Rabbi Michael Siegel will retire at the end of June. (Photo courtesy of Anshe Emet Synagogue)
In 1976, Rabbi Michael Siegel was sitting at a table at the Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS). It was St. Patrick’s Day, and he had decided to wear a green tie to his rabbinical school interview. “That did not charm them,” Siegel quipped. He did, however, make a compelling case for becoming a rabbi.
“That which drove me to want to enter into this universe—the rabbinate—was a desire to engage fully and help lead a community,” he said. “I saw the rabbinate as an expression of my love of people, wanting to build a Jewish community, and a love of Judaism and Jewish study.”
Building and leading community is exactly what he has done for the past 44 years at Anshe Emet Synagogue (AES). On June 30, Siegel is retiring from his distinguished career as Senior Rabbi at the 1,200-household Conservative congregation in Lakeview.
Sam Schwartz-Fenwick, President of the AES Board of Directors, said that there’s a direct line between how Siegel sees the value in every person and how that care works in practice. Siegel’s leadership has also allowed for a lot of creativity, with multiple Shabbat services in the building every week: “It’s due to Rabbi Siegel’s vision of realizing that a community doesn’t only need to have one voice,” Schwartz-Fenwick said. “That’s [his] throughline of how we maintain community while embracing diversity.”
AES Rabbi Benjy Forester added: “One part of why [he] was so successful over four decades is because he was constantly trying to evolve and anticipate the next frontier of Jewish life. He was the first Conservative rabbi to perform same sex weddings in Chicago. He envisioned this building and this community as a center for Jewish life that could be dynamic as people’s needs evolved.”
A historic congregation founded in 1873, Anshe Emet remains a thriving center for Jewish life for Lakeview and all of Chicago. Siegel shared 32 years on the bimah (pulpit) with world-renowned Cantor Alberto Mizrahi, now AES Hazzan Emeritus, and also experienced “one of the unexpected pleasures of the rabbinate”: mentoring the 11 younger rabbis who have come through AES during his time.
“The rabbi I have become is, in large part, due to the guidance of my teacher,” shared Rabbi D’ror Chankin-Gould, Executive Director at University of Chicago Hillel, who served as Rabbi at AES for over a decade.
Beyond Anshe Emet’s walls, Siegel has had a local, national, and international impact. He is a past President of the Chicago Board of Rabbis, served on the Executive Council of the Rabbinical Assembly of America and on JTS’s Chancellor’s Rabbinic Cabinet, and was a national Co-Chair of the Magen Tzedek Commission. He served on the Executive Boards of both MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger and JUF. Siegel has served on the Board of Directors for Magen David Adom, NATAL, as well as AJC Chicago. Representing AES at the White House for various occasions, Siegel gave, in 2015, the opening prayer to the U.S. House of Representatives.
Through outreach to fellow clergy, Siegel has worked to deepen relationships between Chicago’s African American and Jewish communities. He has an especially close relationship with Pastor Chris Harris, Sr. and Bright Star Church Chicago, and serves on the Board of Directors for the Bright Star Community Outreach (BSCO) TURN Center, a trauma counseling call-in center in Bronzeville.
Thanks to Siegel and Harris, NATAL—a JUF-supported organization which works with Israelis who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder—has been engaged in training and modeling for the center. To date, Bright Star Community Outreach has taken over 70,000 calls. “We’re hoping that we can replicate that in other places,” Siegel said, when asked about specific plans for after retirement from the pulpit.
Following his retirement, Siegel will remain at AES as Rabbi Emeritus. This summer, he is looking forward to welcoming more grandchildren, as well as more flexibility to continue projects such as his work with BSCO.
“He is 100% willing to put in the work 100% of the time,” AES Senior Cantor Rachel Brook said. “You see that in the way that he’s built this community, in the way that he’s dedicated himself to causes that he truly believes in.”
“He’s leaving a really beautiful legacy,” Brook continued. “He’s not going anywhere, but he’s leaving a deep impact.”
