Newly unified Beit Kulanu names Rabbi Erika Purdy-Patrick as assistant rabbi

Rabbi Erika Purdy-Patrick may be new to the rabbinate, but she isn’t new to working with the Jewish community.

“Before rabbinical school, I was already a Jewish professional,” she said. “I worked at IKAR and the Jewish Emergent Network from 2016 to 2018, and then I worked at Temple Emanu-El in Dallas as a program director.”

She had rabbinic internships with congregations in California, Illinois and Mississippi, which provided the opportunity to lead Shabbat and holiday services, provide pastoral counseling, teach young and adult learners, and engage with interfaith families.

Purdy-Patrick will be ordained by the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Los Angeles on May 17, and then she will be making a cross-country trip to become the assistant rabbi at the new Beit Kulanu congregation.

The soon-to-be rabbi said she’s excited about working at the new congregation, formed when Rodef Shalom Congregation and Temple Sinai unified this year.

“I’ve seen people unifying in other parts of the country where it’s out of fear,” she said. “That’s not what’s happening here. I feel there’s a lot of joy and excitement, and really a lot of care. People are deeply invested in this process and are making it a really special place for everyone from both legacy institutions.”

A seventh-generation Texan, Purdy-Patrick said her family goes back to the 1700s in America and the 1800s in the Lone Star State. She and her husband, Mason Patrick, live in Los Angeles with their dog Quinn, while she finishes school.

Studying to be a rabbi has meant that she’s lived in several locales. She spent the first year of rabbinic study in Israel and then served as a student rabbi in Temecula, California, before spending time in the same position with congregations in Billings, Montana, as well as two more in southern California.

Beit Kulanu is her first stop in the Northeast.

“When people took me around the city, I saw that Pittsburgh was a place where I could be myself and grow as a person and in my rabbinate,” she said. “I instantly connected with the ethos of the city, the ambience. It feels comfortable. People are genuinely and authentically themselves. They’re hard workers with a good sense of humor. It already feels like home in a really beautiful way.”

Purdy-Patrick said that before she was a rabbi her “bread and butter” was working with young adults who didn’t “have a seat at the traditional table of Judaism.”

“I think a lot of my young adults didn’t feel that they had agency in creating and building the Judaism they wanted and were excited about, so that really motivates me,” she said.

She said that she also “loves” leading services and text study, which she approaches from a “conversational point of view.”

“I don’t believe I have all the answers, but I can find most of them,” she said.

Purdy-Patrick said it’s a 360-degree view of the rabbinate, where she’s interested in all parts of the job.

“I love taking care of people and meeting them where they are,” she said. “I really think that in this congregation, that’s something that I’m really excited to do. I’m going to look forward to doing it every day.”

Beit Kulanu Senior Rabbi Daniel Fellman said that Purdy-Patrick is “smart, capable, has a really fascinating background and history and is the exact kind of partner that we’ve been looking for to help create Beit Kulanu. I’m excited to welcome her and get to work with her.”

Fellman said he’s “profoundly grateful” to the members of the congregation who served on the search committee, noting they did “hours and hours” of work.

He said that Purdy-Patrick’s work history belies the fact that she’s only graduating from HUC this year.

“She worked at Temple Emanu-El in Dallas, which is really one of the nation’s best Reform synagogues, and at IKAR with Rabbi Sharon Brous in Los Angeles before she even went to rabbinical school. IKAR is as cutting edge as you get, so to have someone who worked in two of the most impressive synagogues in the country, it means we’re getting somebody who’s got a great background and great potential,” he said.

Beit Kulanu acting President Bill Battistone, too, said he is excited to have Purdy-Patrick join the congregation.

“We knew we needed the right person to come and support our community in this role and Rabbi Purdy-Patrick is going to be a terrific fit for our us,” he said. “Our congregants will really be excited to learn and work with her.”

Purdy-Patrick will begin serving the congregation on July 1. Until then she’s getting to know the city.

“It’s like a little city, big town,” she said. “It’s quirky. I love the fact that it has over 90 neighborhoods.”
The rabbi already has some passions that align with the city and its residents.

“I’m a huge hockey person,” she said, noting that she was able to join Temple Sinai’s Brotherhood for a game when she came to town for an interview.

“They picked me up at the airport and we drove straight to PPG. It was the perfect welcome for me,” she said.

Hockey aside, Purdy-Patrick said she’s eager to begin her time as rabbi.

“I’m really excited about serving Beit Kulanu,” she said. “This is a unique opportunity.” PJC

David Rullo can be reached at drullo@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.