A long strange trip

The search committee is probably the only temple committee that had to be applied for. The temple president and committee chair picked 20 people to be on it. It was a big group -- even with the two or three who seldom showed up) -- but it turned out to be a great team. We rarely disagreed with each other and when we did it was done respectfully. Each one brought his or her own strengths and knowledge to the table, whether that was religion, business, institutional memory, or psychological insight.

We looked at about 18 resumes, did about eight phone interviews, saw four candidates in person, and hosted three weekend visits.

We began by creating a survey for the congregation and hosting three focus groups. We needed to learn what the people wanted in a rabbi and why. We interviewed each member of the staff as well. This information and more went into the 18-page "questionnaire" that we submitted to the Rabbinical Assembly. Pretty much everything we could say about the temple, from the physical space, to the surrounding community, to our greatest strengths and weaknesses, went into this document. Those of us who worked on it got a bit testy if a candidate asked a question that we covered in this comprehensive document.

People wanted someone inspiring, who was approachable and good with kids. They wanted a good speaker and someone who would be innovative and imaginative. Basically, they wanted the opposite of Rabbi M.

This work was done in the spring and summer of 2009. The resumes started coming in after the High Holidays.