Eitz Chaim welcomes its new rabbi
Monroe - Congregation Eitz Chaim began the next chapter in its history this past Friday when it officially welcomed its new spiritual leader, Rabbi Ari Perten. The synagogue held a special dinner for Kabbalat Shabbat (welcoming the Sabbath) on Friday evening, and hosted a welcoming Kiddush (festive meal that follows the blessing over the wine) on Shabbat morning, where the new rabbi and the congregation could meet and mingle over lunch after morning services. Perten, a native of Suffern in Rockland County, begins his tenure at the Monroe synagogue at an exciting time for the congregation: Now in its new spiritual home on Orange Turnpike, the rabbi will be infusing a fresh, new energy into the 150-plus member family congregation. He succeeds Rabbi Adam Kligfeld, who served the congregation for nine years and left to be senior rabbi at Temple Beth Am in Los Angeles. Perten, a graduate of New York City’s Jewish Theological Seminary’s List College and Columbia University, holds dual bachelor’s degrees in biblical studies and international politics, respectively, as well as a master’s degree from JTS in Jewish education. He chose to come to Eitz Chaim because “I was attracted by the warmth of the community - everyone is incredibly warm and friendly (Eitz Chaim has an) incredibly beautiful building also it is close to family” - his parents are still in Suffern, and he has three sisters still in the area, one of whom recently graduated from Binghamton. He hopes that this is the beginning of a long, successful relationship with the synagogue, and that “Eitz Chaim will grow and develop, that members will grow as Jews How can we make ourselves better (spiritually)? This is the point of Judaism.” Perten continued that he is optimistic that Eitz Chaim “will continue to be a warm, welcoming place with a mix of generations and different types of people with different opinions - the essence of community.” He expects that “it should be an interesting time for me and the community we’ll get to know one another.” He hopes that “it will be a long relationship where we’ll both grow.” Perten’s wife, Rebecca, is a doctoral candidate studying the history of decorative arts; they have a daughter, Ma’ayan, who is 10 months old.