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Rabbi Rick Sherwin has over 30 years of experience as a pulpit Rabbi. He is a graduate of the University of California at Los Angeles and was ordained by the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York. He has been the spiritual leader of congregations in Arizona, Tennessee and Florida. Rabbi Rick is well known to the Jewish Community of Central Florida. He serves as an adjunct professor of Judaic Studies at the University of Central Florida. He is the immediate past president of the Greater Orlando Board of Rabbis.
Congregation Beth Am fully supports Masorti Judaism, the designation for the Conservative Movement in Israel and throughout the world. Our congregation respects the ever-evolving Rabbinic tradition that is entrusted to each generation, and accepts the responsibility to transmit its practical expressions and universal ideals to our children. Masorti Judaism is based on the model set by the Rabbis of the Talmud, reflecting in today's world a most authentic form of Jewish interpretation, ideology and implementation.
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In 2006, the members of Congregation Beth Am
overwhelmingly made a commitment to the future by electing Rabbi Rick Sherwin to
be the congregation's spiritual leader until the year 2020. In the years since
Rabbi Rick brought his spirit of "Cheers" to Beth Am, the congregation has
experienced incredible growth, drawing in many young families who were looking
for a place to call "home". This success, and the desire to continue to be
Florida's Friendliest Congregation and a place "where everybody knows your
name," motivated both Rabbi Rick and the congregants to put their trust in each
other for the next 14 years.
Upon Rabbi Rick's election in 2004,
Congregation President Mark Davids made the observation, "We crossed a threshold in the life of
Congregation Beth Am. Our members demonstrated uncommon 20/20 foresight in
choosing to keep Rabbi Rick with us until 2020. We have formed a wonderful team
at Beth Am. The decision to keep Rabbi Rick as our mara d'atra provides the
foundation for the continued physical and spiritual growth of our congregation."
In a letter to the congregation, Rabbi Sherwin
remarked: "We believe that the stability of a congregation comes with
continuity: when the Rabbi and the Congregation share simchas and sorrows
through the life cycle. It is an honor to stand with a couple under the huppa,
then share with them the moment when their child is brought into the Covenant
and be on the bima when that child is called to the Torah as a Bar/Bat Mitzva.
The privilege is extended when these young men and women who were called to the
Torah later stand under the wedding canopy themselves. Nomi, Joel, Davi, Josh,
Elissa and I feel very privileged to be at Beth Am, a place that has welcomed us
as family in the same way that it welcomes each of you. We recognize that what
makes our synagogue so very special and unique is not so much the Rabbi or the
programs, but the warm, continuing relationships that take place within the
congregation."
Everyone who walks through our front door, and everyone who attends a worship service here, knows that CBA is a warm and caring congregational community. As a Conservative congregation, Beth Am makes the active statement that Traditional Judaism is not only alive, but thrives as it touches our lives and enhances the meaning of life for us as individuals and as a community. Congregation Beth Am is a family of families, a place where everyone feels "at home."
