Finding the Right Senior Rabbi: A Conversation with Scott McCartney and Julie Weinberg

Temple’s search for a new senior rabbi is off and running! Search committee co-chairs Scott McCartney and Julie Weinberg share their thoughts below about what’s happened so far and what we can expect over the next few months.

Please bring us up to speed about the beginning of the search.
We have received some applications and expect to receive more after Simchat Torah. The Core Planning Team of the two of us, Sara Albert, Greg Gerstenhaber, Mark Kleinman, Madeleine Kline, Michelle Whitman and Meredith Fried Fedyk will conduct Zoom interviews throughout October and consult with the full Search Committee on who we want to bring to Dallas for in-person interviews.

Is it too late to recommend someone we’d like the committee to consider?
If we get a recommendation from a congregant, we can research that rabbi through online resources, printed publications and word of mouth. Then, if we’re interested, we can relay that interest to the placement director at the Central Conference of American Rabbis. Under CCAR rules, members of the search committee are prohibited from contacting rabbis directly until they apply.

There’s a lot you can learn about potential candidates even before they apply, correct?
President Sara Albert made a lot of phone calls to friends of Temple around the Reform movement all over the country, asking for recommendations on the best and the brightest, so we compiled a long list of rabbis that we researched over the summer. The exciting thing to us is that there are a number of great rabbis out there, and we’re hopeful that we’ll have some very strong candidates.

What happens during the in-person visits?
We’re planning multi-day visits. The search committee will conduct a formal interview with the candidate, and committee members will all have meals with the candidate in smaller groups. The candidate will meet with cohorts including worshipers, past presidents, Early Childhood Education Center parents and Center for Jewish Learning parents, all clergy members and Executive Director Meredith Fried Fedyk. We’ll also have the candidate lead a mock worship service, present a d’var Torah to the committee, and teach some of our adult learners. It’ll be an intense three days or so, designed for us to get to know candidates and for the candidates to get to know Temple as best they can. Both are equally important. In addition, candidates will get a tour of Dallas and visit potential neighborhoods where they’d like to live. They may come with a partner or spouse, so the activities will be very tailored to whomever it is we’re meeting.

Will there be any public opportunities to meet candidates?
No. We have a search committee that is incredibly, broadly representative of the entire Temple community. And the cohort groups were also chosen with intention. We hope that will give us a really solid evaluation of each candidate. Of course, once we hire the new rabbi, there will be multiple opportunities to get to know him or her.

What will Rabbi David Stern’s role be in the process?
We have been in close touch with Rabbi Stern and really value his opinion in the process. But he’s made it clear he wants this to be Temple’s search, not Rabbi Stern’s search for his successor. He’s not a member of the search committee and won’t be sitting in on interviews.  But Rabbi Stern has already met with the Search Committee to help frame the task ahead. And he will meet with candidates who visit Temple.

How will you make the decision?
We think and hope there will be intense deliberations! We will solicit feedback from all the groups invited to meet the candidates. We’re planning to be very meticulous about getting that feedback and sharing it with the committee. Then we make a recommendation to the Leadership Council and to the Board of Trustees. Under the new bylaws, both bodies must approve the choice.

It’s also possible that the recommendation will be to hire an interim for a year, and go through the process again next year if we don’t fall in love with someone. We’re not just hiring a senior rabbi, but finding the right next senior rabbi. If we don’t find that person this year, we’re very prepared to pivot. It’s not something we’re afraid of or worried about. It doesn’t mean we’ve failed or were not attractive to candidates. Some candidates may be under contract one year but could apply the following year if they’re still interested.

A decision on whether to hire an interim will come in January. We are confident that if we need to go that route, there are strong, experienced rabbis who have served as interims before and will be available for an interim year at Temple. It’s worth noting that under CCAR rules, anyone who serves as an interim cannot be a candidate for the job.

Take us through the steps after Board and Leadership Council approval.
A group of us will reach out to share the happy news with the candidate. From there, the Clergy and Executive Liaison Committee, composed of the President, Vice President, the three most recent past presidents and one appointed trustee, negotiates the contract. We’ll want the congregation to find out as soon as possible, and will work with whatever congregation the rabbi is leaving to coordinate announcements.

Can you summarize the timeline with us?
Sure!

October: Zoom interviews with candidates to winnow down the list to the candidates we’d like to interview in person

November: In-person visits over multiple days

December: Decide who the right next senior rabbi is for Temple, take recommendation to the Leadership Council and Board. Upon approval, approach selected candidate and begin negotiations

January: Announce hiring of new rabbi or decision to seek interim rabbi

Spring 2027: Ongoing events celebrating the Season of Gratitude and Possibility of Rabbi Stern’s retirement year

May 21-22: Celebration weekend honoring Rabbi Stern

July 1, 2027: New rabbi begins work at Temple Emanu-El

For questions, please contact us at fromstrengthtostrength@tedallas.org