Rabbi Folberg standing in the CBI garden. Credit: Kael Clark

By Tonyia Cone

Since Rabbi Steven Folberg was named Congregation Beth Israel’s senior rabbi in 1991, he has witnessed a lot of change. Austin’s Tech Boom had just begun and the city was experiencing explosive growth.

Alongside Central Texas’ population surge, Austin’s Jewish community grew, bringing with it more congregations and havurot, a Jewish day school, expanded services and organizational infrastructure and the creation of the Dell Jewish Community Campus.

Now, after 33 years at CBI, Folberg’s tenure as its senior rabbi is coming to a close. Congregation leaders have selected Rabbi David Young to begin as the congregation’s interim rabbi in July, and are preparing for the hiring of a new, settled senior rabbi who will begin in July 2025.

Raised in Philadelphia with a rich Jewish upbringing, all four of his grandparents immigrated from Russia and Folberg’s parents were fluent in Yiddish, Folberg realized that he loved teaching while at LaSalle University. Being one of the only Jewish people many of his friends had ever met, answering questions about Judaism set the stage for his rabbinical career. He was ordained at Hebrew Union College in 1985.

Folberg next served as assistant and associate rabbi at Temple Beth-El in Great Neck, New York. After six years, CBI’s senior rabbi position caught his attention because he had fallen in love with Texas Jews while working at Union of Reform Judaism Greene Family Camp in the summers of 1982 and 1983.

“I liked that it wasn’t like being on Long Island where there were more rabbis than you could shake a lulav at,” Folberg said.

Folberg knew CBI should be his next home because of the kindness and humanity of people he met during interviews. That care later continued as Folberg experienced family health crises and the death of his parents, when congregation leaders covered for him so he could take time off.

Over more than three decades at CBI, Folberg oversaw many changes. In 1991, the congregation had one full-time employee and 400 member households, many of whom owned businesses along Congress Avenue and helped build the city.

While it was difficult shepherding his congregation through the late 1990s decision over whether to move to the Dell Jewish Community Campus, navigating those issues eventually led to building CBI’s Shirley Barish Learning Center and remodeling the Helen and Milton Smith Auditorium. Later, a 2021 arson attack would lead to another remodeling of Smith Auditorium as a transitional sanctuary.

Today more than 700 households belong to CBI, he noted, adding, “I take a great deal of pleasure in how far the synagogue has come. The way the congregation is run is much more sophisticated than it was 33 years ago.”

Being at one synagogue for so long has given Folberg the opportunity to see his students move away after graduating high school and return years later. He has even been asked by people who went to the temple preschool to conduct life cycle events, including a brit milah ceremony for a baby whose father’s bris he had also attended.

CBI President Sarah Holland, explained that as a parent, she saw her children connect and engage with Judaism thanks to Folberg.

“Everyone knows that Rabbi Folberg can give an outstanding sermon–his teachings resonate with my heart and mind in a way I never thought possible–but to see him tell a story to little kids is like no other experience,” she said. “With his warmth and openness, he has made Judaism fun and approachable for all of us.”

Folberg takes pride in CBI’s emphasis on being open and welcoming, as well as the community service and social justice issues its volunteers have tackled, such as an overnight shelter program for homeless families and an Alzheimer’s respite program for caregivers.

In 2007, CBI stepped in at the last minute and held the 2007 Austin Area Inter-religious Ministries Thanksgiving celebration after a church backed out of their commitment to hold the event when they learned that time would be allowed for Muslim prayer.

Longtime CBI member Esther Teller explained that when she and her daughter moved to Austin, Folberg’s Rosh Hashanah sermon about mental health struck her as honest, brave and compassionate.

“Twenty years later, this kind of honesty is more important than ever. His dedication to sharing meditation, especially daily morning meditation classes (over Zoom) during COVID kept many of us calm, healthy and spiritual,” Teller said. “His welcoming warmth towards the LGBTQ, interracial, interfaith and every other person who comes to CBI continues the message of humane acceptance. He is a mensch.”

On July 1, Folberg will continue to do the work that brings him joy as interim rabbi at Falmouth Jewish Congregation in Falmouth, Massachusetts.

Looking back at his time at CBI, Folberg says he strove to create a community he wanted to be part of.

“I feel like that’s happened,” he said. “It’s a cool place with great people. If I wasn’t a rabbi it’s where I’d want to belong.”

CBI will honor Rabbi Folberg at Gather in Gratitude, a gala weekend that is open to the community, from April 12 to 14. For more information, visit bethisrael.org.