Jewish Herald-Voice (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 107, No. 3, Ed. 1 Thursday, April 24, 2014 Page: 4 of 20
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Page 4
Jewish Herald-Voice
April 24, 2014
? ri6ute$ io QR§66t an Braijms
“From the moment I meet Rabbi Brahms, I recognized his
unique blend of character and knowledge. His understated style
blends wonderfully with all personalities. Raised as the son of a
NFL football team doctor, he brings his unique ability to blend
spirituality with human nature, not only to his pulpit, but to
meetings, social gatherings and all people he touches.
“... I have to admit, I am a victim of the Rabbi Brahms magic
spell. The day we arrived in The Woodlands ... we decided to
stop in to see what CBSW was all about. The first person we met
was Rabbi Brahms.
“Instantly, we were enthralled. Before he had left, Ronna, my
wife, and I had already decided that with a rabbi like this, CBSW
was a place worth spending time getting to know better.
“As I got more active at CBSW, there has been one constant
- Rabbi Brahms.... His sense of humor often resolved the most
challenging of objectors and his stories made the business of
temple leadership worth doing....”
-Neil Z. Platt, president of CBSW
“Rabbi Brahms’ impact on our congregation can be felt in
the love we have for one another as a family. He has provided the
guidance to allow us to thrive in The Woodlands by reaching out
to all who wish to be a part of our Jewish family here.”
-David Markowitz, CBSW first vice president
“I was president of Congregation Beth Shalom of The Wood-
lands when we conducted the rabbi search that culminated in the
hiring of Rabbi Brahms. Before even meeting him, I recall look-
ing at a smiling photo of him and his wife, Ann Dee, and knew in
my hear t that we had found the right rabbi for our temple.
“That this knowledgeable, kind and gentle man would agree
to come to The Woodlands, Texas, to our small congregation,
has been an amazing blessing to us. I am so proud to call him
rabbi and my friend.”
-Leslye Olsen Feinberg, CBSW past president
“I have had the privilege of working with Rabbi Brahms
over the past 10 years as the director of education of Congrega-
tion Beth Shalom of The Woodlands. In Judaism ‘rabbi’ means
a teacher. Rabbi Brahms is also a phenomenal leader for our
families. His Judaic and Hebrew knowledge is exemplary and
an inspiration for our students and teachers.
“Being able to have someone who truly instructs us in com-
munity, fellowship, services, life-cycle events and gatherings is
inspiring. Rabbi Brahms helped many people reconnect with
the Jewish religion and its traditions. He is an outstanding com-
munity leader.”
-Helen Richard, CBSW director of education
“Upon the arrival of Rabbi Brahms to [CBSW], we have
since been fortunate to received his incredible burst of spiritu-
ality, strength of character and vast knowledge. His impact and
leadership to our Woodlands community has been evident as a
positive vehicle for acceptance and appreciation of diversity in
the area, especially through his involvement in the Faiths To-
gether program.
“As a spiritual leader, he has always maintained an open-
door demeanor in which the kids could just run in to grab a
piece of candy and adults can simply stop by and chat with him.
He has been very generous with his time in helping members
during the time of need and always provided assistance in help-
ing to solve problems.
“He has left a huge, positive, inspiring mark in the people
that know him.”
-Miriam Leitko, CBSW vice president
“Rabbi Brahms was a key part of my religious school edu-
cation, and he is a great guy to talk to and be around. He has
helped me everywhere from becoming a Bar Mitzvah, to help-
ing at the Fall Conclave [convention of 100-plus teens] that we
hosted.”
-Aaron Platt, high school junior and membership vice
president of WoodSY, CBSW’s senior youth group
“When I moved to The Woodlands a few years ago, I was not
that involved with the temple and I had not had my Bar Mitz-
vah yet. But, with the help and support of Rabbi Brahms, I was
able to become more involved, and also with the help of Janice
Lovelace, I was able to become a Bar Mitzvah in less than a
year. You have been awesome, Rabbi!”
-Zack Miller, high school sophomore
and WoodSY cultural vice president
“We were, indeed, blessed with a caring rabbi who not only
guided and taught us for 10 years, but will remain with us as
rabbi emeritus.”
