Rabbi leaves Shaarie Torah

By Paul Haist

Rabbi David Rosenberg, formerly of Congregation Shaarie Torah in Portland, has accepted the post of rabbi at Beth Emeth Congregation of the Sun Cities and West Valley in Sun City, Ariz.
Rosenberg is set to assume his new duties on Aug. 15.
Beth Emeth is a 350-member Conservative congregation founded in 1964. In 1987 the congregation dedicated a new synagogue on three acres of land it had acquired in Sun City West. Beth Emeth serves congregants in Avondale, Goodyear, Litchfield, Peoria, Sun Cities, Surprise and several other areas of the West Valley about 10 miles northwest of Phoenix.
Rosenberg, born in Kfar Saba, Israel, was yeshiva trained in London. He received his ordination under Orthodox auspices from the bet din of Los Angeles, including Rabbi Garry Lillienthal, Ph.D; Rabbi Stanley Krantman; and Rabbi Doctor Shlomo Rabinovich.
He served for six years as Shaarie Torah's senior rabbi and previously served five years as the rabbi of Temple Isaiah in Newport Beach, Calif.
Rosenberg's departure from Shaarie Torah and Portland came at a time in which the congregation's immediate past president, Barry Benson, told congregants in a letter on the congregation's Web site that Shaarie Torah was "facing several tremendous and difficult challenges that will define our future."
The formerly Orthodox congregation, one of Portland's three largest congregations, has been unaffiliated since it broke with the Orthodox Union many years ago. According to Rosenberg, the congregation currently is exploring affiliation options, a process the rabbi described as "extraordinarily difficult."
Of his tenure at Shaarie Torah, Rosenberg said, "I have done what I was asked to do in the period given. Shaarie Torah is embarking on an adventure to solidify some changes and also move forward to become a more dynamic and progressive institution. I did what I could."
While Rosenberg was at Shaarie Torah, the sanctuary was transformed into a more circular worship center, emulating an old European synagogue style, said the rabbi.
Also while he was there, "women were given more access to the bimah and more permission to participate (in services), including the reading of the Maftir, the final portion of the Torah, and the haftorah of the week," said Rosenberg.
Rosenberg described Beth Emeth as "a fundamentally very warm and welcoming synagogue."
"They are very comfortable being affiliated with the Conservative movement, yet there is great veneration for and an interest in understanding halachah, Jewish law," he added. "Almost all the members are 60 or older, so they are well versed in the old-style traditional Judaism."
Over Shabbat on July 15, Shaarie Torah President Dr. Steve Carver presented Rosenberg with a plaque on behalf of the congregation and in recognition of the rabbi's service to the congregation.