Our family joined the Rinat community when we moved to Teaneck as I began ninth grade at TABC in 1994, and it has been inspiring to witness the shul’s steady growth over the past quarter century as it has maintained its core values as outlined in Harry Glazer’s piece and the accompanying interview with Rabbi Adler (“Rinat Honors R’ Adler’s Legacy,” August 5, 2021.)

One important angle to add is Rabbi Adler’s encouragement of his congregants’ children and of his students at TABC to pursue careers in Jewish communal leadership. Rabbi Adler’s love of the Torah he teaches is palpable in every shiur he gives, and his passion for causes close to the Jewish people in the Diaspora and in Israel are recognizable in the high level of communal caring and involvement with which he conducts himself as a rabbi and as a private citizen. While I never became a Yankees fan, much to his chagrin, I can say without a doubt that my choice to become a rabbi was in no small part inspired by Rabbi Adler, along with the faculty whom he hired at TABC. When I look back at my TABC yearbook and realize how many of my friends from then became colleagues now in avodat hakodesh, I know I am not alone.

For those of us who have had the privilege to be both Rabbi Adler’s congregants and his students, we had the opportunity to witness two different, related sides of the same rabbi seven days a week, whose passion and love for the rabbinate has now spawned countless rabbanim, teachers and Jewish communal professionals. The Jewish community in Teaneck and beyond has been greatly enhanced as a result of Rabbi Adler’s ongoing impact on us all, and we are grateful for all he has done and will continue to do.