For the first time in its 163-year history, Temple Oheb Shalom in Upper Park Heights celebrated the installation of a female assistant spiritual leader, Rabbi Sarah R. Marion.
Speaking to a packed sanctuary on Oct. 28, Oheb Shalom Senior Rabbi Steven M. Fink welcomed Rabbi Marion, who also serves as the historic Reform temple’s director of youth engagement.
Also attending the installation ceremony were Rabbi Donald R. Berlin, Oheb Shalom’s rabbi emeritus, Cantor Renata K. Braun, and congregational president David Willner
Rabbi Fink described Rabbi Marion as “poised, charming, very witty and relational,” adding that she brings a “changing perspective of assistant rabbi” that views the world through “a contemporary lens.”
“[She is] unlimited as she grows and blossoms in this healthy environment,” he said.
A native of Westchester, N.Y., Rabbi Marion graduated from Brandeis University in 2008 with degrees in Near Eastern and Judaic Studies and Women’s and Gender Studies.
She has a master’s degree in religious education, and as a rabbinic student served congregations in Fort Smith, Ark., Stamford, Ct., and Larchmont, N.Y. She was recently ordained at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion.
Rabbi Marion recently moved to Baltimore with her husband, Seth and their young daughter, Michaela. She said she looks forward to “growth, transformation and renewal” at Oheb Shalom.
Rabbi Marion succeeds Rabbi Scott M. Nagel, who served as the temple’s assistant rabbi for 12 years. He left Oheb Shalom in June to serve as spiritual leader of Congregation Beth Ahabah in Richmond, Va.
“I am so honored, humbled and proud to be the first female rabbi at Temple Oheb Shalom,” Rabbi Marion said. “I hope my role as the first female rabbi will indicate to congregants and community members of all ages that both men and women are capable of positions of leadership in the Jewish community and in the broader world.
“I am eager to draw upon my experiences and my perspectives to highlight the work that remains, as we strive to create a world of health, safety, and equal access and opportunity for all members of our society.”
In her new position, Rabbi Marion said she hopes to “create spaces for people of all ages to share and explore their joys and challenges, their struggles and their questions, within a Jewish framework. During times of challenge and uncertainty, our Jewish tradition and our Jewish communities should hold us, anchor us, and help us wrestle with questions of why. As a rabbi, it is my mission to apply the wisdom of Jewish tradition and community to the unmet questions and needs of our lives.
“I am passionate about creating Jewish communal experiences that respond to our struggles, our challenges and our joys, and enable us to reveal what lies in the deepest crevices of our souls. And so I hope to craft worship experiences that use music, liturgy, and reflection to address our questions and our challenges, as well as highlight our successes and our joys.”
In addition, Rabbi Marion said she wants to lead study sessions that contemporize Judaism’s ancient texts and lessons.
“I hope to craft communal moments in which collective storytelling and sharing brings greater clarity to the ongoing questions of our daily lives,” she said. “When our Jewish community creates space for us to share our struggles and our questions, we access the support of our community and our tradition, and emerge feeling a little more known, a little more understood, and a little more loved.
“If I can enable others to feel known, understood, and loved, then I will feel that I have accomplished a great deal.”
Rabbi Fink praised Oheb Shalom’s search committee for making a “superb choice for our congregation” with Rabbi Marion.
Haydee M. Rodriguez is a Baltimore-based freelance writer.
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