![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
|
![]() |
| WHITE
MEADOW TEMPLE 153 WHITE MEADOW ROAD | ROCKAWAY, NJ 07866 | 973-627-4500 |
|
HOME
| RABBI'S
MESSAGE
| PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE
| ABOUT US
| EVENTS & ACTIVITIES
| RELIGIOUS
SCHOOL
| EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION
| YOUTH PROGRAMS ADULT EDUCATION | SENIORS | VA'AD GEMILUT CHASADIM | SISTERHOOD | MEN'S CLUB | SUMMER CAMP | CALENDAR/CANDLELIGHTING | RELATED LINKS | DIRECTIONS | SUPPORT OUR SYNAGOGUE & SPONSORS | CONTACT US |
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 |
|
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.
|
Meet Our Members
|
Rabbi |
President |
Cantor |
_____________________________________________
2011 / 2012 Executive Committee
|
Marc Levine |
David Greenberg |
David Schnurman |
Sharon Cohen |
Helen Hill |
Shelly Russo
|
Maddy Lashen |
2010/2011
Board of Trustees