New Jersey Native To Become Congregation B'nai Israel Rabbi

TOMS RIVER, NJ — Congregation B'nai Israel of Toms River announced the appointment of Rabbi William Gershon as interim rabbi of the Toms River synagogue's congregation.

Gershon, who grew up in New Jersey, will join Hazzan Steven Walvick, who is in his 10th year at CBI, to lead the 68-year-old congregation’s 240-plus member families, joining them before the High Holidays of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.

"My roots come from New Jersey," Gershon said, "where I grew up in Ocean Township (Wanamassa) and my family were members of Temple Beth Torah with Rabbi Jacob Friedman z”l. Many members of my extended family still live in the Shore area, making Toms River a very appealing location for an interim rabbinic position."

Over the last 29 years, Gershon has served pulpits as congregational rabbi in Michigan, Minneapolis and most recently Dallas, at one of the Conservative movement’s flagship congregations.

"Rabbi Gershon is a rabbi’s rabbi in the world of rabbis," said Philip Brilliant, president of Congregation B'nai Israel.

Most of Gershon’s career has been devoted to education and engagement, with a long track record of creating innovative educational models and programs that address the needs and spiritual yearnings of a wide range of ages, the congregation said in a news release. Gershon "has built his career on cultivating deep, meaningful and long-lasting relationships, creating and sharing powerful and intimate spiritual moments and going beyond the walls of the synagogue to engage Jews wherever they may be geographically, emotionally and spiritually." the release said.

"My style of leadership is one of collaboration and team building with an emphasis on maximizing compelling Jewish experiences, meaningful learning and spiritual growth in both traditional and nontraditional settings," Gershon said.

Gershon is a past president of the Rabbinical Assembly, the international organization of Conservative/Masorti Rabbis and continues to serve on its executive council. He has served on the boards of directors or advisory leadership committees of many major Jewish organizations, including National Council of AIPAC, The Jewish Theological Seminary, Council of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations. He has been honored in the past by the State of Israel Bonds with The Israel Freedom Award, the UJA Rabbinic Cabinet with the Rabbinic Leadership Award, and been awarded the Solomon Schechter Award in Family Education.

Gershon is a graduate of the Joint Program of Columbia University and The Jewish Theological Seminary, where he graduated with honors. He also earned a master's degree in Jewish Studies and received his Rabbinic Ordination and most recently an honorary doctorate from JTS.

Gershon, who replaces Rabbi Ellen Wolintz-Fields, who resigned in January and moved out of the area, will arrive at CBI on Aug. 27, but already is working with Walvick, the staff and board of CBI to plan for the coming year, the news release said.

"With the arrival of Rabbi Gershon, the congregation is poised for an inspirational beginning to the New Year and a bright future," the news release said.

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Rabbi William Gershon, photo provided by Congregation B'nai Israel