And the Flames Did Not Consume Us: A Rabbi's Journey Through Communal Crisis

A YOUNG SPIRITUAL LEADER AND HIS COMMUNITY FACE AN EMOTIONAL CRISIS AND A TEST OF FAITH. On November 1, 1994, Cherry Hills, New Jersey was rocked by the murder of Carol Neulander, wife of Senior Rabbi Fred Neulander of Congregation M’kor Shalom. Allegations of Neulander’s sexual improprieties were followed by his emergence as a suspect in his wife’s murder. Associate Rabbi Gary Mazo, just 4 years out of seminary and barely embarked on his career, found himself responsible for leading a 4000-member synagogue. Somehow, he had to find a way for his community to overcome their shock, heal their pain and renew their faith.

This concise, eloquently-written book relates Rabbi Mazo’s journey through storms of a magnitude he never expected to face. Crisis reveals character. Despite his youth and lack of experience, despite advice from colleagues to leave the perilous situation, he made the commitment to stay and bring healing to his community.

Adding to the complexity and the burden he faced, Fred Neulander had been Rabbi Mazo’s mentor--the man he most admired and wanted to work for. This part of Mazo’s inner struggle is not yet over: the Camden County District Attorney has upgraded the charges against Neulander to capital murder, meaning a death sentence is possible if he is found guilty. Mazo expects to be called as both a prosecution and a defense witness when the trial starts early in 2001.

The title of the book refers to Moses finding God’s word in a desert bush that was burning, yet somehow not consumed by the flames. The metaphor brought him hope: yes, flames may surround us; but they don’t have to consume us.

In 1990, "fresh out of the seminary," Gary Mazo joined the staff of Congregation M’kor Shalom in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. Four years later he became the congregation’s rabbi--and the youngest rabbi of a Reform congregation of this size in the country--through the compelling events described in this book. Since 1999 he has served as rabbi of the Cape Cod Synagogue in Hyannis, Massachusetts. He and his wife Debbi, also a rabbi, have three children.