“My approach to the rabbinate and Judaism is very much about informed choice,” said Rabbi Joseph W. Prass, who as of July 1 is the associate rabbi at Congregation Shalom.
In that sense he seeks to “help inform my congregants about what it means to be Jewish, and to help them make appropriate Jewish choices in their lives,” he said. “To that end, one can see why education and teaching are really so important to me.”
Indeed, “informed choice” was also the phrase Prass, 39, used when he described how he decided upon the rabbinate as his profession.
One of four children, Prass grew up in Minneapolis and attended a Reform synagogue, Temple Israel, there. That synagogue apparently left a powerful impression on his family; two of the children became rabbis and one became principal of a Jewish religious school.
Prass said he was “very involved” in the Reform youth movement “as participant and leader.” Moreover, he worked for five years as Chicago and northern regional director of the North American Federation of Temple Youth, the Reform movement’s youth group.
So from all this, “I was able to form an informed opinion of what it meant to be a rabbi and of congregational life, and I really saw that’s where I wanted to be for the rest of my career,” he said.
‘Zest for Judaism’
But there’s another equally important aspect to being a rabbi for Prass. “I believe a rabbi has to be in relationship with members of his or her congregation” and he wants to bring “a zest for Judaism to every program” of the synagogue, “whether for third graders or an elders’ group.”
That personal touch appears to have been one of the most significant reasons that Shalom, which has about 1,050 membership units, hired him, according to synagogue president and search committee chair Nancy Kennedy Barnett.
When the search committee brought him in to meet the congregation, “he talked a lot about forming a relationship with the congregation and its members,” said Barnett. “That really spoke to the search committee.”
And when Prass taught a sample adult education class during his visit, Barnett said the participants were impressed by “the way he introduced himself, his eye contact with the people; he was upbeat, pleasant and had a commanding presence.”
And Shalom’s senior rabbi, Ronald Shapiro, said, “What I found meaningful about Rabbi Prass is his obvious interest in connecting with people,” and his “sincere manner of approaching people and interacting with them.”
“He has a wonderful way about him, and that coupled with his obvious dedication to Judaism touched me a lot,” Shapiro said.
Prass got his undergraduate degree at the University of Minnesota, where he majored in psychology and minored in child psychology. He had been considering becoming a psychologist and at one point held a part-time job in a psychiatric hospital, but “Jewish activities were a stronger pull.”
After graduating from Hebrew Union College, Prass became assistant rabbi at Congregation Emanu El, a synagogue of about 2,100 membership units, in Houston, Texas, in 1999, and was promoted to associate in 2002.
One of the accomplishments he appears to be most proud of in Houston was the creation of a weekend retreat for congregants at “all ages and stages” of life.
He said that 250 people “age six months to 90” participated in this event; and this is one idea he might like to implement at Shalom.
Prass is married to Leslie (nee Wise), who was trained in interior design and has worked in retail management. They have two daughters, 8 and 2, and a son, 5.
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