Like “shalom,” “aloha” in the Hawaiian language is both a greeting and a farewell.
Saying hello and bidding wistful goodbyes is what husband-and-wife Rabbis David Kopstein and Patti Philo Kopstein now face after leaving North Bay pulpits to take new posts in Hawaii and New Zealand.
“We leave behind many friends and fond memories of our years in the North Bay,” said Kopstein in a phone interview from Hawaii.
The Reconstructionist rabbis have already departed from their congregations — hers Ner Shalom in Cotati and his B’nai Israel of Vallejo — to start a Judaic studies program on the Big Island of Hawaii. The Kopsteins have had a home on the Big Island for some years, in Kailua-Kona, the locale of their Elderhostel-sponsored program.
From Hawaii, they will go on to share a pulpit at the Progressive Jewish Community of New Zealand. Kopstein, 50, will be a full-time rabbi and Philo Kopstein, 49, will work as a part-time associate rabbi at the Progressive congregation in Auckland, which has about 100 member families. The Progressive stream of Judaism outside North America is a cross between Reform and Conservative Judaism. Philo Kopstein also has plans to teach Jewish bioethics at a university there.
The couple said they plan to travel back and forth between New Zealand and Hawaii to maintain their work in both locations.
“I had my eyes on the [New Zealand] post for a long time,” Kopstein explained.
A friend and former merchant marine once told him that New Zealand was the most beautiful and rugged country he had seen during his world travels. The friend’s lavish description impressed the rabbi, who like his wife is an avid outdoorsperson.
The davening duo enjoy hiking, sailing and snorkeling.
Coincidentally, the New Zealand position came available at the same time that the couple’s son was graduating from high school and their daughter was graduating from college.
Philo Kopstein gave up her pulpit at Ner Shalom after her husband accepted the New Zealand post. The Kopsteins were founding members of the Cotati congregation, the first Reconstructionist synagogue in Northern California.
She later was offered and accepted the associate rabbi position in New Zealand.
With many Jewish families living in more rural areas of the country, the Kopsteins hope to scout the countryside to expand the reach of their congregation, one of only two in the country. According to a 1991 census, there are some 4,500 Jews in New Zealand. Most are of British and American origin, Kopstein said.
The congregation also has members from Iran, the former Soviet Union, South Africa, Israel and Canada, he noted. While many of the country’s Jews are newcomers, Jews first settled in New Zealand during the 19th century.
According to Kopstein, the early Jewish settlers came without women. Because most of New Zealand’s settlers were Christian, the Jews resorted to intermarrying with local Maori tribeswomen. Consequently, many Maoris, once the fiercest tribespeople of the South Pacific, now consider themselves heirs of Jewish culture.
One such descendent of the settlers returned to his Jewish roots by converting, according to Kopstein. Today, he reads Hebrew as well as any yeshiva bocher.
In fact, the Kopsteins said they were surprised at the New Zealanders’ proficiency at Hebrew and reading Torah. The rabbis had expected to find a lower level of Jewish knowledge, as might be expected in more remote areas of the United States.
Nevertheless, the couple plan to beef up Jewish programming by establishing liaisons with Jewish communities in the South Pacific region, which includes Australia, India, Singapore and other South Pacific islands.
The Kopsteins also look forward to hoofing it into the nether-regions of their island homes. Philo Kopstein said she is working on a book, “Tropical Torah,” that explores environmental themes found in Scripture.
She will make a brief return to the Bay Area next weekend for a goodbye party at Congregation Ner Shalom. For information, call (707) 664-8622.