WHITE MEADOW TEMPLE 153 White Me

WHITE MEADOW TEMPLE
153 WHITE MEADOW ROAD | ROCKAWAY, NJ 07866 | 973-627-4500
Shabbat Evening Services 6:15 PM | Shabbat Morning Services 9:15 AM | Daily Evening Minyan 8:00 PM

White Meadow Temple was founded in 1952 by a handful of dedicated men and women. Rabbi Jacob Weitman arrived in 1955 and served as the spiritual leader and guiding force in growing White Meadow Temple until his retirement in 1989. White Meadow Temple's growing membership led to a 1964 groundbreaking ceremony for renovations and additions to the building situated at 153 White Meadow Road in Rockaway's White Meadow Lake. Martha Silvershein was considered to be the founding mother of White Meadow Temple. Affiliated with the United Synagogue of America, White Meadow Temple is a warm, active, egalitarian Conservative congregation that serves the needs of our members and welcomes interfaith couples. The community, while originally from just White Meadow Lake, has maintained its hamishness while welcoming members from towns throughout Morris County and beyond. The Synagogue sponsors a Nursery School, Kindergarten, Religious School, Seniors, Women's League, and Youth groups. Junior Congregation and Tot Shabbat services are held regularly. Congregational activities include educational and social programs for all ages. White Meadow Temple holds services on Shabbat, festivals, weekday evenings and Sunday mornings under the auspices of Rabbi Benjamin Adler.

Worship Vision Statement

Vision

White Meadow Temple is built on the idea that central to our role as Jews is the search for a connection to God and the Jewish people through prayer. In our community, we welcome all who wish to pray, bringing their own experiences to our community. Inspired by the warmth of God’s presence, we seek a sense of protection and comfort within a communal environment. Those who enter our house to pray will feel a sense of continuity with the Jewish past and hope in the Jewish future, midor ledor (from generation to generation). We are guided by halakhah (Jewish law), inspired by the idea of kavanah (meaningful devotion) and faithful to the keva (the patterns of prayer).

Mission

An egalitarian and participatory community, we seek to create an environment where Jews from all backgrounds can enter our house to worship in ways that are spiritually meaningful and in accordance with the teachings of traditional halakhah (Jewish law).

Principles that Guide the Prayer Experience

Worship at White Meadow Temple endeavors to facilitate a relationship with a personal, accessible, and loving God. Whether it is through healing or in searching for forgiveness, worshippers will encounter a supportive God, one who embodies the key middot (aspects) of both din (justice) and rachamim (mercy).

We understand that Jewish prayer can be challenging therefore learning is a central element that helps worshippers gain insight during our services.

In our warm community we welcome all to join our congregational family and seek to provide moments to worship and grow together spiritually.

Hebrew, the language of the Jewish people for millennia, is central to our tefilah (prayer) but we include English as a way of making prayer meaningful to the modern world. The Torah portion is chanted in its entirety at Shabbat services, which include the study of Torah that is inspiring and relevant. Song is a vital part of our services. Using the traditional modes of Jewish liturgical music as well as contemporary melodies and styles, we create the music of memory, togetherness, inward focus, and the majesty of God.

Services
Evening: 8:00 PM
Friday Evening: 6:15 PM
Saturday: 9:15 AM
Sunday: 8:45 AM
4th Friday of month: 8:00 PM

RABBI BENJAMIN ADLER

Rabbi Adler brings a fresh new philosophy to the White Meadow Temple community. His goals include bringing innovative ideas to the Jewish community and social justice through positive action and relationship-building. With a background in community organizing and service learning, Rabbi Adler has participated in programs all over the world, including Israel, Bethlehem, Beit Sahour (2005) and El Salvador (2006). He has held many leadership positions dating back to 1997, when he helped coordinate and promote a wide range of community activities for Congregation B'nai Jeshrun in New York City.

