Greenport rabbi ‘dismissed for cause,’ board says

Rabbi Gadi Capela, spiritual leader of Congregation Tifereth Israel in Greenport for the past 13 years, was “dismissed for cause” by the temple’s board of directors on Aug. 12. 

“While this was a difficult decision, it became unavoidable based on a long-continuing atmosphere of contentious conduct and breaches of his contractual obligations that directly impact the forward progress and convivial environment within our shul,” president of the board of directors Sara Bloom wrote in an Aug. 13 letter to the congregation obtained by The Suffolk Times. “The decision was made through extended deliberations and after failed attempts to resolve these issues with the rabbi.”

Services, activities and events at the synagogue will continue as planned, Ms. Bloom wrote in the Aug. 13 letter. 

Rabbi Capela told The Suffolk Times he disagrees with the board’s authority to fire him as the congregation’s spiritual leader and its decision to publicize the decision to the community in last week’s letter.

“The main issue that I had … is the difference between the power of the board and the power of the congregation,” he said. “So, I wanted to know what the congregation had to say and that was not somehow done.”

“If you had a survey of the community or the congregation, I’m sure it would be a different story,” he said. Rabbi Capela said some of the board’s claims in its letter are “not true” and will have to be deliberated.

In New York, state case law and statute “prohibits synagogue boards from playing any but a passive role in the ‘calling, settlement, dismissal or removal of’ [a] rabbi,” as noted in a report by The New York Metropolitan Region of The United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism.

The board declined The Suffolk Times’ request for further comment on the matter. The Suffolk Times also contacted five members of the congregation asking for comments, but received no responses.

The rabbi said he has not missed a sermon in his 13 years of service as Congregation Tifereth Israel’s spiritual leader. He led the temple through the Covid-19 pandemic, spiritual changes in the Jewish world of faith and has led group trips to Israel for years. He feels that he provided stability to the Fourth Street synagogue throughout his years serving the congregation.

“I love my community and my congregation, and so I really separate between the actions of the board and the congregation and the community,” Rabbi Capela said. “The bottom line issue, and again I have respect for individuals on the board, it’s a matter of agreeing who has the power to hire and fire.”

According to his profile on the synagogue’s website, Rabbi Capela became rabbi of Congregation Tifereth Israel after his ordination from the Jewish Theological Seminary in 2012. He is also president of the East End Jewish Community Council. 

Rabbi Capela was born and raised in Israel and moved to New York in 1995 when he was 22 after he served four years in the Israeli Defense Forces. He graduated from Yeshiva University in 2001 where he studied business management and Jewish studies. Rabbi Capela worked as a business analyst and project manager in the banking and consulting industries while completing a master’s degree in Jewish philosophy from Yeshiva University. 

He also created Project Genesis, a Jewish-Christian adult education program where Rabbi Capela and religious education lecturer Donald Russo discuss and interpret Christian scriptures and commentary from Jewish heritage, in 2006. The programs are taught at Peconic Landing in Greenport.

His role in Project Genesis is something Rabbi Capela said inspired him to become a rabbi and has “enhanced” his work as a spiritual leader in the community.

“This community has become my family in so many ways that the interfaith work is definitely a big plus,” Rabbi Capela said, “and it brings people to the synagogue. It brought many people over the years to the synagogue.”