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Guided By Grace

Rabbi David Steinhardt Retires After 31 Years from B’nai Torah Congregation In Boca Raton, Leaving Behind A Legacy Of Connection And Compassion

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For more than three decades, Rabbi David Steinhardt has been more than just a spiritual leader at B’nai Torah Congregation in Boca Raton — he’s been a teacher, counselor and friend. As he prepares to retire after 31 years, he leaves behind a community shaped by his devotion and guided by his belief in the power of connection.

“As a rabbi who believes in this idea of connection and believes in relationships as being the fundamental building block of a community and of a religious life, I’ve been really engaged in people’s lives, and it’s been quite a journey,” says Steinhardt. “The bottom line here is we’re a Jewish community, but we’re also a center for community and connection. Religion means connection. And that is the overreaching value that I feel our work has accomplished.”

A Community On The Rise

Steinhardt, 72, whose tenure ends June 30, came to Boca Raton in 1994, at a time when the Jewish population in the city was rapidly growing. “It was really impressive to see how this Jewish community came together to build synagogues, a Federation campus, places for the elderly, Jewish day schools and yeshivas, a Jewish Community Center and so much. We’ve done an incredible job both growing and building ourselves,” he says.

In addition to leading B’nai Torah Congregation, Steinhardt took an active role in shaping the broader Jewish landscape. He chaired both the Jewish Community Relations Council and the Israel Overseas Committee of the Jewish Federation of South Palm Beach County and also served on the Federation’s executive board.

Under his leadership, B’nai Torah Congregation experienced its own transformation. What was once a modest congregation evolved into a warm, welcoming, vibrant community of 1,300 families — now the largest Conservative synagogue in Southeast Florida.

Rabbi Jack Riemer, rabbi emeritus of Congregation Shaarei Kodesh in West Boca, says, “He turned B’nai Torah into one of the major synagogues in the country. He has created bridges to the non-Jewish community and worked together with them in harmony on shared concerns and has created a program with immense variety.”

Others who have worked with him over the years echo that sentiment.

“Rabbi Steinhardt has been a remarkable and visionary leader of B’nai Torah,” says Ted Deutch, CEO of the American Jewish Committee and former U.S. congressman. “His wisdom, compassion and moral clarity have left a profound impact on our community. Our family is deeply grateful for his guidance and the many ways he has enriched our lives.”

Building a community that could respond cohesively to larger societal events — such as 9/11, the Pittsburgh Tree of Life synagogue shootings in 2018 and the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks in Israel — was a process that was very important to Steinhardt.

“Being able to have a community that would come together and be supportive both of each other and responsive to this world was very meaningful to me. I knew that took an ability for an organization and the community to feel attached to each other.”

One B’nai Torah program that has made a significant impact in the community, Steinhardt says, is the TLC (Tzedakah, Learning and Chesed) Program — the cornerstone of the synagogue’s outreach efforts. Launched in 2012, the program was developed to teach the core Jewish value of tzedakah, or charitable giving, through learning and action. Made possible by benefactors Ron and Meryl Gallatin, TLC addresses critical needs in the community, including hunger and homelessness. Steinhardt was instrumental in bringing the dynamic Summer Faerman, who now leads the program, to the synagogue.

“It became an extraordinarily successful program. It grew relationships between this synagogue and nonprofits throughout the community. It got Jews involved in the larger community, and that’s a really important thing in this world. When people are so interested in their own needs, they lose sight of others,” Steinhardt says.

Redesigning and revitalizing education programs has also been a key element of Steinhardt’s leadership. Classes that meet people where they are in their Judaism and their lives have positively influenced enrollment.

“Judaism is a religion that’s pluralistic and it’s a religion of diversity. For children, religious education has to be compelling. It has to feel like it’s connected in some way to the lives that people live. Some people come with a really strong attachment to Jewish identity. Some people don’t have it, and we have to be able to respect everybody and create a Jewish life here that’s compelling when they want to learn about the traditions and the laws and the values of our people.”

Interfaith Community

Growing up in Bridgeport, Connecticut, in a multicultural neighborhood, Steinhardt’s family stayed when Jews left the city during the 1960s era of school busing and “white flight.”

“In a world where people don’t know each other, they begin to fear each other. When they fear each other, they begin to hate each other. It’s really important that people know each other and work together, create mutual projects where they can help other people too. It’s a really critical part of being human,” he says.

