Rabbinic Search Committee
MINUTES, January 22, 2008
In attendance:
Larry Epstein, Ellin Lawson
L. Steven Weiner, Warren Rose
Karen Borenstein, Jody Boorstein
Lilly Epstein, Stefany Freeman
Elissa Schwartz, Marc Zupmore
Lois Freeman, Patti Phillips
Alicia Pearlman, Julie Brown
Joan Halpern, Judy Martens
Herschel Fink, Evelyn Prince
Lisa Rotter, Howard Barron
Cindy Cohen, Carol Ziecik
Renee Unger, Fred Lax
Wendy Bice, Jill Gurwin
Jerry Kline, Jeff Hollander
Rick Loewenstein, Barb Shaya
Tom Jablonski, Shelly Cooper
James Deutchman, Rabbi Dan Syme
The meeting began @ 7:05 PM in the TBE Board Room.
1. Committee members introduced themselves.
2. Discussed the concept of Derech Eretz(Way of the Land->Conducting oneself in the proper way)
¨ Emphasized that with very important committee work and intense emotional challenge we all must maintain this level of decorum and mutual respect.
3. David Castiglione departure will be in June 2008:
¨ TBE will honor his 12 years at our congregation with a special Shabbat Service and dinner.
¨ We are all honored by Rabbi David's service to our congregation and we look forward to having him as our Rabbi in San Diego (Poway), California!
4. Rabbinic Search:
¨ Central Conference of American Rabbis (CCAR) controls our search
¨ TBE Application has been submitted to Rabbi Sher @ CCAR
¨ Communication is within the committee meetings and not outside our meetings
¨ Transparency allows posting of our agendas and portions of our minutes
¨ Confidentiality requires that we maintain the trust of the fellow committee members and candidates comments and communications
¨ Timetable for completion is not defined by a date or hiring action, but when the committee has completed its work.
¨ Key benchmarks will be the receipt & review of resumes and definition of our criteria for a new Rabbi. This will be followed by interviews of various sorts and discussions within the committee structure. It will conclude with a recommendation to the TBE Board of Trustees and Congregational approval.
5. Criteria for new Rabbi:
¨ The committee reviewed suggested criteria for a potential candidate to possess.
¨ The listing of nearly 50 qualities were suggested and reviewed.
¨ The committee used a voting process of selecting their individual top five characteristics
6. Follow-up questions for next meeting from CCAR
¨ Can we interview potential candidates via Video Tele-conference?
¨ Can audio or video of candidates be used to evaluate their ability to speak publicly?
¨ Can we use the 'Listen-in program' at the applicable congregations to hear the services of our candidates?
7. New Business: Next meeting will be Tuesday, February 26, 2008 @ 7:00 PM @ Temple Beth El
Meeting ended about 8:35 PM.
