Rabbi reaches out to youth

By Deborah Moon

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“My philosophy on allowing a synagogue to grow is very simple—If I worry about the kids, the parents worry about the building,” said Rabbi Arthur Zuckerman, who became Shaarie Torah’s new rabbi Aug. 15.

Zuckerman is well acquainted with synagogue growth. After receiving his Orthodox ordination from Tifferth Israel Rabbinical College in New York in 1990, he spent 13 years leading Congregation Beth Am in San Diego. During his tenure the congregation grew from 187 families to more than 800 and the number of Hebrew school students increased from 57 to 340.

Shaarie Torah currently has 286 member families, down from its peak of about 500 families nearly 20 years ago. Shaarie Torah has been without a full-time rabbi since Rabbi David Rosenberg resigned last year to accept a position in Arizona, though Rabbi Emeritus Yonah Geller, who led the congregation for 40 years, has helped with some lifecycle events and other duties.
   
A man of seemingly boundless interests and energy— which he attributes to chocolate—“Rabbi Zucky,” as some affectionately call him, already has created a rabbi’s office like no other. To help kids feel comfortable dropping in, his office centerpiece is a pool table, which very practically converts into a conference table when adult meetings are the order of the day.

   
His office shelves reflect the diversity of the man—the Talmud and Torah are interspersed with baseball memorabilia; thank-you letters; photos of family, former students, the five marathons he has run, his days as a high school yeshiva student at rallies for freeing Soviet Jews and honoring Israel; awards such as poultry science student of the year; his tallit-wearing puppet Baruch a.k.a. Bookie; and a photo of the Oklahoma bombing “as a constant reminder of terrorism and what happens when you are not paying attention.”
   
For the past three years Zuckerman served as a security consultant for Homeland Security, “because after 9-11, I felt I could have more impact in the country.”
   
Zuckerman, who has an entire shelf of Islamic and terrorist literature, said that he understands both the religious and radical mentality of jihadists. As a security consultant, he has “helped prepare people for disaster and lectured on the mind-set of radical Islam.”
   
“I understand where they are coming from,” he said. “Western civilization is completely out to lunch. … The jihadists never signed on to the Geneva convention.”
    
Zuckerman said he had intended to return to the pulpit in another five years. After moving to Oregon, where his younger son is a freshman at University of Oregon, he visited Shaarie Torah looking for a place he and his wife Simi could pray.
   
“People here (at Shaarie Torah) are very welcoming, very friendly and looking for direction,” he said. “Simi and I felt very comfortable being at the synagogue. The synagogue is dynamic and it just felt right.”
   
So after Shaarie Torah invited Zuckerman to serve as a scholar-in-residence at the end of June, he was willing to accept the post of rabbi when it was offered.
   
“I wasn’t planning on it, but doors open and the question is ‘are you paying attention?’ ” he said.
   
He said part of his decision to accept the position was the way Shaarie Torah members treat Rabbi Emeritus Yonah and Lisl Geller.
   
“I paid careful attention to the respect paid to Rabbi Geller and his wife Lisl,” said Zuckerman. “That says a lot for the congregation. He is truly, truly loved.”
   
Since his arrival, Zuckerman said that Geller has been exceptionally helpful.
   
“He has been extremely helpful,” said Zuckerman. “He has been very open and helpful, but he has allowed me to do the things I need to do. He is fantastic.”
   
Among the things Zuckerman decided to do was to reposition the table for reading the Torah towards the congregation. Since the focal point shifts to the Torah once it is removed from the ark, he said it made sense to him for those coming up for an aliyah to be facing the congregation rather than the ark.
   
He said he also has planned a diverse array of services that are “friendly to a broad spectrum of ages.” Traditional services, family services, 20-minute children’s services featuring his puppet Bookie … “somewhere along the line” people will find one where “they feel comfortable.”
   
“I get bored easily and if I’m bored, I have to believe everybody else is,” he said of his efforts to offer diverse services.
   
Zuckerman said he believes synagogues must offer three components: community, learning and prayer.
   
Shaarie Torah’s strength, said Zuckerman, is in its 102-year-history and its welcoming congregants.
   
Getting young people involved is the biggest challenge he sees for the congregation. He said he wants to reach out to the 20s and 30s crowd to create programs they will enjoy; he wants to expand the community’s awareness of Shaarie Torah’s “excellent bar and bat mitzvah education”; and he wants youth to feel comfortable in the synagogue for services, in classes and in his office playing pool.
   
“The question is, can you get the next generation to come around (to the synagogue)?” he asked.
   
“Getting the younger generation involved is a challenge I welcome.”