After meeting Rev. Andrew Sherman, rector at St. Gregory’s Episcopal Church, at a Christmas Eve service he attended 18 years ago, the two talked about creating an interfaith group. Together they formed the Boca Raton Interfaith Clergy Association (BRICA) to promote understanding and collaboration among different religious traditions. Christians, Muslims and Jews gather once a month to have conversations about the world, politics and religion. The association offers support to the community and each other and brings people together for community interfaith programs.

“David has been a trusted and gifted leader for the interfaith community in Boca Raton,” says Sherman, co-convenor of BRICA. “Through his leadership, the relationships among the clergy of Boca Raton have deepened and our community as a whole has been blessed. His wise and humane spirit has truly been inspiring.”

Bassem Alhalabi, a founding member of the Islamic Center of Boca Raton, says, “Whenever there is a tough issue — locally, domestically or internationally — Rabbi David is always ready to handle and discuss the issues in an incredibly balanced caring way. He has always been a model religious leader to many around him.

“When the young minds in the community see the various religious leaders interact like brothers, this gives them the ultimate hope, that the world is still good, and there is so much common good to share.”

An Inspired Leader

As a young man, Steinhardt attended a synagogue with young teachers from Yale University and Jewish Theological Seminary who made a lasting impression on him through their ideals and civic engagement. What had the greatest impact on him, however, was his mother’s family, who escaped from Germany, arriving in the United States in 1938.

“A generation of my family couldn’t get out and died in Auschwitz, and yet I had a grandmother and a mother who believed that you had to have relationships with all people. They were very aware of antisemitism, but it wasn’t the central element of our identification as Jews. There was always a sense that you’re responsible for yourself, for your family, for the community you live in and for your nation,” Steinhardt says.

He earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology at the University of Connecticut. After college, he taught high school while deciding whether to be a rabbi or a clinical psychologist. He chose the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York, where he was ordained. In May 2010, he received an honorary Doctorate of Divinity from the seminary.

His first pulpit was in Warren, Ohio, a town of about 50,000 people with fewer than 100 Jewish families. “It was very warm and comfortable. I wanted to go to a small community,” he recalls.

When a search committee from B’nai Torah Congregation asked him to take a look at Boca Raton, he wasn’t looking to move. “I came to this place, and I could feel the energy — the light, the promise of the future. There were a lot of people my age who were really involved in the synagogue. We moved down here in 1994, and I saw the opportunity that I had dreamt about. This place was growing rapidly. It was beautiful. The sun was shining, the palm trees were attractive, as was the beach. Although I’ve been to the beach three times in the last 31 years,” Steinhardt says with a smile.

A Lasting Impact

Reflecting on what makes for a good leader, he says, “Leadership is really found in the capacity to motivate other people, to empower people to have a voice and yet to be able to set the boundaries as to what’s necessary and unnecessary, what’s permissible and what’s forbidden. Leaders also need to have an undefinable quality when people look to them knowing that they’re authentic. Leaders can’t fake it.”

Cliff Viner, a member of the congregation for 34 years, a board member for more than 20 years and former president, says, “He works at a high level of knowledge and skill as a clergyman and a rabbi, which is very important. He understood the organizational aspects of the synagogue, which was of institutional importance. He also relates at a deep personal level regardless of the issue.”

Steinhardt married Viner and his wife Eda and bat mitzvahed his two daughters.

“We’re going to miss him,” Viner says. “I don’t think we could have built what we did without him because the rabbi understood the needs of the congregation and the needs of the community. He made a very special congregation. There’s nothing like B’nai Torah.”

In recognition of his enduring leadership, Steinhardt was honored on May 3 with the 2025 Melanie Jacobson Inspirational Jewish Leadership Award during Shabbat services. First presented in 2023, the award recognizes individuals who “exemplify visionary Jewish leadership, spiritual integrity and a deep commitment to community.”

Looking Ahead

In retirement, Steinhardt and his wife, Tobi — a retired physician — will divide their time between Massachusetts and New York, enjoying time with their five children and seven grandchildren, who range in age from 2 to 9.

Steinhardt, who will have rabbi emeritus status, hopes to teach at B’nai Torah Congregation and be available as a consultant and advisor.

“Also, one doesn’t retire and leave Boca. Boca is like the ultimate retirement community in the world,” he says.

When asked what he hopes his congregation will remember about him, he says, “That I care for them, that they made a difference in my life, that I learned from them and that B’nai Torah is a very important institution here in Boca Raton.”