Rabbi Adler has an outstanding educational background. He graduated cum laude from Columbia University in New York with a Bachelor of Arts in History. He earned his Master of Arts in Jewish Philosophy and Rabbinic Ordination from the Jewish Theological Seminary of America (JTS) in New York in 2007, spending his third year at the Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem, Israel from 2004-2005. In addition, Rabbi Adler was awarded the Henry Shefrin Memorial Price in 2004 and the Dr. Moses Einhorn Award from JTS in 2007.

As a religious leader, Rabbi Adler has planned, implemented and led services and educational programs in various locations such as Massachusetts, Texas, Wisconsin, New York and New Jersey. These leadership experiences make him an asset not only to White Meadow Temple, but to the community as well. Rabbi Adler's wife Lisa works for the Union for Reform Judaism on leadership development in New York City. They have two sons, four-year-old Ronen and two-year-old Jonah.

CANTOR HILLARY BLANK

BAR MITZVAH TUTOR ELIANA KISSNER

Eliana Kissner is enthusiastic and grateful to be the bnai-mitzvah tutor for White Meadow Temple. After growing up in South Orange, NJ, she studied opera and classical voice at Hunter College, City University of New York and graduated as salutatorian, summa cum laude in January 2009. With a strong Jewish background, a degree in music, and a passion for liturgy, she decided to make the leap to a career in the cantorate and completed her first year of cantorial school in 2009-2010 in Israel through the Jewish Theological Seminary.

She has performed in multiple settings including as a soprano in fully staged opera productions at Hunter College, and in Italy at the Amalfi Coast Music Festival in 2008. Highlight roles in theatrical productions include Little Eye in Throw in Some Violins, Suor Genovieffa in Puccini’s Suor Angelica, and Eve in the Tehillim Project. She also functioned as cantor for the High Holidays in Kochav Yair, Israel in 2009 and Sosua, Dominican Republic in 2010. Before cantorial school, she worked at the Hadassah Archives at the Center for Jewish History in New York and helped run the choir at DOROT, an organization that provides social services for senior citizens. She is now in the Drisha Arts Fellowship, a program that enables her to expand her knowledge of Jewish texts, collaborate with other artists, and produce uprooting and engaging music and performance work.

She has already encountered a warm welcome from White Meadow Temple members as well as several students who exhibit kindness, engagement, and commitment to learning. Eliana is excited to a part of the White Meadow Temple community and looks forward to meeting, working, learning, and building relationships with everyone.

Meet Our Members

Rabbi
Benjamin Adler

President
Marc Levine

Cantor
Hillary Blank

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2011 / 2012 Executive Committee

Marc Levine
President

David Greenberg
Vice President
Finance/Treasurer

David Schnurman
Vice President Administration and Social Programs

Sharon Cohen
Vice President
Education & Programming

Helen Hill
Vice President
Religious Programming

Shelly Russo
Financial Secretary

Maddy Lashen
Recording Secretary

2010/2011 Board of Trustees

Rhea Adler	Nadine Armus Publicity Chair	Eric Balis	Rich Chassen	Jodi Dormier	Carol Friedman
Seymour Geldzahler	Bob Goldberg Ritual Committee Chair	Ellen Goldberg	Sheldon Kirsch Immediate Past President	Stu Lefkowitz Office Operations Chair	Ben Lehman
Stephanie Levine	Elaine Mico	Arlene Pann	Harvey Pyser Immediate Past President	Peter Rosen Legal Consultant	Sandra Saposnick
Louis Sarrel Men's Club Chair	Jeff Stellman	Mike Thailer	Jason Weiner Membership Chair	June Zieder Adult Education Chair	Arlene Zimmerman Fun/Fundraising Co-Chair

