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Rabbi tells congregation of personal struggleBy JON WILSON © St. Petersburg Times, published October 18, 2000 ST. PETERSBURG -- Rabbi Stephen F. Moch said he had been dealing with "a wall of fear." And to get over it, he decided to take a difficult step. In a letter last week to his Temple Beth-El congregation, Moch wrote that he is gay and that he decided to tell his flock "only after much agonizing." Temple Beth-El, 400 Pasadena Ave. S, is one of the largest synagogues in the Tampa Bay area, ministering toabout 600 families. In his letter, he asked for understanding and said he wanted to tell his congregation himself. "Over the course of time, I have wrestled with my sexuality and recognized that I am gay," wrote Moch, 49. "I have also concluded that I need to live my life openly and honestly, and that it is important for you to know that your rabbi is being true to himself and to our community." Three "Temple Town Hall" meetings are scheduled -- on Thursday (7:30 p.m.), Oct. 24 (7 p.m.) and Oct. 25 (7:30 p.m.) -- to give congregants a chance to air their feelings. So far, the range of reaction is unclear. Members who were contacted had no comment. Moch has declined to elaborate on the letter, other than to say last week that its subject is "a private family matter between me and my congregational family." He was named rabbi in 1991 and recently returned from a sabbatical of several months. In a letter that went to members about the same time Moch's did, temple president Cecile Berko said the temple's board met with Moch on Oct. 11. "We reaffirmed our commitment to the congregation and rabbi, and we are going forward with open minds and open hearts," Berko wrote. She has declined to comment further. Rabbis serve under contract with their temples, rather than through appointment by higher authority. Moch came to Temple Beth-El from Springfield, Ill., where for six years he was the rabbi at Temple B'rith Sholom. Before that, he was the rabbi at Temple Emanuel in Winston-Salem, N.C., from 1978 to 1985. He has been separated from his wife, Jacqueline. The Mochs have three children. In his letter, Moch suggested that going public with his sexual orientation had lifted a burden. He also expressed hope that his struggle would benefit the congregation. The rabbi wrote: "I am the same person and the rabbi that you have known for the past eight years, with the same passions for our Jewish faith that I have always had. Yes, you will see changes in me, but they will all be changes for the better. "I no longer have to hide behind a wall of fear. I now feel so much more balanced and human. Because of the pain and confusion that I have experienced in my own personal journey, I can understand far better the pain of my congregants in their own personal challenges and crises." Temple Beth-El is a Reform synagogue. The denomination is considered the most liberal of the Reform, Orthodox and Conservative branches of Judaism. Reform Judaism makes up the largest group of rabbis in the United States. In March, about 500 members of the Central Conference of American Rabbis approved in a voice vote a resolution that supported any conference member's decision to affirm a gay couple through Jewish ritual normally reserved for marriage. The group of rabbis qualified its position somewhat by adding that it would "recognize the diversity of opinion within our ranks" and would back rabbis choosing not to officiate at gay ceremonies. In 1990, the same conference gave its approval to rabbis who are gay. - Times researcher Cathy Wos contributed to this report.
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