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11/08/2016 03:00 PMAfter a months-long selection process, Rabbi Marci Bellows has been selected to replace Rabbi Rachel Goldenberg at Congregation Beth Shalom Rodfe Zedek (CBRSZ) in Chester. Bellows will be formally installed as the new spiritual leader on Friday, Nov. 11 in a service open to the public beginning at 7:30 p.m.
Bellows didn’t always think that she would be a rabbi, though her mother was clergy and she grew up in a largely Jewish community in Skokie, Illinios, the site of a 1978 anti-Semitic march. That historic protest left its own legacy on the community, but also helped form her connection to and view of her faith. Bellows studied psychology at Brandeis and has a background in and lifelong love of theater and music, and a commitment to social action. She found that being a rabbi helped her to combine these varied passions in the service of community and others, as well as her faith.
Bellows previously spent seven years at Temple B’nai Torah in Wantagh, Long Island. As she and her husband started a family, they realized that it was time for a change, that they wanted a new place to start the next chapter of their lives. Although she interviewed all over the country, she sais she felt like Chester would be a good fit, falling in love with not only the area but also the people.
“My time at Brandeis helped me to fall in love with New England and its natural beauty,” said Bellows. “What we found in Chester after 16 years in New York was a calmer pace of life, especially on the shoreline, but people are so savvy and sophisticated, and they have a real interest in what is going on around them and in the world.”
That the congregation is well known for doing things for and within the larger community was also a draw, as social justice and connection to the wider community is a priority for Bellows. Current activities include participating in a coalition that sponsors a refugee family in Middletown, running a soup kitchen, and a connection to the United Way.
“We have a responsibility to repair the world around us, and that’s really about the world, not just about Judaism or Chester,” said Bellows. “That is a major focus of the reform movement, and a major focus of this congregation.”
Asked what she hoped to bring to this community, Bellows said, “I am excited about bringing even more joy and love to the expression of Judaism. I feel like this is something special that I bring, a sense of love for being here, for being together. Being at synagogue shouldn’t be a chore or an obligation, but something we choose and embrace.
“We are also a welcoming place for everyone,” continued Bellows, referencing the high volume of interfaith families that are a part of the congregation. “I take very seriously the verse in Genesis chapter one that explains that we are all created in the image of God—even those we can’t stand, even our greatest enemy. And that for me is the foundation of everything: we have to recognize that divine spark in everyone around us.
“That recognition, along with Tikkun Olam, that repairing the world, are part of what the expression of Judaism means to me,” said Bellows. “We have a mandate to see the rest of the world, to see the community you are in, see the suffering, and be a part of making the world a better place. I take that very seriously.”
One of the ways in which she hopes to express this mandate is through building intercultural connections such as those through the interfaith Valley Shore Clergy Association, which recently came together in support of the protests against the Dakota Access Pipe Line at Standing Rock. She also cited the introduction to Islam courses the synagogue has held this past September, and hopes to develop an exchange-relationship with the Berlin Mosque.
“Breaking down barriers between people is really important,” said Bellows. “We have to find ways to understand each other even if we don’t agree. We have to not be afraid of the other. In Judaism we have often been the other. When you’re the scapegoat, it’s easy to feel isolated and demonized, so it’s a major goal to continue to build bridges.”
Bellow’s rabbinate is influenced not only by recognizing this need for action and integration in the face of social tumult, but also understanding what is like to choose to be a part of a faith community.
“When it’s not the bubble, it really becomes a choice to enjoy that part of ourselves and enjoy who we are, and it is okay to celebrate both ourselves, and the other people in our community,” said Bellows. “Imagine spokes on a wheel: they’re all different paths to the same center, and Judaism is just one of those spokes—but I like our spoke.”