Dear Friends,
I'm so touched by all the calls, letters, pictures, and beautiful tributes you offered me this past weekend and in the last few days. It's rarely easy to pick up and move. Hearing from so many of you about the work we've been able to do together these last four years has been a blessing to me.
For those of you who couldn't make it, here is the D'var Torah I gave this past Shabbat.
It includes highlights of my time here, and what I'll be up to next (podcasting, speaking, teaching, coaching, freelance lifecycles, getting married, and more).
For those who wish to keep in touch with me, I welcome your doing so.
This email address will soon come to an end.
Feel free to be in touch with me at rabbiilan@gmail.com or on my cell at (732) 735-8287.
If any of you will be visiting the D.C, area, feel free to reach out to me - I'd be happy to get together if I can. And if you have friends or family in the DC area who might need a rabbi for weddings, funerals, bnai mitzvah, baby namings, etc. feel free to recommend me to them and give them my contact information. I'd be most grateful for your doing so.
I leave Memphis on Sunday. I'll be in shul this Shabbat morning and look forward to hearing Rabbi Sarit's words of Torah. I'll also be back at the end of August for Micah Unowsky's Bar Mitzvah. After that, I don't know when I'll next be in Memphis. We'll see what the future has in store for me.
I've been spending a lot of time over the last ten days with Rabbi Sarit, Geo, and Elana.
I'm excited for Beth Sholom's future - you have a fabulous team here now, and I think this shul is poised for even more great things in the months and years ahead.
It's been a great honor for me to serve as your rabbi these last four years. From the bottom of my heart, I thank you for all the kindness you've shown me these years. I will always look back on my time here in Memphis and at Beth Sholom with pride and joy.
I look forward to whenever our paths may meet again.
With all my love and blessings,
Rabbi Ilan
