Dear Member:
The Rabbinical Search Committee is delighted to announce that it has invited Rabbi Yaakov Jaffe to spend Shabbat at the Young Israel of Stamford on February 1-2, as part of our second praba weekend.
Rabbi Jaffe is the Interim Rabbi at the Kingsway Jewish Center in Brooklyn, NY, and just recently served as the Rabbi during the Yomim Noraim at Congregation Darchei Noam in Fair Lawn, NJ.
He also is the Director of the Chidon Hatanach (Bible Contest) for the Jewish Agency for Israel. Rabbi Jaffe served as the Rabbinic Intern at Lincoln Square Synagogue in New York, NY, and was a Chaplain Intern at the Hebrew Home for the Aged in Riverdale, NY. For two straight summers, he was the Program Director and Rosh Kollel at Congregation Beth Sholom in Rochester, NY.
Rabbi Jaffe received his semicha from RIETS at Yeshiva University, and his Master's degree in Bible from the Bernard Revel Graduate School of Yeshiva University. He graduated Columbia College with a BA in English. He currently is working towards a PhD at the Azrieli School of Education of Yeshiva University.
His wife, Yael, is a teacher at SAR High School, and the Jaffes have one child.
A few important procedural notes about the praba weekend:
Please join us for Friday evening services to greet Rabbi Fine and hear a brief Dvar Torah between Kabalat Shabbat and Maariv.
On Friday night at 8:45PM, our teens will have an oneg at the home of the Indyks on 40 Boxwood. Rabbi Jaffe will speak to our teens at this time.
We will be starting Shacharit services early at 8:30AM on Shabbat morning. Please make an extra effort to arrive to shul on time.
The Rabbi's sermon will be delivered after mussaf. We will have a Q+A session with Rabbi Jaffe immediately after services and before Kiddush. The first portion of the Q+A will be devoted to questions prepared by the Search Committee and asked by a moderator. The final portion of the Q+A session will be open to individual questions from our members. We will attempt to get to as many questions from members as our time will allow. If you do not have an opportunity to ask your question in the public session, you can always ask the rabbi your question at Kiddush or at another time during the weekend.
Rabbi Jaffe will give a shiur at 3:35PM in the shul. Mincha will be at 4:35PM, followed by Shalosh Seudot, at which time Rabbi Jaffe will give a short dvar torah.
A reminder: Not only is the Rabbi being evaluated by the membership during the praba weekend, but the members are being evaluated by the Rabbi. Let's put our best foot forward and make a great impression on the prospective Rabbis who are interviewing for the job as we begin the process of inviting candidates to our shul.
Finally, feel free to share your input about the candidates with any of the Search Committee members. Once the process of prabas is complete, a Search Committee member will be contacting you to collect your opinions about all candidates-and which rabbinical candidate you liked best. However, it's also wise to share your thoughts with a Search Committee member immediately after each weekend is over, when it's fresh in your mind.
We will notify the membership in the coming weeks about a third and possibly fourth praba weekend. These weekends are tentatively scheduled for March 1 and March 8.
If you have any questions about this praba weekend, or about the search process in general, feel free to contact me at 327-1672.
I look forward to seeing you all this coming Shabbat!
Sincerely,
Michael Feldstein
Search Committee Chairperson
