Waiting on the ‘Hug’ New rabbi at Shir Tikvah can’t wait to lead services in person. BARBARA LEWIS CONTRIBUTING WRITER
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ike most rabbis, Alicia Harris looks forward to the post-COVID era when she’ll be able to greet her congregants in person. Unlike most, for Harris it will be the first time. As a newly minted rabbi, she was hired to an interim position at Congregation Shir Tikvah in Troy after the previous rabbi,
Aura Ahuvia, decided to return to Ann Arbor, where she’d lived for 30 years. Harris started in August and just a few months later, the congregation made her appointment permanent. The Shir Tikvah pulpit is Harris’ first job as a rabbi. She was ordained in May at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, the Reform move-
ANALICIA HONKANEN PHOTOGRAPHY
Rabbi Alicia Harris says Congregation Shir Tikvah is a shul with “incredible energy.”
ment’s seminary. Shir Tikvah is affiliated with both the Reform and the Jewish Renewal movements. Harris, 30, grew up in Toledo, though her parents moved to Pittsburgh soon after she graduated from high school. She worked in the political arena while studying at the University of Pittsburgh, where she majored in political science and religious studies, but felt something was missing. She flirted with the idea of becoming a cantor, but after graduating, she took a job as executive assistant at Temple Sinai in Pittsburgh. Witnessing the dayto-day work of the temple up close made her realize her call to the rabbinate. Although all her classmates at HUC-JIR have found work, COVID changed the whole rabbinical placement process. “Many places I applied decided not to hire anyone who wasn’t absolutely essential,” she said. Though she wasn’t initially interested in an interim position, she’s happy others encouraged her to check out Shir Tikvah. It’s a cliché, but true, she said: “I love the community.” ‘WARM AND WELCOMING’ “From the moment I did my first interview, something felt very different about them. They are warm and welcoming and have incredible energy,” she said, “but more than that, the way they care for one another is really remarkable.” The feeling was mutual. “From our first conversation with Rabbi Harris, it was obvious that she is someone special,” said Shir Tikvah President Patti Rehfus, a teacher from Bloomfield Hills. “We were impressed with her resume but even more so with her
presence and warmth, which came through even over Zoom. Most of all, it was her genuine desire to become part of the Shir Tikvah community that impressed us.” Rehfus said Harris, who started in July, spent long hours meeting (mostly virtually) with the congregation’s staff and officers to understand how she could be most effective. “With the High Holidays approaching, she deftly managed the staff, volunteers and ritual committee to produce wonderful virtual services that brought the community together while keeping us safe.” Harris also set up a series of virtual meet-and-greets that helped her connect with the 250-family congregation. With the congregation’s staff, she planned several well-received outdoor events where people were able to participate in person. “She was able to connect with people of all ages and interests, in particular people who were experiencing difficulties or who had lost loved ones,” Rehfus said. “Her ability to connect with so many congregants under the most challenging circumstances, her positive energy, her commitment to social justice, her meaningful sermons, her creativity and her abundant kindness are a potent and unique combination.” PERMANENT POSITION Almost immediately, congregants started asking Rehfus and members of the search committee, formed in July, to make Harris’ position permanent. At that point, no one on the search committee had met Harris in person. “Our Family Education parents were particularly in favor of doing so,” said Joyce May, a continued on page 18 JANUARY 28 • 2021
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