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BY SUSAN MCTIGUE
CORRESPONDENT
CLOSTER, N.J.—Rabbi Frederic Pomerantz was honored by Closter’s Temple Beth El on Friday, Oct. 12 for his 50 years in the rabbinate.
For more than 30 of those years he served as rabbi for Temple Beth El, holding the post from 1973 to 2004. Back in 1968 when the country was going through massive political and cultural changes, Rabbi Pomerantz recognized that Jewish youth and younger families seemed unconnected to the formal hymn-like music that reform temples had been using for generations. He created a new Shabbat service that brought contemporary music to the traditional Jewish prayers used in worship.
Pomerantz’s Sim Shalom service was an experiment in Jewish music and meditation that utilized folk, rock and jazz to reconnect Jews to the ancient liturgy. Sim Shalom allowed many people to embrace Shabbat worship after having felt alienated from the older practices. Pomerantz traveled with singers and instrumentalists to reform synagogues in all parts of the country, allowing both young and older congregants to celebrate the Sabbath with new heart and new spirit.
For his work on Sim Shalom, the Central Conference of American Rabbis invited Pomerantz to join the Liturgy Committee which wrote “Gates of Prayer,” “Gates of Repentance,” and “Gates of the House,” used by over a million Reform Jews for the last 40 years.
Rabbi David S. Widzer and the Temple Beth El congregation invited Pomerantz to offer his signature worship service in conjunction with being honored. Founding member Miriam Krieger has remained active at Temple Beth El for more than 60 years and was one of the first to take her seat in anticipation of the service. Hayden Eig and his parents, Judy and Lewis, participated in the Friday evening service as part of Hayden’s bar mitzvah that would take place the following day. Congregation member Ellen Lutvak reminisced that she first met Pomerantz in upstate New York where he was serving as rabbi in Livingston Manor. She marveled at the coincidence that Pomerantz was once again her rabbi after she re-located to Closter.
Emotionally charged music was woven throughout every aspect of the service. Music Director and organist James Rensink was joined by Grammy nominee vocalist Annette Sanders, whose career took off in the 1960s when she was discovered by legendary band leader Benny Goodman. For decades, she has traveled around the country performing in Sim Shalom services. Rabbi Rebecca Shinder of Temple Beth Shalom in Florida, N.Y., played guitar and joined in as a vocalist, along with Sarah Weber who also played violin. Cellist Amy Goldman performed a particularly moving piece. Closter Hall of Fame jazz pianist Joel Zelnik led an additional group of musicians including Bill Ware on vibraphone, Dave Richards on bass, Art Bressler on alto saxophone and clarinet, and Pomerantz’s grandson Josh on drums. Together, the musicians were embraced enthusiastically by the congregation who sang and clapped along throughout the service.
Temple Beth El is merging with Washington Township’s Temple Beth Or and has purchased property at 660 Kinderkamack Road in Oradell for new construction. By the fall of 2019, the two temples will be one and known as Kol Dorot, meaning “Voice of generations.”
Photos by Susan McTigue