February 25, 2026

When the Search Committee convened in June of 2025, this was the update we looked forward to making: The announcement of our next rabbi. We are thrilled to share that in a special Congregational Meeting held on February 24th, the congregation ratified the appointment of Rabbi Matt Reimer to be the sixth rabbi of Temple Israel. Rabbi Reimer will begin his role officially on July 1, 2026 following the retirement of Rabbi Gelfand on June 30.

We feel immense gratitude to be able to present this dynamic, approachable, spiritually engaging and talented Rabbi to our congregation. The past seven months have been busy for us, to say the least, but it has unquestionably been time well spent. We are proud of the dedication and commitment of every member of the Search Committee that helped us to reach this milestone. We have logged innumerable hours in Zoom meetings, created and evaluated a congregational survey, facilitated and hosted Listening Tours with the congregation, edited and re-edited our application to the CCAR, conducted 23 interviews on zoom, watched hours of sermons on YouTube, and called over a dozen references.

At every turn, we treated this immense project as sacred work, holding the desires of the Temple Israel community front and center. The members of the Search Committee represent a diverse cross-section of the Temple Israel community: longtime TI members and those newer to the community; parents of current ECLC and Religious School students and parents of grown adults, grandparents of small children and not so small children. Our committee contained members of interfaith families and those who have converted to Judaism. We have led Temple Israel’s Board, were united by our love of our community and our desire to contribute to the sacred task of selecting Temple Israel’s next Senior Rabbi.

The congregation’s involvement in this process was paramount to its success. Your participation in the Listening Tours and the congregational survey were fully represented in our application to the CCAR, and helped us attract rabbis who complement our culture. Your participation in the rabbis’ visits to Temple Israel were very important to the process. Your impressions and interactions were tremendously insightful and thoughtful and we spent significant time analyzing the feedback received. Combining that with our experience from the multitude of interactions that we had with each candidate, the extensive vetting and interview process, and the information gathered from thorough reference-checking, it became abundantly clear that Rabbi Reimer was our recommendation to be the sixth Senior Rabbi of Temple Israel.

As our by-laws require, the Search Committee advised the Board of our choice which they approved unanimously on January 27th. The next step was to give the congregation 10 days’ notice of a congregational meeting to be held in person (where a minimum of 35 members must be present and a majority vote of those present is required to approve the appointment of Rabbi Reimer.) At that meeting, the congregation approved Rabbi Reimer’s appointment. We hope that you are as excited as we are by all that Rabbi Reimer brings to our congregation. Rabbi Reimer joined us in person to celebrate after this momentous vote as did an outpouring of congregants.

Before we sign off as the Search Committee, we want to introduce the Co-Chairs of the Welcome Committee – Keith Gross and Amy Landis – who will lead us in a multitude of events and experiences to welcome Rabbi Reimer to the congregation beginning in July. If you are interested in working collaboratively with Keith and Amy, please email them at welcomecommittee@tinyc.org. This will be a wonderful opportunity to make new friends and have a powerful impact on the community – We highly recommend it!

February 17, 2026

We found our next Rabbi! We hope you have seen, heard or read the important and very exciting news that on February 24th, Temple Israel will ratify the appointment of Rabbi Matt Reimer as the sixth Senior Rabbi of Temple Israel.  An email was sent last week to notify members of the congregation of this impending date. 

We are sending this celebratory update now to express our excitement and gratitude at this very auspicious moment in Temple Israel’s history. We are thrilled to be able to present this dynamic, approachable, spiritually engaging and talented Rabbi to our congregation. The past seven months have been busy for us, to say the least, but it has unquestionably been time well spent. We are proud of the dedication and commitment of every member of the Search Committee that helped us to reach this milestone.

