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Choosing our next spiritual leader for Temple Beth David was not an easy task but we hope will be one worth all our efforts as we tried to do it with thoughtfulness and consideration. To that end, our search process was as open and transparent as possible. We held seven small group meetings and met with several congregants from a variety of demographics to gain as much insight as possible on where the congregation sees Temple Beth David now, and more importantly where they want to see Temple Beth David in the future. A survey link was e-mailed to all members on the Temple e-mail list. A letter was sent to every household so people could let the committee know if they needed the survey link or hard copy of the survey sent to them. On June 8 our congregation's Application was sent to the Central Conference of American Rabbis rabbinic placement commission. We have thus far received many exciting resumes from candidates of varied experience, geographic origin, and interests. After careful review of the resumes and the accompanying personal statement in which each candidate explained their vision of their rabbinate, we determined which of those candidates may be a potential "match" for our congregation and invited them for a personal interview with our committee. After second interviews our committee made their recommendation of a candidate to the board of directors which was unanimously approved. A congregational meeting took place to finalize the recommendation. Rabbi Joshua L. Whinston will be the next Rabbi of Temple Beth David beginning July 1, 2010. I personally want to thank everyone present at the meeting for their overwhelming support . It was a moving site to see so many engaged and excited members raising their hands to vote to affirm our recommendation. Many thanks to all who participated in this process of introspection and evaluation. Our future holds great promise with all of us working together with our new rabbi to continue to build upon the strengths of our wonderful community.
Mindy Fricke
Rabbinic Search Chair
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Rabbi Josh Whinston was ordained from the Los Angeles campus of the Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion in May 2009. In addition to his rabbinic ordination, Rabbi Whinston was awarded a Masters in Hebrew Letters and a Masters in Jewish Education during his six years at HUC-JIR. Prior to his matriculation at HUC-JIR, Rabbi Whinston earned a Bachelors of Arts in Cultural Anthropology from the University of California Santa Barbara. Rabbi Whinston is an accomplished song leader, known throughout the United States; he brings his musical talent to the Temple Beth David bimah during Shabbat worship. Rabbi Whinston is passionate about spiritual prayer, social justice issues, and supporting local community endeavors. In his free time, Rabbi Whinston enjoys scuba diving, international travel, cooking and baking, as well as the occasional round of golf. Rabbi Whinston is married to Sarah Raful Whinston and the proud father of Mollie Whinston.
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