Our Search Committee:
Dani Lazar
Sam Schwartz-Fenwick
David Medow
Carole Schecter
David Katz
Josh Malkin
Laura Neiman Rifkin
Steve Silk
Abe Trieger
Elaine Seeskin
Meredith Mann
Antonieta Diaz
Ruthie Charendoff
Jonathan Hirschtritt
Kara Goldman
Alexandra Monks
Jodi Gruber
Mimi Wallk
Jonah Shifrin
Dear Anshe Emet Friends,
We are pleased to share important events that have occurred as of July 1:
The Succession/Search process was targeted from the beginning to be a two-year endeavor; the earliest date that we could open the search by submitting an application to the RA was July 1. We have met that timeline goal.
Our task over the last two months has been to craft the nearly 40-page RA application. This application articulates the diversity and strength of our Synagogue, and highlights the strategic information learned from our outreach session to Shul members. The information gleaned from that outreach helped us to clearly articulate in the application the important attributes of the person for whom we are looking. (As a reminder, leadership attributes deemed most important for our new Senior Rabbi fall into 3 categories: scholarship, executive leadership, and communityengagement). An added benefit of the application process is that the work that went into it gave us the guideposts we need to help to focus our search and screen candidates.
As always, we will strive to keep the Congregation informed about key events in the search process both through communications such as this and the Search Committee Web page on the Anshe Emet Web site.
Please feel free to contact us or other Committee members with any questions.
B’Shalom,
Dani Lazar and Sam Schwartz-Fenwick
and the entire Search Committee
Dear Anshe Emet Friends,
We are pleased to share that we recently held 2 very successful in-person Congregational Meetings during which we outlined the progress of the Succession Committee to date and showed a timeline for the rest of the process. Our goal in this letter is to summarize the meeting for those who were unable to attend.
The Succession process was targeted from the beginning to be a 2-year endeavor; we realized the gravity of our work and wanted to be sure to provide adequate time for the process. We are approximately 10 months into our timeline.
Our first job was a level-setting one.
First, we asked ourselves “Who is Anshe Emet?” We realized that Anshe Emet is indeed in rarefied air: we are the sixth largest Conservative congregation in the United Stateswith more than 1200 family units (~2500 persons). We are a broad and very diverse congregation with respect to demographics and religious observance. To further the internal look, we consulted congregational surveys from Kadima (the most recent strategic plan), Az Yashir (the Cantorial search initiative) and the Chicago Jewish Community Survey. We also met with Executive staff and Senior clergy members.
Then, we became familiar with the Rabbinic search process. Since AE is a constituent member of the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism (USCJ), we are obligated to begin our search through the Rabbinical Assembly (RA). We met with Rabbi Jacob Blumenthal, CEO for the USCJ and the RA, and Mindy Gordon, USCJ Emtza Region Consultant. We studied Aliyah, the RA guidebook for rabbinic searches and familiarized ourselves with the roles that Senior Rabbis may assume: CEO, Mara D’Atra, community leader, educator, pastor, visionary, fundraiser. Rabbi Blumenthal underscored our obligation to take time with the process; he was pleased we had determined to spend two years doing this important work.
Our next job was to gather information from congregation members and from the Chicago community regarding attributes that our Senior Rabbi should have.
We used the information that we gleaned from our endeavors to write the job description for the Senior Rabbi candidate. This important distillation will guide our preparation of the RA application that we must submit on July 1 and will help to focus our search and screen candidates.
Leadership attributes deemed most important for our new Senior Rabbi fall into 3 categories: scholarship, executive leadership, and community engagement. Here is how we define each one:
Scholarship:
Anshe Emet seeks to continue its long history as a center for thoughtful intellectual discourse led by a Rabbi with a high degree of scholarship rooted in a deep understanding of Torah, Halakha, and Conservative Judaism.
Executive Leadership:
Anshe Emet is a complex organization run by a large and very talented administrative staff in a 100+-year-old building. Our clergy work as partners and are known as having mentored and developed junior clergy who became leaders of the next generation.
Community Engagement:
Anshe Emet is a diverse community embedded in the life blood of a diverse city. We are diverse in our religious observance, in our preferences for a lay-led or clergy-led prayer service, in the ways we define our Jewish identity, in our paths to our current levels of observance, in our political views and in our views on Israel.
Dear Anshe Emet Friends,
We write to provide an update on the ongoing work of the Succession Committee and to give an approximate timeline for our search for our new Senior Rabbi.
In our last communication, we reported to you that the Succession Committee had been conducting several Community Conversations to obtain perspective from our members about the role of the Rabbi at Anshe Emet and about the values of our community. We had also launched an online survey so that we could ensure as many people as possible had the opportunity to provide input.
We’re happy to report that over 300 congregants participated in these information-gathering activities. These individuals represented a vibrant cross-section of the congregation. The information we have gathered from these events is proving to be invaluable in our efforts to move the search process forward.
