Temple Chai welcomes new rabbi

Rabbi Ilana G. Baden is the new senior associate rabbi at Temple Chai, a Reform Jewish congregation in Long Grove. She joins the temple's clergy, Senior Rabbi Stephen Hart and Cantor Scott Simon.

Baden has been a rabbi since 1999. She believes that Reform temples are facing an immediate challenge.

"Because our society is changing and there is tension between people who are more individuated and temples which are built on foundations of individual congregants, interacting with clergy and each other as a supportive community.

"Many Jewish young adults who are not temple members do not know or have not experienced what it means to be part of a temple environment," Baden said. "Our task as liberal clergy is to honor the sense of the individual and still help each person to feel comfortable in the context of a temple family."

Baden emphasized that listening to temple members is vital.

"Clergy, staff, and lay leaders must continually ask congregants the hard question - do our programs really reflect what you want from a temple? We must be responsive to their answers and create engaging, interactive programming that resonates with them and furthers the values of Reform Judaism," she said.

"I have always taken the time to get to know temple members and learn what makes or would make the temple important to them. I look forward to doing so at Temple Chai."

Baden recognizes that modern Reform Jews are often ideologically diverse.

"Diversity is a source of vitality for Reform Judaism," Baden said. "One of my honors of being a rabbi is to interact with people who have different ideas about what a temple means to them and helping them to become or remain involved in the life of the temple."

Baden is aware that diversity is embraced at Temple Chai and that spiritual, educational, and social events are crafted and re-crafted to relate to the varied needs of temple members.

"There is a commitment to inclusiveness at Temple Chai," she said.

Baden is also aware that many Reform temples are confronting the challenge of turning "renters" who vanish after their children become B'nei Mitzvah into "owners," who will value continued temple membership after that ceremony.

"I consider a B'nei Mitzvah to be a mile marker or a beginning and not the end of the road for temple participation," she said.

She has personally urged families to view a B'nei Mitzvah as an opportunity to continue as a family to enjoy the many communal programs that their temple offers.

"A temple is far more than B'nei Mitzvahs or even worship services," said Baden. "A temple is about celebrating the vibrancy of Reform Judaism as an inclusive community with authentic interaction between clergy and congregants and among congregants and the sharing of joys and sorrows."

Baden began her rabbinical journey at the Indianapolis Hebrew Congregation. From 2002 to 2013, she was the associate rabbi at the Isaac M. Wise Congregation in Cincinnati. There, she created and supervised the Young Family Involvement Program, which was designed to involve families with very young children in temple activities.

In 2013, Baden became the director of Community Engagement for the Jewish Federation of Greater Ann Arbor and also served as rabbi at Temple Beth El in Battle Creek and taught adult education at the Jewish Federation of Metro Detroit.

Baden was born in England and grew up in Libertyville, where she edited the high school paper and contributed to the Daily Herald. She has degrees in history and near Eastern studies - modern Hebrew language from the University of Michigan. She graduated from the Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati with honors in rabbinical studies. She and her husband, Jeff, have a daughter, Ellie, and a son, Zach. In her spare time she likes to read, crochet, cook and exercise.

"I believe that Judaism is a way of life and a lens that allows me to engage fully in the world as a liberal Jew," said Baden. "It is my anchor and my compass that helps me to bridge the gap between the secular and the holy without having to choose between them. With Judaism, I'm able to meld together my family and friends with my joy of being a rabbi."

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