Rabbi settles in at Wantagh temple

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Rabbi Howard Nacht, of Temple B’Nai Torah in Wantagh, said that the word, “rabbi,” means teacher. But as he learned through his own path to the leadership role, rabbis do so much more.

“You need to know a lot about a lot,” Nacht, a 75-year-old New Jersey native, said. 

Nacht became the spiritual leader of Temple B’Nai Torah — a Reform congregation consisting of members from Wantagh, Seaford, Bellmore, Merrick and East Meadow — eight months ago. He said that he looks forward to continue learning about his faith community in 2017. 

Nacht didn’t always think becoming a rabbi was in his future; he studied municipal government and law at Rutgers University and worked in administrative and management capacities in local government and private business. A decade later, he sought change. 

“I knew, even as a teenager, that this was something I should be doing,” Nacht said. “But it was definitely a journey to get there.”

After Nacht closed his law books, he decided to take a leap of faith and attend the Academy for Jewish Religion, a non-denominational seminary in Yonkers, to pursue studies for the cantorate and the rabbinate. For 15 years, he studied the spectrum of Judaism with other cantors and rabbis and held High Holy Days services at synagogues in northern Westchester, Suffolk County, Manhattan and Connecticut.

For Nacht, transforming his career was a necessary step — one that came later in life. “As you can see from my white hair, I’m not a kid anymore,” he added with a laugh. 

Nacht began his clergy career as a cantor in Yorktown Heights and then in Oakdale. He later served as an assistant rabbi in Freeport and has been the Bar/Bat Mitzvah tutor at several local synagogues. 

Nacht appeared at Lincoln Center in Charles Osborne’s “Souls on Fire” — a critically acclaimed oratorio narrated by Leonard Nimoy.  In 2014, he saidm he had the honor of conducting the first Jewish prayer service in more than 75 years in a former synagogue building in Oberdorf, Germany. Nacht is also a past president of the Association of Rabbis and Cantors, the only joint rabbinic and cantorial professional organization in the United States. 

In 2008, he decided to settle down and retire, becoming a member of Temple B’Nai Torah. Nacht and his wife, Patti, a Lynbrook native, lived in Merrick, and wanted to remain close to home.

“It was my wife who really introduced me to the Reform movement, 40-plus years ago,” he said. “She is very active in the Women of Reform Judaism and other temple sisterhood circles.”

The couple quickly became active members of Temple B’Nai Torah. Nacht sometimes helped facilitate services if the rabbi or cantor couldn’t attend.

Because of his dedication to the community, the Temple B’Nai Torah board asked Nacht to serve as an interim spiritual leader when Rabbi Marci Bellows took a maternity leave. When Bellows announced that she would not be returning, Nacht said, he decided to stay. 

For the past eight months, he said, he has enjoyed interacting with the temple’s members. In particular, he said he loves taking part in wedding and baby-naming ceremonies.

“When you’re dealing with cute children and parents who are smiling from ear to ear, it’s hard not to love it,” he said. “It’s like having substitute grandchildren.”

Nacht said that he has worked extensively with Steven Sher, a cantor at Temple B’Nai Torah for more than eight years. Sher has been active in various Jewish communities for more than four decades. 

“My working relationship with him is, from my perspective, a very comfortable and enjoyable one,” Sher said of Nacht. “He is an easygoing colleague, treats me with respect and is flexible in his decision-making with regard to my input and suggestions.”

Sher said that, together, the duo collaborates on the structure and presentation of religious services and special ceremonies. He also asked Nacht to be a guest presenter in an adult education lecture series.

Noting that he has experience as a cantor, Nacht said that he has enthusiastically joined in various liturgical songs. Before and after he took over as rabbi, Sher said, Nacht has “always benefited the temple community by maintaining a presence that projects strength of continuity under his stewardship. He projects a warm and pleasant presence that has enabled the congregation to achieve some sense of stability.”