Since the announcement of Rabbi Gelfand’s retirement, the Search Committee has worked tirelessly and comprehensively to keep the congregation aware of each step in the process and to involve our congregants as much as possible. We invited you to join our Listening Tours, to participate in our Congregational Survey, and finally, to spend time with each candidate when they visited Temple Israel. We appreciate that so many of you were able to participate in those events and to share your feedback with us. Your impressions and interactions with the rabbis were tremendously insightful and thoughtful and we spent significant time analyzing the feedback received. Combining that with our experience from the multitude of interactions that we had with each candidate, the extensive vetting and interview process, and the information gathered from thorough reference-checking, it became abundantly clear that Rabbi Reimer was our recommendation to be the sixth Senior Rabbi of Temple Israel.

As our by-laws require, the Search Committee advised the Board of our choice which they approved unanimously on January 27th. The next step was to give the congregation 10 days’ notice of a congregational meeting to be held in person. A minimum of 35 members must be present and a majority vote of those present is required to approve the appointment of Rabbi Reimer. We are holding that meeting on Tuesday, February 24th at 6:30 PM at Temple Israel, followed by a dessert reception. Everyone is invited to join us. Please click here to RSVP.  

We hope that you are as excited as we are by all that Rabbi Reimer brings to our congregation, and that you’ll share your voice through your vote on February 24th. Rabbi Reimer will be joining us in person to celebrate after this momentous vote and it would be impactful to him to see a strong turnout. We hope you will be a part of it!

January 1, 2026

December was an exciting month because it began our community’s involvement in the search process! It was wonderful to see so many congregants come to Temple Israel to meet the Rabbis who we invited to meet us. Thank
you to everyone who is made the time and effort to be a part of this important process.

As you remember, we held 14 listening sessions over the summer to gather your insights to best represent your needs in our rabbinic application. We now rely on your feedback after meeting the rabbis to best represent you as we get closer to choosing one to become our next leader. Thank you to the many of you who shared your feedback from your interactions. We found your impressions to be insightful and impactful. We got to know you better by reading your thoughtful analysis of your interactions and will use your words to guide us.

Summary of the Process:

• We received 25 applications, conducting 12 first round interviews
• We conducted six second round interviews
• We conducted five third round interviews
• Thus far, we have asked 3 rabbis to join us for the in-person round

Highlights from the in-person round:

• Members of the WLC, rabbis, parents from the ECLC and parents from the Religious School welcomed the 3 visiting rabbis
• Over 50 people attend each of the Congregational visits for 3 visiting rabbis
• The Executive Committee shared a meal with each of the 3 visiting rabbis
• The Search Committee had dinner with each of the 3 visiting rabbis
• Our President, Aaron Casden, had breakfast with each of the visiting rabbis

Next Steps:

• We are in the process of calling references
• We would like to schedule “hometown visits” in January, if possible, to observe firsthand how the rabbi envisions Shabbat services with their current congregation
• We will keep you posted on our progress as we head toward a decision

December 1, 2025

November was an exceedingly busy month in our Search process. It is time consuming work and multifaceted. It requires us to readily communicate to candidates what is special about Temple Israel in an effort to attract the leader who will be the best fit for our us, while simultaneously evaluating each rabbi’s strengths and experience as it relates to our position. We are nurturing relationships with these rabbis in an attempt to reach a place where the rabbi and Temple Israel both feel there is a good match that will grow for years to come.

Here are some of the highlights:

• We have received and evaluated a total of 22 applications
• We conducted second round interviews with 5 candidates
• We have thus far invited 3 candidates to deliver a D’var Torah to our Executive Committee
• We have scheduled the in-person round of interviews with 2 rabbis so far, and have orchestrated a schedule that provides opportunities for the rabbi to meet with the Senior Staff and the congregation

The in-person round of interviews consists of:

• Bringing the rabbi (and their partner, if applicable) to New York City for 2 days and 2 nights
• Housing the rabbi in a hotel
• Hosting all meals for the rabbi with the Search Committee, the Executive Committee or the Senior Staff
• Organizing individual meetings for the rabbi with each member of our Senior Staff for them to learn more about Temple Israel and for us to evaluate how their skills and experience might benefit our community. We are soliciting feedback from everyone who meets with each rabbi.
• The candidate meets with a real estate broker to view options in the neighborhood, and to educate themselves about what it would feel like to live here.

