On June 8th, with reverence we will honor Rabbi Barras at our summer Shabbat service and afterwards, with roasting at a festive dinner, we will celebrate all the ways he lifted our lives, taught us, and made us laugh. Since July of 2001, Rabbi Barras has been with us consoling us in our times of mourning, rejoicing with us in our times of celebration and teaching Torah at every moment. While he will be leaving us at the end of this month, we will always carry with us the lessons we learned from him.

The great Menachem Mendel of Kotzk taught that whenever God closes one door of life, God opens another. That is certainly the case this month at Beth El, for in the beginning of July we will enthusiastically welcome Rabbi Micah Streiffer into our Beth El family. His many gifts will no doubt touch and transform our congregation and the broader Charlotte community.

Rabbi Streiffer is a gifted educator, having taught students of every age formally at temples and informally at summer camps across our country. Following his studies at George Washington University, where he majored in Judaic Studies, minored in music, and graduated Summa Cum Laude, Rabbi Streiffer spent two years developing curricula and instant lessons for Torah Aura Productions. June 2, 2007 will mark his ordination from the Cincinnati campus of the Hebrew Union College.

Rabbi Streiffer is a talented orator, having earned the prize for the best sermon delivered in the Hebrew Union College Whenever One Doors Closes, Another One Opens: Welcoming Rabbi Micah Streiffer By Rabbi Judith Schindler chapel in 2006. He is a skilled musician and guitarist, with an abundance of experience in song leading. Rabbi Streiffer is experienced in pastoral care, having spent significant time training in hospital chaplaincy.

His professors describe him as “very, very bright and capable.” His mentors describe him as hard working and great with kids. His peers describe him as a mensch. He is learned. He is humble. He is funny. He is just as thrilled to be coming to Charlotte with his wife Shoshana, and their two sons, Jeremiah (who goes by Rami) who is three and Noam who is 18 months, as we are to have him here. As a family, they are looking forward to calling Temple Beth El, Shalom Park, and our Queen City of Charlotte their new home.