Rabbi Isaac Jeret Bio

Perhaps most notable about Rabbi Isaac Jeret is that his personal warmth and accessibility characterize his rabbinic leadership just as much as his commitment to helping to define and address the greater challenges and opportunities facing the Jewish People in the 21st century. In the course of his own spiritual development, Rabbi Jeret experienced a broad variety of the spiritual and cultural expressions of contemporary Jewish life. From childhood until present, he has served as a student, teacher, cantor, rabbi and/or communal leader in each of the major branches of contemporary Jewry (Conservative, Orthodox, and Reform). A professional singer as a child and songwriter as a young-adult, Rabbi Jeret exhibits an unusual range of capacities and cultivated skills, from those more spiritually and experientially oriented to those more typically associated with the scholarly and intellectual dimensions of Judaism, all contributing to his unique and inspirational rabbinic leadership.

Rabbi Jeret’s writings and spoken messages exhibit a clarity of vision and a deep and motivating passion for the spiritual and material welfare of each individual Jew and the entirety of the Jewish People. Rabbi Jeret is forward-thinking in his approach to intermarried couples and creative in his ideas and programs for Jewish Outreach, both of which have met with remarkable success. His activist approach to the rabbinate reflects his commitment to endeavors to strengthen the Jewish People, putting into practice daily a belief that he often speaks of that a Jewish community that takes care of its own will be best able to continue to sustain and fulfill its role in the larger world. The son of a Holocaust survivor and IRGUN member, and the descendent of a line of distinguished rabbis, Rabbi Jeret is an unyielding and vocal defender and supporter of the State of Israel.

Rabbi Jeret’s wise and compassionate counsel to individuals is as much appreciated by our congregation as is the wisdom with which he represents the Jewish community in numerous settings and roles, whether locally or nationally, in the media or behind closed doors. His outstanding commitment to the children and families of our community underscores perhaps most poignantly his commitment to the enduring Jewish endeavor to nurture a vibrant Jewish future, the ultimate purpose of every Jewish community.

Academic and Rabbinic Study

In the course of his graduate studies at The Jewish Theological Seminary of America (JTS) and Columbia University’s Teachers’ College, and upon completion of his post-graduate course of study toward Rabbinic Ordination (at JTS), Rabbi Jeret earned the following degrees while receiving several prestigious fellowships and awards:

· MA in Jewish Education

· Day School Principal's Certification

· Master of Philosophy in Jewish Studies

· Rabbinic Ordination

Rabbinic Service

Rabbi Jeret recently concluded his first decade of service in the rabbinate. He served first at Congregation Beth Ahm in Verona, NJ. Subsequently, while serving at Temple Emanu-El of Palm Beach, FL, his leadership reenergized one of the Conservative Movement's flagship synagogues and he received in 2003 the prestigious Rabbinic Service Award from the United Jewish Communities (UJC) for his work at the synagogue. Rabbi Jeret served briefly as President of The Brandeis Bardin Institute in the Los Angeles area prior to his appointment three years ago as Spiritual Leader of Congregation Ner Tamid of South Bay, located on the Palos Verdes Peninsula in Southern California.

Rabbi Jeret serves currently in the following capacities in the larger community:

· Vice President, Western Region of The American Friends of The Israel Defense Forces (FIDF)

· Member, National Board of Friends of Israel Defense Forces (FIDF)

· Chairman, Rabbinic Cabinet of Friends of Israel Defense Forces (FIDF)

· Member, Senate Club, AIPAC.

· Member, New Leadership Network, AIPAC

· Member, National Board of The Koby Mandel Foundation

· Member, Southwest Regional Board of The Jewish National Fund (JNF)

· President, Israel/Christian Nexus

· Board of Regents, Gratz College (Philadelphia, PA)

· Member in good standing, The Rabbinical Assembly of The Conservative Movement.

· Member, The United Jewish Communities (UJC) National Rabbinic Cabinet.

Rabbi Jeret has served previously in the following capacities in the larger community:

· Rabbinic Consultant to the Medical Ethics Committee of Palms West Hospital, JFK Hospital, and Palm Beach Gardens Hospital, of Healthcare Company of Palm Beach County.

· Executive Board of Governors of (Steve Emerson's) Investigative Project.

· Chancellor's Cabinet of The Jewish Theological Seminary of America.

· Trustee, Washington Institute for Near Eastern Policy

· Southeast Regional Board of Shaare Zedek Hospital.

· Southeast Regional Board of the Anti-Defamation League.

· Board, World Masorti Movement.

· Board, MERCAZ.

· Board of Jewish Community Relations Council of The Jewish Federation of Palm Beach County, FL.

· Board / Executive Committee, Jewish Community Relations Council, Jewish Federation of Metrowest NJ.

· Vice-Chair, Local Advisory Committee on Alcohol and Substance Abuse, Essex County, NJ.