After 15 years service to Congregation Beth El, Levin will becomes the
Conservative synagogue's emeritus rabbi in September, when he plans to
travel, author several books and explore the possibility of writing a
syndicated column. 

He told HERITAGE that deteriorating hearing made continuation in the
pulpit impractical. He said the condition stemmed from his service as a
chaplain during the Vietnam War when he rode on a daily basis on "noisy" 
C130s which shuttled GI's in and out of combat areas. While more recent
chemotherapy treatments for Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma successfully
brought his cancer into remission, it exacerbated his hearing problems,
Levin said.

Rather than pick an immediate permanent successor for Levin, the board of
Beth El decided to negotiate a one-year contract with Silverman, whose
long career had crossed with Levin's in Los Angeles where Silverman
served as the rabbi of Temple Sinai and Levin was rabbi at Hollywood
Temple Beth El.

"I first met him when I came to Los Angeles in 1976," said Levin. "As a
leading figure of the Jewish community of Los Angeles, he was known for
his erudite sermons, his scholarship, his warmth and his extraordinary
fundraising ability." 

Although Silverman was nearly two decades senior to Levin "he treated
me like a colleague of equal stature as well as being my mentor. We got
to know each other very well, and I always looked up to him as a model of
a rabbi. He devoted time every day to study, he was extremely efficient in
his work, and he used afternoons on the golf course of the Hillcrest
Country Club to raise major sums of money, not only for his synagogue but
for Jewish life throughout Los Angeles."

Silverman is a member of a distinguished rabbinic family. His father,
Morris, edited a siddur published in 1946 that for many decades was a
standard in Conservative synagogues. The younger Silverman is an author
and communicator in his own right, having produced the "Synagogue of the
Air" for the televised American Jewish Hour. Before his tenure in Los
Angeles, Silverman served for 20 years as the rabbi of Temple Sholom in
Greenwich, Conn., where he also served as president of the Greenwich
Board of clergy.

Nationally, Silverman has served as chairman of the Rabbinic Cabinet of
the United Jewish Appeal, as well as on the board of directors of the Joint
Distribution Committee, World Council of Synagogues, Zionist
Organization of America and on the steering committee of the Jewish
Theological Seminary.

"My wife Bobbie and I are thrilled with the potential and challenge of this
wonderful congregation," Silverman said of his appointment to a position
which Beth El formally has titled "Distinguished Visiting Rabbi and
Scholar-in-Residence." The Silvermans' stepson and daughter-in-law,
David & Miriam Smotrich, are members of Congregation Beth El.