New Jersey Jewish News
Monmouth County Story

Rodeph Torah marks 25 years with music and memories

by Jill Huber
NJJN Bureau Chief/Monmouth

In 1980, a group of families in western Monmouth County created a new Reform temple that was both traditional and steeped in an ethic of caring. On Jan. 28, those values were celebrated as Temple Rodeph Torah in Marlboro observed its 25th anniversary with an evening of music and reminiscing.

“There is a caring and receptive environment in this temple and it’s been that way for the past 25 years,” said temple president Joel Borshof. “There is a true sense of mission and focus. We are part of a Jewish community and a general community, and we will continue to reach out.”

More than 130 temple members and friends attended an anniversary dinner-dance at Congregation B’nai Tikvah in North Brunswick, which has banquet and reception facilities. The event, which had been in the planning stages for six months, was run like a well-oiled bar mitzva celebration, according to Jodi Zukoff and Lori Fishkin, Marlboro residents who served as event chairs.

“We had it all — cocktails, delicious food, music, dancing,” said Zukoff. “When we mailed out formal invitations to the temple membership months ago, we hoped for a great response. And we got it.”

During the evening, Rabbi Donald Weber of Marlboro, Rodeph Torah’s religious leader, and Borshof bestowed service awards on the 14 temple presidents — five of whom were present at the dinner-dance — who have served during the past quarter century (see sidebar).

“The past presidents were always ready to work hard and help the temple grow,” said Borshof, a Manalapan resident who has been a temple member for 18 years and president for 18 months. “They are part of a great tradition.”

After Rodeph Torah was founded, the congregation spent its first 10 years worshiping at the Asher Home School in Marlboro. By the early 1990s, a successful capital campaign had enabled the temple to buy five acres on Mohawk Drive in Marlboro and build the current facility.

The temple is now in the midst of a $1.2 million Kulanu (all of us together) Campaign so the existing site can be expanded and better serve the needs of the more than 400 families that comprise its membership, Borshof said.

A series of student rabbis served as the temple’s religious leaders for its first four years, before the arrival of Weber 20 years ago. Cantor Jacquie Shuchat-Marx became the permanent, full-time cantor 15 months ago.

Showing appreciation

The temple takes pride in the education it offers its children and young adults. Edna Coleman of Somerset was the religious school and high school educator for 22 years. Ruth Margolin of Westfield became high school educator for grades eight through 12 four years ago, while Coleman continues as head of the religious school, which encompasses youngsters in grades three through seven. The high school classes, along with confirmation classes under Weber’s direction, are designed to maintain students’ interest in their Jewish heritage after they become bar and bat mitzva, Borshof said. Weber also takes the confirmation class to Washington, DC, every year to meet with congressional representatives and visit the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, along with other sites.

The approach seems to be working; a significant portion of the temple’s young adult population continues to attend services and participate in temple programs, and some have traveled to Israel, where their enthusiasm has been further enhanced, according to Weber. In addition, two former students have been ordained as rabbis, Borshof added.

Since its inception, Temple Rodeph Torah has developed a number of in-house program groups, many of which reach out to the community both near and far. A social action committee conducts food drives that result in the donation of thousands of pounds of food items to local food distribution centers. The group also conducts a blood drive several times each year. Another committee collects substantial monetary donations for Mazon, a nationwide Jewish hunger relief organization, and collects many truckloads of food for those in need during the High Holy Days.

And last year, the temple created a homecoming committee to help American soldiers in Iraq. The idea for the committee arose from a conversation among 10 temple members, according to its chair, Gabrielle Eichel.

“Last summer, some of us were talking about the Iraqi situation,” said Eichel, a Marlboro resident. “A nephew of one of the congregants is a Marine who is stationed in Iraq. We wrote to him and asked him to tell us what the members of his unit would like to receive from home.”

The requests included magazines, newspapers, food, and a host of other items that the committee has been sending to the entire unit, which consists of more than 100 soldiers, Eichel said. In addition, the committee enlisted the help of the temple’s religious school students, who regularly send cards and notes of support to the Marine group, she added.

To date, the homecoming committee has sent more than 800 pounds of items to the men and women in the unit.

“This is just something we can do to make them feel better about where they are and less homesick,” said Eichel. “We’re proud to be able to do something to show our appreciation. They are paying a high price for our freedom, and we want them to know we care.”

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