By, Josh Jackman
1 min read
Rabbi Elchonon Feldman has said that the chance to become Bushey Synagogue's minister was "something I couldn't pass up".
On Sunday, members of the 2,000-strong Hertfordshire community voted overwhelmingly for the current Belmont Synagogue minister to succeed the long-serving Rabbi Meir Salasnik. Rabbi Feldman and his wife Jacqueline will join the shul after the High-Holy Days. The vote followed a Shabbat the Feldmans spent with the congregation.
Rabbi Feldman sees the role more as an opportunity than a challenge.
His aim is to build "Bushey as a flagship community for the US. We want other communities to see what we can offer. Hopefully we will be worthy of emulation."
The 33-year-old New York native, who has five children aged under 11, will lead the community while studying for a Master's in psychotherapy, requiring him to be at university on the one day a week he is not in shul. He said the degree would help him "across the board. I've found that the pastoral side of my work needed more tools," he explained.
"I needed to offer more and this increases my ability to understand, appreciate and work with my members on everything from board meetings to a bereavement."
Rabbi Feldman, who has already completed a certification in addiction counselling, said it was important for ministers to further their education. "Not only would I recommend it for other rabbis but I think the US would, too." Although a large congregation, Bushey "has a family feel to it. There's a lot of warmth and vibrancy."