Rabbi Josh Broide is moving to Israel. But his mind remains immersed in Boca Raton.

In his latest brainstorm, which he thought of just a month ago, he has been rolling out a red carpet before his “Friday Night Live” Sabbath services at Boca Raton Synagogue. He wants visitors, especially first-timers, to feel welcome.

The mind of Broide (pronounced BRO-dee) is an incubator of ideas, passion and willingness to try the untested. Now, he is taking a new leap: He and his wife, Simone, partner in all his projects, are immigrating to Israel in August to be closer to their son and their three oldest daughters and their families. They plan to live in Modi’in, which is centrally located between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.

“Some people are saying I should wind down and get ready to move,” said Broide, a father of six with a perpetual smile and apparently limitless energy (he awakens at 4:20 a.m. most days to exercise, take a sauna and cold plunge, study Torah with a group, and drop off his kids at school before his work day begins at 9 a.m.).

He said he tries to keep life captivating and compelling, for himself and the Jews he encounters: “I always want people to keep thinking: What’s going to happen next?”

Broide, a native of South Africa who moved to New Jersey when he was 10, arrived in Boca Raton in 2000 to serve as Boca Raton Synagogue’s co-youth director with his wife. He has worked several roles at the Orthodox congregation and is currently outreach rabbi, the leader connecting with the wider community and drawing unaffiliated Jews into synagogue life.

Marlon Rostek was one of those unaffiliated Jews until recently. For the past eight months, Rostek has been a regular at “Friday Night Live,” which was recommended to him by his gastroenterologist.

“I’ve always been a proud Jew, but I hadn’t gone to synagogue for a long time,” said Rostek, 74, a Lake Worth Beach retiree and former New Yorker. “I tried other synagogues, but I couldn’t follow the Hebrew.”

He said the Broides welcomed him warmly and made it clear his level of Hebrew knowledge was unimportant. Rostek said he relishes the service’s emphasis on Jewish relationships and connection.

“The rabbi is one of the most decent people I’ve ever met,” Rostek said. “He is a true gem of a man, a mensch.”

Broide also works another job: He’s director of the Deborah and Larry D. Silver Center for Jewish Engagement, a division of the Jewish Federation of South Palm Beach County. In that role, he links local Jews with synagogue and federation programs and organizes gatherings of local leaders.

Not every Jewish community works as hard to draw Jews who don’t belong to synagogues into the faith. And there are many unaffiliated in the federation’s Boca Raton-Delray Beach-Highland Beach coverage area: In a 2018 study by Brandeis University, 30% of south Palm Beach County Jews identified themselves not as members of a denomination, such as Orthodox, Conservative or Reform, but as “Secular” or “Just Jewish.”

“I don’t think my relationship with South Florida is going to end when we move to Israel.” — Rabbi Josh Broide

A follow-up study has not been done, but those demographics likely changed in the proceeding years, as many Orthodox Jews moved to southern Palm Beach County during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. There are now 12 Jewish day schools in the area, up from about four 10 years ago; Broide said most of them have waiting lists.

During his 25 years in Boca Raton, Broide has been monitoring the Jewish influx and sought to make sure Jews of every stripe feel comfortable, not only in their personal faith but also when they interact with Jews of other denominations.

Rabbi Dan Levin of Temple Beth El, a Reform congregation in Boca Raton, said he experienced this effort personally as he and Broide made trips together to study at the Rabbinic Leadership Initiative of the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem from 2016 to 2019.

Their friendship has endured. Levin recalled inviting Broide to his daughter’s bat mitzvah. Orthodox Jews don’t drive on the Sabbath. Levin said Broide walked 5 miles to Temple Beth El so he could attend the service.

“I was truly moved to tears by this incredible act of graciousness and love,” Levin recalled. “And when I told him how grateful I was, he simply said, ‘I love you. How could I not be here?’ ”

This calling to create deep bonds has served as the impetus for each project Broide has started, including The Boca Raton Jewish Experience, which has offered trips to Israel, conducted challah-baking classes and opened High Holy Day services to those who are not synagogue members.

He’s also coordinated lunches at south county’s Jewish Federation where rabbis of every denomination get to know each other. And he helped bring Partners in Jewish Life, in which Jews study texts together in one-on-one sessions and learn each other’s perspectives, to Boca Raton.

In Israel, Broide will maintain one of his many titles: director of the Silve[r Foundation, a contributor to the federation’s Center for Jewish Engagement. Broide said he hopes to help the foundation expand Partners in Jewish Life to additional communities and organize other Jewish enrichment programs.

The programs the Broides started in Boca Raton are expected to continue, including the popular High Holy Day services for the unaffiliated, which draw hundreds of people each year. The rabbi said he plans to fly back to the United States each year to lead the services.

“This is so bittersweet for us, as individuals and as a couple,” said Simone Broide, who began to tear up as she spoke. “We really grew up here and we’ve formed relationships. We’ve been to funerals, we’ve gone to bar mitzvahs, we’ve gone to weddings. We’re taking a lot of risks in making this move.”

There’s something very important the rabbi must do before he leaves. In March, he plans to spend four days at Rock ‘n’ Roll Fantasy Camp in Fort Lauderdale, where he will take master classes and perform as a drummer in bands with rock stars such as musician Jason Bonham.

The camp was a 50th birthday gift from his wife. He expects the camp to become another loving memory of his life in South Florida, filled with friendships, common dreams and goals achieved.

“I don’t think my relationship with South Florida is going to end when we move to Israel,” he said.