2011-2012 Board of Education

Sandy Bernoff

Rona Eckert

Elissa Cohen Engel

Ilene Lefkowitz
Chair

Ronnie Lissner

Fariba Mahgerefteh

Ann Stocknoff

2011-2012 Religious School / Childhood Education Staff

Pam Chassen
Religious School
Head Teacher

Amy Olsen
Early Childhood Education
Director

Juliette Klug
Administrative Assistant

Office Staff

Mindy Fast
Bookkeeper

Beverly Miller Administrative Assistant

Juliette Klug
Administrative Assistant

Communications

Lynne Gaines
Web Site

Maddy Lashen
Bulletin

Elaine Goldfisher
Bulletin

Nadine Armus
PR

Rikki Abrahams
Bulletin

Randi Mitchell
Bulletin

A Message from former Cantor Matthew Klein -- Delivered on Shabbat Korach, (June 25, 2011)

Today I‘d like to tell you why I, Hazzan Matthew Klein, love White Meadow Temple. I know that this has normally been Shel‘s job, and that it‘s typically followed by him asking you to fold down a tab on your ticket, place it in an envelope, and hand it to one of our bright and well-dressed children as they circulate around the room. But it‘s shabbes, so you‘re off the hook--although if you are moved to make a donation after Shabbes, I‘m sure that neither Shel nor I will mind.

White Meadow Temple has so many things about it that I really love.

It‘s a community that people come back to, where I get to meet two or three generations of our families in our synagogue on a regular basis. Where fathers and sons sit together, where you find mothers and daughters and granddaughters, all coming back for holidays, for weekends, or even to live. People like living here, and it‘s not just because there are three beaches in walking distance. This is a family place.

I love White Meadow Temple because we have young leaders who make me smile every time I see them in shul or hear them lead parts of the service. I grew up as that shul kid, and believe me I‘ve been to a few synagogues and not every one has young people who come to pray, but we have them, and they‘re great. You are truly a blessing, and remind me of how I became who I am, and why I do what I do.

I love White Meadow Temple because its people are genuinely nice. I‘ve eaten in your homes, I‘ve schmoozed with you at kiddush and at events—ou‘re just good people. You‘re interesting, you‘re insightful, you‘re gracious. You make it great to be here.

I love White Meadow Temple because of our rabbi. I have colleagues in other pulpits across the nation who struggle with their relationship with their rabbi, and we know all of the old, tired war stories about rabbis and cantors fighting. But not with this rabbi. This rabbi—Rabbi Benjamin Adler-- is the most pleasant and easy-to-work with rabbi that I have ever served with -- a great partner, a great mentor, and an absolute mensch. When it came time to put my job on the JTS student placement list, I couldn‘t say enough good things about it, in part because I knew that any student coming in here would have a great ally and partner in the pulpit. Rabbi Adler makes White Meadow Temple not only a great place to be, but it is a choice pulpit for growing hazzanim.

And lastly, I like White Meadow Temple because it is such a great place to be a cantor. I‘ve been able to really grow, doing a traditional davenning and torah reading while also doing some outside-the-box work with niggunim, sermons, and English readings. And when I travel the Jewish world and meet more and more former hazzanim from White Meadow Temple, I‘m always impressed with who they are and where they‘ve gone. Richard Nadel, my nusach coach at the Seminary; Jesse Holzer, who‘s doing amazing things down in Jacksonville; my friend Steven Wolvik with his amazing bass voice; Michael Krausman--whom I met this summer, and whose father I met while auditioning in Toronto at Rabbi Lipson‘s synagogue (small world); our new hazzan, Hillary Blank, whom I‘ve known since she was an undergrad and with whom I have always been impressed; and of course, Hank Rosenblum, my mentor, my guide, and former dean. White Meadow Temple has a history of being a great place for these great cantors to grow.

V’al Kulam, For all of these reasons, I continue to love White Meadow Temple. I want it to have a strong future, and continue to be successful. I want to be able to come back here and visit with my family one day and show them where I got my start as a hazzan. And with that beautiful end in mind, I want to share with you some Torah, some wisdom, from today‘s haftarah, to offer some insight in how to sustain a beautiful community like ours.

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