malden —   For the second time in five years, Rabbi Herman Blumberg is officially retiring.

After serving 19 years as the full time spiritual leader of Temple Shir Tikva in Wayland, Blumberg decided to hang up his tallis in 2004. However before he had time to organize his fly fishing lures, Temple Tifereth Israel of Malden enticed him back to the bimah.

Blumberg was persuaded to put his retirement plans on hold because he says he “fell in love” with Temple Tifereth Israel. Attracted to “their absence of pretense,” he agreed to serve as their interim rabbi for a year.

As these things often go, one year grew into four. And although Blumberg has thoroughly enjoyed his tenure in Malden, he is preparing one again to step down.

“I must point out that I am simply retiring from congregational work. I am still actively engaged doing chaplaincy work at Hebrew Senior Life,” said Blumberg, who will continue to work part time at the Jewish long-term care facility in Roslindale.

Many members of Temple Tifereth Israel will be sorry to see him go.

“He was the right person at the right time for us,” said outgoing president Jeff Kahn, who worked closely with the rabbi over the past three years. “[When he first came aboard] we needed a stabilizing presence. He was able to do that,” Kahn said.

“He brought a sense of family, community and connection to our temple,” said incoming president Lauren Cherkas, who appreciated the rabbi’s ability to minister to the multi-generational congregation, which has members ranging in age from 2 to 102.

“He was tireless, and never missed a beat when anyone needed guidance or a friendly smile,” Cherkas added.

Blumberg will be remembered for his educational contributions to the 120-family member shul. Cherkas points out that he was the driving force behind the implementation of two significant legacy grants the temple received in 2007 and 2008 to develop Jewish family programming.

Another big hit has been his monthly “Bagels with Blumberg” series. The group, which has been meeting for two years, has studied and discussed theology, holidays and Jewish short stories. When asked if bagels were served at the meeting, Blumberg replied, “of course. How can you study without bagels? Besides, if we didn’t have them, it would be false advertising.”

TTI member Ellie Comeau first met Rabbi Blumberg in 2005 when she signed up for an introduction to Judaism class. “As the only non-Jew, I was worried about being accepted,” she said. Blumberg immediately put her at ease. 

She studied with him for two years, formally converting in 2007 with him and two other rabbis present. “Rabbi Blumberg has been a very important man in my life.  He has made the Torah live for me in my heart. My life has been so enriched because of him and the journey I was meant to follow,” Comeau said.

Blumberg also provided much-needed emotional and spiritual support when Comeau underwent back surgery last year. “He visited me regularly, and I felt his concern and compassion were genuine,” she said.

While Blumberg will miss the members of the congregation, he jokes that he will not miss the commute. The Newton resident recalls that it took him an hour to find the congregation when he first came to interview for the position.

Kahn recalled that incident. “When he was leaving, he was studying a map trying to figure out how to get back to Newton. I told him that if he agreed to become our rabbi, I’d buy him a GPS. He never let me do it,” Kahn said.

Temple Tifereth Israel will honor Rabbi Blumberg at an appreciation celebration on June 13. For further information, call 781-322-2794 or visit http://www.templetiferethisrael.org.