Rabbi Laurence W. Groffman has been Temple Sholom’s rabbi since 2006. Prior to that time, he served as Rabbinic Intern, Assistant, Associate and Senior Rabbi of Congregation B’nai Jeshurun in Short Hills for sixteen years.

Rabbi Groffman received his Rabbinic Ordination from the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in New York City in 1993. While still a teenager, Rabbi Groffman felt drawn to Torah. He decided to pursue a major in Near Eastern and Judaic Studies at Brandeis University in Waltham, MA, from which he graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa in 1988. During his undergraduate years, Rabbi Groffman felt the call to the rabbinate, and he began his rabbinical studies at HUC-JIR, the Reform seminary in Jerusalem.

Rabbi Groffman has served as president of the New Jersey-West Hudson Valley Council of Reform Rabbis, which is the regional organization of the Central Conference of American Rabbis (CCAR), the professional organization of Reform Rabbis. In his capacity as regional president, Rabbi Groffman sat on the board of the CCAR where he was responsible for organizing programming for the region’s Reform Rabbis.

Rabbi Groffman’s mission as Temple Sholom’s rabbi is to ensure that the congregation continues its tradition of being a center of excellence in Jewish literacy, spirituality and community. He believes that the congregation should welcome a broad range of people, regardless of their background or level of Jewish observance. Rabbi Groffman feels that a diverse congregation is a strong congregation and he cherishes Temple Sholom’s warmth and openness. He presents Judaism in a non-judgmental, welcoming manner so as to make as many people as possible feel comfortable in the congregation and with Judaism.

Teaching and learning Torah together with the congregation is a source of great joy for Rabbi Groffman. Whether it is in our Saturday morning Torah study class, teaching the Confirmation class, or delivering a sermon from the pulpit, his love of Torah and its wisdom is what Rabbi Groffman tries to transmit at every opportunity.

Rabbi Groffman and his wife Melissa are the parents of four small children and live in Montclair.

Rabbi Groffman welcomes the opportunity to meet you; all you need to do is call the Temple office to arrange an appointment.

Cantor Betsey Peters-Epstein has been with Temple Sholom since 2002. She brings to our worship services her wonderful voice, an enthusiasm for all things Jewish, a solid background in classical liturgy, fluent Hebrew, and a strong spiritual presence.

She is a traditionalist but she loves to experiment — with prayer, song, programming, and especially in her interactions with the children of our congregation. Her Junior Choir has been a great success, as has the weekend summer camp she runs for choir members in her New York City home.

Whether she is working with individual Religious School students to prepare them for their Bar or Bat Mitzvahs or leading an adult book discussion, her charm, intellect, and sense of humor captivate everyone.

These are qualities that proved valuable in her professional career as a musician. Although she began her singing career as Yum-Yum in The Mikado at the age of 12 and put herself through college by performing in dinner theatres in Texas and Wisconsin, her strong interest in classical vocal chamber music led to collaboration with distinguished musicians like Joel Smirnoff of the Julliard Quartet, oboist Bert Lucarelli, pianist Daniel Epstein, and clarinetist David Kradauer. She has recorded baroque Jewish music for Radio Kol Yisroel, been named a Sidor Belarsky scholar, and performed with famous Yiddish art-song performer Masha Benya.

Her interest in Yiddish and Ladino song and chamber music prompted her to focus her Master’s dissertation at Hebrew Union College on the use of instruments with vocal music in the synagogue and in the Jewish community.

Cantor Peters-Epstein and her husband, Daniel Epstein, a member of the Raphael Trio and on the staff at the Manhattan School of Music, frequently perform throughout the United States. In 2000, Cantor Epstein sang Yiddish songs on Vatican Radio in Rome, a first for Jewish music.

She was formerly cantor at Temple Sinai in Summit, New Jersey, and at Temple Emanuel in Worcester, Massachusetts

Rabbi Norman R. Patz was our spiritual leader from the summer of 1969 until his retirement in June, 2006. Under his guidance, the congregation grew from 147 members to over 400 families living throughout the West Essex area; we built our gem-like sanctuary and extended our school wing; we became custodians of a Czech Holocaust Torah from Dvur Kralove, where we recently dedicated a monument to that destroyed Jewish community.

His ministry has always stressed Jewish “peoplehood” and strong engagement with Israel and Diaspora communities. He and Naomi have led many congregational trips to Israel and Jewish sites in Europe, and brought hundreds of confirmands to Israel for 6-7 week summer visits and, in most recent years, to Prague and Amsterdam.

Rabbi was an early and passionate activist for Soviet Jewry. With his help, we sponsored and welcomed refusenik families into our congregation, and also helped a Laotian family, refugees from the war in Vietnam and Cambodia, find a secure home in our country.

Rabbi Patz’s liturgical style combines dignity and warmth and his strength as a teacher and pastor speaks to his belief in the vitality and centrality of Reform Judaism for our time. Siddur Netivot Sholom, our congregation’s prayer book, reflects these values, as does Obligations of the Heart, a compilation of his brilliant High Holy Day sermons.

Among his current and past community involvements are: National Chairman of the UJA Rabbinic Cabinet, Vice-Chair of the NJ State Holocaust Commission, President of the Society for the History of the Jews of Czechoslovakia, chair of the Metropolitan NJ Conference on Soviet Jewry and of the Community Relations Committee of MetroWest, Trustee of the Newark Museum, member of the board of the Cedar Grove library.

The rabbi holds adjunct positions at Montclair State University and Caldwell College.

Rabbi Patz received a B.A. cum laude from Harvard College; a Bachelor of Jewish Education from the Hebrew Teachers College; a B.A. and, in 1965, an M.A. in Hebrew Literature and rabbinic ordination from Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, which awarded him a Doctor of Divinity degree in 1990.

Rabbi and Naomi have been married for 46 years and have two daughters and four granddaughters.