Congregation Ner Tamid, Reform congregation in west Cobb

Name: Congregation Ner Tamid

Address: Shared space at the Christ Lutheran Church, 176 W. Sandtown Road, Marietta

Phone: 678-264-8575

Website: www.mynertamid.org

Services: Every other Friday night and on holidays

Average Shabbat attendance: 60-80

Rabbi: Tom Liebschutz

Affiliation: Reform congregation

Mission statement:

“Congregation Ner Tamid's mission is to provide opportunities for our synagogue family to develop and strengthen its involvement in Judaism by promoting a love of our heritage, a supportive worship environment, a devotion to community, and a renewed strength in our Jewish identity.

“We will foster a community accepting of all levels of observance, previous affiliation, interfaith relationships, and varied family structure while fulfilling our congregation's social, educational, ritual and lifecycle needs in a traditional Jewish setting.”

History:

A handful of families organized Ner Tamid five years ago to meet the needs of west Cobb, Kennesaw, Paulding and surrounding areas. The congregation has grown to serve more than 50 member families and 100 additional families in the community.

Shabbat, High Holy Days and other holiday services were led by various community clergy for the first three years before part-time Rabbi Tom Liebschutz became part of the congregation in 2009.

Rabbi’s path:

Liebschutz was ordained in1965 from the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, the Reform Rabbinical Seminary, in Cincinnati. He served in pulpits for 30 years, and he taught Jewish courses at higher-learning institutions such as Tufts, Wake Forest and Wichita State universities and Salem College.

His last position before moving south was rabbi and director of the religious department of the Hebrew Home of Greater Washington in Maryland for eight years.

The rabbi and his wife, Marilyn, moved to Atlanta almost nine years ago to be near their daughter and triplet grandchildren. About 4 ½ years ago, they read a short newspaper article about a new Jewish congregation in west Cobb and decided to visit.

Congregation members, unaware that he was a rabbi, greeted him at the post-service reception. They complimented his voice and expressed a hope that he could help them out with his voice.

He began helping with High Holy Days services, and now leads the twice monthly Shabbat services as well as religious education classes.

“My great mitzvah from a rabbinic perspective is to help them grow and give them advice and the programming to help them grow. And at the same time, what they have done for my wife and myself is to give us a whole new focus ... we have found a whole new dimension to life.”

Programming:

The religious school, which has existed since the congregation was formed almost five years ago, has 65 kids from pre-k to seventh grade. Liebschutz leads a post-bar/bat mitzvah class as well as a pre-bar/bat mitzvah offering for the teens.

There is so much positive “Jewish energy” that takes place on Sunday morning in every grade, according to the rabbi. “This is a very young congregation, and its potential for growth is tremendous.”

A special Seder honoring Jewish Arbor Day will take place 4-6 p.m. Jan. 22, as part of the adult education program. A woman’s group meets regularly for social and philanthropic functions, and to learn from one another as they experience raising a Jewish family. According to member Laura Catlin, 75 percent to 80 percent of families in the congregation are mixed marriages, and Ner Tamid offers support for the non-Jewish family members who are working to honor the Jewish traditions of their family members.

Several other events on the horizon include a Second Night Passover Seder and a Purim Carnival. Planning is under way for a five-year anniversary sometime this spring. On March 11, members will offer a Shabbat learning dinner on the Kennesaw State University campus with the Hillel chapter.

Thoughts from the rabbi: