Today is May 20, 2012 - 28 Iyyar 5772
Congregation Torat El
The Jersey Shore Jewish Center
301 Monmouth Rd, Oakhurst, NJ 07755 · (732) 531-4410
A note from our Cantor…
Shalom! And welcome to a great adventure as we build a new community–Congregation Torat El. I would venture to guess that people join this congregation for many of the same reasons that brought Anne and me to New Jersey over a decade ago: friendly, welcoming congregants; a compassionate, knowledgeable and accessible Rabbi; and a modern, Conservative philosophy that respects ancient traditions while recognizing the changing needs of the 21st century Jew. In addition, now we have the exciting and rare prospect of not only witnessing the birth of a new congregation, but also being a part of the melding of two well established congregations into a single, vibrant whole.
As Hazzan, I have the pleasure of leading the congregation in prayer, coupling words from the Siddur and the Torah with melodies both ancient and modern, and encouraging all to join me in joyfully lifting our voices to God. A student of mine once said, “God must like music, otherwise we’d speak our prayers, instead of singing them.” I couldn’t have put it better!
During prayer, we are magically individuals and community at the same time. Furthermore, mastering prayer is as much a skill as is mastering a sport, a language, or a musical instrument. And acquiring, maintaining or honing a skill requires practice. I invite you to come practice with us and to join our prayer community. I guarantee it will be a lot less tiring than trotting on a treadmill and a lot more uplifting than lifting weights.
See you in shul.
Cantor Bruce Siegel
