Everett’s Temple Beth Or picks acting rabbis

EVERETT — A local Jewish temple that hasn’t had a rabbi for more than a year suddenly has two.

Temple Beth Or hired Rabbi William Cutter, a professor at Hebrew Union College in Los Angeles, to lead services during the Days of Awe, also known as High Holy Days, beginning in September, temple President Janis Warner said.

The temple also hired Rabbi Marna Sapsowitz, who led a temple for the past 13 years in Olympia, as acting rabbi until a permanent leader is hired. Sapsowitz has been serving Snohomish County’s only Reform Jewish temple since July.

A third rabbi is expected to be a candidate for the temple’s full-time position on Sept. 5, Warner said.

“We’re going to take our time because it’s an important relationship between a rabbi and a congregation,” said Bernie Busch, a member of the temple’s religious practices committee.

The temple has been without a full-time leader since Rabbi Harley Karz-Wagman left in June 2007 to lead a temple in North Carolina. Karz-Wagman had served Temple Beth Or for six years.

Temple Beth Or hired Cutter to lead the congregation through High Holy Days services last year and also once before Karz-Wagman was hired, Warner said.

This year, Cutter will arrive on Sept. 28 for a 10-day stay. He will lead a series of services, including Rosh Hashanah on Sept. 30 and Yom Kippur on Oct. 9.

Before Sapsowitz arrived, rabbis throughout Western Washington helped Temple Beth Or, too, Busch said. At least two services each month were led by ordained rabbis, he said.

The congregation at Temple Beth Or is pleased to play host to both Cutter and Sapsowitz, but even during stretches when there is no rabbi, the congregation is able to lead its own services, Busch said.

“We have a lot of people who are well-versed in Judaism and in religious practices, so we can run our own services,” he said.

About 130 families regularly attend services at Temple Beth Or, Busch said.

The only other Jewish temple in Snohomish County, the orthodox Chabad Jewish Center, closed briefly in May when Rabbi Yossi Mandel abandoned his two-year effort and moved to Pittsburgh. The Chabad-Lubavitch organization recently opened another center in Edmonds.

Reporter Krista J. Kapralos: 425-339-3422 or kkapralos@heraldnet.com.