Rabbi David Joslin is new hire at Temple Beth Israel

Sep. 23—PLATTSBURGH — On Thursday morning, Rabbi David Joslin waited for U-Haul to begin his physical transition from Brookline, Mass. to Plattsburgh.

HIGH HOLY DAYS

He begins his new job at Temple Beth Israel in October, but he will deliver a sermon during High Holy Days that begin Sunday at sundown. (See Box).

Cantor/Student Rabbi Emily Howard Meyer travels from Rockville, Md. to lead the Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur services at the synagogue located at 1 Bowman St. in Plattsburgh.

BACKSTORY

Originally from the Boston area, Joslin worked in finance for several years before making aliyah (immigration of Diaspora Jews to the State of Israel) where he served in the Israel Defence Forces (I.D.F.) worked for a startup company, and earned an M.A. in Israeli Security and Foreign Policy from Tel Aviv University.

He has worked throughout the Jewish world in various functions ranging from Hebrew school, Federation, retirement communities, JCC summer camp, Hillel, and most recently as the rabbinic intern at Congregation Shaaray Tefila in Glens Falls, New York.

PRESENT

In May, he was ordained at Hebrew College in Newton, Mass. where he received an M.A. in Jewish Studies.

He is the vice president of the Jewish National Fund JNFutures, New England Chapter.

Temple Beth Israel's former Rabbi David Kominsky left at the end of June after five years at the Reform Jewish congregation to move to Astoria, Queens.

The synagogue leadership and Joslin agreed about a week ago on his post and had been in dialogue since the end of July/beginning of August.

Joslin's time was divided between Glens Falls, Brookline, and New York City.

"Before I became a rabbi, I lived in Israel and I was exploring my Zionism and kind of developing not just a deeper Jewish identity but a deeper sense of myself," he said.

Joslin just turned 40 on Sunday.

He returned a decade ago from Israel to be closer to his family.

"But I was looking for the next step, not just in my Jewish journey but also where I felt like I could serve the Jewish community the best," he said.

"It wasn't going to be in Israel or the boardroom, corporate world, things like that. For me, learning and teaching were just the natural step in my development but also in what I've always loved."

PLURALISTIC TEACHINGS

Joslin completed a six-year program at Hebrew College.

"It was fairly text-based focused, so there was a lot of focus on text and the original text, the original Hebrew because you're getting it in its purest tradition," he said.

"I appreciated the approach to pluralism, many different angles to an issue, towards historical perspective."

For example, if you ask a Reformed rabbi or an Orthodox rabbi who wrote the Torah, they will will give very different answers.

"We received a wide spectrum of teachings," he said.

"I had instructors that were ordained from Orthodox institutions and Reform and Reconstructionist institutions, so it was very pluralistic and it was also very eclectic and diverse and it encourages the same from the student body. So that's something I really appreciated by Hebrew College."

For Joslin, rabbinical school was not just about his personal growth but finding out where he could best serve whether in the nonprofit sector, at day schools or Hillel on college campuses.

"I always kept an open mind and an open heart for being a congregational rabbi, a pulpit rabbi," he said.

"I had hoped that I would end up in small city, big town," he said.

"I am from the New England area and spend a lot of time in New Hampshire and Massachusetts. I was just in Glens Falls the year before as a student rabbi.

"For me, keeping into northern New England-upstate New York was really a blessing in many ways."

Email: rcaudell@pressrepublican.com

Twitter@RobinCaudell