Rabbi Michael Sternfield starts tenure at Beth El as renewal of Passover begins

BRADENTON

With the celebration of Passover a week away, one of the weeklong festival's themes -- renewal -- is at play in more than a symbolic way with the Temple Beth El congregation.

Two weeks ago, the small, Jewish Reform congregation welcomed a new rabbi.

Rabbi Michael Sternfield comes to Temple Beth El as it seeks to build its membership and a future that includes more young families.

For Sternfield, who marks his 70th birthday this week, his newest post brings him back to leading a congregation after a one-year stint as a spiritual counselor at a primarily Jewish addiction rehabilitation institution in Los Angeles.

Sternfield decided to take the rehab post after retiring as lead rabbi at Chicago's Sinai Congregation in 2014. He said it was important work, though often disappointing due the low rate of recovery among addicts. For him, the experience was a reminder he had more to give another congregation and more to do when it comes to his desire to make the world a better place for people of all faiths.

Tall, quick with a smile and always up for a conversation in a synagogue office that feels more like a cozy sitting room, Sternfield says he is up to the challenge.

"I still have the desire and the energy," he said.

When he learned through his rabbinical association Temple Beth El needed a rabbi, he saw it could be a place where he could make a difference. With just more than 100 members, most of whom are elderly, the synagogue has been seeking new and younger members to continue its mission.

"Here was a little congregation that has been struggling," Sternfield said. "We would like to increase our numbers and attract families. Without young people, no congregation is complete."

Sternfield is used to jumping into new and challenging experiences. When he was 28, he was named the head rabbi of Congregation Beth Israel in San Diego. He was the youngest rabbi leading a major metropolitan synagogue at the time.

In 1994, he spent a year working as a rabbi in South Africa as the nation moved away from racial segregation and elected Nelson Mandela as its first black president. After that, he went to Sinai in Chicago, the second of his congregations whose members numbered in the thousands.

Temple Beth El members worship in a building at 4200 32nd St. W. that is home to numerous congregations of many faiths. This year's Passover will retain celebrations it has had for some time, including a Seder dinner to start the eight-day celebration on April 22 and a community Seder to be held a week later in partnership with Gloria Dei Lutheran Church in Holmes Beach on April 27.

During Passover, Jews celebrate their ancestors' escape from slavery in ancient Egypt around 1250 B.C. According to their holy scripture, the Torah, they were led out of the kingdom and into the wilderness of the Sinai peninsula by the prophet Moses after a succession of plagues convinced the pharaoh to allow them to leave.

As they fled, the former Jewish slaves hurried to pack their belongings, gather food for the journey and bake bread. They made the bread so quickly that it didn't have time to rise. Eating unleavened bread remains a hallmark of the modern Passover celebration.

Exodus story important to all

Sternfield said the story of the Exodus is important not just to Jews, but to Christians and Muslims around the world. It also goes beyond those faiths. He said theme is meaningful to all people because the urge for freedom and autonomy is something anyone can relate to.

"The story of Exodus is a universal story," he said.

Passover is Sternfield's first set of high holy days with Temple Beth El. He celebrated his first Shabbat, the Jewish Sabbath, on April 8 after taking up the position previously held by Rabbi Harold Caminker.

Sternfield said he is committed to broadening the appeal of Temple Beth El. He said he wants to expand the synagogue's schedule of activities and to attract more interfaith families that may be looking for a Jewish experience "that will accept them as they are."

He believes many more Manatee County Jews may want to make Temple Beth El their congregation. If that happens, Sternfield will have done his job.

"I didn't come here to be the last rabbi of Temple Beth El," he said.

Matt M. Johnson, Herald business reporter, can be reached at 941-745-7027 or on Twitter @MattAtBradenton.

This story was originally published April 15, 2016 at 11:05 PM with the headline "Rabbi Michael Sternfield starts tenure at Beth El as renewal of Passover begins ."