Rabbi Feinstein Celebrates 10 Years

Rabbi Morley Feinstein, who recently celebrated his 10th anniversary as rabbi of University Synagogue, agreed that getting the post there was a bit of a homecoming.

"I was at a different congregation," he said about growing up in West Los Angeles, where he graduated from Beverly Hills High School.

That being said, he not only knew of the synagogue, he'd been there off and on as a youth leader and knew the man who would one day become his predecessor Rabbi Allen Freehling.

But then came time to go to college, and he went on to University of California, Berkeley, then to ordination, and ended up serving for several years as associate rabbi in San Antonio, Texas, and then again in South Bend, Indiana, before returning to Southern California.

"It was a draw to a wonderful congregation," he said about why he came to University Synagogue. "And it's home."

When asked what he's most proud of accomplishing in his 10 years, he pointed directly to the congregation.

"This congregations is so engaged in connecting with one another, with the wider community, with Israel," he said. "We're all about connection and spirituality."

His next goal is to deepen those connections and to help the congregation connect better to themselves. It's a job he takes personally, especially since he has raised his two sons and is raising his twin daughters here.

"This is my family's home," he said, "And that makes it all the more important that we be the best that we can become."

The rabbi was recently feted with a reception before Shabbat services on May 11.