Rabbi Adam Cutler is currently in his fifth and final year of rabbinical school at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America in New York City and is taking part in the Legacy Heritage Fund Rabbinic Fellows Program which placed him at Congregation Shaara T’fille. He completed his first weekend at the congregation on September 21.
“I had a very positive response from the congregation. More than 60 people showed up and it was overall an excellent weekend,” Cutler said. “We did a lot of eating and praying and I am looking forward to the time I will be spending in Saratoga Springs.”
Aside from leading weekend services, Cutler is also providing pastoral care, spiritual guidance and assisting with Hebrew school and will lead learning discussions and adult education classes.
Cutler attended Associated Hebrew Day School in Toronto and the Community Hebrew Academy of Toronto for elementary and high school and studied at Bar-Ilan University in Israel for one year before heading to the University of Toronto to study political science and Middle Eastern civilization before deciding to become a rabbi and study with the Jewish Theological Seminary of America.
“When I was younger, I was always told I would make a great rabbi, but I dismissed the idea. It wasn’t until much later that I decided to follow this path,” he said. “It has been a very positive yet challenging experience.”
The Legacy Heritage Fund Rabbinic Fellows Program in conjunction with the Jewish Theological Seminary and the Rabbinical Assembly are sponsoring 10 students to take part in the student rabbi program. The goal of the program is to strengthen emerging congregations and invigorate smaller synagogue communities affected by changing demographics or economies while at the same time providing professional experience and education to the student rabbis.
“We want to help build the community and synagogue life in the towns along with experiencing life as a rabbi,” Cutler said.
According to a member of Congregation Shaara T’fille who wished not to be named, his youthfulness brought a vibrant energy to the synagogue and added new angles to the adult learning classes. While discussing the Ten Commandments, he challenged the students to discuss whether or not downloading information from the internet could be considered stealing, therefore a sin.
“It was an interesting way to look at things that I had never thought about before,” she said. “He made the class educational without it feeling like learning.”
Cutler will return to Shaara T’ffile the weekend of October 20.
“I’m looking forward to serving the Jewish community and society at large as well. I’m excited about being placed in a beautiful place like Saratoga Springs,” he said.
He added that he is excited about the winter months and hopes to attend a hockey game or play in one himself and go tobogganing with members of the congregation.
“It think this will be a great experience and I look forward to getting to know the congregation—praying together, learning together and eating together,” he said.
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