Monsey—Community Synagogue of Monsey (CSM) announced it will be honoring Rabbi Dr. Moshe D. Tendler at a tribute dinner in recognition of his five decades of unparalleled service to the Jewish community of Rockland County. The dinner, which will celebrate Rabbi Tendler’s 50th anniversary as CSM’s spiritual leader, will take place on November 5, 2017, at the Valley Terrace ballroom in Monsey.

During his tenure at Community Synagogue, Rabbi Tendler played a major role in Monsey’s evolution into a major center of Jewish life. Guiding what was for years the largest Orthodox synagogue in Rockland County, Rabbi Tendler built Monsey’s first eruv, served as chaplain of the local fire department and was a board member of both the Holocaust Museum & Center for Tolerance and Education and Good Samaritan Hospital.

“We’re very excited to be organizing this well-deserved dinner for Rabbi Tendler, and I urge everyone from across the community to attend and pay him tribute,” stated Dr. Lawrence S. Ross, CSM president. “In the 39 years since I moved to Monsey, Rabbi Tendler has been a dynamic force in CSM and beyond, leading many communal efforts and engaging in countless acts of kindness for congregants and other community members. It’s very rare to see one individual lead a community for five decades, and it’s hard to conceive what Community Synagogue—or the broader Monsey Jewish community—would look like without his influence.”

In addition to his varied contributions to Jewish life in Monsey, Rabbi Tendler is recognized across the United States and beyond as an expert on matters relating to Halacha and bioethics. For decades, he has served as a rosh yeshiva at Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary, where he has educated thousands of rabbis whose impact spans the globe. He also serves as the Rabbi Isaac and Bella Tendler professor of Jewish medical ethics and a professor of biology at Yeshiva University.

In conjunction with the tribute dinner, Community Synagogue will be assuming the sponsorship of the annual conference of the Yeshiva University Student Medical Ethics Society, a widely recognized forum for the discussion of Jewish medical values. Beginning with the next event, which is scheduled for December 10, 2017, the conference will bear the name of Rabbi Tendler for a five-year period.

Founded in 1954, Community Synagogue is one of the oldest Orthodox synagogues in Rockland County. For more than six decades, the synagogue has been a focal point of the local Orthodox Jewish community.

For more information about the dinner, please visit: https://rabbitendlerdinner.com.