Plainview Rabbi Marks One-Year Anniversary

It's been a year since Rabbi David Ross Senter began serving at the Manetto Hill Jewish Center in Plainview, but, he says, "It feels like I've been here forever."

"It's a wonderful group of people here who have a strong sense of proprietorship in their congregation," he says of the 160-plus families who make up the congregation. That dates back to when it was formed in 1969, when members first met in rented space, then a small house, and then built a temple on Manetto Hill Road.

It was the first Conservative synagogue on Long Island to include women in ritual during services, before it was an official position of the Conservative movement, he says, and it calls itself "an egalitarian Conservative synagogue." Being a Conservative synagogue means members affirm loyalty to Jewish law and tradition while developing new responses to today’s society.

Tapping into that strong sense of proprietorship wasn't difficult when he suggested restoring and using a Torah on display in the synagogue that had originally belonged to the Jewish community of Kolin, Czechoslovakia, whose members were murdered during World War II.

That project energized and engaged members, he says, and the now-restored Torah sits inside the Aron Kodesh, the Holy Ark that holds the Torah scrolls, and is used for life-cycle events.

Sharon Dashow, a vice president on the synagogue's executive board, agrees the congregation feels reinvigorated. "We feel like we're working in a partnership with him," she says. "He's warm, does outreach, and is passionate and accessible. He absolutely loves what he does. I feel like I learn something from him every day."

Senter is a fourth-generation rabbi. He grew up in North Bergen, N.J., moved to Teaneck, and returned to North Bergen "to be bar mitzvahed in my grandfather's synagogue."

He previously served synagogues in Saratoga Springs and in Flanders, N.J., and Pompton Lakes, N.J., but took several years off when he had a crisis of faith after a divorce. During that time he ran a kosher food concession at Shea and Yankee stadiums. "Then one day I was doing inventory and I thought, 'Do I really want to be remembered for having the best hot dogs?' Imperfection is part of the human condition."

He and his wife, Elissa, have settled in at Manetto Hill over the past year, where he celebrated his one-year anniversary on Aug. 1. Their daughter, Tracy, is in high school at Plainview-Old Bethpage, and they also have several older children, as well as grandchildren.

To help visitors and those new to the Jewish faith he updated a prayer book so they can follow what's happening at a service and learn about Jewish traditions and customs. It has Hebrew and English side by side, as well as phonetic translations of the Hebrew. The prayer book, with photos and the transliteration, is an example of the rabbi's approach, Dashow says. "It makes it more accessible, for visitors as well as members who may not read Hebrew," she says.

Senter says he strives to provide a setting that will be comfortable to everyone, and to have some fun. "For me, prayer paints a picture. It was a revelation to me that it doesn’t do that for everyone. I try to provide the picture," he says.

The congregation is known for its personal touch, he said, and emphasizes that with taglines such as "large enough to serve you, small enough to know you," and "where everyone knows your name." "We serve a specific need," Senter says. Parents of special needs children seek them out for their personal touch. About half of the Hebrew school students have some identifiable learning issue, a percentage that's high, he says. In most congregations it's 15% to 20% of the population.

His long-term goals, Senter says, are to continue to build relationships and to understand what congregation members need. MHJS offers a needed venue in the eastern Nassau County Jewish community, he says. "We're a smaller congregation that is surrounded by larger congregations. We know you were here and we're glad you came."