Elizabeth–“From Capitol Hill to Elmora Hills” is one good way to describe Rabbi Michael Bleicher’s journey to the rabbinate. The onetime U.S. Senate staffer is the exciting and dynamic new leader of the Elizabeth community’s Elmora Hills Minyan, located on the border between Union Township and the city of Elizabeth in Union County.
The Bleicher family–Rabbi Michael and Rebbetzin Yael Bleicher, and their daughters, Meira, 3, and Tamar, 1–were warmly welcomed to shul on their first weekend with the congregation, August 29-30, 2014 (Shabbat Parshat Shoftim).
Rabbi Bleicher is a proud alumnus of the Jewish Educational Center’s Rav Teitz Mesivta Academy (RTMA), and glad to be back in Elizabeth. “It’s so exciting to bring my daughter Meira through the very same hallways I used to walk through myself, as I developed into a ben Torah (Torah scholar) during my formative high school years at RTMA,” he said. “The warm welcome we’ve received has only heightened our optimism for how much more we can achieve as a community.”
Before his election as rabbi of the Elmora Hills Minyan, Rabbi Bleicher served for several years as a beloved assistant rabbi at Congregation Ahawas Achim Bnei Jacob & David in West Orange, NJ. Prior to that, he was rabbinic intern at the Great Neck Synagogue for two years.
Rabbi Bleicher received a Masters in Social Work (MSW) from the Wurzweiler School of Social Work at Yeshiva University earlier this year. He recently accepted a position with Jewish Family and Children’s Services of Passaic-Clifton, where he will offer psychotherapy for individuals, couples, and families. Additionally, he will serve as the outreach coordinator for Project S.A.R.A.H, the organization’s program dedicated to providing services to victims of domestic violence, sexual abuse and stalking in the Jewish community, while also offering prevention programs for camps, rabbis, schools, synagogues, and the general public.
A barbecue reception to welcome the Bleichers to the community is being held on Sunday afternoon, Sept. 7. It is free of charge. For more information and to RSVP please email [email protected] or call Steve Schnipper at (908) 351-4380.
