New Jersey Jewish News
MetroWest Feature Story
Retiring rabbi leaves shul a legacy of social action
Rabbi Joel Soffin, who will step down in July as religious leader of Temple Shalom in Succasunna, has a unique take on retirement.
Next year alone, as he tries on the title of rabbi emeritus, the 61-year-old will lead a congregational trip — his second — to New Orleans to rebuild homes devastated by Hurricane Katrina. In February, he will take a group to Jerusalem to work on the apartments of local people in need, followed by some touring.
In addition, Soffin said he plans to work with World Union for Progressive Judaism to create a weeklong social action project in May, and he will continue as president of the North American Conference on Ethiopian Jewry.
One thing that will change is the amount of time he will spend relaxing with his family. “I have two grown sons living in Manhattan, and I am hoping to spend a lot more time with them,” he said. “I’m looking forward to sitting with my family in the pew instead of on the bima, to not doing six things at the same time, to going fishing in the Berkshires, and to enjoy the moment more slowly.”
He will be succeeded in July by Rabbi David C. Levy, 44, who currently leads Congregation Kol Haverim in Glastonbury, Conn.
On March 18, his congregation feted Soffin with a gala dinner at the Meadow Wood Manor in Randolph. The evening drew 214 people, including former congregants who have moved away but returned to honor their rabbi.
A second celebration weekend, for families, is planned for May 19-21.
In addition to resolutions offered by local politicians honoring Soffin, Rabbi David Saperstein, director of the Washington-based Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, offered a keynote address at the dinner.
Soffin is something of an accidental rabbi. He was studying to be an economist when he left abruptly to become a rabbi instead. “This isn’t a job for me; it’s a calling, a passion,” he told NJ Jewish News in an interview for his 25th anniversary celebration in 2004.
He has a deep commitment to the community and to his role as educator. “Most important to me [at Temple Shalom] has been the sense of community and team spirit. There was always a can-do effort. People pulled together to become a congregation that could do [anything]…. People drew especially close to one another to become a caring community.” He was also instrumental in founding, with Father Joe Davis of St. Therese Church in Succasunna, the Roxbury Clergy Council.
With regard to teaching, he has called the congregation’s first adult b’nei mitzva class one of the highlights of the last 27 years. “A wonderful thing has developed,” he said of his congregation. “So many lay people have become teachers, educators, rabbis, and cantorial students. Often, the building is filled with learning, and I am far from the only teacher. It’s a wonderful feeling that people have joined the Jewish journey and are more than capable of continuing on without me. Such positive, holy experiences will stay with them forever.”
But social action is really the defining characteristic of his rabbinate — a commitment that took hold at Temple Shalom shortly after a visit by Danny Siegel, founder and chair of the Ziv Tzedakah Fund and a leading proponent of grassroots charitable enterprises. In the 1980s, a synagogue delegation traveled to the USSR in support of Soviet Jewry, and the congregation ended up sponsoring 37 refusenik families who ultimately immigrated to the Morris County area.
Cleaning out his office, Soffin said, he came across all of his files from that time. “We were so involved in the Soviet Jewry movement in a special way. We had so many efforts, including a lobbying effort. And we watched as all 37 different refusenik families made it here. That was a high point.”
The congregation subsequently sent delegations to El Salvador, Argentina, Ukraine, and Ethiopia, and it developed what is known as “The Temple Shalom Question.” Every member of the synagogue is entitled to ask someone in difficult straits, “How can we help?” The synagogue community will then commit itself to providing assistance.
To honor Soffin, last May the congregation dedicated the Rabbi Joel and Sandy Soffin Chapel in honor of the rabbi and his wife. The synagogue is also printing Soffin’s best sermons as well as 54 commentaries written by congregants during his tenure and selected by the rabbi. And it will print, for the first time, a collection of his “Shlomo” stories for the young. “They reflect Jewish holidays, values, and things that happen in different months of the year, in schools,” Soffin explained. “There’s even one about what happens to a favorite tree when you have to expand a parking lot.”
After Soffin retires, he plans to move to Manhattan’s Upper West Side. While he said he intends to continue to have a presence at Temple Shalom, he is now in the process of “carefully” choosing a synagogue to join in New York City. “One of the joys of being on the Upper West Side is that there are so many congregations to choose from,” he said.
The Succasunna congregation, for its part, will feel Soffin’s absence. Incoming president Vicki Morrison said, “We’ll miss him, of course. He’s an important part of our lives.” But she pointed out that he would continue as rabbi emeritus and lead congregants on missions. And, she said, she and outgoing president Marcia Geltman have worked carefully “to ensure a smooth transition.”
What Soffin will miss upon retirement is participating in people’s lives as only the clergy can. “I have always felt privileged and honored to share in the most intense moments of people’s lives. They have shared their innermost fears, hopes, and dreams. Sharing in those holy times is a precious and blessed thing.”
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