“So, rumours of my demise have been slightly exaggerated,” said I, jokingly, as I now contemplate maybe another career shift, towards career #7 I think.  Temple Shalom and I put out a formal press release earlier this week announcing that I will be retiring as their pulpit rabbi, with my last service, a special one, to be held on Friday evening, June 2 where I will also be honoured as Rabbi Emeritus.

I know that many of you are already in the loop about this but not all. So, here goes.

It’s something we’ve been working on for the past year, but I’m not quite disappearing. There will be a next phase that we best describe as “I won’t be the Temple’s rabbi, but I will be a rabbi available to the Temple.” So, for the next year that means leading the High Holiday services and three other services, and doing life cycle events (births, weddings, funerals and the like). I will also continue to represent liberal Judaism and Temple Shalom on the Winnipeg Council of Rabbis. I suspect that I’m not quite done with this rabbi thing, but it may be in very different community-focused ways.

Oh yeah, there’s one other thing. I will be dropping back to monthly (rather than weekly) writings on the Temple’s Facebook page which I have been cross-posting here onto my personal Facebook page. But hey, my personal Facebook page is mine, so I suspect I’ll still continue writing, likely more than once a month, but maybe based more on inclination rather than on deadlines.

I love this liberal Jewish community that I discovered in 1990 and it will always be my spiritual home. It has been a place where I have found huge spiritual growth and connection for which I am profoundly grateful. Now, I look forward to stepping in more as a congregant and as a friend. It’s been the best experience of my life and it has connected me deeply to the community in ways that I could have never imagined.

Shabbat shalom,

Rabbi Allan