Next Steps:

If you participate in any of the in-person events, please share your thoughts and observations in an email to getmom4@gmail.com so that your voices are heard. Rest assured that your identity will remain anonymous.

If we choose to advance a candidate beyond the in-person round, the next step will be to conduct reference checks. Following successful reference checking, we will arrange a “hometown visit” for us to observe firsthand how the rabbi envisions Shabbat services with their current congregation.

November 1, 2025

October was when the “search” portion of our work truly began. While we were surprised to receive 6 applications prior to the High Holidays, October began the evaluation process in earnest.

Here are some of the highlights:

• We received 13 applications (and counting!)
• We conducted screening interviews on Zoom with 9 candidates (and counting!)
• We invited 4 back for a second round of interviews on Zoom (and counting!)

Next steps:

• We anticipate beginning to conduct second round interviews on Zoom throughout November
• We will take a break from our work for the week of Thanksgiving
• December is an intentionally short month in the Search Process because all synagogues agree to refrain from interviewing December 23 – January 1

Please know that we are available to you if you have any questions about the process. The best way to contact us is to email us at searchcommittee@templeisraelnyc.org. We are happy to communicate with you directly.

October 1, 2025

September began the next phase of the Search process when we submitted our application to the CCAR (Central Conference of American Rabbis.) Included in the application were many questions that gave us opportunities to shine as a Congregation to attract our next Rabbi.

Here is a sampling of some of the questions:

• What three qualities are most important to your congregation in your new rabbi?
• What should be the three most important priorities of your new rabbi?
• What are the three primary goals of your congregation?
• What are your congregation’s core values?

We utilized data that we gathered throughout our numerous Listening Tour sessions to compose our answers, where relevant. Thank you to everyone who participated in that important exercise. Your willingness to communicate your preferences clearly, and to explain why you feel the way you do, was extremely helpful to us as a committee. We are grateful for your involvement in this process.

Here is an outline of the Search Process:

• Review Resumes
• Zoom Interviews
• Onsite Visit for selected candidates to TI to meet clergy and get to know the congregation better
• Reference checking
• Visits to see the Rabbi in action in their home congregation.

The CCAR has established guidelines for how much experience a Rabbi must have in order to be considered for a congregation, based on its size. Given our current membership, the CCAR will only accept Resumes and Personal Statements for our position if the rabbi has at least 5 years of experience.

Please know that we are available to you if you have any questions about the process. The best way to contact us is to email us at searchcommittee@templeisraelnyc.org. We are happy to communicate with you directly.

August 25, 2025

It has been a very busy summer for those of us on the Search Committee for our next Senior Rabbi. We are eager to share our progress with the community and will be posting news in both the Chronicle and on the Temple Israel Website.

You will be able to stay informed by reading our updates, or feel free to email us at searchcommittee@templeisraelnyc.org. Please know that we are happy to communicate with you directly.

We take this role very seriously and are working our hardest to best represent the Temple Israel community that we hold so dear.

THE LATEST:
Listening Tours: This summer, we hosted 14 Listening Tours (11 for Congregants and 3 for the Board). We are thrilled that over 100 people have attended thus far, sharing their priorities, hopes and values.

Survey: So far, 87 people have participated in our survey, which was another helpful vehicle for gathering information about what you, our community, deems important.

Search Committee Education: We have attended the required Anti-Bias Training Seminar, offered by the URJ (Union for Reform Judaism) to help train us for the interview process. Additionally, we have attended meetings held by the CCAR (Central Conference of American Rabbis) to direct us in the application process, which will be completed by the time of this publishing, and after which, rabbinical candidates will begin to consider our position.

The Rabbinic Search Committee
Heather Getman – Co-Chair
Neil Goldmacher – Co-Chair
Monica Cirlin, Ann Frisse, Keith Gross, Ken Kloner, Amy Landis,
Howard Morgan, Francine Neu, Josh Peirez, Carole Ross, Michael Werner