"He is very, very good at dealing with anyone," said Helaine R. Hazlett, a past president of Temple Beth El. "He is in the here and now with you and is able to help you move on."

Weinsberg, 62, is himself poised to move on. He officiated his last service at Congregation Shirat Hayam on Saturday. Later this summer, he will relocate with his wife, Yvonne, to Bradenton, Fla., to be near his son and daughter-in-law, who recently gave birth to Kayla, the Weinsbergs' first grandchild.

Separated by about 100 yards across Atlantic Avenue, Temple Beth El, where Weinsberg served for 20 years, merged last spring with Temple Israel into Shirat Hayam. The temples united under the same umbrella because it was economically prudent and, in part, because attendance at both had waned. The new congregation has 512 families, Weinsberg said.

After leading Congregation Shirat Hayam through its transitional first year, Weinsberg agreed with lay leaders that he would step aside. Baruch HaLevi, 33, is to succeed him.

A New York City native who has lived in California and Israel, Weinsberg arrived in Swampscott in 1985.

"We felt immediately at home," he said of his family.

Back then, Temple Beth El's service was highly ritualized with limited participation from congregants. Weinsberg committed himself to engaging people in the worship experience.

"People don't want to just sit back passively like they're at some kind of concert," he said. "They don't want to listen to a choir sing at them. They want to feel involved."

At family services, a guitar, as opposed to an organ, was played. Melodies that were easy to sing along with were sung. More readings were done in English instead of Hebrew, and Weinsberg made sure children became more involved. His goal was to make the temple community an extended family for congregants.

Over the course of his tenure, Weinsberg estimates he will have married more than 200 couples and presided over at least 600 funerals.

"He was always there for people in a time of joy and a time of sorrow," Hazlett said, and his office door was always open.

Weinsberg went to New York for Dr. Mark Messenger's father's funeral.

"It's something I will always remember," said Messenger, the former president of the Temple Beth El fellowship.

"He's going to be missed by everybody, and he's going to be missed by me a lot," Messenger said.

Weinsberg was also devoted to connecting the temple with other religious communities on the North Shore.

"He has a very keen interest in interfaith activity," said First Church of Swampscott Pastor Dean Pedersen, who sat on the same cable access panel with Weinsberg. "His interest in things is not theoretical, it is very action-oriented."

In Florida, Weinsberg will be a "life coach." He will work with adults, age 60 and older, and stress the life-affirming power of helping others. He aims to highlight that "aging is a positive process" that shouldn't be feared.

"I've never found it difficult to talk with people and to counsel them," he said. "I've always seen that as part as who I am and what I do."