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Lunch With the Rabbi

Another great year of learning with Rabbi Kushner. Our Lunch With the Rabbi Adult Education class met for the last time this year just yesterday. A new class will start in the fall.

Our Mission

Temple Ner Tamid was founded in 1980 as the result of the merger of Temple B'nai Zion, a Conservative synagogue, and Temple Menorah, a Reform congregation. In 2008, it grew again with the merger of Beth Sholom Reform Temple. Today Temple Ner Tamid ("Eternal Light" in Hebrew) is affiliated with the Reform movement, and its culture reflects a unique blending of liberal values and traditional expression.

We acknowledge that our mission is to help people of all ages and backgrounds grow Jewishly, through:

Torah - Study
Avodah - Worship
G'milut Chasadim - Acts of Lovingkindness

All of the above work in concert to create and sustain a vibrant community. Our diverse congregation embraces the values of lifelong learning; inclusive, participatory and inspiring services; and repairing the world. As we learn and teach, live and pray together, we embrace each other and our Judaism with joy.

A Message from the Rabbi

Rabbi Yossi ben Yocahanan of Jerusalem taught: "Let your house be open wide..." Pirkei Avot 1:5).

In so many ways, this has come to be the signature of Temple Ner Tamid. From our very beginning as the merger of Bloomfield's only two synagogues – Conservative Temple B'nai Zion and Reform Temple Menorah – and now enriched by Clifton's Beth Sholom Reform Temple, Temple Ner Tamid is a community in the truest sense of that word.

We believe that first and foremost a synagogue should be a place where one can explore Judaism along with other fellow travelers on the sacred road to spiritual discovery. And to this end we endeavor to make our house as open and as welcoming as possible. The result is an uncommonly diverse yet inclusive community. We are interfaith households. We are single adults. We are multi-racial and same-sex and blended families. We come from a wide spectrum of backgrounds yet we all share a common vision of a Judaism where all expressions can find a place at the table.

I have often likened Judaism to a ma'ayan, a well-spring. It is a source of intellectual and emotional and spiritual nourishment. Through the words of Torah we drink of wisdom and mitzvah challenging us to be more, inspiring us to transform the world into the place the Holy One had intended it to be. We see ourselves as Shitufei Elohim / partners with God in our dream of Tikkun Olam / repairing the world. At Ner Tamid the ma'ayan is as wide as it is deep.

Join us. Enter our doorway. Both here on this website as well as at 936 Broad Street. Maybe it's just a coincidence that our street address shares the same meaning at Rabbi Yossi's teaching, to be open wide. But then again, I don't really believe in coincidences.

Welcome to Temple Ner Tamid.

A Message from the President

Hi! My name is Andi Robik and I am the President of Temple Ner Tamid. But more importantly, I am a member. Trustee, VP, President, Congregant….the title doesn’t really matter. What matters is that we are a community, coming together to share our Jewish lives. To worship together, have fun, and be there for each other.

Most people join a temple to be a part of a Jewish community. Yes, we need a building and programming to attract members of all ages. We have both of those things. Our biggest strength, however, is in our 460 or so families and our exceptional clergy and staff that teach us and enrich our lives. There is no way for me to describe the “ruach”, or spirit inherent in our culture. I encourage you to come to a Tot Shabbat on the first Friday night of the month, laugh with our talented members in a Purimspiel (or be in it), and join us for a Passover Seder, havdallah café, Simchat Torah celebration, or joyous Friday night service.  I am confident you will see for yourself what I mean.

Our focus this year is on creating and strengthening relationships within our membership. A recent study done internally illustrated that people want to feel more connected. This can be accomplished in a variety of ways with various methods of communication. A few new ideas being developed are quarterly webinars titled “TNT Live” to bring members up to date on what’s happening, a chavurah program to engage members with other families with like interests in small groups, mentors for new members, more and better food at onegs and following Shabbat morning services, and increased involvement at the committee level.

I read that you can judge the success of a program not by the number of people who came, but by the number of people and amount of time spent “schmoozing” AFTER the event. This makes so much sense! For the past 17 years, my husband Scott, my 3 children and I have found a home here because of the people we have met and the relationships we have formed. Sometimes you do want to go, to quote a famous song, “where everybody knows your name”. 

I hope to see you soon. And I mean that!




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