-Sol and Arlene Sachs, CBSW members
“This man supports his teens! At our recent NFTY-TOR con-
clave, where 100 teens from the Texas-Oklahoma region spent
a weekend full of learning and social time, he dressed in cos-
tume to support our theme of Harry Potter and the Two Tab-
lets. He dressed and conducted services as Prof. Dumbledore!
What a surprise to many in the congregation! Thank you, Rabbi
Brahms for your support.”
-Janice Lovelace, CBSW past president
Rabbi From Page 1
as a novelist.
Beginning Thursday, May 1, and con-
tinuing through the weekend, Congrega-
tion Beth Shalom of The Woodlands will
honor Rabbi Brahms for his decade of
service.
Festivities will include a Tot Shabbat
service at 6 p.m., Friday, May 2, followed
by an erev Shabbat service at 7:30 p.m.
Shabbat morning service will take place
at 9:30 a.m., May 3, with a gala at the syna-
gogue Saturday evening.
‘Sought out’
Environment and education led the
Cleveland native to the rabbinate.
“Growing up, I had a very large, ex-
tended family,” Rabbi Brahms said. “Ev-
erybody was Jewish.”
He decided he wanted to go to college
in the South. As a student at Vanderbilt
University, Brahms said for the first time
in his life, he was in a very non-Jewish en-
vironment.
“It was all there for me growing up.
I didn’t have to do anything. But, once I
was in Nashville, I realized if I wanted
something Jewish, I had to seek it out for
myself,” he recalled. “The more I sought it
out, the more I enjoyed it.”
Brahms started teaching religious
school and working at the Nashville JCC.
Second semester of his freshman year, he
knew he wanted to be a rabbi.
Though he was raised in the Conser-
vative movement, Brahms opted for the
Reform seminary, Hebrew Union College-
Jewish Institute of Religion. He enrolled
in rabbinical school straight out of college
and eventually earned smicha (ordina-
tion), a master’s degree in Hebrew letters
and a doctorate of divinity degree, all from
HUC in Cincinnati.
Along with stints in Nashville and Ba-
ton Rouge, La., Rabbi Brahms served for 19
years as rabbi of Temple Beth El in Madi-
son, Wis. What attracted him to the pulpit
in The Woodlands was the congregation’s
size and the warm climate, the rabbi said.
‘Extended family’
When Rabbi Brahms and his wife, Ann
Dee, arrived at Beth Shalom in 2004, the
congregation consisted of 110 member-
families. Today, that number has grown to
about 180.
Growth in the local Jewish commu-
nity correlates with overall growth in The
Woodlands - a planned community es-
tablished 50 years ago that, over the past
decade, has nearly doubled in size, from
65,000 residents to 120,000, the rabbi not-
ed.
Young families are the largest and fast-
est-growing segment of Congregation Beth
Shalom, according to Rabbi Brahms. Many
are newcomers to the community, who
have relocated to The Woodlands from
across the country and globe for work and
opportunity, particularly in the oil and gas
industries.
“I can count on less than one hand
the number of people who are native to
Houston in the congregation,” said Rabbi
Brahms, himself included. “The Wood-
lands started off as a bedroom community,
and now it’s become more self-sufficient.
There’s a very high percentage of people
who both work and live in this environ-
ment.”
Because of its relative size and geog-
raphy, The Woodlands’ Jewish community
regards Congregation Beth Shalom more
as a communal center than strictly a reli-
gious institution, the rabbi observed.
“People come here for the three tradi-
tional aspects of a congregation: house of
study; house of prayer; and house of as-
sembly,” Rabbi Brahms said. “A lot of peo-
ple use this congregation as an extended
family, where they develop more intense
relationships than would be typical in a
larger, longer-established community.”
As the congregation has grown, so,
too, has CBSW’s offerings, the rabbi noted.
With so many young families, the congre-
gation places heavy emphasis on family
and children’s programming.
