Rabbi Menashe East, Neighbor

<strong>Rabbi Menashe East grew up in New Jersey with a family that instilled a love and reverence for Judaism. From an early age, Rav Menashe was blessed to study Torah with his father and grandfather. Rav Menashe’s other teacher, his mother, modeled commitment to community, directing a Jewish Family Service.</strong>

<strong>Following high school, Rav Menashe attended the <i>Hesder Yeshiva</i>, <i>Shalavim</i>, for two years in Israel’s secluded Ayalon Valley, studying ancient Jewish texts beside young Israeli men, serving in the IDF.</strong>

<strong>After Israel, Rav Menashe attended Yeshiva University, where he studied Torah, obtained a bachelor’s degree in literature and completed masters level course work in Jewish thought.</strong>

<strong>Rav Menashe was ordained through the Open Orthodox Yeshiva, Yeshivat Chovevei Torah (YCT), founded by Rabbi Avi Weiss. In YCT’s study hall, Rav Menashe was exposed to rigorous Torah scholarship and spirituality and an open mindedness to the breadth of Jewish thinking and people.</strong>

<strong>After YCT, Rav Menashe traveled west to San Diego, CA to serve as the first spiritual leader of a fledgling synagogue, Kehillat Ahavat Yisrael (KAY). In his four years on the West Coast, KAY nearly quadrupled in size as the first and only modern Orthodox community in San Diego. Under Rav Menashe’s leadership, KAY became a member of the OU. Rav Menashe was also proud to have been the first orthodox rabbi to sit on San Diego’s cross-denominational board of rabbis.</strong>

<strong>While serving as a synagogue rabbi, Rav Menashe was a member of the Judaic studies faculty of San Diego’s community day school, the San Diego Jewish Academy, where he taught middle school and high school students in Judaic subjects.</strong>

<strong>During his years in San Diego, Rav Menashe was chosen as a fellow of the 3^rd cohort with the prestigious Rabbinic Leadership Initiative at the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem. </strong><br><strong> With nearly thirty other rabbis from across the US, Rav Menashe traveled to Israel for intellectual nourishment, spiritual guidance and a chance to absorb the beauty of Israel</strong>

<strong>Two years ago, Rav Menashe and family moved back to the East Coast to assume the role of spiritual leader of the Mt Freedom Jewish Center. With a nearly 90 year history, MFJC has been a bedrock institution of the Morris County Jewish Community. MFJC’s warm and welcoming attitude, its youthful dynamism and Israel activism make MFJC an exciting Jewish environment.</strong>

<strong>Currently, Rav Menashe is also pursuing a masters degree in Social Work at Yeshiva University.</strong>

<strong>Rav Menashe’s greatest joy is his family. Rav Menashe and his sacred friend and life partner, Donna, are blessed with two young children – Ayala Rayati and Erez Avraham. And after five years, their dog, Nanku, has made herself a member of the family too.</strong>