February 20, 2026
Welcoming our new Senior Rabbi, Rony Keller!
Dear Temple Solel Community
As we look ahead to Rabbi Rony Keller’s arrival on July 1, I am delighted to share a brief and joyful video message from him. It is a wonderful opportunity to begin getting to know the person who will soon guide our congregation as Senior Rabbi.
In just under two minutes, you will get a genuine sense of who he is. Rabbi Keller speaks about the things that shape him: his deep love of Torah and serious Torah study, his passion for Jewish camping and life cycle moments, and his enduring connection to Israel (and, yes, hummus). He shares that family means everything to him, including Kylo, his one-eyed rescue dog.
A proud South Florida native and devoted Miami Hurricanes fan, he reflects with humor that rooting for his team has taught him to believe in miracles, in patience, and in showing up even when things are difficult. He is a lover of movies, especially The Princess Bride, and he brings a sense that kedusha, holiness, can be found in many places. It lives in Torah study, in Jewish camp, in cheering for a team, and even in a favorite film. For Rabbi Keller, holiness is something we cultivate not only in the sanctuary, but in the everyday rhythms of our lives.
Beyond these glimpses of personality, you will also see what our Search Committee and Board so clearly recognized: a rabbi with a pastoral heart, a gift for storytelling, a deep commitment to Jewish learning, and a natural ability to connect across generations. Rabbi Keller has built vibrant and inclusive communities in both Arizona and Florida, enriching spiritual life, strengthening lifelong learning, and showing up for families during life’s most meaningful moments.
Most importantly, he shares how excited he is to join Temple Solel and how much he looks forward to continuing to bring kedusha into “each and every step we take together.”
While July 1 marks his official start date, we are already planning opportunities this summer to meet Rabbi Keller in person, over coffee, at small gatherings, and following Shabbat services. We want every member of our community to have the chance to connect with him personally.
Please take a moment to watch his message below.
Join me in offering Rabbi Keller, Lisa, and their family a warm Baruch Haba, which means “welcome.” We are excited for this next chapter and for the sacred work ahead.
With anticipation and gratitude,
Jennet Kirkpatrick
President, Temple Solel
Special message from Rabbi Keller
January 30, 2026
Welcome Rabbi Rony Keller — Our Next Senior Rabbi
It is with great excitement and gratitude that we share wonderful news with our community. Temple Solel is delighted to announce that Rabbi Rony Keller will be joining us as our next Senior Rabbi, beginning July 1, 2026.
Rabbi Keller is a seasoned, thoughtful, and deeply relational rabbi who brings warmth, wisdom, and a strong commitment to community-building. He currently serves as Senior Rabbi of Congregation B’nai Israel in Boca Raton, Florida, and has strong ties to the Phoenix Jewish community from his many years at Congregation Beth Israel in Scottsdale.
A South Florida native with a deep love for Israel and Jewish education, Rabbi Keller holds degrees in religion, psychology, Hebrew Letters, and Jewish Education, and was ordained by Hebrew Union College–Jewish Institute of Religion in Los Angeles. He is a recognized leader in Jewish education and was honored with the title of Reform Jewish Educator (RJE).
Rabbi Keller is already planning to spend time with our community and hopes to visit Temple Solel in March, offering opportunities for connection as we begin this next chapter together.
We are deeply grateful to the Rabbinic Search Committee and especially to co-chairs Judy Schaffert and Howard Rosen for their extraordinary dedication and leadership throughout this process. This search reflected the very best of Temple Solel—thoughtful, caring, and grounded in our values.
Please join us in celebrating this meaningful and hopeful moment for Temple Solel. There will be more to share in the weeks ahead.
January 25, 2026
Update on the Senior Rabbi Search
The Board of Trustees would like to share an update on the search for Temple Solel’s
next Senior Rabbi.
We recognize that it has been some time since our last congregational update in
October, and we appreciate the community’s patience. While there has been little public
communication, this period has involved steady, serious, and thoughtful work behind the
scenes.
