Longtime community fixture Rabbi Paula Marcus announces 2027 retirement

One day, an idealistic young woman from New York who reveres Joan Baez arrives in Santa Cruz with her guitar, determined to make a life for herself in a new place that somehow feels like home. Another day, almost half a century later, that same woman announces her retirement after a historic career as a foundational piece of Santa Cruz County’s spiritual and moral life.

Yes, the long career arc of Rabbi Paula Marcus is near an end.

Marcus, the longtime senior rabbi at Temple Beth El (TBE) in Aptos, and a central figure in religious and social-justice circles throughout the Monterey Bay area, announced in December that she is retiring — though the official date of her leaving is still 18 months away.

In a letter to her congregation at Temple Beth El, Marcus, 67, said that “this feels like the right time in my life to retire,” and that that retirement will be effective in the summer of 2027. 

Marcus became the senior rabbi at TBE in 2016, upon the retirement of her predecessor Richard “Rabbi Rick” Litvak. But even before then, she emerged as a central figure as not only a strong voice for Santa Cruz’s Jewish population, but as a pillar in an ecumenical circle of religious leaders in the region.

The retirement announcement comes 2½ years after the death of her longtime husband, Aryeh Nanas. Marcus said that she didn’t want to retire immediately after his death. 

“It’s been really important to me to have a sense of purpose going through this period of my life,” she said. “And I’m so appreciative of the synagogue for understanding that.”

Marcus grew up in White Plains, New York, just north of New York City, and attended college in upstate New York. She had been raised active in the Jewish faith, and in fact, in her youth, developed her musical talents under the tutelage of her synagogue’s cantor, later becoming a song leader at Jewish summer camps. But growing up in the 1960s, she was also inclined to embrace the generational change of the era and fell in love with the music of Phil Ochs, Bob Dylan and especially Joan Baez. 

In her early 20s, she landed in Santa Cruz, having already visited a couple of times before. She fell hard for the natural beauty, the laid-back vibe and the hippie/progressive spirit that pervaded the city. She quickly joined in with the Jewish community in the area, and became a teacher in the temple’s religious school, eventually moving up to co-principal of the school and then song leader and cantor during services. At the time, the TBE synagogue was located on Santa Cruz’s Westside, near Neary Lagoon. 

In the early 1990s, TBE made the move from its cramped quarters in Santa Cruz to Aptos, in a much more spacious location near Cabrillo College. By then, Marcus had become a pivotal member of the temple’s leadership team (as well as, for a while, a member of the popular all-women band Pele Juju). It was only after serving as a leader at TBE for years that she decided to pursue ordination as a rabbi. That process had her traveling frequently between Santa Cruz and Los Angeles, the home of the Academy for Jewish Religion, where she earned her master’s degree in rabbinical studies.

“If my husband hadn’t been so supportive, I never would have been able to do it,” she said. “He really understood that it was something I was called to do.”

Once in Aptos, Temple Beth El grew rapidly from fewer than 100 families to almost 600 families today. 

“A part of what people look for, is that they want their kids to know other Jewish kids,” Marcus said. “It’s just become so much more of a robust community experience for kids and families.”

Scott Roseman, founder and owner of New Leaf Community Markets, met Marcus after they both moved to the area from New York in the late ’70s and early ’80s. He gives her credit for getting him to join Temple Beth El. Eventually, Roseman became president of the temple, coincidentally on the same day that Marcus became the senior rabbi, taking over for Litvak following his retirement.

“Typically, when a rabbi retires, like Rabbi Rick did, it’s encouraged that there is a search for another rabbi, but the congregation at that time decided not to do a search, because we decided that Paula was just the obvious choice,” he said.

John Leopold, director of the Central Coast K-16 Regional Collaborative and a former county supervisor, said Marcus is “one of the most approachable, empathetic and deeply spiritual religious leaders I’ve ever met.” Leopold grew up in Pennsylvania, going to a Conservative congregation every Saturday throughout his youth. When he joined Temple Beth El, a Reform congregation, he was surprised by what he described as a more laid-back approach. Marcus pulled out an acoustic guitar and sang, which was very different from his previous temple’s cantor’s operatic performances. It ended up sticking with him.

“I went home and thought, ‘That woman with the guitar is a lot closer to who I am than the guy singing opera back in Harrisburg,’” he said. “I immediately connected with that element of the way she made the Jewish faith approachable and relatable.”

At the same time, Marcus did what she considered vital social-justice work by building interfaith coalitions and alliances with other religious leaders in the county, largely through her work in COPA, an ecumenical community organizing group that extends across the Monterey Bay. 

Roseman said Marcus’ commitment to social justice is admirable, and noted that she vocally advocated for affordable housing, health care, the environment and rights for LGBTQ+ individuals, Palestinians and people of color. 

“Temple Beth El is home to many different types of people. As the largest Jewish congregation, there’s a broad spectrum of the way in which people practice their faith,” Leopold said. “Paula especially has been committed to positive social change, social justice and speaking up for communities who need support. That’s what I’m looking for in a religious leader.”

The Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel occurred just a few months after the death of Marcus’ husband. But that attack, the Israeli government’s response and the ongoing aftermath posed a particularly painful challenge for Jewish leaders. On top of providing guidance and comfort to her congregation — some of whom had family or friends among the hostages held by Hamas — Marcus had to step into an even more prominent role in an often bitterly polarized community.

In the wake of Oct. 7 and the Israeli aggressions against Palestinians, Marcus invited and hosted an event at Temple Beth El featuring Palestinian activist Aziz Abu Sarah and Israeli activist Maoz Inon. Despite her efforts at inspiring peace and reconciliation, she has been the target of anti-Zionist protests.

Still, she said, none of that played a role in her decision to retire. “It’s not affected by what happened on Oct. 7,” she said. “If anything, it has probably tended to keep me more engaged around Israel and Palestine, because I think I have an important role to play.”

She has traveled to Israel/Palestine several times since 2023, and said it figures in her post-retirement life. “I’m going to bring people to Israel and Palestine,” she said. “I have about a dozen people who want to come, so I can see that happening.”

But she’s also thinking of traveling to other parts of the world, especially Italy: “There’s a big world out there I want to know more about.”

Marcus said that she expects to take an emeritus role, much as Rabbi Litvak has, once she retires. 

But she will not play a part in selecting a new senior rabbi. “The retiring rabbi is not supposed to have any role in that,” she said. She said a transition team is now coming together under congregation leader Bonnie Morr. 

“The Reform movement has a very robust process for selecting a new rabbi,” she said. 

In the end, Paula Marcus is following her intuition that the timing is right for a transition for Temple Beth El, and for herself.

“Nobody should outstay their welcome,” she said. “Don’t linger.”

— Max Chun contributed to this report.

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