BANGOR – The spiritual leader of the city’s Conservative synagogue resigned last week after 17 months on the job. He is the second rabbi to leave Beth Israel since August 1997.

Rabbi Yisrael Rod Brettler cited a difference in the “vision of the congregation and rabbinic direction” in his resignation letter dated Dec. 13, which took effect immediately. Brettler said he will remain in Bangor and plans to open “a little Israel store” at 14 State St., next to the Thomas School of Dance.

“We were having vision troubles, so I needed to go,” said Brettler in a phone interview Friday. “This is a vibrant, historic congregation. They are fully entitled to have a rabbi who suits their needs. We kind of concluded there wasn’t enough of a common language, so it was best to part amicably.”

William Small, newly-elected president of the synagogue’s board of directors, called Brettler’s resignation letter “gracious.” Small said that cantor Deborah Marlowe will increase her role while the congregation begins a search for a new rabbi.

“I feel some sadness,” said Small, a professor of German at the University of Maine. “I don’t feel that there was tension or any factions in the synagogue [around Brettler]. We are a very strong synagogue right now after getting through two years without a rabbi.

“People are sad it didn’t work out. The word in Yiddish that describes the relationship between a rabbi and a congregation means marriage. We weren’t meshing. What we felt were basic rabbinic duties, he said, that’s not my thing.”

Rabbi Boaz Tomsky serves Beth Abraham, the Orthodox synagogue located across York Street from Beth Israel. Tomsky and Brettler, both recent graduates of rabbinical school, arrived within two weeks of each other. Tomsky praised Brettler for helping to open up communication among Bangor’s three synagogues and between the area’s Jewish and non-Jewish communities.

“He’s been excellent in being able to reach out and giving of himself in order to have those relationships,” said Tomsky Monday. “One of the things we stressed was not to focus on our differences, but on our similarities. I truly hope that whatever happens in the future, [Beth Israel] will find an equally open minded person. I hope that not just for my sake and my synagogue, but for the community at large. It is essential for the Jewish community everywhere to have peace.”

Last month in an unusual move, Brettler exchanged pulpits with Rabbi Laurence Milder of Congregation Beth El, the Reform synagogue and St. John’s Episcopal Church. Brettler said last week that he was most proud of the synagogue’s work in the community during his short time on the job. He cited the sixth-graders’ project to purchase bulletproof vests for Bangor’s police dogs and helping family’s within the congregation make the celebration of shabbot (the Sabbath) more meaningful.

Brettler, 42, grew up in Los Angeles where his father was a builder and his mother a social worker. He attended the University of California in Santa Barbara and UCLA, earning a bachelor’s degree in English literature. In an August 1999 interview, he called himself “a wandering Jew” because he has traveled extensively, lived in Israel off and on for a total of six years, and had a variety of jobs, including fitness trainer, English teacher and infantryman in the Israeli army.

The rabbi said he plans to open the store after the first of the year. Brettler said he will sell Jewish religious items and goods imported from Israel. He plans to focus on the “the larger whole” of the Jewish community and encourage more interfaith communication.

“I can foresee at some point being a member of all the shuls [synagogues],” he said. “Being a rabbi is the best job I’ve ever had. It has been a remarkable privilege to be a part of this congregation, but I realized I want to be part of a larger whole.”