After 10 years as Jewish Chaplain to Dartmouth and the Upper Valley, Rabbi Daniel Siegel has announced he will resign.
Siegel, who recently returned after spending a month in Israel, will stay at the College through November's dedication of the Roth Center for Jewish Life, currently under construction on Occom Ridge Road beside Delta Delta Delta sorority. Siegel was instrumental in the Roth Center's planning and fundraising.
Siegel, who was denied a sabbatical in June, announced his resignation in a letter to Dean of the Tucker Foundation Scott Brown in December. It is the College's policy not to give administrators sabbaticals.
Siegel said the denial "made me aware that in order for me to focus more on my scholarly interests, I need to move to a place where there is more immediate access to a community of people that are interested in the same kind of things that I am."
Brown said a search for a new Jewish chaplain will begin soon. The Tucker Foundation and Upper Valley Jewish Community are in the process of forming a search committee.
Brown said the committee will draft a job description and place advertisements in periodicals like The Chronicle of Higher Education. He said the job description will also be distributed among organizations that provide placement service for rabbis.
Siegel has been with the College since Aug. 1987. He has served as rabbi to the Jewish community at Dartmouth and in the Upper Valley.
Siegel said he is most proud of his work preparing the way for the creation of the Roth Center and for the implementation of new social programs at Hillel, the College's Jewish student organization.
He said the Upper Valley Jewish Community is "much stronger and much deeper" than 10 years ago, and there is more excitement about Jewish life. There are also more services and more programs for children.
Siegel has worked in the development of the Dartmouth Community Mediation Center, helping establish a collaborative approach to problem solving.
People who know Siegel say they are sad to see him go.
"We're going to miss him," Brown said.
