Rabbi Ed Feinstein to step down as Valley Beth Shalom’s senior rabbi

“It’s time,” Feinstein wrote in an email to congregants on Oct. 27. “Time for someone else to step into the role of VBS’s Senior Rabbi, to shape the future of this congregation. I plan to continue to serve as a rabbi at VBS — teaching adults and children, sharing comfort and care, celebrating sacred moments, and offering my visions for our future together. But it’s time for a new Senior Rabbi.”

Feinstein joined VBS in 1993, invited by the late Rabbi Harold Schulweis. In 2005, when Schulweis stepped down, Feinstein took on the role of senior rabbi. VBS is the largest Jewish congregation in the San Fernando Valley.

Feinstein noted that this is the first time in more than 50 years that VBS has engaged in a national search for a new senior rabbi. VBS leadership has established a rabbinic search committee, chaired by Nurit Robin and Roslyn Grinberg.

The Search Committee is working with the Rabbinical Assembly, the national organization of Conservative rabbis, on the search, which will take place over the next several months. They plan to invite a select few candidates to visit and meet with VBS congrents. At that point, the congregation will be invited to meet and evaluate the final candidates.

Feinstein’s announcement comes on the heels of Rabbi Noah Farkas recently leaving VBS to become the new head of the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles.