Ceremony Scheduled for September 19 Shabbat Services

New York, September 11, 2014 – Central Synagogue will officially install Rabbi Angela Warnick Buchdahl as its senior rabbi at an installation ceremony on Friday, September 19 during Shabbat services, which begin at 6 p.m. (EDT).  Rabbi Buchdahl is well known to the congregation and the broader faith community of New York City, having served as the Synagogue’s senior cantor since 2006. 

Rabbi Buchdahl was confirmed as Central’s twelfth senior rabbi by the congregation in early January.  She assumed her new responsibilities on July 1, 2014.

The installation ceremony will be led by Central’s Rabbi Emeritus Peter J. Rubinstein, Rabbi B. Elka Abrahamson, president of The Wexner Foundation, and Rabbi Rick Jacobs, president of the Union for Reform Judaism, along with Central Synagogue’s clergy team.
 
“The entire Central community is excited to welcome Rabbi Buchdahl formally in her new role,” commented David Edelson, the congregation’s president.  “She leads our community with excellence, compassion and vision—capturing our hearts, raising our prayers, teaching us, and helping us become better people and better Jews.  She is a shining light at Central and within the broader Reform Jewish movement.”

Rabbi Rubinstein and Rabbi Buchdahl collaborated closely as the congregation’s senior clergy for the past eight years.  Rabbi Abrahamson has been a guide and mentor to Rabbi Buchdahl, starting at a summer camp when Rabbi Buchdahl was a teenager and Rabbi Abrahamson was an educator, and evolving at The Wexner Foundation where Rabbi Buchdahl was a Wexner Fellow and Rabbi Abrahamson was on the faculty.  Rabbi Buchdahl and Rabbi Jacobs served together at Westchester Reform Temple where he served as senior rabbi and Rabbi Buchdahl was a rabbinic intern, followed by serving as associate rabbi/cantor.

Rabbi Buchdahl was invested as a cantor in 1999 and ordained as a rabbi in 2001 by the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion (HUC-JIR) in New York, where she also was a Wexner Graduate Fellow.  She earned a B.A. in Religious Studies from Yale University.  Prior to joining Central, Rabbi Buchdahl served as associate rabbi/cantor at Westchester Reform Temple in Scarsdale, N.Y.  She serves on the boards of Auburn Theological Seminary, Avodah Jewish Service Corps, AJC, and UJA-Federation of NY.

Central Synagogue is a Reform congregation of 2,300 households in New York City.  Central is transforming the way people experience Jewish life, cultivating ongoing exploration, and pursuing a powerful vision for the role of Judaism in the world.  Central Synagogue, designated a New York City Landmark in 1966 and a National Historic Landmark in 1975, is the oldest synagogue in continuous use in New York City.  The congregation was founded in the 1840s.

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A Conversation with Rabbi Angela Warnick Buchdahl on the Occasion of Her Installation as Senior Rabbi at Central Synagogue

What have you been focusing on this summer since stepping into your new role on July 1?

I’m focusing on relationships.  And on listening.  I’ve had over 50 meetings or lunches with congregants, Jewish community leaders and other faith leaders since June.  I plan to have many more – and am very excited that we will have a series of opportunities in the fall to get together and discuss our shared vision for the future.

I also met with every department on our team and listened to stories and advice from our staff.  In one of my congregant meetings, I learned the wisdom of “Connection before Content,” especially in a time of transition, and this has been my first priority.  Once a connection is established, the real work can happen more easily and with more trust and joy.  


What does it mean to you to be senior rabbi at Central Synagogue?

It is a tremendous honor and privilege to be the senior rabbi at Central.  Rabbi Rubinstein solidified the extraordinary reputation of Central Synagogue in the larger Jewish world and I feel grateful to have worked alongside him for so many years and to be receiving the mantle of leadership from him. 

Being a member of the clergy at Central means serving the Jewish community in an expansive way, with a vision that reaches our membership and beyond.  I look forward to partnering with my colleagues in the clergy team as we achieve that vision together.

How is this role different for you?

It goes without saying that the senior rabbi’s portfolio is larger, and it encompasses not only the needs and priorities of the community but also our remarkable, sizeable staff at Central.  In the moments when I am reminded of this responsibility, I am inspired by the support of our incredible team of clergy, staff and lay leaders with whom I am privileged to share this work.

You selected a particular Torah excerpt to feature in your installation ceremony – “You stand this day, all of you… to enter into a convenantal relationship”.  How did you make this selection and what does it mean to you?

The Torah always has something to teach us, whenever we need it.  When I looked up the date of my installation and saw that it was Parshat Nitzavim, which begins with this line, “Atem Nitzavim – you stand this day, all of you,” I couldn’t have asked for a better verse of Torah to encapsulate this moment. 

It is a reminder that the sacred work that we engage in at Central is not just about the clergy team or leadership alone.  The text goes on to name all of the people who stood together – men, women, children, woodchoppers and water drawers – who were all included and essential in this covenant. 

I want to acknowledge and celebrate the contributions of everyone in this community, who stand with me in this covenantal moment as we sanctify this New Year and move toward the future.

When you were studying to become a cantor and then a rabbi, could you see yourself in the position you now hold?

Not in my wildest dreams.  At age 16, when I first announced to my parents that I wanted to be a rabbi, it was right after I first learned that more traditional Jews wouldn’t even consider me Jewish because I had a non-Jewish mother.  When I told my parents of my desire to be a rabbi, they worried I would be rejected in the Jewish community as a leader, that I’d never even get a job! 

The notion that I could ever be named to a position like this – senior rabbi of Central Synagogue – seemed, even for a dreamer, out of the realm of possibility.  I’m still pinching myself and feeling deeply blessed.

How is the clergy team coming together under your leadership?

We are having a great time together.  Our new clergy, Cantor Mo Glazman and Rabbi Andy Straus, are fantastic additions to our team and they have jumped right into the work at hand.  I can’t wait for our community to meet them and to give them a warm Central welcome.

And it is so energizing to be working alongside the talented longer-standing members of our clergy team – Rabbi Salth, Rabbi Lorge and Cantor Cadrain (formerly Cantor Katz), as well as the wider Central Synagogue professional team.

Will you still sing during services?

This is the question I have heard most often in the last few months!  The short answer is yes.  When I’m in services, I don’t think of what I’m doing as singing as much as praying.  And I can’t imagine that I would stop praying as the rabbi.  Not surprisingly, I don’t draw hard distinctions between the rabbi and cantor roles in worship – I think each of us should use all of our clergy muscles. 

Central’s cantors have often offered teaching in the form of words and not just song.  And some of our rabbis are pretty wonderful singers.  So I think you can expect to see a lot more switch-hitting and sharing of these roles as we use the full gifts of our clergy.

One of the things I have most enjoyed over the summer in services is singing alongside Cantor Glazman and Cantor Cadrain as we get to know and enjoy each other’s collaborative musical styles.