By Ronnie Lovler
It was beshert, or quite simply, meant to be. Rabbi Cy Stanway was looking for a synagogue where he could serve as an interim rabbi in the spring of 2025.
That was exactly when congregants at Temple Shir Shalom were seeking an interim rabbi after the synagogue’s first full-time religious leader, Rabbi Michael Joseph, retired after 21 years.
In other words, Shir Shalom would have a gap year, a process dictated by the Central Conference of American Rabbis (CCAR) to help synagogues experiencing change take time to think about what they want before bringing in another full-time rabbi.
Serendipitously, up in New Jersey, Rabbi Cy, as he prefers to be called, was looking for what to do next after a nearly three-decade stint at Temple Beth Miriam in Elberon, New Jersey. He didn’t want another long-term commitment, but he wasn’t quite ready to step away from the bimah.
“I’m a trained interim rabbi, so I thought, let’s see what’s out there,” Stanway said in a joint interview with his wife, educator Stella Jeruzalmi Stanway.
Rabbi Cy interviewed here and with a synagogue in New York, “I was in New York, and they have a fabulous congregation. It’s just fantastic. And I thought it’s going to be hard to beat,” he said.
“Then I was invited to come down here, and I said this is going to be hard to beat, too,” he said. “But we weighed everything. We don’t have children living at home. We don’t have to displace children. We could retire, but I didn’t want to retire,” said. “In the end, there was just something about Gainesville and Shir Shalom.”
But there’s more. Stanway had led religious services in Gainesville previously, before he ever set foot in Shir Shalom.
“When I came back from Israel as a second-year student,… I served as a student rabbi at the University of Florida 40 years ago for the high holidays. So, this was, in a sense, like coming home”, Stanway said.
So, four decades later, Rabbi Cy was back in Gainesville to serve as Shir Shalom’s interim religious leader.
Rabbi Stanway was intrigued by his conversation with Board President Yale Freeman and others on the search committee when he interviewed here. “They didn’t want a transition rabbi. They wanted a transformational rabbi. And when I heard that, I thought, this is my bread and butter. This is right up my alley,” he said.
Then, as one thing led to another, Yale asked Rabbi Cy if he could play a guitar. We all know the answer to that, especially if you have attended Shabbat services this year. Can he sing? Again, you know the answer.
When he attended a children’s religious school service and learned about some of the problems there, he smiled. Why? Because he had a secret sauce — his wife Stella, who had been the religious school director in their previous congregation,
“I was thinking, boy, have a got a deal for you. A real bargain,” he said.
So, Stella became part of the package, sweetening the deal by signing on as interim religious school director. Let’s just call it a two-for-one with an interim rabbi and an interim religious school director wrapped up in one family package.
In other words, Shir Shalom got a BOGO with the Stanways.
Now their year here is drawing to a close, and for them and for us, their departure is bittersweet.
“Stella turned the religious school around. And I did what I could with the congregation. I think we were successful. Coming down here has been the best year of my rabbinate, and I’ve had some really good years.
“As it turned out, I was needed here, which was just the biggest blessing that most people don’t know about,” Rabbi Cy said. And so was his wife, Stella.
Why does he say that?
“ Because everybody is so responsive to us. And so friendly, and we’ve created some beautiful friendships and relationships,” he said. “It’s just been a great experience for us to watch the synagogue change and grow.
“ Because I’m an interim, I am kind of am on the outside. So, I don’t get involved in the politics of a congregation. My main job here was, yes, transformational, but it was also to prepare the congregation for a new rabbi,” he said.
“I think I’ve succeeded in everything that I’ve done, and Stella has succeeded in everything that she’s done in the religious school. It was just a great year,” he said.
Stella recalled how her original plan for her husband’s interim rabbinate here was to stay home in New Jersey and spend that time decluttering and getting ready to downsize. But she didn’t. And she is glad she came.
“When we got the reception that we did, you know, with the openness and the warmth and the willingness to trust us, not to mention the beautiful spread that the Sisterhood did to welcome me in the fall,” Stella said. “We were just so enveloped in love that it was healing for us, and that’s one of the biggest reasons why it was such a great year.
“So, when everybody’s giving you affirmation, how can it go wrong?” Stella added.
She noted that it was the mutual desire of the congregation and the Stanways to make this a transformational year for the synagogue that made it really work.
In his introductory letter to the congregation, still posted on our website, Rabbi Cy laid out his plans to teach Talmud, Torah, adult Hebrew classes, and a theology class. He did all that and more.
He also wrote that he was “always available.” That too was true.
For Rabbi Cy, some of the transformational aspects happened on the bimah. Music became part of the package. Congregants, including religious school students, joined him on the bimah to sing or play instruments. At a recent Friday night service, we saw two young girls spontaneously run up to the bimah to join in the singing and grab tambourines to become part of the joy.
Because Rabbi Cy has such a good time on the bimah, so does everyone else up there, as well as the rest of us in the sanctuary.
For Stella, it happened at school, as she worked to create the right environment for learning. “Before, the classrooms were just folding tables and chairs, which aren’t even child sized. We made them (the kids) feel like we’re not messing around here. We’re serious, and we care about you this much that we’re investing in your education as a community,” Stella said. “And we keep things fun.”
In fact, the Stanways keep things fun for everyone. One of the last events that Rabbi Cy will offer at Shir Shalom is a May 24 showing of the 1972 film The Poseidon Adventure with a discussion to follow as a culmination of the New Testament course he offered.
He will lead his last service on Friday, June 5, which also happens to be the Stanways 39th wedding anniversary. Then Rabbi Cy will be heading off to Boca Raton to serve as interim rabbi at Congregation B’nai Israel there. Stella may stay on board as a consultant for the religious school and could even pop up here from time to time.
He’s working now with Rabbi Bess Wohlner, who will join us in July, keeping her up to date on lifecycle events and conversions, and who’s working on what, as she gets ready to join us.
“I’m trying to take as much off her plate to get her started as I possibly can, so that her transition into this life is easy, “he said.
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