‘Labels are for shirts, not Jewish souls.’

Rabbi Sholom Ciment, director of Chabad Lubavitch of Greater Boynton Beach in an interview to James D. Davis of the Florida Sun Sentinel.

Q. A distinctive feature of the Chabad approach?
A. Our unquestioning acceptance of each and every Jew, and our abhorrence for the labels that are placed on Jews. Labels are for shirts, not Jewish souls. You cannot dilute a Jew’s Jewishness. The entire spectrum of Judaism is represented in our synagogue, from people who have been educated as Jews from childhood to those who have had no exposure to Judaism.

Q. Yet Chabad Lubavitch is part of the Orthodox movement, true?
A. That is a label. There is no such thing as an Orthodox, Conservative or Reform Jew, even a messianic Jew. We see three types of Jews: a Jew, a Jew and a Jew.

Q. How did you get into your vocation?
A. My father is a rabbi. I grew up in a rather secular environment in the Boston area. I felt like I was a rabbi since I was 6. He taught me that I had to be the example for the people around me. I never imagined doing anything else but helping others. Not just Jews but others. We are all creations of the same God.

Q. Is the rabbinate what you had expected?
A. It definitely has its daily challenges. People come in all shapes and forms. But the contentment in being a medium for growth — families created, families growing together, kids being shaped with morals and values — overwhelms any negative connotations.

Q. What’s the one most mistaken impression about Chabad Lubavitch?
A. That we are mixed with others who look down on fellow Jews. We’re guilty by looking like them. We have the black hats and beards, but that’s where the similarity ends. We have 4,000 centers of outreach, education and social services worldwide.

Q. What do you do to relax?
A. I take the late hours of the night to study and learn. I don’t have that luxury during the day. I do three chapters of Maimonides’ Mishna Torah every day. I try to do one two-sided page of the Talmud. And I try to do a portion of the Torah, with the Rashi commentary.

Q. A lot of people would consider that more work, not relaxation.
A. Not me. I take great comfort in that. It’s part of my own personal growth.

Q. Favorite vacation spot?
A. Los Angeles. I like the year-round weather, especially the summer. La Jolla is a beautiful community, and I love the drive along the ocean. It also has an established Jewish community, so getting kosher food isn’t an issue.

Q. Favorite music? Favorite performer(s)?
A. I enjoy either cantorial or klezmer music. I listen to it in the car.

Q. If you could ask God one question, what would it be?
A. I would ask only when the time will come that his presence will be realized by the human being’s flesh, blood and eyes. The prophets say the time will come when his presence will be not faith, but reality.

Q. Your most memorable spiritual experience?
A. My wedding day, standing under the chuppah (canopy). Our theology teaches that the chuppah denotes God’s presence that rests just above the union that is about to happen. The day of the wedding, we bring the infinite light, God’s essence, into our union.

Q. What do you wish people understood about you?
A. I often run into a pessimism, that what I’m offering is too good to be true. And when someone says you can have your heritage, your roots, your history, and everything you need for peace and tranquility, people think you have an ulterior motive. I find that extremely frustrating.

Q. Is there one thing you can’t stand?
A. Selfishness. The world is at an all-time high of instant gratification.

Q. When things get you down, how do you reconnect with the spirit?
A. Shabbas (the Sabbath). I work six days a week, but on Shabbas, my cellphone and computer shut off. When the candles are lit, and I sit with my family and guests at the table, there is a transformation in me. And I share with my congregation the Torah portion and how it applies to current events. I don’t understand how people can live without a Shabbas.

Q. Have you ever doubted your faith?
A. I don’t think the question is to doubt. I think an intelligent mind grapples with the question of “why” at times. Like when I walk through a children’s hospital, or a neonatal unit.

Q. How was that doubt resolved?
A. The final analysis is that we are finite and mortal, while God is infinite. How can the finite grasp the infinite? It boils down to a faith that there is a master to the universe.

Q. Motto, or favorite Scripture verse?
A. Hamaaseh hu hoikar — Action is paramount.

About Rabbi Ciment:

Title: Spiritual leader of Chabad Lubavitch of Greater Boynton Beach, with average weekend attendance of 350.

Other community posts: Member, Governor’s Advisory Council of Faith-based Initiatives.

Education: Graduate, Oholei Torah Seminary, Brooklyn; ordination, Central Lubavitch Yeshivot, Brooklyn.

Personal: Age 39. Born in Brookline, Mass.

Family: Married to Dina, program director and head of synagogue preschool. Children: Menachem Mendel, 13; Schneur Zalman, 12; Chaya Rivkah, 10; Chana, 7; Levi Yitzchok, 4 months.