RABBI ADIR POSY, OF BALTIMORE, NEW ASSISTANT DIRECTOR OF COMMUNITY AND SYNAGOGUE SERVICES OF OU WEST

16 Jun 2010

RABBI ADIR POSY, OF BALTIMORE, NEW ASSISTANT DIRECTOR OF COMMUNITY AND SYNAGOGUE SERVICES OF OU WEST COAST DIVISION

Rabbi Adir Posy, of Baltimore, has been named the new Assistant Director of Community and Synagogue Services for the Orthodox Union West Coast division.

“Adir Posy is one of the top young rabbis in America,” declared Rabbi Steven Weil, Executive Vice President of the Orthodox Union. “Not only is he an outstanding talmid chacham (Torah scholar) and a renaissance man, but he is a baal chesed (kind hearted), a listener and has the ability to network with lay-leaders and rabbis through the length and breadth of North America.”

For the past two years, Rabbi Posy has been busy sharing his time cross-country, serving both as Rabbinic Intern at Congregation Shomrei Emunah in Baltimore and teaching at the Yeshivat Rambam high school there during the week, and then flying to Los Angeles for the weekends where he serves as Assistant Rabbi at Congregation Beth Jacob, working with young professionals.

“It’s very rewarding to live in the universe that defines each distinct community, and I feel privileged to experience this on both coasts. Baltimore and Los Angeles are very difference places, with different needs, and I have been able to take a step back each week to learn from each, and see what works for each,” declared Rabbi Posy.

One hard part about travelling so often is meeting great people, but not being able to nurture long term relationships. “I look forward to living and working in the same city now, but also that I’ll be able to enhance and strengthen the relationships I’ve built over the years,” said Rabbi Posy.

Part of his responsibilities will include expanding the resources and tools provided by the OU to new members of the community and new shuls. “Organic programming,” as Rabbi Posy calls it, involves tailor-made programs created and implemented to fit specific interests, such as workshops for parents to help their children develop connections with prayer and emunah (faith). Rabbi Posy will continue his work at Congregation Beth Jacob, with hopes to further expand a new generation of young leadership.

According to Rabbi Alan Kalinsky, OU West Coast Director, “Rabbi Posy brings a new energy that we know will help forward the vision and mission of the OU to synagogues. He is already knowledgeable and committed to our community; we are excited to have him to implement new projects and bring new leadership to the board. As our community continues to grow, his background experience and determination should be a successful fit to help us move forward as leaders in the Orthodox Jewish community.”

Rabbi Posy, a graduate of Yeshiva University’s Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary (RIETS), was invited to share some words of Torah at this year’s Chag HaSemicha, a celebration held every four years in honor of the recently ordained rabbis. In his speech, Rabbi Posy engaged his peers and mentors, beginning with a reflection of theoretically, how he would react if he were to get on a plane that afternoon and someone asked over the intercom if there was a rabbi on the plane. With grace and heart, he explored the various roles of what a rabbi is expected to be: to take words off of a page and bring them to life, to transform a place of mourning into a place of comfort and understanding, to bring together an assortment of personalities and create a community. A rabbi is a teacher, scholar, therapist combined together, plus more, he said.

Rabbi Posy wrapped up his speech with two reminders of what God promised Moses. First, that God’s presence and protection is with him every step of the way, and second, that he would never feel alone, he would have a support system wherever he went. Rabbi Posy assured his peers that those same promises are still valid today.

Rabbi Posy officially begins his new position August 1. He will be moving to Los Angeles with his wife Hindi, an L.A. native who will be doing a fellowship in High Risk Obstetrics at the University of Southern California and his sons Yitzy (two years old) and Eitan (one year old).

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