Rabbi Shore looks forward to attracting pre-COVID numbers to Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur services.
Jewish Learning Experience (JLE) founder Sam Kaplan and fellow founders Jeff Glazer, Aaron Mandelbaum and Louis Karp had each embarked on their own unique journeys toward Orthodox Jewish practice. When they joined forces in 1985 to organize the newly created kiruv organization, they realized that there were tens of thousands of unaffiliated Jews in Bergen County who had never been introduced to the beauty of Jewish practice and they made it their mission to spread the word. On Rosh Hashanah 1985, they set up 15 chairs for the anticipated attendees and were overwhelmed when 50 participants walked through the door. Now, 37 years later, Kaplan believes that despite the tremendous influx of Orthodox Jews into Bergen County and especially Teaneck, there are still 80% of local Jews who are unaffiliated.
According to Kaplan, the major challenge of this coming season of Yomim Noraim will be to recoup pre-Covid numbers. “Before Covid we attracted close to 300 people to our Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur services. Last year, as we were slowly recovering, we only attracted 100 people to our services. That is why this year we are counting on our Orthodox community to help us bring our numbers back up by approaching their neighbors and co-workers and informing them of the opportunity to be part of meaningful explanatory High Holiday Services in a warm and friendly setting. Our JLE services do not require any prior knowledge of Hebrew and provide a comfortable atmosphere where questions and discussions are encouraged. We also provide a post-services kiddush where attendees can socialize and form friendships.”
Congregations Beth Aaron and Beth Abaham have hosted JLE programs over the years as has the Torah Academy of Bergen County which currently houses the Yomim Noraim services. During the course of the year, JLE offers pre-holiday programs such as Purim parties, Pesach and Tu B’Shevat seders, Lag B’Omer barbecues and Shavuot learning. During the Three Weeks lectures about the historical period were offered and during the summer months lessons in Pirkei Avot were presented.
Over the course of 37 years, many dynamic local rabbis have served at the helm of the JLE. Included are Rabbi Michael Taubes, Rabbi Steven Trebor, Rabbi Boruch Price, Rabbi David Pietruszka, Rabbi Mark Staum and Rabbi Justin Wexler. JLE is currently delighted to introduce its newest leader to the community: Rabbi Jesse Shore will be joining JLE as its director for the upcoming season.
Rabbi Jesse Shore grew up in the Lower Merion community of Philadelphia where he attended Torah Academy and Stern High School, now Kohelet. After his studies in Israel, he attended Yeshiva University where he majored in philosophy and psychology. He earned semicha at RIETS and a masters from the Bernard Revel Graduate School in Bible. His early positions included three years as the assistant rabbi at Toronto’s Shomrei Emunah where he served under Rabbi Strauchler, the newly appointed rabbi at Teaneck’s Congregation Rinat Yisrael. Most recently Shore has served as the morning maggid shiur for the innovative YU Makor Program, under the directorship of Dr. Steven Glicksman, which for the past two years has offered a YU- modeled program to students with disabilities. Beginning with the current academic year, Rabbi Shore will be serving as the mashgiach ruchani at Yeshivat He’Atid where he will oversee programming, night seder and mishmar, shabbatonim and holiday programs in addition to teaching Gemara, Halacha and Navi. Rabbi Shore resides in Tenafly with his wife Lauren and toddler Zachy.
Greatly anticipating his new position at JLE, Rabbi Shore shared the following with the community: “I am so excited and privileged to be joining the Jewish Learning Experience of Bergen County where we create environments that nurture Jewish engagement. We build on-ramps for individuals, couples and families who are seeking a deeper connection with their spiritual and religious heritage. The JLE is primarily volunteer-based which exhibits the authenticity, warmth and true passion of the projects and their enablers. I’ve witnessed so much gratitude for the JLE’s historied past and it is very humbling to be a part of it all.”
“It would be a mistake to think that we serve a narrow demographic. We are all on a journey of growing in Torah. We therefore seek your help with this mission. One only needs to look into the Rambam’s laws of learning Torah to discover that we are obliged to teach Torah to the same degree as we are to learn it. We remind ourselves on a daily basis of our calling to learn, to teach and to actualize Torah in the world.”
“We ask you to consider JLE as your resource to answer this illustrious calling. We need you. We need your connections, your ability to share a Shacharit meal, your discussion of the Daf, your review of Shabbat drashas. In this way, we at the JLE serve to enhance the growth of the entire Jewish community, both within and without the walls of our beloved synagogues and schools.”
“Finally, I have discovered that the Bergen County Jewish community is much more diverse than I initially thought. There are many opportunities to partner with one another and to grow and learn together. Whether it is for the chagim,weekly learning initiatives or communal programming, we have much to do. I hope you will join us.”
Please join the JLE for Yomim Noraim services.to be held at Torah Academy of Bergen County, 1600 Queen Anne Road. To register online, go to www.jle.org. A voluntary donation of $36 is suggested.
To contact Rabbi Shore email [email protected] or call 610-329-2953
By Pearl Markovitz
