Congregation Shaarey Zedek welcomes new senior rabbi

After decades of living and working in the U.S., Israel, Japan and Europe, Rabbi Carnie Shalom Rose has come back home.

Rose, who was raised in Winnipeg’s North End, took up his new responsibilities as senior rabbi at Congregation Shaarey Zedek on July 1.

“Winnipeg’s a wonderful place to grow up,” said Rose, who was born in the U.S. in 1966 and moved to the city in 1967 from New York with his parents, Rabbi Neal Rose and his wife, Carol, so his father could take a position in Judaic Studies and religion at the University of Manitoba.

Rose, 59, has fond memories of family life on Matheson Avenue with his four siblings — a sister and three brothers, including Rabbi Kliel Rose of Winnipeg’s Congregation Etz Chayim. This included his time studying at the former Talmud Torah Hebrew school at the intersection of Charles Street and Flora Avenue.

He graduated from the University of Winnipeg in 1984 and then headed to California to study at American Jewish University in Los Angeles. He was ordained by the Rabbinical School of the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York and went on to serve in various roles before becoming senior rabbi for 18 years at Congregation B’nai Amoona in St. Louis.

In 2023, he left there to become president and CEO of the Mandel Jewish Community Centre in Cleveland, Ohio — a place much like Winnipeg’s Asper Jewish Community Campus, although much bigger to serve the large Jewish community of 85,000 in that city.

Rose, who has four children with his wife, Paulie Zimnavoda Rose, enjoyed his time at the centre. But he found his heart was really in congregational life and leadership.

“I wanted to go back to teaching in a synagogue,” he said. “I realized I was more of a pastor, teacher and preacher, not an administrator. I missed those things.”

For Rose, serving at a synagogue means an opportunity to pass on the tenets of Judaism to members of Shaarey Zedek.

“Judaism is a 4,000-year-old tradition that still has something to say to the world today,” he said, noting he wants to help the synagogue continue to be a place “where people can come to learn and develop deep roots in Judaism and in the Jewish community.”

In particular, Rose wants to help people see that Judaism “is about more than laws, it is about love of self, love of others, of the community, of the world … it’s about wanting to live into the image of the divine.”

“I want to invite people into the deep mystery of God, to see Judaism as a tradition that has something to say about how to live with a partner, with children, with parents, neighbours, others and the world.”

Rose’s own approach to Judaism grows out of the Conservative tradition to which he and Shaarey Zedek belong — an approach that seeks to conserve and honour traditional Jewish practices and beliefs while incorporating modern perspectives to the scriptures.

“We have respect for tradition but we are open to innovation,” said Rose, noting that Conservative Judaism is a middle way between the Orthodox tradition — which emphasizes stricter adherence to Jewish law and traditional practices — and the Reform tradition, which seeks to more actively adapt Judaism to modern life.

This means “not losing the past for the sake of the future, but also not losing the future for the sake of the past,” Rose said, adding that “some beliefs in the past worked well in the past, but they may not work so well now.”

One example of this is that Rose, like Shaarey Zedek, is welcoming and affirming of LGBTTQ+ people. “We want to be present and welcoming of all,” he said.

Rose also wants to be engaged in interfaith work in the city. “I look forward to working together with other faith leaders,” he said, adding “I want to have deep roots in my community and also learn from other communities. There is beauty in all traditions that should be shared.”

This will include looking for things different faith traditions hold in common so they can “work together for the good of the whole community,” he said, adding he also wants to build trust between the groups “so we can have difficult conversations and still have respect and love for each other.”

Such conversations are important at a time of growing polarization and division, along with rising antisemitism and Islamophobia, he said.

“We need religious leaders to step forward boldly, to set an example,” he said, adding he thinks this will be easier in Winnipeg than other places since “we can draw on reservoirs of trust built up over the years.”

He credits his parents for his broad interfaith outlook.

“They taught us the importance of serving not just the Jewish community, but the whole community,” said, adding they took the family to visit churches, mosques and sweat lodges.

“I learned about the world in my parent’s home,” he said. “They exposed us to other religions and traditions.”

Rose also credits his parents for passing on a love for Judaism — so much so that all four sons became rabbis. “It was a clean sweep,” said Rose, adding that his sister married a rabbi.

And yet, his parents never pushed their sons to serve in that way. “They just lived as their authentic selves, not just through words but by living out their faith,” he said.

For Kliel, having his older brother in Winnipeg is exciting and a blessing. “It’s been over 30 years since I lived in the same place with a sibling,” he said. “It will be great for my children to have their uncle and aunt here.”

His brother’s coming to Winnipeg will “be great for Shaarey Zedek and also for the whole Jewish community,” he said. “They found a great rabbi to lead them.”

In an e-mail to the congregation announcing Rose’s appointment, congregation president Fanny Levy said Rose was a leader who “embodies the values, vision and spirit that reflect the heart of our community.”

Along with that, Rose’s “commitment to Jewish learning” deeply resonates with the congregation and his approach and values “align most closely with the direction we aspire to take as a community.”

Levy went on to praise Rose’s “deep respect for tradition, paired with a creative approach to leadership that encourages innovation and inclusivity.”

Of Rose, Rena Secter Elbaze, the congregation’s executive director, said that he is “very personable, super charismatic, all about teaching,” someone who can “lead us into the future. We are so fortunate to have him.”

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