Since our last update, the Rabbinic Search Committee has completed interviews and
has entered the final stage of the process. We are in active contract discussions with a
senior rabbi candidate. To protect the integrity of the search and the privacy of the
candidate, we are unable to share a name or details until a signed agreement is in
place. While waiting is difficult, confidentiality at this stage is essential to a successful
outcome.
What we can share is that the search has been conducted with great care and
professionalism, and with close attention to the present and future needs of Temple
Solel. The Search Committee and the Board of Trustees remain fully engaged and are
approaching these final steps thoughtfully and responsibly. We are optimistic about
where the process stands.
As part of this work, we are also giving particular attention to families with upcoming
lifecycle moments, including b’nai mitzvah families, and to their understandable
questions during this period of transition.
As soon as there is a signed agreement, the congregation will receive a full
announcement, including background information and next steps for welcoming our new Senior Rabbi.
Going forward, we are committed to providing more regular updates,
even when confidentiality limits what can be shared.
Thank you for your patience, care for Temple Solel, and trust during this important
moment. This is sacred work, and it is being handled with the seriousness and love our
community deserves.
— Jennet Kirkpatrick, President, Board of Trustees
January 21, 2026
Dear B’nai Mitzvah Families,
There will be an informative meeting for all our upcoming b’nai mitzvah families. This meeting will be held at Temple Solel this Sunday, January 25th, immediately after Raker Religious School, around 12:15pm in the Sanctuary.
Our b’nai mitzvah families are a priority. We expect to have clarity about the senior rabbi situation soon, and we have plans in place regardless of the outcome. We are doing–and will continue to do–everything possible to ensure that each family has a beautiful ceremony and that every child has a meaningful relationship with clergy on the bimah.
Please join us on Sunday to hear all the ways we plan on supporting our b’nai mitzvah families.
January 13, 2026
A special message from Temple Solel President Jennet Kirkpatrick and Cantorial Soloist Todd Herzog
Dear Temple Solel Community,
After much thought and discernment, Todd Herzog has accepted a position at Temple Beth El in Boca Raton, Florida, and will be leaving Temple Solel at the conclusion of his current contract. Todd’s final day with us will be June 30, 2026. While we are grateful to have time to prepare for this transition, we know this news may bring feelings of sadness, surprise, and even grief. Those feelings are entirely understandable, and I want to acknowledge them openly.
Todd has been part of Temple Solel for 18 years, and his imprint on our community is profound. He has led us in countless Friday night services, built and sustained an adult choir, and created The Tribe to nurture musically gifted youth. He has brought professional musicians to elevate our High Holy Day worship, led Tot Shabbat at the preschool, and sung with and for generations of families at bar and bat mitzvah services. In recent years, as a rabbinic student, Todd expressed a desire to deepen his involvement in Torah study and adult education, and we have been proud to support him in that growth. His musical leadership, creativity, and presence have shaped the spiritual life of this congregation in enduring ways.
This next chapter represents a significant opportunity for Todd. Temple Beth El in Boca Raton is an exceptionally large congregation, with more than 2,000 families and an extensive clergy team that includes four full-time rabbis and three cantorial clergy. It offers Todd the chance to work in a setting with broad musical, pastoral, and educational resources, and to continue developing as a clergy leader. We did everything possible to retain him. This is an opportunity of a scope and scale that is simply different from what we can offer him. We respect his decision and are proud of what lies ahead for him.
As we look ahead, I want to share that Temple Solel is actively in negotiations with a candidate for Senior Rabbi, and we are hopeful that we will be able to finalize this process soon. In the meantime, we are taking deliberate steps to ensure continuity, care, and support across the life of the congregation. The Board and lay leadership are keenly aware that transitions can have a particular impact on families, especially those preparing for upcoming b’nai mitzvah. For those families, members of the Board will be reaching out personally to answer questions and offer reassurance. If others in the community would like additional information or have concerns they wish to share, please do not hesitate to contact me directly at jkirkpatrick@templesolel.org.
