Congregation Shir Ami welcomes new spiritual leader
Congregation Shir Ami announced that Rabbi David Evan Markus will become its next spiritual leader. He will assume the clergy role that Rabbi David E. Levy has held over the past year in an interim capacity.
Markus comes to Shir Ami after 13 years as the spiritual leader and music director of Temple Beth-El of City Island in New York. He is also a senior faculty member at the Academy for Jewish Religion, where he teaches in the seminary’s rabbinic and cantorial programs.
A fellow of Rabbis Without Borders, Markus has been a scholar-in-residence for organizations across North America.
After an extensive clergy search, Shir Ami CoPresidents Jackie Marschall of Old Greenwich and Marie Orsini Rosen of Stamford said they are excited to partner with Markus to strengthen and enrich both Congregation Shir Ami and the larger religious and secular community.
“Congregation Shir Ami has been going strong for over 20 years, and that strength comes from the partnership between its spiritual and lay leadership. The world around us is turbulent, and our faith grounds us,” they said in a news release. “But after talking even for a few minutes with Rabbi David, we are reminded that our faith also uplifts us. We look forward to where Rabbi David’s accomplishments and talents — Torah scholar, experienced congregational, Jewish and interfaith leader, spiritual counselor, published author, secular judge and skilled vocal and instrumental musician — will take us as we explore what is meaningful in our lives.”
While Markus officially starts on July 1, the Shir Ami leadership team will introduce him to the community during a Friday evening Shabbat Service at the First Presbyterian Church in Greenwich at 7:30 p.m. June 23. To learn more about Congregation Shir Ami, Markus and upcoming programs, visit congregationshirami.org.