Rabbi Jeremy Fine will lead outreach efforts to young people and focus on adult education
By BRANDON KLUGMAN
Rabbi Jeremy Fine has officially joined Temple of Aaron as the synagogue’s new assistant rabbi. He arrived in St. Paul with his wife on July 2; the couple’s first child, a daughter named Annie Beth, was born July 24.
Fine holds his master’s in Jewish education and rabbinic ordination from the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, and also studied at the Conservative Yeshiva in Jerusalem for two years. Fine worked at various synagogues and schools in New York before joining Temple of Aaron.
He said that in his time here so far he has been impressed by the close-knit nature of the local Jewish community.
“The thing that has most impressed me is the care that everyone has both for each other and for the community at large,” Fine said. “People are just really active and even though there are many small pocket communities it seems as beautiful as one larger community.”
Temple of Aaron executive director Ken Agranoff said he looks forward to the enthusiasm Fine brings to the congregation.
“He loves Judaism and wants to share that excitement, that electricity, with members of all ages,” Agranoff said. “He’s charged up and ready to go.”
Rabbi Jeremy Fine: It was really my upbringing between Solomon Schechter and Ramah that kind of planted the seed and got me excited about living a Jewish life.
Fine, who grew up in Deerfield, Ill, a suburb of Chicago, said experiences with Camp Ramah in Wisconsin and with Solomon Schechter schools contributed to his decision to become a rabbi.
“Through my journey I fell in love with the pulpit, synagogue life, but it was really my upbringing between Solomon Schechter and Ramah that kind of planted the seed and got me excited about living a Jewish life and also being able to transmit the education I’ve been given to the larger Jewish community,” he said.
At Temple of Aaron, Fine will lead the synagogue’s outreach efforts to younger people through the synagogue’s 20s and 30s young professionals group, TAXY. Fine will also work closely with the congregation’s adult education programs.
Agranoff said Fine’s ability to connect with people in the younger demographic is especially valuable to the synagogue.
“It made sense to find a younger rabbi who could interact with everybody but would have a special passion for people in their 20s and 30s to continue adding new members to the synagogue,” he said.
In addition to his responsibilities at Temple of Aaron, Fine writes a nationally recognized Jewish sports blog, the Great Rabbino, which he started in 2009. The blog can be found at: thegreatrabbino.com.
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Brandon Klugman is an editorial intern at the American Jewish World.
(American Jewish World, 8.3.12)
