Rabbinic couple to move to the US
TEMPLE Beth Israel's rabbinic couple, Rabbi Gersh Zylberman and Rabbi Rayna Gevurtz, will be leaving the synagogue later this year for the United States.
PETER KOHN
TEMPLE Beth Israel’s (TBI) rabbinic couple, Rabbi Gersh Zylberman and Rabbi Rayna Gevurtz, will be leaving the synagogue later this year to pursue professional opportunities in the United States.
In a letter to TBI congregants, the husband-and-wife duo said they made their decision “after a great deal of consideration and … with a mixture of competing feelings”, but view it as “an important step in our life journey”.
Rabbi Zylberman has served the TBI congregation since returning from rabbinic studies at the Progressive movement’s Hebrew Union College (HUC) in the US and Israel in 2005. US-born Rabbi Gevurtz served as the rabbi of The King David School, before joining TBI’s rabbinic team in 2007.
Rabbi Zylberman told The AJN their planned move was initiated by a congregation in California.
“We initially came to TBI for a two-year commitment and renewed for a further two and then a further year,” he said, describing their involvement with young adults and family programs as highlights of their work.
Rabbi Zylberman qualified as a physician and worked as a resident medical officer at The Alfred hospital, before moving into the rabbinate. Rabbi Gevurtz was raised in Chicago and Portland, and was ordained at HUC in 2001. They have two daughters, Adina and Noa.
TBI president Brian Samuel said a search has begun for a rabbi and a fully invested cantor to take up Rabbis Zylberman and Gevurtz roles when they depart in July.
He said the congregation “is very sorry to see them go. But having worked with them in the past five years in a close relationship, I’m sympathetic with their desire to expand their international experience”.
Rabbi Fred Morgan, TBI senior rabbi, said: “We’ve got on very well together, both professionally and personally, and I’m sad to see them go”.
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