Such growth also has necessitated
expansion of the synagogue, itself. About
seven years ago, Beth Shalom built a so-
cial hall to accommodate High Holy Days
services, as well as other large events and
celebrations.
Interfaith benefit
Besides a successful capital build-
ing campaign, Rabbi Brahms reflected
fondly on the congregation’s acquisition
of a Holocaust Torah in 2011 and the es-
tablishment of a Torah endowment fund.
A portion of the $120,000 that was
raised came from The Woodlands’ non-
Jewish community. “That was the ben-
efit of being involved in an interfaith
community,” Rabbi Brahms said.
Many of his activities outside the
synagogue are interfaith-based, the
rabbi noted. He twice has served on the
board of Interfaith of The Woodlands, a
philanthropic organization, comprised
of local religious institutions and lead-
ers, which provides for the needs of the
community. In addition to sponsoring
local Yom HaShoah and Kristallnacht
remembrances, Beth Shalom hosts an
annual program, Faiths Together, that
brings together local members of the
Jewish and Christian communities, as
well as Muslim, Hindu, Sikh and Bahi’a.
“The Woodlands is a rainbow com-
munity, made up of people who have
come here literally from all over the
world,” Rabbi Brahms said. “It’s so nice
that we can learn, worship and rejoice
together.”
As the long-time spiritual leader of
Montgomery County’s largest Jewish
congregation, Rabbi Brahms is regarded
as THE Jewish authority in the area. In
that capacity, for instance, he is called
upon to perform many duties, such as
delivering the invocation for the opening
of new local hospitals.
While retirement will mean that
Rabbi Brahms will be stepping down
from the day-to-day responsibilities of
leading CBSW, he said he still plans to
be actively involved in interfaith and
other communal activities.
National leadership
The Woodlands’ rabbi also said he
will continue to be involved with the Re-
form movement on the national level.
Rabbi Brahms currently serves on
two national committees. The first is a
mentoring program, held jointly by the
CCAR and HUC, that pairs together sea-
soned rabbis in the field with final-year
seminary students. Rabbi Brahms is the
longest-serving member of this commit-
tee and currently chairs the CCAR por-
tion of the program.
“The idea is to give students some
guidance through a relationship that’s
not employment-based, where your boss
is not your mentor,” the rabbi explained.
“Rather, your boss, by definition, has no
relationship with your job, so there can
be confidentiality, honesty and open-
ness in the relationship.”
Rabbi Brahms also serves on a joint
commission between the CCAR and the
Union for Reform Judaism. Known as
the National Commission on Rabbinic
Congregational Relationships, the body
is comprised of four rabbis and four URJ
board members, who serve as arbitra-
tors when there is a conflict, between
rabbis and their congregations, that re-
quires outside help.
The Woodlands’ rabbi was selected
for the commission, based on his reputa-
tion of being honest, insightful and ob-
jective.
Education, age gap
Over the past 10 years, Rabbi Brahms
said he focused a lot of his energy on ed-
ucation.
On par with the congregation, Beth
Shalom’s religious school has grown
by leaps and bounds. So has its youth
group, WoodSY, which hosted a regional
conclave last year for the first time in its
history.
It can be challenging being the sole
provider of Jewish content in a suburban
community like The Woodlands, Rabbi
Brahms admitted. “Our solution has
been to provide a lot of stuff,” he said.
Facing his 65th birthday on July 13
this year, Rabbi Brahms said in some
ways he feels too old for the congrega-
tion’s growing younger segment. The
widening age gap affects how one re-
lates to the other.
“I’m worried about grandchildren,
and they’re worried about children,” the
rabbi explained.
Rabbi Brahms said he wants to step
down from the synagogue pulpit at a
time when people still ask, “Why are you
retiring?” rather than, “When are you re-
tiring?”
He reflected on what he described as
a “wonderful” and “fulfilling” career, and
expressed gratitude for being healthy
enough to enjoy quality time upon his
upcoming retirement. □
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Samuels, Jeanne F. Jewish Herald-Voice (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 107, No. 3, Ed. 1 Thursday, April 24, 2014, newspaper, April 24, 2014; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth544067/m1/4/: accessed May 21, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; .