■ When I was a young rabbi, I used to feel like I was empowered to ask people, “Do you believe in God?” I learned over time that that’s not an effective way to approach people. It shuts them down. The question I ask people today is, “What’s your relationship with God?” That’s the beginning of a powerful conversation.

■ It is humbling to be in a position where people are trusting enough to talk about the deepest and most profound issues in their life. I thought I’d have a magic wand, that I would say exactly the right thing at the right moment. But that’s actually not the goal. The goal is to be with someone when they might be feeling very alone or afraid. Being present is enough.

■ Anshe Emet is an easy target. It’s one of the largest Jewish congregations in Chicago. And we have a day school. We have a lot of security cameras all over the place. After October 7, we had to put up a wall on Grace Street. It has all the charm of a penitentiary.

■ Every Saturday morning we offer prayers for the innocents who have suffered in Gaza. We don’t forget that piece either.

■ When I was growing up, I would go to the Jewish bakery, and the lady who waited on us had numbers on her arm. The Holocaust was very present, and the trauma was very real. Today, for many of our younger people, the Holocaust is like ancient history.

■ It’s always funny to me that I go shopping at the grocery store and someone says, “Rabbi, you’re shopping?” I go, “How do you think we eat?”

■ Anshe Emet is an urban congregation, and yet the only time I actually came into contact with people of color was on Martin Luther King Day. Then nothing would come of it, and we’d meet again the following year and do the same thing again. I really wanted it to be different. I felt I owed it to this community to figure out how we could be more engaged with the Black community. Through trial and error, I ended up meeting Pastor Chris Harris, and we developed a strong relationship. We also challenged each other to read about each other’s traditions. Pastor Harris is a very charismatic speaker. I’ve had people in my own congregation say, “Rabbi, if you could speak like Pastor Harris, I’d come more often to synagogue.”

■ I’ve been privileged to live at a time of real change. We were one of the first congregations in this area to have a woman rabbi on our staff. We were one of the first Conservative congregations in the Midwest to officiate a same-sex marriage. One of our rabbis is gay. Anshe Emet today is in a very different place than when I first came.

■ I chose seven years ago to retire when I’m retiring [at the end of June]. I wanted to make sure that the congregation was moving in a strong direction. There’s a particular pace you take on when you are the senior rabbi of a congregation — you need to be available seven days a week. That’s a gift in its own way, but it can be challenging for your family. Congregations evolve, and I have never been under the illusion that this one won’t go forward without me.