By Cindy Mindell

WEST HARTFORD – At a meeting last month, members of Congregation Beth Israel in West Hartford voted overwhelmingly to install Associate Rabbi Michael Pincus as senior rabbi. The appointment takes effect when Rabbi Stephen Fuchs retires next summer.

Pincus joined the Beth Israel clergy in July 2004, following his ordination as a Reform rabbi. He first served the congregation as assistant rabbi for three years before he became associate rabbi.
Pincus grew up in northern New Jersey, the youngest of three and a first-generation American. The shadow of the Holocaust hung over both sides of the family. His mother immigrated to the U.S. from Bogota, Colombia, and his father, born in Germany, had grown up in Holland. The two met in New York City after World War II.
It was at his family’s congregation, Temple Shalom, where Pincus was mentored by two rabbis who became influential teachers. He attended Camp Eisner and joined an Orthodox Jewish boy scout troop. “Judaism was always a very important part of my life,” he says.
Pincus earned a BA in history and a master’s degree in education, both from the University of Virginia. During his junior year, he spent a semester at Hebrew University of Jerusalem. After graduating, he taught for a year at Solomon Schechter Day School of Bergen County, then enrolled in Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Jerusalem and New York, where he received an MA in Hebrew literature.
“I love Judaism, how it gives me purpose and meaning, and I always wanted it to play a role in my life,” he says. “I thought, ‘I’ll go to rabbinical school and worse comes to worse, I’ll get a great Judaic education.’ Either way, I would be able to contribute to the Jewish community.”
When asked when he decided to become a rabbi, Pincus often jokes that it was during his second year in rabbinical school, when he interned at a synagogue in Newton, Mass.
“I am humbled at Beth Israel’s rich history,” Pincus says. “I feel like I’m stepping into the shoes of many great rabbis before me – Abraham Feldman, Harold Silver, Simeon Glaser, Stephen Fuchs. I’ve been honored and blessed to work with Rabbi Fuchs for what will be seven years by the time he retires next June. My goal and hope is to build on the programs he brought to Beth Israel, emphasizing the importance of Torah at the center of our congregation’s life, and the covenant relationship with God. Like many synagogues across the country, our synagogue is in a period of flux and change and I’m hoping that we’ll have new opportunities to give energy and meet the challenges that await us.”
“We feel very blessed that Rabbi Pincus has been with us for the past six-plus years and that he will become our next senior rabbi and spiritual leader,” says April Haskell, president of Beth Israel and a co-chair of the congregation’s rabbinic search committee. “As many have said about him during the selection process, he has the true soul of a rabbi.”
“For me, Judaism is about connecting people and helping them find meaning in their lives,” Pincus says. “I hope this opens a new chapter that builds on the strengths of the past. Our ancient tradition still speaks to us today in terms of our need for community, and our need to be connected to something greater, God. I want Beth Israel to be a synagogue that invites us to really think about what’s important in life, be supportive to each other in times of need, and help us feel connected with meaning and purpose in our lives.”