make every-
one happy all of the time, to enrich the
Jewish lives of most of our members, most
of the time, will be my sacred challenge
and responsibility.”
“Becoming a rabbi is one of the
decisions in life I will never regret.”