(l to r): Rabbi Manes Kogan; Rabbi Daniel Victor; Rabbi Marcelo Kormis; Rabbi James Prosnit; and Rabbis Colin and Amanda Brodie

FAIRFIELD — Rabbi Marcelo Kormis was formally installed as spiritual leader of Congregation Beth El of Fairfield on Sunday, Nov. 11. Kormis assumed his new post with the Conservative congregation in August. He relocated to Fairfield with his family from Santiago, Chile where, in 2008, he was chosen as one of Chile’s 100 most influential young by the national newspaper El Mercurio.

The celebratory installation ceremony was attended by a many congregants and area clergy, including Rabbi James Prosnit of Congregation Bnai Israel in Bridgeport, Rabbi Daniel Victor of Congregation Rodelph Shalom in Bridgeport, Rabbis Colin and Amanda Brodie of Congregation B’nai Torah in Trumbull, Shelley Krieger, president of the Board of the JCC Eastern Fairfield County, Beth El’s Maureen Dewan, president of the Board of the Jewish High School of Connecticut, Rabbi Manes Kogan of Hillcrest Jewish Center in N.Y.; and Reverend James Manship of St. Rose’s Church in New Haven.

Congregation Beth El Choir performing at the installation ceremony with Dr. Jeffrey Gross accompanying on guitar

In addition to speeches by community leaders, the installation ceremony included musical performances by Rayhan Pasternak and Adrianne Greenbaum Povodator, as well as several Beth El’s two choirs and preschool and religious school students.

At the ceremony, Prosnit, who also serves as chair of the local Board of Rabbis, delivered an invocation, recalling the time 23 years ago, when he assumed the pulpit at B’nai Israel, that he was the “new rabbi on he block.” Now, noted Prosnit, he was happy to be able to give the invocation for the community’s newest rabbi. The role of a pulpit rabbi, said Prosnit, is to inspire, challenge and connect people to their faith – a role that Rabbi Kormis will readily be able to fulfill.

Other speakers at the installation included Beth El President Steven Robifker, Event Chairs C. Robert Hillman and Mitchell Podob, and Search Committee Chairs Barbara Schellenberg and Alan Feldman.