Leadership
Rabbi Robert L. Tobin
"The World Rests on Three Pillars: Torah Study, Service Worship, and Acts of Love." (Pirkei Avot, 1:2). This is a favorite saying of Rabbi Robert L. Tobin, who provides spiritual leadership to B’nai Shalom based on these principles day in, day out.
Our Rabbi, Robert Tobin, is a dynamic speaker, welcoming pastor and master teacher. He was ordained by The Jewish Theological Seminary of America in 1999. In his time as a rabbi, he has earned a reputation as a non-judgmental teacher and guide for your Jewish exploration, while leading his synagogues to experience a blend of credible tradition and joyous diversity. All are welcome, and all are equal at Bnai Shalom.
He has passion for Jewish community and the State of Israel. He has served on numerous local and national boards of directors, including Jewish Vocational Services, the UJC rabbinic cabinet, regional UJA/Federation Executive Committees, and the Northern New Jersey Rabbinical Assembly. His Israel work includes the Masorti Movement, MERCAZ/USA, The Jewish National Fund, the GMW/UJA Federation’s religious pluralism committee, and is the rabbinic teacher for the Peoplehood Project.
Rabbi Tobin holds 4 university degrees: a Bachelor of Science in Foreign Service from Georgetown University; an M.A. in Religion from Big East rival Syracuse University; a Master's of Hebrew Letters from the University of Judaism (now “American Jewish University”); and another M.A. in Judaic Studies from the Jewish Theological Seminary of America.
Rabbi Tobin grew up in Rochester, New York, and has lived and studied in South Africa, Chile, France and Israel. He speaks English, Spanish, Hebrew and French. Rabbi Tobin and his wife, Lisa met at the Kane Street Synagogue in Brooklyn, NY, where they were married in 1998. Lisa also holds 3 Master's degrees as well. She is the Director of Inclusion Initiatives for the Foundation for Jewish Camp. They have 4 children, ages 10-14.
Rabbi Emeritus Stanley L. Asekoff
Rabbi Stanley Asekoff was born and raised in Boston Massachusetts and is a graduate of the Boston Latin School, the oldest public school in the country. He received his BA in psychology from Brandeis University and a Bachelor's Degree from the Hebrew College in Boston in Jewish Education. He went on to receive both his Master's Degree in Hebrew Literature and Rabbinic Ordination from the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York City. He also holds an Honorary Doctorate of Divinity from JTS, awarded in 1998, and was certified as a Mesadder Gittin (Jewish Divorce Administrator) by the joint-Bet Din of the Conservative movement in 1989. Rabbi Asekoff currently serves as a member of the Joint Bet Din of the Conservative Movement.
Rabbi Asekoff has served as the Rabbi of B'nai Shalom since the summer of 1972 when he was hired as the assistant Rabbi, was elevated to Associate Rabbi and then to Senior Rabbi. During his tenure he increased the knowledge of the laiety, grew membership and attendance at holiday and Shabbat services, initiated a peer mentoring Torah Reading Academy for teens, supported the creation of an advanced adult Talmud class, and enhanced the Jewish commitment and participation of the congregation.
During the course of his Rabbinate, Rabbi Asekoff served as Secretary and then President of the Essex County Board of Rabbis and the New Jersey Region of the Rabbinical Assembly, the professional organization of Conservative Rabbis. He is a chaplain for the West Orange Police Department and played a significant role, working through the Anti-Defamation League, in training the police to recognize and deal with Bias Crimes.
He has also served on the Executive Board of the National Rabbinical Assembly and on the Board of Trustees of the United Jewish Communities of MetroWest. He is a member of the Rabbinic Cabinet of MetroWest, the Clergy Council of West Orange, the New York Board of Rabbis and the National Association of Jewish Chaplains. Rabbi Asekoff serves as a disaster chaplain certified by Disaster Chaplaincy Services of New York, and was recently appointed to the State of New Jersey Commission on Holocaust Education.
Executive Committee
Board Members
Term Ending (2018)
Barbara Israel Bortniker
Ken Kraus
Mary Mandel
Alexander Mushkin
Evan Riff
Term Ending (2019)
Geri Buchoff
Ari Kampel
Howard Kastner
Tom Phon
Tami Rager
Term Ending (2020)
Alan Grossman
Marcia Paisner
Harriet Schneiderman
Simone Shenassa
As with any synagogue, it is the president who leads the B'nai Shalom community forward, in both good times and trying times. We at B'nai Shalom are privileged to have had a long history of motivated, dedicated, and selfless leaders. It is only due to their hard work, their love of Judaism, and their ability to foster a sense of community that we are what we are today, a warm and loving place of worship and friendship.
Below is the honor roll of our Past Presidents. Those Past Presidents with an * next to their name are of blessed memory.
Max Richman*
1944 to 1945
Lee Sherman*
1945 to 1946
Edward Goldfein*
1946 to 1947
Irving Gennet*
1947 to 1948
Macyln Goldman*
1948 to 1949
Irving Galin*
1949 to 1950
Harold Jay*
1950 to 1951
Sol Eichler*
1951 to 1952
Nathan Rothenberg
1952 to 1953
Milton J. Schwartz*
1953 to 1955
Max Bruss
1955 to 1956
Frederick Wolf
1956 to 1957
Arthur Hirsh
1957 to 1958
David Hersh
1958 to 1961
Harold Levine
1961 to 1962
Eugene Ross*
1962 to 1963
Morton Grebelsky
1963 to 1964
Milton Breitman
1964 to 1967
Alfred Goodman
1966 to 1967
Isidore Krosser
1967 to 1968
Milton Newman
1968 to 1969
Murray Gottlieb*
1969 to 1971
Walter Springer*
1971 to 1972
David Millstein*
1972 to 1973
Irving Kerzner*
1973 to 1974
Arthur Maron
1974 to 1975
Joseph Friedman
1975 to 1976
Mortimer Eber*
1976 to 1977
Melvin L. Benjamin
1977 to 1979
Lynn Sunshine Maron*
1979 to 1980
Murray Gottlieb*
1980 to 1982
Donald Legow
1982 to 1985
David Plotkin
1985 to 1987
Leonard Fisher
1987 to 1989
Irving Berkowitz*
1970 to 1990
Bellville
Howard Cohen
1989 to 1991
Max Spinrad
1991 to 1993
Paul Kurland
1993 to 1995
Mary Mandel
1995 to 1997
Barry Liben
1997 to 1999
Bennett Schwartz
1999 to 2001
Simone Shenassa
2001 to 2003
Steve Colten
2003 to 2005
Bonnie Kessler
2005 to 2007
Seth Saltzman
2007 to 2009
Charles Kurtzer
2009 to 2011
Susan Friedman
2011 to 2013
Seth Saltzman
2011 to 2013
Noel Meltzer
2013 to 2015
Seth Cohen
2015 to 2017
Jewish War Veterans of the United States of America
We at B'nai Shalom are proud of the men and woman who have served defending the United States. Their heroism and bravery has helped to define our great democracy. Below is the honor roll of our Veterans who served in the armed forces either from B'nai Shalom or from Congregation Ahavath Achim in Belleville. Those Veterans with an * next to their name are of blessed memory.