The Spiritual Leader We Envision
A successful spiritual leader for the Adas Yoshuron community will lead Shabbat and High Holiday services that both reflect and express the wide range of Jewish backgrounds and practice in our community. This may include translation of prayers, non-traditional material (such as meditation, music or poetry), discussion, and learning during certain services. They will collaborate with lay leaders and committee members to develop services and to create meaningful opportunities for observance of major and minor Holidays, including Sukkot, Simchat Torah, Passover, Shavuot, Purim, Chanukah, Tu Bishvat and Yom Hashoah.
Adas Yoshuron offers many things to many people, including activities for those who regularly attend religious services, those who are engaged in Jewish culture through activities like Books and Bagels and Jewish Food in Culture, Jews of the Midcoast who participate in learning and community through Talmud study, adult education, and Hebrew school, and dedicated community members who serve as members of the Board and Chevra Kadisha.
We envision a spiritual leader who brings a connecting thread strengthening these existing but sometimes disparate elements of our congregation and broader community and whose presence draws in, through outreach, welcome, and inspiration, Jews living in Midcoast Maine who do not yet belong to a congregation. Adas Yoshuron is a synagogue as well as a Jewish center for Midcoast Maine. The leader of our congregation will take an active role on the Programming Committee to develop programs to enrich and invigorate the membership and our community and collaborate with the committees established by the Board of Directors and the Congregation.
The Adas Yoshuron spiritual leader will provide pastoral care and guidance to members of the Congregation, provide comfort and guidance to members experiencing illness and to grieving members of the Congregation and their families, and will extend these services, whenever possible, to Jews in Midcoast Maine who may not be members. They will welcome non-Jewish family members, increasing their knowledge of Judaism and helping those who wish to convert as well as welcoming non-Jews interested in exploring Judaism and teaching and guiding those interested in conversion.
Involvement with the Makom Fellowship at the Center for Small Town Jewish Life at Colby College is a benefit offered to the selected candidate for leadership of Adas Yoshuron. Maine is rich with experienced rabbis offering mentorship and collegiality to new rabbis coming to the state. Participation in the Makom Fellowship will offer an opportunity for the spiritual leader to engage with and learn from this community as well as supporting our congregation to grow and learn in support of our new leader.
The spiritual leader will also:
Leading religious services, including leyning Torah and sharing insights based on Hebrew and religious knowledge.
Engaging with the Programming, Ritual, and/or High Holidays Committees who will serve as partners in developing programming such as Torah study, outdoor Shabbat/holiday programs, community dinners, onegs and seders.
Inspiring members to social action. This may take the form of educational programs, social action projects, etc.
Actively partnering with and advising the Hebrew School in development and delivery of curriculum through participation in planning for the school year and attending Hebrew School on a regular schedule.
Coordinating training of B’nai Mitzvah students to complete their preparation to be called to the Torah, including working with the Hebrew School teacher and others to ensure students are supported in writing their speech, learning prayers, and leyning Torah.
Developing an adult education program to meet the needs of those who are new to the religion as well as those with some knowledge.
Officiating at life cycle events, such as marriages, including same-sex and interfaith marriages, birth celebrations, Mitzvah celebrations and funerals of Congregation members.
Working with the Membership and Fundraising Committees to increase the size and financial stability of the congregation.
Representing our community in the larger religious (including interfaith) and secular communities of Midcoast Maine.
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