By dave benjamin
Staff Writer
Rabbi David Bateman
MANALAPAN — With the goal of building bridges between Israeli and American Jewry comes the new spiritual leader of Congregation Sons of Israel, Gordons Corner Road.
"I view my return to the Diaspora as an opportunity to be a bridge between Israeli and Diaspora Jewry, while doing Jewish outreach, where it is so critically needed," said Rabbi David Bateman.
"There’s a definite program in my rabbinate in the sense that my trademarks are a high degree of casualness," he said. "It’s more of an informal Israeli-type service. There is personal warmth and a reaching out in that casualness. In a sense, I am more like one of the people."
Bateman said he prefers to come off the bema (raised platform) to speak interactively among the people.
"It’s a much more participatory approach," said the rabbi. "I guess it’s leaning toward a Hassidic kind of vent, with an emphasis on joy and on music as a language of the soul."
Looking toward the future, the rabbi said he hopes to see an elevated quality of programming, noting there will be a higher profile for Israel-related programming.
"We are on the threshold of being the first synagogue in the world to have a sheliach (emissary) from Israel as our youth director, and (that person) will be responsible for Israel programming within the congregation," the rabbi said.
Bateman said he sees a growing, outreaching congregation that may look a lot more traditional than before, and at the same time may also appear more avant garde.
Looking back, the rabbi said, "In Israel, I served (part -time) at Kehilat Ya’ar Ramot, (in the town of Ramot Bet), a congregation that was affiliated with the Israeli arm of the Conservative movement."
He explained that the movement in Israel tends to be more conservative and in practice tends to be more like the approach of Congregation Sons of Israel, his new congregation. He noted that his former congregation, Kehilat Ya’ar Ramot, served about 80 families.
As spiritual leader, Bateman was active in Jewish outreach to unaffiliated Israelis and a variety of social-action causes in Israeli society. In Jerusalem, the rabbi directed the Joint Program for Jewish Education, which is a part of the Jewish Agency.
"I was a full-time employee of the Jewish Agency," said the rabbi.
Prior to going to live in Israel, Bateman served as a full-time rabbi in the Mount Freedom Jewish Center, Randolph, from 1987-98. He noted the congregation in Randolph had about 180 families compared to approximately 450 families at Sons of Israel.
"It’s a big jump in size for me from my previous congregational work," Bateman said. "It’s also a kind of a shift for me. In my previous congregation I tended to be a one-man-band kind of rabbi, and here, at Sons of Israel, there’s a full staff from administrator to chazzan (cantor), to Hebrew School principal. The challenge here is to sort of become the conductor of the orchestra."
Bateman spent the first 10 years of his professional career in Jewish education serving as a teacher and administrator. He served in schools in New York City, Chicago, Milwaukee and Denver.
Born in Tacoma, Wash., and raised in Portland, Ore., Bateman graduated from Portland’s Hillel Academy. He chose to follow an Orthodox path, continuing his studies in the high school division of the Hebrew Theological College, Skokie, Ill.
After spending two years at yeshivot (rabbinical academies) in Israel, Bateman continued his rabbinical studies at Yeshiva University and Yeshiva Marbeatze Torah, New York City. He holds a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in Jewish education as well as rabbinical ordination.
The rabbi and his wife, Beverly, are the parents of four children, Skaidrit, Yocheved, Elitzur and Na’amah.
"I regard myself as a rabbi of the Jewish people," Bateman said. "In addition to my official employer, I have another employer with a capital ‘E,’ and so I am available to every Jew who wants a rabbi for anything, member or nonmember.
"I really feel quite fortunate to come to a congregation with whom I feel a real fit, in terms of what I’m able to offer and what the congregation needs," he said.