With open approach, rabbi finds a fit

MARSHFIELD -- At last week's Rosh Hashanah service at Shirat Hayam , Rabbi Rachel Schoenfeld led a discussion on why a central prayer in the annual service addresses God as a king.

``We all have different conceptions of what God means," said Schoenfeld, the new rabbi of the Marshfield-based congregation. ``Some conceive of God as a king. Some conceive of God as a force. Some feel uncomfortable with the image of God as a person at all."

With the luxury of living for the first time in the same area as her congregation, the 31 -year-old rabbi was able to bring personal knowledge of what the congregation wanted and needed into her conduct of the high holiday services, when temple attendance is highest. For many Jews, the high holidays are the only time all year when they attend temple services.

Living among a congregation and getting to know its members -- ``what they expect and are comfortable with," said Schoenfeld -- paid dividends at last week's high holiday services. Shirat Hayam members want them to be ``inclusive and participatory," consisting of English readings along with Hebrew chanting, the teaching of songs, and discussion of service elements such as the Rosh Hashanah prayer recognizing God as ``king."

Schoenfeld's explanation is that God is addressed as a king because of the divine ``judgment" passed on each person during the high holidays. God makes a judgment on Rosh Hashanah and ``seals" it on Yom Kippur , she said. Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement , begins tonight at dusk and lasts through tomorrow at dusk.

``I try to be open to a multiplicity of approaches," Schoenfeld said. ``I'm here as a spiritual guide. It's so much easier to guide people when you know where they're coming from."

Congregation members appreciate the approach. ``She's done an incredible job so far with the high holidays," said Harry Katz, of Duxbury.

Last year Schoenfeld had her first, part-time experience as a congregation's rabbi, flying once a month to lead a small congregation in San Antonio. She was living in Baltimore then and teaching Judaic studies at a Jewish private school.

A dual citizen of the United States and Canada, Schoenfeld grew up in Toronto in a religiously active family that attended a ``wonderful" unaffiliated congregation that nurtured the spiritual growth of its members, she said. Trying to figure out what to do with her life, she said, she took stock of the things she loved -- theology, music, people, and praying.

``It seemed an amazing thing I could do those things for my life and put them together" as a rabbi, she said.

Schoenfeld received a bachelor's degree in Jewish education at McGill University in Montreal, spent a year traveling (including time in Israel), then studied at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College in Philadelphia, graduating two years ago.

Reconstructionism, an American-founded movement, takes a studied approach to traditional Jewish religious practices, keeping those the congregation believes are viable and adding new interpretations and new sources. The Reconstructionist prayer book, with its wide range of readings, many from modern contributors, along with Hebrew prayers, is ``a blessing," she said.

Her experience of different religious practices feed s her own creative approach to religion, and as a teacher she connects religious texts to modern issues. Last year she taught a unit on slavery in the past, based on the book of Exodus in the Hebrew Bible, and slavery in the modern world, including sex traffic in America. Her high school students responded enthusiastically to that approach.

In Israel, Schoenfeld wore a kipa , a skull cap worn only by men in the Orthodox Judaic tradition, which also drew a strong response. She was stopped by people on the street -- ``sometimes forcefully" -- who asked why she wore it, and by women who identified her as part of the Reform tradition. In Israel, where women rabbis are rare, American-born movements such as Reform and Reconstructionism are small minorities.

At a time when opinions over Israeli policies still run high following Israel's recent war with Lebanon, Schoenfeld's training as a facilitator by the Jewish Dialogue Group is likely to come in handy in her work as rabbi. The group trains people to lead ``intra-Jewish" workshops among people who have a wide variety of opinions on Israeli politics ranging from ``Israel doesn't exist" and ``Jews should not be in Israel" to ``Palestine, and Palestinians, do not exist," she said.

``Israeli politics is very hard to talk about. It's hard to separate logic and emotion," she said. The job of the facilitator is not to change opinions but ``to give everybody across a broad political spectrum the opportunity to listen to each other." Consider factors like where you get your news, how you were brought up, and what institutions have had an impact on your opinions -- ``be in touch with why you say these things, and listen," she said.

Schoenfeld, who studied Christianity and Islam in rabbinical school, said she is also enthusiastic about supporting interfaith efforts such as the Duxbury Interfaith Council. Connections between these faiths are apparent, she said. Ramadan , Islam's holy month of atonement, also began last week.

In addition to being Shirat Hayam's rabbi, Schoenfeld also teaches at the Jewish Community Day School in Watertown and practices Hebrew calligraphy. She recently prepared her first ketubah , the legally binding marriage document signed at Jewish wedding ceremonies.

Robert Knox can be contacted at rc.knox@gmail.com.