Good faith: Hingham and Cohasset welcome new religious leaders

The South Shore welcomes two new religious leaders: Rabbi Eric Berk of Congregation Sha'aray Shalom in Hingham, and the Rev. Dan Harper of First Parish in Cohasset Unitarian Universalist.

Rabbi Berk, 47, and his wife, Shira, moved from Huntsville, Alabama, to lead Congregation Sha’aray Shalom in Hingham. Ordained in 2008 in Judaism’s Reform Movement, Rabbi Berk now leads a congregation of 285 families. Previously, he served 150 families for four years at Temple B’nai Sholom in Huntsville, and Congregation Beth Knesset Bamidbar for seven years in Lancaster, California.

He grew up in Dallas, Texas, but has lived all over the world, saying he especially loved his time in Israel. The biggest cultural difference between Massachusetts and Alabama? The accents.

“More broadly speaking, I have found that the American South doesn’t have a monopoly on people who are kind, courteous, friendly and welcoming. Folks here in the South Shore have gone out of their way to make me feel welcomed and at home,” he said.

The new rabbi follows the distinguished tenure of Rabbi Shira Joseph (now rabbi emerita), and serves alongside Cantor Steven Weiss.

“My wife grew up in Hopkinton, so being an hour away from her parents is just terrific for us," Rabbi Berk said.

His professional background also includes serving as a spiritual counselor, a spiritual care coordinator and chaplain for Los Angeles’ only nonprofit Jewish hospice.

Rabbi Berk has a love and scholarly interest in Hebrew poetry, and his rabbinic thesis,  "Yehuda Amichai’s Open Closed Open and Ecclesiastes: An Autumnal Intertextual Relationship," focused on the final work of modern Israel’s greatest poet.

Rabbi Berk's goal is to ensure Congregation Sha’aray Shalom continues to thrive, with learning opportunities that engage children and adults as well as meaningful worship experiences to be held in person and via livestream.

'It's about human relations'

On Aug. 1, First Parish in Cohasset Unitarian Universalist welcomed the Rev. Dan Harper, 61, and his wife, Carol Steinfeld. He will lead his first service on Sept. 11 at the Parish Meetinghouse on Cohasset Common.

Historically, the Cohasset congregation’s teachings are steeped in democracy and social justice, and the church hired the Rev. Harper to help rebuild its in-person children and youth programs.

He was ordained in 2003, and he served young people and their families for 13 years at a Unitarian Universalist congregation in Palo Alto,  California. Prior to that, he led religious education and was the parish minister for a Unitarian Universalist church in New Bedford.

“Families these days have many choices for their children’s nonschool hours, and we have to give them a compelling reason to come to a Unitarian Universalist congregation, and we teach religious literacy,” said the new minister.

For the unfamiliar, religious literacy is a basic understanding of world religions and how such beliefs affect the human experience in social, political and cultural situations.

“Religious literacy is not taught in schools, almost not at all. But research shows that children who have a high degree of religious literacy are less likely to get involved in bullying and more likely to have a good cross-cultural understanding,” the Rev. Harper said.

Also, the church teaches and role models democracy and its principles.

“So if your child comes to our Unitarian Universalist Sunday school, they’re going to experience democratic process firsthand, not what you get on social media. It’s about human relations,” he said.

Nationally, there are about 1,000 Unitarian Universalist churches, so when the Rev. Harper was ready for a new challenge, he was open to relocating anywhere.  He was born and raised in Concord.

What is the biggest cultural difference between Palo Alto and Cohasset? Here, people get his New England sense of humor.

“In Silicon Valley, there is no sense of irony.  Everyone is so literal,” he said, laughing.

One of his hobbies is Sacred Harp and shape note singing, which originated in New England and is one of the oldest forms of chorale singing in the United States. Typically, there are no concerts, the Rev. Harper said.

“It’s not performance, it’s participatory," he said. "But I love it. NPR has called it ‘the punk rock of chorale music.’”

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Milton resident Suzette Martinez Standring writes Bright Side, a good news column featuring information on the South Shore and the people who live here. If you have an idea for a future column, reach her at suzmar@comcast.net. Also, visit www.readsuzette.com.

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This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Hingham and Cohasset welcome new faith leaders