Weekend Events for the Installation of Rabbi Stacy K. Offner at Temple Beth Tikvah
Friday November 9, 2012
6 PM: “Pre-Oneg: wine & light appetizers
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7 PM: Shabbat Installation Service
Oneg Shabbat to follow
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Saturday November 10, 2012
9 AM Torah Study & Morning Minyan in the sanctuary
Rabbi Norman M. Cohen of Bet Shalom Congregation in Minnetonka, Minnesota will join Rabbi Offner in leading the discussion.
Brunch will be served following Torah Study
Saturday November 10, 2012
5 PM to 6:30 PM Adult Education program
Rabbi Norman M. Cohen will lead a discussion entitled, “The Stereotypes and Misconceptions Jews and Christians Have about Each Other”
Light refreshments will be served.
RSVPs are not required
To help in the planning for seating & refreshments rsvps are helpful for:
Friday November 9 “pre-oneg”
Saturday November 10 Torah Study & brunch at 9 AM
Saturday November 10 Adult Education program at 5 PM
RSVPs can be made by:
Phone TBT 203-245-7028
Mail to the TBT office, 196 Durham Road · PO Box 1269 · Madison · CT · 06443
Email to Barbara Chupp at barbchupp@yahoo.com.
Tax-deductible donations in honor of this event and to help off-set the cost of these programs are accepted.
(Suggested amounts: $180, $108, $ 54, $ 36, $18 or other amount)
As the new rabbi of Temple Beth Tikvah in Madison, Rabbi Offner is already building. Her focus is building upon and strengthening the sense of community in the congregation. “I would like people to feel that their life would be missing something without the richness of Temple Beth Tikvah. We need experiences that fill people’s souls.”
Building community has been a common thread throughout Rabbi Offner’s life. As the Founding Rabbi Emerita of Shir Tikvah Congregation in Minneapolis, Offner literally built a congregation every step of the way from the handful of folks with a dream to a bustling congregation of 400 households. Rabbi Offner fondly remembers the genesis of this new congregation. It was an idea that began with, ““as many people as could fit into a booth at a pizza parlor”. Rabbi Offner called Shir Tikvah home for twenty years, and in 2008 she accepted a position as Vice President of the Union for Reform Judaism (URJ) in New York. In her new role, Rabbi Offner found herself breaking new ground once again as the first female in senior leadership at the
URJ. When asked why she decided to return to synagogue life, Rabbi Offner said, “The synagogue is where Jewish
life happens. I missed leading a congregation every single day I was away from it.”
Even as a teenager, Rabbi Stacy Offner understood the importance of community. As a young woman in her synagogue youth group, she learned about community and a sense of holiness. Offner was inspired to become a rabbi at a very young age in particular by her own rabbi’s commitment to social justice. Her youth group experience also provided many opportunities for learning. “My youth advisor was a great scholar who introduced me to Rashi text, and I ate it up!”
Rabbi Offner graduated from Kenyon College in Ohio followed by rabbinical school at Hebrew Union College in Jerusalem, Los Angeles and New York City. At that time, there were not many women preparing to become rabbis, yet this never influenced her career decision. “In high
school when I decided to become a rabbi, I didn’t know that there weren’t any female rabbis. I grew up in a family where I was taught that I could be whatever I wanted to be.”
Aside from a rich rabbinic career, Rabbi Offner enjoys time with her close-knit family. She lives in Madison with her partner of 25 years, Nancy Abramson. Their daughter
Jill Abramson is the Senior Cantor at Westchester Reform Temple, and is married to Rabbi Jon Malamy. Their son Charlie Abramson is completing his fourth year
of residency in emergency medicine in Chicago. They are also the proud grandparents of sixteen-month-old Eli Malamy. For fun and relaxation, Rabbi Offner enjoys hiking, cycling, reading, and yoga and her favorite place to travel is Israel. “I love being in Israel and sharing Israel with others by leading congregational trips.”
Rabbi Offner enjoys being engaged in community at Temple Beth Tikvah and in the larger Shoreline community. She feels that it is a strength of the Shoreline that people truly identify with being a part of the shoreline community. “It is important to me as a rabbi that we are engaged in community life. Life is not about being a solitary individual but about sharing and caring. This does not end with the synagogue walls. It is about where you live, your neighborhood and your neighbors.”
It seems that the lessons of Rabbi Offner’s youth, her
inspiring professional accomplishments and the strength of family and community have come full circle, and she gratefully reflects, “I feel blessed that my life and my work are in such great alignment.”
As the new rabbi of Temple Beth Tikvah in Madison, Rabbi Offner is already building. Her focus is building upon and strengthening the sense of community in the congregation. “I would like people to feel that their life would be missing something without the richness of Temple Beth Tikvah. We need experiences that fill people’s souls.”
Building community has been a common thread throughout Rabbi Offner’s life. As the Founding Rabbi Emerita of Shir Tikvah Congregation in Minneapolis, Offner literally built a congregation every step of the way from the handful of folks with a dream to a bustling congregation of 400 households. Rabbi Offner fondly remembers the genesis of this new congregation. It was an idea that began with, ““as many people as could fit into a booth at a pizza parlor”. Rabbi Offner called Shir Tikvah home for twenty years, and in 2008 she accepted a position as Vice President of the Union for Reform Judaism (URJ) in New York. In her new role, Rabbi Offner found herself breaking new ground once again as the first female in senior leadership at the URJ. When asked why she decided to return to synagogue life, Rabbi Offner said, “The synagogue is where Jewish life happens. I missed leading a congregation every single day I was away from it.”
Even as a teenager, Rabbi Stacy Offner understood the importance of community. As a young woman in her synagogue youth group, she learned about community and a sense of holiness. Offner was inspired to become a rabbi at a very young age in particular by her own rabbi’s commitment to social justice. Her youth group experience also provided many opportunities for learning. “My youth advisor was a great scholar who introduced me to Rashi text, and I ate it up!”
Rabbi Offner graduated from Kenyon College in Ohio followed by rabbinical school at Hebrew Union College in Jerusalem, Los Angeles and New York City. At that time, there were not many women preparing to become rabbis, yet this never influenced her career decision. “In high school when I decided to become a rabbi, I didn’t know that there weren’t any female rabbis. I grew up in a family where I was taught that I could be whatever I wanted to be.”
Aside from a rich rabbinic career, Rabbi Offner enjoys time with her close-knit family. She lives in Madison with her partner of 25 years, Nancy Abramson. Their daughter Jill Abramson is the Senior Cantor at Westchester Reform Temple, and is married to Rabbi Jon Malamy. Their son Charlie Abramson is completing his fourth year of residency in emergency medicine in Chicago. They are also the proud grandparents of sixteen-month-old Eli Malamy. For fun and relaxation, Rabbi Offner enjoys hiking, cycling, reading, and yoga and her favorite place to travel is Israel. “I love being in Israel and sharing Israel with others by leading congregational trips.”
Rabbi Offner enjoys being engaged in community at Temple Beth Tikvah and in the larger Shoreline community. She feels that it is a strength of the Shoreline that people truly identify with being a part of the shoreline community. “It is important to me as a rabbi that we are engaged in community life. Life is not about being a solitary individual but about sharing and caring. This does not end with the synagogue walls. It is about where you live, your neighborhood and your neighbors.”
It seems that the lessons of Rabbi Offner’s youth, her inspiring professional accomplishments and the strength of family and community have come full circle, and she gratefully reflects, “I feel blessed that my life and my work are in such great alignment.”
