Dear Congregants,

I am delighted to share with you that yesterday our Congregation overwhelmingly approved the appointment of Rabbi Angela Warnick Buchdahl as Central Synagogue’s next Senior Rabbi, effective July 1, 2014.

Following our Special Meeting last night, our members heard from both Rabbi Rubinstein and Rabbi Buchdahl about this momentous and joyous occasion for our congregation. Rabbi Rubinstein commented: “This is an absolutely thrilling and historic moment for this congregation, as we select the twelfth Senior Rabbi in our congregation’s history since its founding in the 1840s. Through the Board’s good faith search process, we found what we already knew—that Angela Buchdahl is the best Rabbi for Central, bringing excellence to our community, capturing our hearts, raising our prayers, and making us better people and better Jews.” Rabbi Buchdahl expressed her appreciation: “This is a tremendous honor and privilege, and I couldn’t be more excited or proud to be Central Synagogue’s next Senior Rabbi.”
We look forward to a winter and spring with a busy calendar of activities, details of which you can always find through the Central Synagogue website or in the Luach. These will include a series of events at which we will have the opportunity to express our gratitude to Rabbi Rubinstein for his remarkable 23 years of leadership of Central Synagogue.

Rabbi Buchdahl’s formal installation as our next Senior Rabbi will occur in the fall, and we will share with you information about that happy occasion in due course.

This Friday evening’s worship will be especially warm and festive as we gather in our annual celebration of song, Shabbat Shirah. As we know, music plays an important role in Central Synagogue’s worship. And while Rabbi Buchdahl will not be at services this Shabbat because she will be leading the 6th Grade Retreat, she and Cantor Katz recently shared their thoughts on music and the worship experience in a brief video. We hope that you will join us Friday at 6:00 p.m. for Shabbat Shirah worship.

Thank you,

David B. Edelson
President