Saturday, November 29, 1997

Fargo temple hires first rabbi in 10 years

By JOHN MacDONALD / Associated Press Writer

FARGO, N.D. (AP) - Not everyone could understand Rabbi T. Gershon Blackmore's desire to come here. Even some in his new congregation questioned it.

After 19 years as a rabbi, the 44-year-old Blackmore probably could have headed any congregation he wanted - much bigger than this one, in a less isolated area of the country.

But Blackmore had long ago set his sights on Fargo and recently became the first permanent rabbi in North Dakota in 10 years.

"I've kind of had my eye on this place for a long time and, by golly, it came up. It was hard to resist," he said recently from his new home, still crammed with unpacked boxes.

Unable to afford or attract a permanent rabbi, the Fargo Jewish community, like others across the state, has relied for a decade solely on student rabbis from Minnesota seminaries.

Blackmore, who is married with two children, sees Fargo as a final destination, not a steppingstone to something bigger.

"There was very much a sense from the congregation that they did not want someone to come in for just a couple years. They'd seen enough of that," he said. "And I wanted a place where I could welcome your kids into Sunday school, do their bar mitzvahs and eventually their weddings."

Members of the congregation, which launched a search for a new rabbi about a year ago, were surprised someone with Blackmore's experience was interested in heading a congregation with just 82 families.

Fargo's Temple Beth El has gone through a string of rabbis since its inception in 1942. Most were young and stayed only a few years before moving to larger congregations. For the past decade, the house the congregation had built for a rabbi has been a rental property instead.

"The thing about (Blackmore) that really stuck out in my mind," said temple President Jim Shaw, "is that he just wanted to be here so badly. ... We are a small congregation in an isolated area and if you're a rabbi that can choose from three or four or five congregations, for many of them coming to Fargo is not the ideal move. For Rabbi Blackmore, it was."

Blackmore called the move a "homecoming, of sorts." His grandfather was raised near Devils Lake and always spoke highly of the people and the quality of life, Blackmore said.

Blackmore has spent the past 12 years as a pastoral counselor in Syracuse, N.Y. Before that, he served briefly as a rabbi for a temple in Bloomington, Ill.

Besides his pastoral duties in Fargo, Blackmore also will teach in the religious studies department at Concordia College in Moorhead, Minn.

While it is unusual for a rabbi with Blackmore's experience to want a small congregation, Blackmore said the setting is perfect for him.

"I've never been interested in the quantity," he said. "I've never wanted a congregation where you had a different bar mitzvah every week and you hardly knew the person."

Shaw, a Fargo television reporter, said the congregation was immediately impressed with Blackmore.

"I'm just thrilled we finally have (a rabbi) after such a long time," he said. "There were so many people who just doubted we would ever see another rabbi in our congregation or our state again."