With rabbi's hiring, OSTT continues efforts to grow
by Aaron Leibel
WJW Staff
If Shmuel Herzfeld is only half as good as his mentor, Rabbi Avi Weiss, claims he is, then Herzfeld's tenure as Ohev Sholom Talmud Torah's rabbi -- which began last week -- should be a memorable one indeed.
"He is perhaps the most dynamic young rabbi in the country today," says Weiss, Jewish activist and rabbi at The Hebrew Institute of Riverdale in the Bronx, N.Y., who accompanied Herzfeld to the District for his protege's contract signing with OSTT on Thursday of last week. "I have rarely met a young rabbi who combines the brilliance, sensibilities and spirituality that Shmuel has."
Herzfeld returns the compliment. Growing up in an Orthodox household in New York, he studied at a yeshiva in Israel for a year after high school, then returned to the United States, eventually receiving a master's degree in medieval Jewish history at Yeshiva University.
On his way to becoming a historian, he began teaching at Weiss' synagogue. And everything changed.
"Weiss showed me the impact that a rabbi could have on the community and on individuals," Herzfeld, 29, says. "He showed me how one could spread the message of Torah and affect people's lives that way."
So, Herzfeld returned to Yeshiva University, was ordained as a rabbi in 1999 and had been associate rabbi under Weiss since.
In that position, Herzfeld says he learned that a rabbi's responsibility "is to be involved in community life, to help people, spread the message of Torah and always be there for the community," lessons he wants to apply in his new job.
OSTT has recently been involved in litigation with its branch -- or a separate synagogue -- in Olney that apparently ended last fall when District Superior Court Judge Zoe Bush dismissed a suit by the Olney party asking the dispute to be referred for arbitration to a beit din.
"Hopefully, that is behind us, and we're going to move foreword to bring God's message to the world," the rabbi says of that bitter dispute.
The synagogue also suffers from a stagnate membership base of in excess of 100 membership units.
Synagogue leaders are hoping to bring Jews back to an area that had once had a heavy Jewish population. Toward that end, an eruv has been under construction for more than a year and it is substantially completed, says synagogue president Dr. Harold Brodsky.
After the contract-signing ceremony, Weiss and Herzfeld went out to examine the eruv.
Herzfeld says it is too early to speak about specific programs to solve the membership problem; first, he intends to consult with members and others in the community.
But the rabbi promises "aggressive programming to show people that their spiritual needs can be met" at Ohev Sholom.
"There will be educational programs and social action programs," he promises. "We're going to encounter people in the community who think that the synagogue is not for them. Our synagogue will be open and welcoming to all Jews.
"We want to share the teachings of the Torah with as many people as possible."
Herzfeld views his youth in a synagogue with largely aging members as "a positive."
"People relate to God no matter what their age," he says. "With age comes wisdom and with youth energy. We'll have to work together, and we will complement each other's strengths."
This story was published in the Washington Jewish Week on 1/22/04.