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Published July 31st, 2004 in the News Tribune
By STEVE MAYNARD; The News Tribune
After six months without a
rabbi, the waiting is over at Temple Beth El in Tacoma.
That was evident a week ago
when more than 300 people packed the synagogue to see and
hear Rabbi Bruce Kadden lead his first service at the
temple, followed by an Israeli dance performance
"It was like high holidays
services," said congregation president Glenn Lasko. "It
sort of signaled the beginning of our next chapter in the
history of Judaism in Tacoma.
Kadden is the third rabbi
in the 44-year history of Temple Beth El. After two weeks
on the job, he is settling in, planning programs and
getting ready to represent Tacoma's Jewish community to
the public
His main job: "to help
people on their spiritual journeys.
Kadden already wants to
start a Saturday night service with prayers and songs for
healing. He also wants to reach out to interfaith couples
and unaffiliated Jews
He welcomes his role as the
main Jewish face and voice to the non-Jewish public in
Pierce County. Tacoma also has a small Chabad-Lubavitch
group, Orthodox in style, with its own rabbi
"I expect to play a very
active role in the community," Kadden said. "I think
that's especially important.
Kadden, 49, is hopeful
times will be less volatile for Tacoma's Jewish community
than they were for his predecessor
Rabbi Mark Glickman, 41,
was Temple Beth El's leader during a string of hate
incidents at the temple near Tacoma Community College,
including an arson attempt in 2001. Then came the
nationally reported discovery in 2002 that two bullets
fired into the synagogue were linked to Washington, D.C.,
area snipers John Allen Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo
Nothing like that happened
in Salinas, Calif., where Kadden led that city's only
Jewish congregation, also called Temple Beth El, for 20
years. The name means "house of God" and is a common name
for synagogues affiliated with Judaism's Reform movement
Pierce County residents
need Kadden to continue the public presence of his
predecessors Glickman and Rabbi Richard Rosenthal, said
the Rev. David Alger, executive director of Associated
Ministries of Tacoma-Pierce County
"They've been great voices
in our community," Alger said. "They've been voices of
wisdom and insight and given us perspective we wouldn't
have had without them.
Kadden's
new and old congregations both include more traditional
elements of worship and faith. The big difference is that
the 324-family Temple Beth El in Tacoma is three times as
large with five full- and part-time staff members besides
Kadden
The 100-family Salinas
congregation - in a city of about 150,000 located 120
miles south of San Francisco - had only one part-time
employee besides Kadden
In Tacoma, Kadden will have
more time to focus on teaching adults, planning services
and developing an overall vision for the congregation
The bearded rabbi talks in
a serious, thoughtful manner. He displays a sense of humor
by adding a framed memento and conversation piece to his
office wall. It contains a needlepoint his wife, Barbara,
made in high school in Arizona that reads: "A nagging wife
may save your life.
"Most people find it
amusing, whether or not they would agree," Kadden said.
"At least there's some wisdom to it.
As rabbi, he's already
officiated at his first bar mitzvah in Tacoma
"He has a very calm way
about him," said Claire Gorenstein, whose son Colin went
through the ceremony
Kadden wants to begin
interfaith programs at Temple Beth El that will promote
understanding between Jews, Christians, Muslims, Buddhists
and other faiths
On Sunday, he joined Temple
Beth El members applying a fresh coat of paint to a Tacoma
house with members of the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints as part of the Paint Tacoma-Pierce
Beautiful program
Unlike Rosenthal and
Glickman, Kadden said he will perform weddings for couples
where only one partner is Jewish. Rosenthal and Glickman
required the non-Jewish partner to convert
Kadden said as long the
couple is building a Jewish home and raising their
children as Jews, "I feel I can work with them.
He said he left his
congregation in Salinas under the best of circumstances.
After 20 years, "I was ready for new challenges in a
different situation.
Lasko
said the congregation is excited to have the Salinas rabbi
after lay leaders led services for six months, and they're
pleased to have a leader whom people of many ages and
perspectives will appreciate
"He seems to seek that
common ground, and he seems to be right in the center of
it," Lasko said. "There's definitely a sense of delight
Steve Maynard:
253-597-8647
steve.maynard@mail.tribnet.com
Temple Beth El in Tacoma
Membership: 324 families,
about 810 people
Formed: 1960, when Reform
and Conservative congregations united
Number of Jews in Pierce
County: According to a 2002 study, 0.3 percent of the
county's population of 744,000 is Jewish. That's 2,200
people.
Rabbi Bruce Kadden file
Born: Berkeley, Calif.
Age: 49
Education: Master of Arts
in Hebrew Letters, Hebrew Union College in Los Angeles;
ordained at Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati
Family: Married to Barbara
Kadden, a Jewish educator. They have two children, Alana,
22, and Micah, 18.
Experience: Rabbi, Temple
Beth El, Salinas, Calif., July 1984 to June 2004;
assistant rabbi, Mt. Zion Temple in St. Paul, Minn.,
1981-84
Writings: The Kaddens have
written three books together on teaching the Jewish life
cycle, prayer and commandments in Judaism.
Hobbies: Tennis, crossword
puzzles, hiking
Other temple leaders
Rabbi Richard Rosenthal:
Founded Temple Beth El in 1960, retired in 1997 and died
in 1999.
Rabbi Mark Glickman: Led
the congregation starting July 1997 and announced his
resignation in March 2003. He was on a six-month, paid
sabbatical through June, during which lay leaders led
services.
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