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Traditional Congregation of Creve Coeur Seth D. Gordon, Rabbi Ephraim I. Zimand, Rabbi Emeritus
Shalom. Welcome to the website of Traditional Congregation. I invite you to visit Traditional and to speak with me personally and with members of our outstanding congregation. Although I arrived in St Louis only in mid-July of 2007, Traditional has already made an indelible impression on me. Let me introduce myself. I have been a pulpit rabbi for 25 years – 15 in Bethpage, Long Island (New York) and the five years prior in Annapolis, Maryland. My wife, Marian, and I were both raised in New Jersey and are graduates of Rutgers University. In 1987 I earned my first rabbinical degree and my studies included several years in New York and Jerusalem. In 1998 I earned a second s’michah (rabbinic ordination) from Rav David Weiss Halivni and the ITJ (Institute of Traditional Judaism). The ITJ is the academic institution of the UTJ (Union of Traditional Judaism). Our motto, an excellent and real expression of who we are and what we stand for, is “genuine faith with intellectual integrity.” We are faithful to God, Torah teachings, the authority of halachah (Jewish law), and yet we engage with modern scholarship to better understand the requirements, meaning, and latitudes and limits, of our religious tradition and to learn about the Jewish people in their societies. As an expression of that religious tradition we are responsible to God, to each other, to the people of the world, and to our environment. As an expression of my religious faith, no single institution or movement has any ultimate claim upon me; I am proud to have learned from Orthodox, Conservative, and Reform rabbis, teachers, and educators. However, I live and teach what might be best expressed as modern orthodoxy (small “o”). To better explain my orientation, my ideal model, for his intellectual openness and approach, for his firm but limited approach to halachah, and for his unwavering commitment to God and the Jewish people and to others (he was a highly-regarded physician), is the Rambam (Maimonides). I have served in mechitzah and mixed-seating congregations; Traditional has both mechitzah and non-mechitzah sections. My five children (19-10 years old) attend modern orthodox day schools. I have led USY on Wheels (in the late 70’s and 80’s) and more recently I taught Torah / Bible at Solomon Shechter High School on Long Island. I have been on the Executive Board of the UTJ and ITJ, and have served on medical ethics committees. Finally, I have worked with communities to promote cooperation among Jews and non-Jews – founding the Aleph-Bet Jewish Day School in Annapolis in 1989 (Orthodox-Conservative-Reform) and the African-American Jewish Coalition of Anne Arundel County (Annapolis 1988), guiding the Long Island Institute of Adult Jewish Studies, and working to bring rabbis of different outlooks to cooperate together in Annapolis and Long Island. Although we are new to the Midwest, we are excited by our congregation and by the opportunities that God has given us. I hope you will visit us and will become involved religiously and communally. Our congregation, including my wife Marian and I, pledge that we will help you and your family fulfill to the best of your ability the role that God has for you. You will undoubtedly find Traditional Congregation a unique, warm, welcoming, and purposeful congregation dedicated to the ideals and teachings of Torah. We look forward to meeting you. Rabbi Seth D. Gordon |
