Introducing Rabbi Jared H. Saks
by Jan Kennen (July/August 2005 HaKol)

Temple Israel has a new rabbi—Jared H. Saks—who you may have seen in the hallways already this summer. Rabbi Saks comes to us from New York Hebrew Union College, which he attended after completing his studies at Florida State University with a double major in religion and Spanish.

Rabbi Saks grew up in Long Valley, a small town in Northwestern New Jersey. It was there that he started attending youth group events in the third grade. “It helps build lasting Judaism,” he said. Rabbi Saks developed an interest in working with children. He began working with youth at Henry S. Jacobs Camp, where he worked for three summers. “I really like working with youth because of how open and honest they are--how they are willing to challenge the world and environment,” he said.

Rabbi Saks’s student pulpit was in Lock Haven, Pennsylvania, in a small congregation of 26 families. “I chose my student pulpit specifically because there wasn’t a youth component. I wanted to build my experience in other areas. Most of the congregants were empty nesters—senior citizens. I wanted to develop my skills with older people, reach out to them. I started out doing Friday night services and visiting hospitals. As time went on, I was able to create a lunch and learn curriculum. I look forward to developing even more at Temple through its diversity, clergy and opportunities.”

Rabbi Saks is looking forward to Temple Israel’s Torah study group. “There is a midrash that there is an interpretation for every individual. I would like to bring that idea to the study group, that each of us has a way to interpret the texts of our tradition. I would like to bring the Me’am Lo’ez* from the Sephartic tradition to complement the Ashkenazi tradition; to help us to understand the text from a different view point making them accessible to everybody.”

Rabbi Saks envisions a community of diverse people in which he can invest himself. He would like to meet people and really get to know individuals. His goal is to find out what people need from Temple Israel and what they need from the Jewish community as a whole. “Temple Israel is a warm and welcoming community. It is a community that is nurturing and a place that I can share and grow. Coming right out of school, I’m looking forward as much to learning and growing as I am to teach other people.”

One program that Rabbi Saks is extremely proud of and would like to bring to Temple Israel is the “Midnight Run.” Winter clothing is collected from the congregation. Participants meet at 7:30 p.m. The group begins with Havdallah and a study session regarding hunger and homelessness. The group then breaks into three teams; one team prepares hot food, one team prepares cold food, and the third team sorts clothing. Then vehicles are loaded and the group drives into a metropolitan area, giving food and clothing to the people sleeping on the streets. “You see the humanity of the people that live on the streets,” he said.

What made him choose Temple Israel? “The first time I heard of Temple Israel was the year I spent in Israel as a first-year rabbinic student. I met Carey Brown, who was also a rabbinic student there. She had grown up at Temple, went to TEKO and Herzel, and told me what a wonderful place, community and spirit was at Temple Israel. That was one of the strongest comments that I can hear about a community, from someone that grew up there. I feel privileged to be a part of this community.”

The Me’am Lo’ez is a classic Judaic work written in the language that the Jews of Spain brought with them to the Ottoman Empire in 1492. Written in Ladino, the book is essentially an encyclopedic commentary on the Torah, written in an easy style for the common person. Technically, the Me'am Lo'ez, as we know it today, is a 46-volume commentary on the entire TANAKH.