Like the rest of us, Rabbi Marc Soloway digests daily reports about the war in Ukraine.
Unlike most of us, those stories of conflict are immensely personal.
Soloway, rabbi at Congregation Bonai Shalom in Boulder, traveled to Ukraine in 2015 to create the film “Treasure Under the Bridge,” which visited the past of Ukraine’s chasidic masters in previous eras.
“The experience was trying to rediscover the places where these great chasidic masters were, and what they meant,” says Soloway. “On a very personal level I tried to unpack what all of that meant to me, in the backdrop of this terrible history of brutality and violence.
“It was the second largest Jewish population in the whole of Eastern Europe. And it was basically completely decimated.”
Flash forward, seven years later.
“This horrific war started, and it brought back the memories of being there,” says Soloway. “There’s so much to be outraged about in this world, but the horrific lie of Putin that he’s cleansing the world of Nazis, is beyond words.”
Soloway, 57, has been the rabbinic leader of Bonai Shalom since 2004. He grew up in London with the acting bug — which he still hasn’t shaken. In the UK Soloway appeared in a number of stage productions, while still maintaining his Jewish rituals. Observing Shabbat, though, became problematic for someone trying to make it in acting.
“One day my acting agent called me up,” says Soloway. “She says, ‘darling, you want to audition for things, but you won’t be in plays on Friday nights. I can’t work with you.’”
That was a sign. Soloway dove fully into rabbinical studies in London, Jerusalem and Los Angeles, before being ordained at age 39 in 2004 at The Ziegler School for Rabbinic Studies at American Jewish University.
The arrangement all along had been for Soloway to return to London and enter the rabbinate. But Bonai Shalom came calling immediately, and Soloway had to make a decision, quickly.
One pivotal moment came on a chairlift in Breckenridge with Soloway’s late father, Alan, while visiting family during Passover.
“He said to me, ‘What a fantastic opportunity. Why would you turn it down?’
“Getting that sort of support from my parents meant a lot, even though none of us knew it would mean me living so far away for so long.”
Soloway is now a naturalized Coloradan. He loves the terrain.
“I’m absorbed in the culture,” says Soloway. “As I get older, I realize that I’m more of an introvert than an extrovert, more of a small town guy, although Boulder’s not such a small town anymore. It still has all you’d want in a big city.”
Every communal entity has dealt with the implications of COVID differently. Soloway and his congregation, however, have been uniquely challenged in the last two years.
“We’ve had families who lost their homes in the wildfires, and families who immediately knew victims of the King Sooper’s shooting,” says Soloway. “Plus, we’re dealing with everything that everyone else has been dealing with.
“I feel quite depleted, in a lot of ways. The most important role of a clergy person is to be a non-anxious presence.”
Soloway’s outlet is staring that latent acting bug right in the face. The rabbi is part of a small theater company in Boulder, Hypothetical Theatre Company. The group has been doing acting workshops and hopes to stage some productions soon.
“I’m still am an actor and I don’t say that in a flippant way,” says Soloway. “I hope this doesn’t sound pretentious, but I feel like my soul is the soul of an artist.”
This is not the first time a member of the clergy has come from the theatrical ranks. To some, the two disciplines are related.
“The history of theater was all about religion and spirituality,” says Soloway. “These ancient plays in the Greek theater or Roman theater were a form of spiritual expression.
“If you look at the way we reenact things, it is hugely theatrical.”
Soloway’s congregation in Cherryvale is at 230 families, and growing. With that comes all sorts of greater responsibility, including social commentary.
“Creativity and imagination are so vital for the human experience. And I feel like a lot of what we’re seeing in the world just comes from a terrible lack of imagination. I try to continue to bring my curiosity and creativity into what I do, although sometimes it doesn’t always feel easy to maintain that.
Soloway is rather outspoken on current events, and is aware of reactions some of his congregants might have. The abortion debate, in the wake of the latest Supreme Court ruling on Roe v. Wade, is a front-burner topic.
“There are Republicans in the state of Michigan who are trying to go back to a 1931 law that will take away absolutely any access to abortion,” Soloway says. “Right now, it is one of the states [where abortion] is legal. That could change.
“There are even people in Colorado trying to change the law. I cannot bear how partisan that is. I’m so relieved that some of the people who won in the Republican primaries in Colorado are people who are moderate on abortion.
“There is supposed to be separation of church and state. You have issues that come along with that, [such as] abortion, that have become too political. Then you have issues tied in with white supremacy and racism and guns. It all becomes very complicated for a rabbi.”
Despite his self-confessed weariness, Soloway says he won’t shy away from confronting such topics.
“Any Jew who is on board with the agenda that claims that it is sanctioned by Jewish law to make abortions illegal and to take away any choice for a woman to make decisons about her own body is something I’m going to be talking about.
“We’re a fairly liberal congregation. And, yes, I have upset people by some of what I’ve said in the past, but as a rabbi, you have to decide when you can’t stay silent anymore.
“We try to create that safe space for everyone, but there are times we cannot remain silent in all of this, you know?”
More from “The Rabbi Replies” series: Rabbi Fred Greene, Har HaShem (Boulder); 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.