When will you be informed about all that we have learned? We’d like to invite you to attend either of two upcoming Congregational Meetings. At each meeting, we will outline what we have heard from these information-gathering experiences and, in turn, would like to hear your feedback. These Congregational Meetings will take place in person at the Anshe Emet Synagogue on April 27, and May 4 from 10AM to Noon.
What else will we do with the information we have gathered from the congregation? The information we gathered has helped to build out what the Congregation is hoping to find as we search for a new Senior Rabbi. It will be used by the Succession Committee to formulate the “job description” for the new Rabbi and to express our goals and expectations in the Rabbinical Assembly (RA) application that is required to initiate the Rabbinic search process.
What happens next? The next job for the Committee will be to address the very detailed application for the RA that describes who we are as a congregation and the person we hope to find to lead us into the future. As noted above, the information we have gathered from the community will be invaluable in helping us respond to that application. The RA will post the application and from there, we will begin to receive resumes and applicants. From those, and from other suggested candidates, we hope to identify several applicants who might be considered for the role of our new Senior Rabbi.
What is the timeline for the rest of the process?
We hope that this gives you a good summary of our efforts. As always, please feel free to approach any member of the Succession Committee with questions. We are always happy for your input.
Dear Anshe Emet Friends,
In the Fall, we announced the commencement of succession planning for our next Senior Rabbi. Sam Schwartz-Fenwick and I would like to update you on the workings of the Succession Committee. Our efforts over the last few months have focused on identifying the most essential mores of the congregation and to prioritize the roles for our new Rabbi. How have we done that? Partly through internal discussion within the Committee, but most importantly by meeting with and listening to you, our congregation members.
Over the last few weeks, the Succession Committee has hosted community conversations with members of the congregation who represent key constituencies—Men’s Club, Sisterhood, Rose Crown Minyan, Young Adult Division, Young Families, etc. With these conversations we have been attempting to take the pulse of the congregation concerning key attributes of the person who will become our rabbinic leader. In addition, we have had individual conversations with Jewish leaders in Chicago and across the country. This information will be used to formulate the Senior Rabbi job application that we will post with the Rabbinic Assembly.
Before we do that, though, we’d like to offer two more opportunities for our community to be part of this dialogue!
You can participate in two different ways:
Both the survey and sign-up for the community conversation can be accessed here:
We hope you accept this invitation to contribute to our information-gathering initiative! Once we have completed all of the community conversations, and reviewed the survey results, we will report what we have learned in several congregational meetings this Spring.
We are grateful for your input and the Succession Committee‘s substantial work.
Dearest Friends,
This past spring as we celebrated Anshe Emet’s 150th anniversary, some common themes kept emerging. These included the strength of our community, and our history of storied clergy. As we enter this new year of 5785, we’d like to share some upcoming changes that are planned for ourclergy team.
As you have read in Rabbi Siegel’s recent communication, he has made plans to retire from his role as Senior Rabbi in June of 2026. While we are excited for Rabbi Siegel and Janet as they step into this next phase of their life, we know that it will be difficult to fill the shoes of our beloved Rabbi.
Rabbi Siegel has served our community for over 40 years with compassion, love, warmth, and a strong voice. He is a master teacher and a true visionary leader. It is no coincidence that our Congregation has grown and thrived over the last decades—particularly during the pandemic—while many others have struggled and failed. His mentorship is world renowned: Many rabbis who have learned from him have gone on to have their own pulpits or other careers. Rabbi Siegel has counseled thousands of congregants, officiated over weddings, baby namings, b’nai mitzvah—and of course, he has held hands and offered words of comfort for those that are dealing with difficult times. There are generations of Anshe Emet families that have been embraced by him and we have all benefited from his caring. Fortunately for us, Rabbi Siegel will continue as RabbiEmeritus and be with our community for years to come, although in a different capacity.
In planning for Rabbi Siegel’s retirement, the Board of Directors has convened a Succession Committee that includes current and past Board members and other congregants. This work has already begun; we have initiated a process that will extend over the next two years, culminating in the choice of a successor for Rabbi Siegel.
The Congregation should be assured that finding RabbiSiegel’s successor will be undertaken with the utmost care and consideration. The Board has made the decision to look outside of Anshe Emet for our new Senior Rabbi and conduct a national search. At the same time, to help ensure continuity, we have extended Rabbi D’ror Chankin-Gould’s contract through June 2027.
Finally, Cantor Elizabeth Berke has informed the Board that she will not seek to renew her contract at the end of the current term, June 30, 2025. We want you to know that the Congregation’s required application to the Cantors Assembly for her replacement is well underway. A likely finalist for the Hazzan Sheni role has already been identified and will be visiting the Congregation this fall.
At this historic moment in our Congregation’s history, we feel a deep sense of gratitude to those who have given so much to our community and excitement at the new possibilities before us. The leadership of this Congregation is well aware of the sacred mission upon which we are embarking and is committed to keeping our community informed as this process unfolds. We will be looking to the members of this Congregation for input over the coming months and hope that each of you will consider participating when the opportunity arises.
May we be blessed to move M’Hayil l’Hayil: from strength to strength.
