He is, at times, somewhat reserved. But Rabbi Fred Greene of Congregation Har HaShem in Boulder is prone to strong opinions, and has some out-of-the-box thinking.
Take COVID’S impact on communal prayer. When the pandemic hit, the world of clergy made a pivot to online services.
What did Greene do?
He bought a tent. A big one.
“We bought this big circus tent and had our services and classes outside so that people can feel as comfortable as possible,” Greene said. “Our congregants would wear a mask or not wear a mask. Having an entrance or exit on all sides was a good dynamic.
“The air circulation makes folks just safer. We wanted people to feel like we cared about them and their concerns and their safety and their health.”
One problem, though.
“We’ve had a few wild animals show up for Shabbat services,” said Greene. “Deer and rabbits are OK. When an occasional fox comes near the tent — and that’s happened — you have to be ready to run.”
The Great Tent Experiment is just one opportunity for Har HaShem to push the congregational envelope.
“That’s kind of who we’re aspiring to be, a place where folks will be able to enter into Jewish life through the entrance that they choose, not the one that I’m prescribing,” said Greene. “They get to figure out what is it that they’re looking for.”
There are 524 families at Har HaShem. Greene presides over 30 B’nai Mitzvah annually. Before COVID the synagogue averaged from 120 to 150 Shabbat attendees. That number is now virtually split in half between in-person and streaming attendance.
“Some of our members are kind of checking things out and wondering if a return to Jewish life or a first step into Jewish life is appropriate,” Greene said. “So we still have our online piece available.”
The rabbi motions toward the computer monitors on his desk.
“I think community is really built from in-person experiences,” Greene said, “but there’s a lot of hurt and wounds and anxiety that COVID has left us with, particularly people that are ill or a little more fragile.
“Now everybody knows how to use technology for the most part. And so we have many more who are showing up online. I’m just glad that they’re giving it a shot.”
Have a stance on anti-racism, or the environment, or social responsibility or politically driven threats to Judaism? Greene sure does. He will stand on a soapbox for as long as he feels necessary. The congregational leader at Har HaShem since 2015 feels it’s his duty.
“A huge part of Jewish life is to be concerned about our community and our world,” said Greene. “It’s not just my interest. It is a significant part of being part of the tapestry of creation.”
“What I’m trying to awaken in my congregation and, frankly, myself, is how much more we have to learn about others, about other people’s hurts and wounds and tragedies,” said Greene.
“It could be relating to white supremacy, which all of us in the Jewish community always thought it would be a Nazi element on the fringe who wants to get Jews out of power,” Greene said. “But I think white supremacy is so much more than that.
“We have to learn other people’s stories in a similar way. Whether it’s about African Americans and racism and anti-racism or the LGBTQ+ community or issues around women and treatment of Jewish communities and workplaces — we just have to start listening more and trying to understand what it means to be an ally.”
Greene grew up in Long Island, New York. While he was a student at Hofstra University, Greene began to feel a tug toward the rabbinate, though at first he felt he belonged as a academic rather than a congregational rabbi.
“I went to rabbinical school thinking there was no way I would be a congregational rabbi. There was nothing you could do to get me to be a congregational rabbi.
“As it turns out, that’s the only thing I’ve done.”
He was ordained in 2001 and has led congregations in Bridgeport, Conn. and Roswell, Ga.
We should now reveal that Greene, 52, is an unabashed, card-carrying introvert. It would reason that an introvert might have difficulty leading a large group of congregants.
“That has made some things quite challenging,” said Greene. “My congregants appreciate the opportunity to tease me about how uncomfortable I am around events like Purim because I have to sing and do these silly things, none of which is in my comfort zone.”
In fact, while Greene was hospitalized in March to fix a previously undiagnosed heart defect, congregants teased the rabbi, alleging he was merely trying to avoid singing and leading the latest Purim festivities.
“They joked that I would rather have open heart surgery than to be in the Purim spiel, which is actually true,” Greene said, followed by a laugh.
There’s a difference between being introverted and having stage fright. Greene has not admitted having the latter.
Greene characterizes his congregation, as a “roll up your sleeve” group.
“I think there’s a lot of authenticity here,” said Greene, whose congregation includes wife Deborah and three daughters. “There are a lot of seekers here, who have serious questions about G-d and faith and Judaism and Israel and peoplehood.
“There are a lot of folks who will talk about their communities as having a warm, welcoming sense. There is a strong aspiration for us to be that.”
The connection to the occasional wildlife keeps the collective on their toes.
“Those rabbits come to pray with us all of the time,” Greene said.
“It’s those foxes you have to beware of.”
More from “The Rabbi Replies” series: Rabbi Yaakov Chaitovsky, BMH-BJ; Rabbi Boaz Heilman, B’nai Torah (Westminster); Rabbi Emily Hyatt, Temple Emanuel Denver; Rabbi Yisroel Engel, Bais Menachem; Rabbi Richard Rheins, Temple Sinai and Rabbi Menachem Siderson, Aish of the Rockies.
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