Michael Klass, head of career counseling for Temple Rodeph Torah Cares, speaks at a recent workshop. At the table are, from left, TRT Cares chair David Levy, head administrator Mindy Rubin, and Rabbi Donald Weber.
Photo courtesy Temple Rodeph Torah
Seeking help
People in need of assistance — or interested in volunteering — should contact Temple Rodeph Torah Cares at 732-320-8287; trtcares@gmail.com; or 15 Mohawk Dr., Marlboro, NJ 07746; or drop a note in the box in the synagogue lobby. More information is available at www.trt.org.
After filling out required paperwork, individuals will be confidentially put in touch with a professional whose services most closely match their needs. Sessions can be conducted by phone, e-mail, or in person; callers can remain anonymous.
People seeking a job or wishing to advertise a position should visit the TRT Cares job bank at www.trt.org/jobbank.php.
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July 21, 2009
Last Rosh Hashana Rabbi Donald Weber challenged members of Temple Rodeph Torah in Marlboro to create “a new community.”
“In our community Jews don’t live by themselves,” he said. “If there’s a fire in someone’s house or if someone needs an ambulance, no one asks if it’s a Jewish family or Christian family. If we have the ability to help, we help. Each of us was given talents by God and if we don’t share them with others we are not taking advantage of what God gave us.”
What Weber proposed was creating “a caring, loving, and holy” community harnessing resources of the congregation to help people struggling in the financial crisis that has engulfed the country.
The result was Temple Rodeph Torah Cares, a nonprofit, nondenominational outreach program — including a job bank — that has helped many people dealing with financial or legal issues or coping with the stress of job loss and financial crises.
The idea was an immediate success, said its chair, David Levy, as he recalled the first meeting several weeks later that drew more than 100 volunteers, many, but not all, temple members.
“Some just heard about the call to action,” he said. “Some were members of other temples, and some were members of churches who thought it was a good idea.”
Levy said that while the congregation has few electricians or plumbers, it does have lots of white-collar professionals, including those in the medical, financial, legal, and real estate fields.
As an automobile dealer, Levy offered his own management and organizational skills while others have offered administrative abilities. Trained volunteers answer phones while others handle marketing and public relations duties.
By far the program’s most popular service is the career counseling workshops, led by corporate human resources executives and professional “headhunters.”
The two-hour workshops offer skills enhancement and advice in networking, resume writing, interviewing, and job search strategies, said Michael Klass, head of career counseling.
A professional headhunter himself for about 20 years, Klass said the workshops also strive to provide motivation for those frustrated by long searches. “The greatest gift we can give right now is to help people stay in the game and stay motivated because once they stop, they have no chance,” he said.
‘Blown away’
Word has spread about the scores of people who have been discreetly helped through word of mouth and the media, including a piece aired nationally by Fox News.
The TV segment generated inquiries from synagogues across the country interested in developing their own similar programs, according to Weber. One of the latest is Temple Shalom in Aberdeen, which is getting its program off the ground.
“We’re very gratified other congregations asked for our help,” Weber said added. “We have volunteers whose sole job is to help other congregations. We want to do anything we can to help.”
Weber and Levy also were invited to speak before representatives of 54 congregations at a regional meeting of the Union for Reform Judaism.
Weber said he was proud “that we were able to help dozens and dozens of people, but I’m equally proud of how many people have volunteered. We now have over 130 volunteers and that’s just amazing. You know people say our community is filled with people who don’t care about each other. That’s not what we’ve seen at all.”
The rabbi said the response of volunteers has been overwhelming. “It has just blown me away at how many people have thanked me,” he said. “They’ve said, ‘We’ve known our neighbors were suffering and we didn’t know what we could do to help, and you’ve given me that opportunity to help.’”
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