As we move forward, I want to lift up what endures at Temple Solel. Clergy come and go over the life of a congregation, but our community remains. It is the relationships among us—the ways we show up for one another, celebrate together, grieve together, and mark sacred moments together—that form the heart of this temple. That community is our strength, and it is what has sustained Temple Solel across generations.
For now, I hope we can hold two truths together: the sadness of an impending goodbye, and the deep gratitude we feel for Todd’s 18 years of service, creativity, and spiritual leadership among us. And I also hope we can hold a third truth with confidence: this is a strong, resilient, and deeply connected community. We have navigated change before, and we will do so again—with care for one another, trust in our shared values, and confidence in the life we continue to build together. Temple Solel is more than any one moment or any one leader. It is the people who make it a spiritual home, and that is a source of real strength as we move forward together.
With care and appreciation,
Jennet Kirkpatrick
President, Temple Solel Board of Trustees
Dear Solel Family,
This is the way I have begun many of my newsletters and clergy messages, and it reflects the way I have always understood Temple Solel: you are my family. Solel has been my home for the past 18 years, and the decision to leave this community has been one of the most difficult of my life.
Over the past year, my dad turned 85 and suffered a couple of strokes. Those challenges brought a new clarity to my life and underscored the sacred importance of being close to family. When the opportunity arose to serve a congregation in Boca Raton, less than 30 minutes from where my dad and stepmom live, I felt a deep pull to listen to God’s guidance and follow where I was being called.
Still, this decision has not been simple. There is so much I will miss about Temple Solel: the rhythm of our Shabbatot, the depth of our High Holy Days, the holiness of life-cycle moments we shared, and the countless conversations – some planned, many spontaneous – that shaped my music and my soul. You have been my teachers as much as I have been your clergy, and I am profoundly grateful for the opportunity to have grown here alongside you.
Kerry and I both cherish this community deeply, and we will miss each one of you. Temple Solel will always hold a special place in our hearts. We hope you will come visit us in Florida, and we trust that our paths will continue to cross in ways seen and unseen.
Thank you for the love, trust, and sacred partnership you have given me over these past 18 years. May Temple Solel continue to be a source of blessing, compassion, and light for all who enter its doors.
With gratitude and love,
Todd
Our Path Forward: Updates on the Senior and Associate Rabbi Searches
As Temple Solel moves through a season of meaningful transition, our search committees and lay leaders continue their thoughtful work in shaping our future together.
Dear Temple Solel Community,
I want to share an update on where we are in our search for Temple Solel’s next senior rabbi and the initial discussion about the search for an associate or assistant rabbi.
Senior Rabbi Search: The search committee is now in the phase of conducting Zoom interviews with candidates. This stage is going well. The committee has been putting in many hours reviewing résumés, visiting congregational websites, listening to recorded sermons, and meeting with rabbis from across the country. They are being thorough, thoughtful, and careful as they continue this important work on behalf of our congregation.
We are hopeful to begin in-person interviews at Temple Solel in November. This next phase will provide a meaningful opportunity to meet candidates face-to-face, deepen our understanding of their leadership, and experience firsthand how they might engage with our community.
Associate Rabbi Discussion: Several people have asked how Rabbi Stiel’s planned retirement will factor into our process and when we will begin a search for an assistant or associate rabbi. Our lay leadership has met to consider this question and has sought counsel from many people, including our clergy and staff, as well as the Director of Search Services at the Central Conference of American Rabbis. The consistent advice we have received is to wait until we have hired a senior rabbi before launching a second search. We want our new senior rabbi to have a central voice in shaping the rabbinic team and determining how best to proceed.
The Search Committee will continue to share regular updates about our progress through The Pathfinder and other temple communications. In the coming weeks, we will also post information about where to find the latest news on Temple Solel’s website.
I will continue to share updates and keep this process as open and transparent as possible. We want every step to reflect Temple Solel’s values of integrity, community, and care. I’m deeply grateful to those who have shared their thoughts and questions with me. Please continue to do so-your perspective matters. You can reach me at jkirkpatrick@templesolel.org.
Warmly,
Jennet Kirkpatrick
President, Temple Solel