Rabbi David Fass of Temple Beth Sholom in New City announced his retirement for the end of July. Rabbi Fass has served as the reform temple’s rabbi for 33 years, guiding the congregation through more than half of its 52-year existence.
He is a Jewish Chaplain for the Rockland County Sheriff’s Department, a member of the Clarkstown Board of Ethics and of the board and the executive committee of the Rockland Jewish Federation. Rabbi Fass’ community involvement extends to social action and interfaith and interreligious work with local Christian, African-American and Muslim groups. As a member of the Rabbinic Cabinet of the UJA (United Jewish Appeal), ARZA (the American Reform Zionist Organization), and the Interreligious Committee for Peace in the Middle East, he has traveled to Syria, Gaza, and the West Bank, and on worldwide missions to Jewish communities.
His interest in teaching and mentoring Jewish youth extended to 23 summers serving on the faculty of the Union for Reform Judaism’s leadership camp in Warwick, NY. In addition to his rabbinic duties, he participates in regional conclaves, leads services in the Religious School and spends one day a week with its nursery school children.
Rabbi Fass’ sermons, compilations of sermonic anecdotes and illustrations, and scholarly journal articles are used by colleagues and lay-people from all branches of Judaism throughout the country.
In 1973 he was ordained by the Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati, OH. Rabbi Fass joined the temple on New Hempstead Road with five years of pulpit experience.
The congregation plans to honor the rabbi for his “dedication, service and spirituality” with a series of events from May 18 through May 20.
