Synagogue in search of a rabbi Midcoast group seeks spiritual leader after years of lay leadership

ROCKLAND – A synagogue that has struggled to survive since its founding in 1913 is looking for a rabbi now that its membership has reached an all-time high.

Whoever is hired will be the first spiritual leader at Adas Yoshuron in more than 60 years.

Twenty-five years ago, 18 families were the core of the synagogue, whose name means Congregation of the Righteous.

In recent years, the congregation has hired student or retired rabbis for special occasions and High Holy Days. Most services, however, have been led by lay members who could read the Torah, which is written in Hebrew.

The dramatic population growth in the area has pushed membership to an all-time high of 120 member units, according to synagogue president Stanley Klein of Thomaston.

When his family joined the congregation four years ago, there were just 50 households at Adas Yoshuron.

“We have a unique and very strong membership,” said Klein in a phone interview. “We need a rabbi who can integrate our strengths with his or her abilities. … Coming from my childhood in a Conservative synagogue with the presence of a strong, autocratic rabbi, it’s been nice to come into this Down East Jewish community with a ‘we can do it’ attitude. But we have a lot of needs now that can’t all be met by lay people.”

Klein said there are 27 children enrolled in Hebrew school, as well as adult classes, all taught by lay people.

That soon will increase the number of young people needing to prepare for their bar and bas mitzvahs as they approach their 13th birthdays. That training traditionally has been done by a rabbi.

Having a rabbi, he added, would mean that a rabbi would be able to visit elderly members of the congregation when they are ill, offer pastoral care and be readily available to young families. Klein added that having a rabbi would allow the Jewish community to increase its interfaith work and be more visible in the midcoast faith community.

Barbara Small Fishman grew up in the Rockland synagogue. The vice president of Adas Yoshuron said the congregation’s recent growth is “very exciting.”

Her husband, Joel Fishman, who served as president from 1998 until November, helped shepherd the congregation through its sudden growth spurt and the decision to hire a rabbi after so many decades.

Barbara Fishman said that life for Jews in the midcoast has changed dramatically in her lifetime.

“My siblings and I were the only Jewish children in our classes the whole time we were in school,” she said.

“It was very isolating. There were 17 families in the synagogue then. Some of my classmates did not even know I was Jewish. It was not something we talked about. … It was not as difficult for my children because there were a few more Jewish children and the schools were much more open” to diversity.

Fishman said she is not concerned that the laity will be less involved once a rabbi is hired.

“We do need a spiritual leader now,” she said. “But when we are lucky enough to find a rabbi who is a good fit with us, our lay people who have been so involved in the congregation will still be needed to work with the rabbi.”

Adas Yoshuron is not associated with any of the three best-known branches of Judaism: Orthodox, Conservative or Reform.

Liturgically, the synagogue is Conservative, according to Klein, but accepts members who trace their religious roots to their father or their mother.

Affiliating with the Union of Conservative Congregations probably would mean that current members whose mothers are not Jewish could remain members.

Klein forecast that the Rockland congregation, like Beth Israel in Bath, would remain unaffiliated.