Temple Beth Israel appoints new rabbi

Temple Beth Israel will have a new rabbi beginning Aug. 1.

Rabbi Stephen L. Sniderman will take over as the spiritual leader of the congregation as Rabbi Jonathan Katz pursues other opportunities in the area.

Sniderman is currently a rabbi at B’er Chayim in Cumberland, Md. He and his family will move from Maryland in the coming weeks and will reside in Sarasota. 

Sniderman was ordained at Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati in 1975. Since then, he has been the rabbi at four other congregations, including the Hillel Foundation, in Champaign, Ill., from 1980 to 1985; Temple Beth Israel, in Sharon, Penn., from 1985 to 1996; and Temple Beth El, in Rockford, Ill., from 1996 to 2002. He has been at B’er Chayim since 2002.

Sniderman is eager to see how he can make a difference at Temple Beth Israel.

“It’s a very exciting and vibrant community that wants to learn and wants to participate in interesting and stimulating activities,” Sniderman said.

Temple Executive Director Isaac Azerad will work closely with Sniderman in the cultural aspects, including education, programming and fundraising.

“I said jokingly when he was here that I would like to act as his chief of staff,” Azerad said.

The congregation is looking forward to his arrival and is confident in his capabilities and his knack for history. Azerad said Sniderman is inquisitive, so not only is he a teacher but also a student.

“The most anticipated quality that I could detect speaking with him is the orientation that he has toward history and how he relates history to current affairs, and that is very telling for our congregation because Jews have had a very long history, and our religion is steeped in heritage,” Azerad said. “It goes back thousands of years, and you get a better understanding of who we are by looking back and finding the roots.”

Sniderman said he plans to incorporate history and its relation to current events at the temple, though he knows not every rabbi does the same.

“We’re all different with different approaches and different things that we emphasize,” he said. “We have different personalities.”

Sniderman and his family recently took a weeklong trip to the Key and had a positive experience.

“It’s a beautiful and wonderful area and a lovely congregation,” he said.