Rabbi Search Correspondence to Membership
November 15, 2021
Dear Member,
On December 10-13, there will be a Shabbaton with a rabbinical candidate who the Search Committee is excited about. They unanimously rated her as a potential rabbi for B’nai Havurah. Rabbi Katie Mizrahi is presently the rabbi for Or Shalom in San Francisco where she has served for 14 years. She grew up in Boulder, and her parents were members of B’nai many years ago.
Although we are looking forward to Rabbi Katie’s visit, we want to bring you up to date about our overall process and progress so far. We have been working with Reconstructing Judaism, our national federation in Philadelphia, to help us with this search process. Since we posted the position in June, we have interviewed a total of 5 applicants. The Search Committee includes Susan Spero and Jeff Haber as co-chairs, as well as Talia Winokur, Sandy Goldman, David Gordon, and Judy Reaven. In addition to the 6 first-round interviews, we held a second interview with Rabbi Katie. She was the only candidate who we felt could be a good fit for B’nai.
We hope that all of you will make time to attend one or more of the services and discussions during our Shabbaton. They will be accessible on Zoom, and a limited number of members will be able to register to attend in person in our socially distanced sanctuary. A detailed schedule will be shared in a few weeks.
The Search Process continues, and the posting is still open. If we get additional candidates, we will interview them as well and determine if they are viable candidates who we want to invite to Denver for another Shabbaton. In the meantime, we remain available for questions.
Susan Spero, susan@speroandco.biz
and
Jeff Haber, denverjeffrey@comcast.net
November 5, 2021
Dear Member,
I am happy to announce that the Executive Committee has approved the scheduling of a Shabbaton with a strong rabbinic candidate identified by our Rabbi Search Committee.
Please save the weekend of December 10-13, 2021 to participate in a variety of services, learning opportunities, and other gatherings to meet and get to know
Rabbi Katie Mizrahi.
See her bio below. Stay tuned for details about activities during her visit to B'nai Havurah. All members will have multiple opportunities to participate both in person and virtually. We are very excited about the chance to worship, study, and get acquainted with Rabbi Katie. We want all members to help us make this important decision about our future leadership.
We look forward to sending you more details once we have them and seeing you in person or via Zoom very soon.
Thanks much,
Ben Honigman
Chair, B'nai Havurah Board of Trustees
Rabbi Katie Mizrahi grew up in Boulder and Denver, developing a great love of mountains and big skies. Her parents, Al and Patricia Mizrahi, were active members of B’nai Havurah for years, and she has known the community since she was a college student. She graduated from Stanford University with honors in Philosophy and Religious Studies and was ordained through the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College in 2005.
