It's been four years since Martin Levy was the rabbi of a congregation. Now, the coach of the Genoveva Chavez Community Center's skating team will take his place as a part-time rabbi at Congregation Beit Tikva.

"It's great," he said. "I'm very excited. It feels good. I really enjoy being part of the congregation. I love to lead the service and get prepared and give a sermon on Friday nights. I'm really happy to be doing that again."

Hitting the ice

Being a rabbi isn't Levy's only passion. When he was a kid growing up in Teaneck, N.J., he did things that other young boys did. He dabbled in baseball and excelled in tennis, influenced by his mother, who was a longtime physical-education teacher.

"My mom is a wonderful athlete," he said. "She just took me ice skating when I was eight and I decided I really liked it. I used to go as a little kid with my sister, and I began learning about figure skating when I was 10, 11 years old."

He put aside all other sports and decided to focus solely on skating. He entered his first competition at age 12 and was a competitive skater for many years. He even tried his toe picks at ice dancing, with his sister Leslie Levy as his partner.

When he was a student at Amherst College in Massachusetts studying philosophy and history, he spent time outside of class teaching students who wanted to skate.

"That was the beginning of my teaching," he said. "I love seeing the young students who are smiling and laughing and really progressing on the ice. I like to see the sparkle in their eyes."

Over the years, he continued developing his coaching skills. He taught skating in Houston and Sun Valley, Idaho, before heading to Santa Fe to take the ice-skating coach position at the Genoveva Chavez Community Center. As he coaches children and adults, Levy says he finds enjoyment in their progress.

"Every couple of months, you can tell they're at a new level," Levy said. "That's what gives me satisfaction that I'm doing a good job as a teacher."

Levy will take his athletes to compete in the Southwestern Regional Championship in Colorado Springs, Colo., in October. And what's the competition like?

"Huge. There are literally 400 to 500 skaters from all over the Southwest," he said. "It's a very major event."

Even though he'll soon return to being a rabbi, Levi isn't giving up his passion for the ice. He says he'll continue teaching skating.

Nurturing religious faith

While his mother helped inspire him to ice skate, Levy said college courses on all types of religion piqued his interest in being a rabbi.

"I would study world religions, and I started to study Christianity as well as some Judaism, and little by little it just dawned on me that the thing that gave me the most inspiration and sense of learning was learning more about my own religious faith — the history and the philosophy of the Jewish world," Levy said.

He said his parents and his rabbi, Louis Sigel of Temple Emeth in Teaneck, inspired him to enter the seminary.

"He was an extraordinary teacher," Levy said of Sigel. "When I decided to apply for the seminary when I was in college, he became my tutor and helped me learn Hebrew. I didn't really grow up with a really good Hebrew-language background, and in order to become a rabbi, you have to study Hebrew intensely."

Together, the men translated historical texts. After his first year in rabbinical school, Levy was assigned to work as Sigel's apprentice.

It was at Temple Emeth that Levy learned how to write sermons, conduct services and funerals and teach courses to teenagers. He even directed a youth group there.

Levy has always enjoyed creative writing, studying and "delving into new topics." He incorporates all of that into his life as a rabbi.

"For a rabbi, there's a coming together of your prayer life and your life of study, as well as your leadership in the public arena in the community," Levy said.

After leaving the seminary, he was a congregational rabbi for 26 years. In 2002, he built up a congregation in Sun Valley, Idaho, that had never had a rabbi before. He said he was one of two rabbis in the state at that time. After that, he took a break.

"I just wanted to do other things," he said.

He had been attending services at Congregation Beit Tikva when the board approached him this spring about teaching classes.

"We did a class studying the Book of Exodus, which turned out to be a tremendously successful class — not only for people from the congregation, but also people from the entire community," he said. "That was just a marvelous experience. I met some really wonderful people and enjoyed the teaching very much. They asked me about possibly being a rabbi for the temple."

His first answer was no, but at the end of June he "realized that I missed doing my spiritual work as a rabbi and a teacher. I finally decided it was time to say yes and join the congregation and become their leader," he said.

He will work with Cantor Michael Linder, who leads the music and prayer services at the 110-family congregation.

"Our plan is to develop the congregation as a center of Jewish creativity and learning and the arts," Levy said. "One of our goals is we're going to expand our physical building somewhere in the next two years.

"I am very honored to be leading this congregation, and I hope that the community will join us," Levy added. "Everybody is welcome if they need a place to pray — we're a very friendly, welcoming community."

Contact Ana Maria Trujillo at 986-3084 or atrujillo@sfnewmexican.com.