Bergenfield’s Congregation Beth Abraham will hold its 23rd annual dinner on May 29 at Congregation Keter Torah. The guests of honor are Rabbi Tanchum and Yaffa Cohen, and the Max & Magda Sternbach Midor L’Dor Community Service Award will be given to Jonathan and Devorah Schloss.
Serving graciously and sensitively for the past 12 years as the assistant rabbinic team alongside Rabbi Yaakov and Rebbetzin Peshi Neuburger at Beth Abraham, Rabbi and Rebbetzin Cohen are being honored for the countless hours of service and dedication they have put into advancing the goals of the shul. “Rav Cohen graces our shul with insightful shiurim that cull from an impressive breadth of Torah knowledge and a strong background in the sciences. His drashot challenge our community to live with greater depth and focus,” Rabbi Neuburger told The Jewish Link. “It would not be an overstatement to say that the growth of our shul could not have happened without them,” said Elie Konigsberg, Beth Abraham’s president.
Rabbi Cohen is a well-respected posek and magid shiur at MTA/YUHSB. Rebbetzin Cohen, a daughter of Rabbi Hershel Schachter and a valuable friend and approachable resource to the women of the community, teaches at Yeshiva Ketana in Manhattan. The couple spends their summers at the NCSY Kollel for high school boys in Israel and have both been instrumental in bringing the most up-to-date training opportunities to the youth department.
“Rebbetzin Yaffa is an ever ready force of wisdom and goodness with which she impacts the lives of so many of our members,” said Rabbi Neuburger.
When asked to comment about being honored by Beth Abraham, Rabbi Cohen was quick to note that the Neuburgers’ rabbinic leadership at Beth Abraham is an example they work to uphold. “The extraordinary relationship between Rav and Rebbetzin Neuburger and our kehilla is legendary. It’s a tribute both to the Neuburgers’ humility, wisdom and deep caring and to our members’ depth and authenticity,” he said.
Rabbi Cohen added that private chesed and kindness to others is a key hallmark of the community that is honoring them. “People consistently jump on opportunities to help others, often out of the public eye. We’re continually struck by the warmth, the sense of family. People take care of each other and look out for one another.
“We still fondly remember the large bruchim habaim sign that graced our garage on moving day in 2006, a sign made by children of Beth Abraham, which immediately made us feel warmly welcomed,” Rabbi Cohen recalled.
The Max & Magda Sternbach Midor L’Dor Community Service Award is given annually to a Beth Abraham couple that follows the example set by the Sternbachs’ community love and partnership. As builders of the Beth Abraham community, the Sternbachs embodied the very best that the kehilla offers even today; each family honored with the award has echoed the Sternbachs’ most unique attributes of stepping up to help behind the scenes quietly, effectively and with immense simcha.
This year’s Sternbach award recipients, Jonathan and Devorah Schloss, have selflessly devoted themselves in service to Congregation Beth Abraham since moving to Bergenfield 16 years ago. Having served in various gabbai positions, Jonathan is among the “gabbai emeritus” who consult with current gabbaim and continue to pitch in whenever needed. “As gabbai, he helped institute things we now take for granted, such as timed hakafot on Simchat Torah and youth-led Havdalah, and youth-led-post-Havdalah-clean-up(!),” said Konigsberg.
“Jonathan’s weekly early Shabbos morning class in Neviim, through which many of our children have accomplished much, is emblematic of his passion to make a difference,” said Rabbi Neuburger.
Jonathan and Devorah have played an integral role in co-orchestrating seating committee logistics, and the Schloss family literally rolls up their sleeves before the Yamim Nora’im to be part of the committee that rolls the Sifrei Torah and changes the Sifrei Torah mantlach and paroches.
Jonathan has served on the shul’s board of directors for the past three years and has coached several CBA members’ children in both the Yavneh Youth League and MGBL. Devorah has been a member of the board of the CBA Sisterhood and has served on the Mishloach Manot Committee. She has also devoted time and energy to the parent associations of Yeshivat Noam and TABC and to the She’arit Ha’Plate food bank.
“They model for us a willingness to serve, always with humility and integrity.� We are blessed to count them as part of the leadership of our community,” said Rabbi Neuburger. “We are grateful to Rav and Rebbetzin Neuburger, Rav and Rebbetzin Cohen, and Rav and Rebbetzin Weinberg who balance busy schedules and set the tone for us all,” said the Schlosses.
To attend the dinner or to donate in honor of the attendees, please visit www.bethabraham.org/dinner.
By Elizabeth Kratz
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