Rabbi Search

Job candidates: Please see our FAQ for more details about the shul and the role, and visit our How to Apply page for more details about the application process. (You may also be curious to read below about our search process.)

Shir Tikvah community members: Thank you again for your active participation in the search process! See the members-only rabbi search page for details about our new rabbi.

Please read on for information about the search as our process unfolds! Below you will find information from the committee on these topics:

About the Process
June 2025 updates
Rabbinic Search Committee Members
Volunteer Opportunities

Stay tuned for updates as the search continues. If you have a specific concern or question, please reach out to the Committee by contacting Emma Lugo at emmal@shirtikvahpdx.org.

About the Process

Read the letter from the Rabbi here: Our Rabbi's History of Shir Tikvah and Perspective on Change

Read the letter from the Board of Directors about the upcoming Rabbinic search here: From the Board

Check out an overview of the selection process here: Shir Tikvah’s Rabbinic Search Process and Timeline

Here is the job description, along with instructions about how to apply: Rabbi Job Description and Application Instructions

Congregation Shir Tikvah held a series of conversations to get into the heart of who we are as a community and what qualities we hope to attract in our next rabbinic leader. All members were invited to participate in these facilitated World Cafe-style conversations. Here are the "graphic" results of these conversations.

After the World Cafe events, there was a feeling on the committee that we were missing some of the amazing voices at Shir Tikvah, so a survey was developed, circulated, and the data examined. Follow this link to a summary of the findings: SURVEY RESULTS
 

June 2025  updates

Your Rabbinic Search Committee has been busy. Here’s what we’ve been up to over the last year: 

• We began by meeting in person and over Zoom to get to know each other and fully understand the process by which we will assess and ultimately recommend our newest rabbinic team member to the Board of Directors.

• We all studied Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) principles. We will put these principles into place to ensure that our hiring process is inclusive. 

• We created, reviewed, and revised our timeline for the hiring of our new Rabbi.

• We held World Cafe events through which every congregant had a chance to share their vision, dreams, and hopes for our congregation and our Rabbi.

• We sent a survey to all members to more thoroughly flesh out our needs and wants. We published those results publicly (here!).

• We integrated the congregation’s input and the specific tasks that our Rabbi performs into a job description. Now that this has been finalized, it is being submitted to a variety of different Rabbinic sites as well as circulated via networks of Jewish professionals.

• We discussed the search for a new Rabbi with other congregations in Portland and around the United States to learn about positive features to emulate and pitfalls to avoid.

• We developed a budget for the Rabbinic Search process. 

• We received and organized resumes/videos from interested Rabbi candidates. 

• We interviewed many candidates in successive rounds of interviews.

• After the interviews were assessed, one candidate was invited for a weekend-long visit.

• The Board unanimously agreed to bring that candidate forward for a community-wide vote, and over 95% of congregation voters voted "Yes" to offer Rabbi Elizabeth Goldstein the position as our next Rabbi.

• The Board offered the position to Rabbi Elizabeth and we are thrilled to announce that she accepted!

• The contract has been signed, the onboarding process is unfolding, and Rabbi Elizabeth formally begins her journey with Shir Tikvah on July 1st.

Volunteer Appreciation

The Rabbinic Search Committee engaged many teams of volunteers to help us find, interview, and welcome a Rabbi to our congregation. Throughout the hiring process, these teams were coordinated by Rachel Crawford. Thank you to everyone who participated! The teams were:

• Congregational Input (plans questions and sets up dates and logistics for the World Cafe events)

• Candidate Application/Interview Team (coordinates and conducts the interviews of the Rabbinical candidates)

• Media/ Communications Team (updates this page and assists in communications to our congregation)

• Logistics Team (coordinates visits for interviewees)

• Contract Negotiations Team  (negotiate and write the contract)

• Transition Committee/Onboarding Team (works with the new Rabbi and congregation in their first year)

Rabbinic Search Committee Members

Emma Lugo: Congregant and past Board chair

Nehama Bennett: Board Co-Chair

Seymour Hanfling: Board Co-Chair

Rachel Crawford: Congregant

Bob Lowe: Congregant

Marisa Debowsky: Gabbai

Bruce Birk, MD: Congregant and past Board chair

Non-voting, advisory members: Rabbi Ariel Stone, JoAnn Bezodis