New rabbi starts at B’nai Israel

• By CAROL ANNE BLITZER
• Advocate staff writer
• Published: Jul 11, 2009

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This week, 150-year-old Congregation B’nai Israel welcomed Rabbi Jordan Goldson as its new spiritual leader, its 11th rabbi in the past 110 years.

Goldson, who grew up in New York, attended Tulane University. B’nai Israel is his first pulpit in the Deep South.

“I’ve always had this wonderful feeling for the South,” he said.

His last congregation was in Scottsdale, Ariz. He served a congregation in Calgary, Canada, for 12 years and as director of Hillel at California State University, Northridge, for four years. He has had two sabbaticals in Israel, one for six months and one for a year.

“My experience living in different Jewish communities has given me a good perspective on the Jewish world and how it interacts with the surrounding community and an appreciation and love for K’lal Yisrael, the entire community of Israel,” Goldson said.

One of his strongest desires is to enhance B’nai Israel’s adult education program “to create some more offerings so people can learn about their culture and their heritage.”

In recent years, Goldson has spent time delving deeper into Jewish spiritual matters. “I have studied the Hasidic masters and their teachings and a type of literature called Mussar, a form of study that helps you build your character in the way that you act in the world,” he said.

Mussar was developed by Rabbi Israel Salanter in Lithuania in the mid-1800s. “These teachings go back to the time of the Bible,” Goldson said.

Goldson recently completed a program through the Institute for Jewish Spirituality. “The focus of the institute is really on Jewish meditation, spiritual texts, prayer and even physical exercise like yoga — meditation and yoga,” he said.

Along with his quest for spirituality, Goldson also has a strong interest in community involvement and a desire to work with children and teenagers in the congregation to create in them an interest in community service.

“My approach is a very open approach,” he said. “I want to work with members of the congregation, with our local churches and with our local government to make our community a better place.” 

Goldson and his wife, Rebecca, have two children, a daughter in college in Arizona and a son, who is a senior at Runnels.

The new rabbi is excited about the challenges of his new job. “That’s what’s so exciting about my work — it’s exciting every day,” he said. “I enjoy working with people and getting to be a part of their lives. My hope is that we can create a vibrant and connected congregation, a group of members who can be really interested in exploring Judaism in their lives and make that relevant in terms of their lives in the larger community.”