Status Active Completed 1992 Founded 1950 | Website templeemanuel.org Phone +1 856-489-0029 Affiliation Union for Reform Judaism | |
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Location 1101 Springdale Road,
Cherry Hill, New Jersey,
United States Leadership Senior Rabbi: Jerome P. David
Rabbi: Larry Sernovitz
Cantor: Neil Schnitzer Address 1101 Springdale Rd, Cherry Hill, NJ 08003, USA Similar Temple Beth Sholom, Congregation M'kor Shalom, Congregation Beth El, Woodcrest Country Club, Merchantville Country Club | ||
Temple Emanuel is a Reform Jewish congregation located in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. It was founded in 1950 on the western side of Cherry Hill, and moved in 1992 to Cherry Hill's east side. Its first rabbi was Herbert M. Yarrish, who served from 1956 to 1975. As of 2014, the senior rabbi is Jerome P. David, the rabbi is Larry Sernovitz, and the cantor is Neil Schnitzer.
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History
Temple Emanuel was established in 1950 as Cherry Hill, New Jersey's first Reform Jewish congregation. They hired their first full-time rabbi, Herbert M. Yarrish, in 1956. Yarrish was a graduate of Harvard University, who had received a master's degree in Hebrew letters from Hebrew Union College in 1949.
The members initially met in a variety of locations. In 1959, when membership reached approximately 300, the congregation broke ground on its first permanent synagogue building in Delaware Township, on Cherry Hill's west side. Jerome P. David joined as assistant rabbi in 1974.
Yarrish retired in 1975; following his retirement he worked as a stockbroker. He was succeeded as senior rabbi by Edwin N. Soslow, a role he filled until his death in 1987. Soslow was succeeded as senior rabbi by Jerome P. David. The congregation moved to its current building in east Cherry Hill in 1992.
In 2005, Temple Emanuel broke the world record for dreidel spinning, with 541 dreidels spun simultaneously for at least ten seconds. There were 578 participants, succeeding the previous record of 535 people by the University of Maryland Hillel in 1999. In 2010, members of Yeshiva University broke Temple Emanuel's record, by spinning a total of 618 dreidels.
As of 2014, the senior rabbi is Jerome P. David, the rabbi is Larry Sernovitz, and the cantor is Neil Schnitzer.
Current building
The congregation acquired 9 acres (3.6 ha) of land on the east side of Cherry Hill (at the intersection of Springdale and Kresson Roads) in 1989, and began construction of a new synagogue building there. In 1992, the congregation moved to the new facilities, across from the Katz Jewish Community Center (which later opened in 1997). The facilities include a social hall (used for special occasions such as weddings, Bar and Bat Mitzvahs, and conferences), an industrial kitchen (adjacent to the social hall; used for banquets, as well as volunteer groups, such as the 'soup kitchen' where people prepare foods for poor people), an outdoor atrium (also used for Sukkot), a spacious lobby, chapel, sanctuary, library, preschool and Hebrew school complexes.