NORTHAMPTON — Congregation B’nai Israel (CBI) has welcomed Rabbi Louis Polisson, a poet, musician and composer, as its new senior rabbi, a role in which he hopes to strengthen the congregation as a spiritual community.

Born in New Haven, Connecticut, to a single Jewish mother, Polisson said he gravitated toward Jewish culture and rituals — the praying, singing and holidays — from a young age.

“I actually grew up what I affectionately call shul-hopping, meaning I spent time at lots of different synagogues, from Chabad to Conservative and Reform synagogues, but I became bar mitzvah in a reform synagogue and did youth group in the reform movement, which just has a different approach to tradition and Jewish law,” Polisson said.

B’nai Israel’s last full-time senior rabbi, Justin David, served at the congregation’s helm for more than 20 years before he left his post in 2023 to serve as a rabbinical dean at Hebrew College in the Boston suburb of Newton. The position was filled on an interim basis by Rabbis Jacob Fine and Ariella Rosen.

Polisson said he became more interested in immersing himself in Jewish tradition — Shabbat observance, holiday observance and observance of kosher dietary laws — while he was in college.

His spiritual transition from Reform Judaism to a more Conservative sect around this time dovetailed with his budding commitment to social and environmental justice. He became a vegetarian in college as part of his kosher dietary practice.

Polisson moved to Northampton from Teaneck, New Jersey, this summer, leaving his role as associate rabbi and music director at Congregation Beth Sholom to start his new post July 8.

Admitting that CBI is a “wonderful community” that does not need much improvement or change, Polisson said he plans to spend his first few months deepening relationships with the community and participating in Ohel Minyan, a lay-led morning service that features mindfulness meditation and spiritual singing in both English and Hebrew.

“I’m eager to partner with the Ohel Minyan and strengthen each other here at [B’nai Israel],” he said. “It’s already become a place on the Jewish map, actually, for Jews of all ages and stages to come and join a vibrant, thriving, progressive and traditional egalitarian Jewish community.”

The rabbi also explained that he hoped to help further expand the synagogue’s community garden, Abundance Farm, and launch a capital campaign to fund renovations to the synagogue in an effort to make it “reflect [the congregation’s] values, warmth and welcoming nature,” as well as the “inclusive community” it strives to build.

“The whole building needs a lot of [tender love and care] and renewal. I’m all about Jewish renewal — there’s a saying: the old shall be renewed and the new shall be made holy, so that is what we’re working towards here,” the rabbi said.

He said the roof was recently redone out of necessity, and now the synagogue will look to make its preschool and lobby more accessible and secure for families. “We’re going to make our lobby a warm and inviting space to sit and have casual conversations and enjoy a nosh, of course, and a sip of coffee,” he said.

Polisson, who previously spent five years serving Congregation Or Atid in Wayland, earned his bachelor’s degree in classical studies from Brandeis University and received rabbinic ordination and a master’s degree in Kabbalah and Hasidut from the Jewish Theological Seminary. He was also awarded a grant from the Hadar Institute to record an album of original Jewish spiritual songs with his wife, Gabriella Feingold.

“I strive to blend my love of Jewish spirituality and music and the Jewish intellectual religious tradition with a casual warmth and accessibility and friendliness,” Polisson said. “I’ve been told that I’m a calming presence, and so I hope that I can help folks through the highs and lows with my calming presence and love of Jewish spirituality, music and tradition.”

Congregation B’nai Israel Co-President Pamela Schwartz said she was grateful for the new rabbi’s move to B’nai Israel, noting that after only two weeks with Polisson at the synagogue’s helm, she has already noticed a positive change in the community.

“We are just so thrilled to have Rabbi Louis with us at CBI,” Schwartz said. “He’s been here for just two weeks, and the feeling around our campus is so palpable now that we have his calming presence, his gift as a spiritual leader, his gift as a musician. It’s all filling the air already, and making people so happy and excited to have him here in this leadership role.”