RABBI ARTHUR ZUCKERMAN and his trademark chocolates have been a hit.
Shaarie Torah grows in rabbi’s first year
By Deborah Moon
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Dark chocolate, milk chocolate, sugar-free chocolate or hard candy—whether they choose to sit in mixed seating, the men’s section or women’s section, participants who answer a question during services at Congregation Shaarie Torah also have their choice of reward.
One year after becoming Shaarie Torah rabbi, Rabbi Arthur Zuckerman said he is pleased to report synagogue membership has increased 8 percent after declining during the previous few years. Though he said he can’t take credit for all the positive changes at the traditional shul, he has set a tone of fun, openness and choice that congregants seem to respond to.
“Services were not meant to be boring—If the rabbi’s bored and the congregation is bored, I have to believe God is bored,” said Zuckerman. “I find it enjoyable and educational to pose questions and to field questions and answers. People enjoy receiving their chocolate for answering questions correctly. Chocolate works wonders.”
Though the seating options have been in place for many years, Zuckerman said the synagogue is expanding the ways in which it allows congregants to feel comfortable “wherever they feel comfortable.”
For instance on Nov. 22, the women of Shaarie Torah will conduct a Women’s Shabbat morning tefillah. Such a service by women, for women is acceptable even in Orthodox congregations, said Zuckerman.
“Rabbis make a mistake when they feel you can dictate religion to people,” he said. “You can explain it, you can interpret it, but you can’t dictate it. That’s reflected in the seating choices and how things are done here.”
Rabbi Zucky, as he is known to congregants, said that in coming years his goals are to keep the synagogue growing and evolving. What form those changes take is up to the synagogue and its members, he said.
“That’s not for the rabbi to dictate; it has to be a consensus,” he said.
But Zuckerman said the synagogue does need to acknowledge its past as it looks to the future. People’s family ties and memories of growing up and being educated at the shul are important reasons why some feel a strong connection to the shul, he said.
“Shaarie Torah has a prestigious past,” he said. “But a synagogue that lives on its laurels, its history, has to take a step back and look at its future. Rabbi (Yonah) Geller of blessed memory set a very high bar here. The synagogue needs to acknowledge that and acknowledge the 100 plus years this synagogue has been around. But he who focuses only on the past stumbles over his future.”
Zuckerman does have areas on which he hopes to focus in the coming years, but the changes within those areas will be built on consensus.
“People have to feel a sense of ownership in the synagogue,” he said, noting he hopes committees continue to grow to bring about those changes.
“The growth and expansion of the preschool is crucial to the growth of the synagogue,” he said. “It’s not an option.”
Additionally, he wants to continue to develop the congregation’s youth programs, and expanding education programs for all ages.
He said he feels the biggest change since his arrival is in people’s attitudes.
“The sense of community is stronger; the sense of belonging is stronger; people’s participation in different events is growing,” he said. “I wish I could take credit for all of that, but it’s not true. This synagogue has a lot of things going for it and will continue to grow as I think Portland’s Jewish community is growing.”
