Willow Glen Resident
Community
Photograph by Vicki Thompson
Congregation Sinai selected Rabbi Joshua Berkenwald to replace Rabbi Eitan Julius, who emigrated to Israel with his family. Berkenwald was selected out of 30 candidates. He hails from New York.
New rabbi at Congregation Sinai ready for the Jewish New Year
By Laura Rheinheimer
Congregation Sinai, a conservative Jewish synagogue with members who live in Campbell and Willow Glen, welcomed Joshua Berkenwald as its new rabbi and spiritual leader on July 31.
Berkenwald replaces Rabbi Eitan Julius, who emigrated to Israel with his family.
Berkenwald envisions creating a stronger sense of community in the synagogue and is already working to meet as many community members as possible before the rush of the Jewish holidays hits in mid-September.
Berkenwald, 31, joined by his wife, Dana, and their two young children, arrived in the South Bay in mid July. Berkenwald was newly ordained by the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York in May, and he most recently served as a rabbinic fellow at the Conservative Synagogue Adath Israel of Riverdale in the Bronx, N.Y.
Congregation Sinai will be the first congregation under Berkenwald's leadership.
It was Berkenwald's youth and energy that made him the top candidate among the 30 individuals interviewed, according to Steve Dick, president of Congregation Sinai.
"We are extremely fortunate to have attracted such an engaging and creative young rabbi," Dick says. "He has this enthusiasm that you can feel."
The young rabbi is also technologically savvy; he maintains a family website and talks about sending video messages via e-mail and creating podcasts of upcoming sermons for people to download online.
Berkenwald, who was raised in Seattle, Wash., received his undergraduate degree in foreign affairs from the University of Virginia. Even before he graduated, he was thinking about becoming a rabbi. Although he spent his youth actively involved in the Jewish community, it wasn't until he traveled to Israel during his junior year of college that he seriously considered becoming a rabbi.
"By my senior year, I already was thinking about rabbinical school," says Berkenwald.
"I found working with the Jewish community the most meaningful," he says. "Becoming a rabbi was the natural thing for me to do."
Berkenwald says he hopes to deepen the community's connection to the religion by finding relevant ways to relate to Judaism.
To that end, the rabbi has created an open-door atmosphere by inviting community members to meet with him one-on-one for a coffee, a meal or a bike ride on San Jose trails.
"As a rabbi, I want to have a personal relationship with every one of my congregants," he says, "rather than waiting until they're in crisis, or preparing for a bar mitzvah. Which means I've got six weeks to meet as many new people as possible before the High Holidays."
As one way to entice the community to the synagogue on Willowbrae Avenue, this year High Holiday services will be free. Berkenwald says. "It's also a way that we can do a little outreach to the unaffiliated portion of the community."
The synagogue will also offer transportation to the synagogue during the Jewish High Holidays for those who need it.
Congregation Sinai is located at 1532 Willowbrae Ave. off Meridian Avenue. For more information, call 408.264.8542 or visit www.sinai- sj.org.
