In 1995, Camille Shira Angel entered the “family business” of eight generations. She became a rabbi.
Her father was a rabbi, his father was a rabbi — back through the ages, the Angels were rabbis.
“I grew up surrounded by lots of rabbis, whether as friends or family. My sister even married a rabbi,” said Angel, who next month will become the new rabbi at Reform Congregation Sha’ar Zahav in San Francisco. “It was sort of like the family business.”
The rabbi with the celestial last name is leaving her post as associate rabbi at Congregation Rodeph Sholom in New York “I’ve had an amazing tenure at Rodeph Sholom, but I’m ready to go out and serve people as a senior rabbi,” she said. “I’m just thrilled that it’s going to be with Sha’ar Zahav.”
She is succeeding Rabbi Jane Litman.
During her five years at Rodeph Sholom, Angel helped transform the synagogue from a “mainstream, prim and straight” congregation to a “more inclusive community [which] opens it doors to quite a number of gay and lesbian” congregants.
So a congregation as progressive as Sha’ar Zahav seems to be a perfect fit for Angel.
“It’s such a vibrant congregation,” she said. “I want to continue to make it a place where all people feel welcome. I was nourished in my own coming out and want to give that same type of nourishment to others.”
Angel was also attracted by the “unique partnership” between the synagogue’s lay leaders and rabbi.
“There’s an enormously committed lay leadership and a high level of volunteerism,” she said. “That was very compelling to me.”
David Gellman, president of Sha’har Zahav, said he looks forward to seeing Angel forge a strong partnership between the rabbi and lay leadership.
According to Gellman, Angel was selected unanimously for the post by the temple’s 10-person hiring committee and Va’ad (board of directors).
He said they appreciated her rabbinical countenance.
“She’s is an eight-generation rabbi, and that comes through when you meet her — she has a real rabbi presence,” said Gellman. “She’s thoughtful, empathetic, kind and experienced.
“We also liked how she listened. She’s a marvelous listener.”
Angel’s priorities as a rabbi are evenly matched by the synagogue’s needs. When the hiring committee indicated it wanted a spiritual teacher and counselor rather than an administrator, that’s something Angel said she was more than willing to be.
“I try to excite people’s curiosity and help them make Judaism exciting and relevant to their lives. This community seems eager and hungry to do so,” she said. “I speak from the heart. And I think this community will be receptive to my heartfelt teaching.”
Angel said she learned her heartfelt way through the death of her father when she was 12.
“That experience has, throughout my life, enabled me to draw from a lot of empathy when I respond in a pastoral way,” she said. “My work is often that of the healer — of being there to hold someone’s hand.”
Also, Angel said, she knows what it feels like to be a part of the minority, “having been among the first out lesbian rabbis in a mainstream congregation.”
Those feelings, she explained, became quite relevant in her study of Judaism.
“I understood the metaphors and stories and traditions of Judaism in a way that I never would have if I weren’t [a lesbian]. I know what it means to be a stranger and estranged. I know what it means to be marginalized.
“In a way, gay and lesbian Jews are not able to take their Judaism for granted,” she said. “The insights we bring from our coming out thoroughly infuse our passion for Jewish living and meaning.”
Angel starts her new job Aug. 28. She will be joined in San Francisco by her partner of four years, Karen Segal, “a music teacher in need of a job.”
But for Angel, a Los Angeles native, the upcoming move feels a lot like a homecoming.
“Growing up I always felt like I was on the wrong side of the state. Having grown up with a father as a rabbi, I have lots of colleagues from my childhood who have really genuinely reached out to me, and I haven’t even arrived in San Francisco yet.”