Temple enters transition
time with selection
of interim leader

Temple Emanu-El, Hawaii's largest Jewish congregation, has chosen an interim rabbi to lead services and teach religious classes at the Nuuanu synagogue.

Rabbi Peter B. Schaktman will arrive at the end of the month in time to preside at the Jewish High Holy Days, which begin Oct. 3. He has been interim rabbi at Temple Israel in Staten Island, N.Y., for the past year and previously served congregations in Lake Charles, La., Houston and San Antonio.

Schaktman will fill the vacancy created by the retirement of Rabbi Avi Magid after 20 years at the temple.

The unexpected departures of Magid in March and Executive Director Michelle Robinson, who moved to the mainland in May, set the organization into a period of transition and change, said temple President George Apter.

Pamela Davis-Lee has since been hired as the new executive director; she started work this week. She was formerly an executive with a Kona nonprofit environmental organization, Tropical Reforestation and Ecosystems Education Hawaii.

The president said the changes in leadership "are an opportunity for us to reassess ourselves and develop new energy." With a rabbi serving for 20 years and a director in position for 10 years, "we became dependent on individuals. We need to develop broader shoulders," he said in an interview.

Apter said Schaktman will serve until May while the search for a permanent rabbi proceeds.

"The search is a time of introspection for us, about who we are and where we would like to be. Then we try to find a candidate who is a good match.

"We must take steps to enlarge the membership and enhance income," Apter told temple members in a column in the bimonthly bulletin. He wrote that the temple must develop a system that "invites members to participate meaningfully and in a way that develops leadership and helps reduce the reliance on a few key individuals."

The search for a rabbi is conducted with guidance from the Union for Reform Judaism. The 15-member search committee was chosen to represent a cross section of the 300-family congregation. Robert Katz and Saundra Schwartz head the committee, which is preparing a profile of the congregation that will be posted through the national Reform organization to inform prospective rabbi candidates.

"We're unique in being both racially and ethnically diverse as a congregation," said Apter. "We reflect the community." He said the diversity of the local Jewish congregation results in part from intermarriage with non-Jewish people, conversions and adoptions by Jewish couples.

Apter said that having an interim rabbi is a key part of the process: "He is not concerned about being hired, which gives him ample opportunity for candor. He can hold a mirror up for us and can challenge us. We think that's healthy."