Rabbi
Mordechai Torczyner
has been our spiritual leader since June 2001, when he arrived from
Congregation Ohawe Sholam/Young Israel of Pawtucket, Rhode Island.
Rabbi
Torczyner grew up on Long Island. After high school, he spent two years at
Yeshivat Kerem beYavneh, an Israeli "Hesder Yeshiva" which mixes
army service with Torah study. On returning to America, Rabbi Torczyner
studied at Yeshiva University.
After
running the gamut of possible majors, Rabbi Torczyner settled on a BA in
Computer Science. Rabbi Torczyner also studied toward a Masters in Computer
Science at New York University's Courant Institute, while studying toward
ordination at Yeshiva University's Rabbi Elchanan Theological Seminary.
Rabbi
Torczyner sends out two daily educational emails, one containing a “Torah
Thought” and the other a Jewish law. To subscribe to either of these free
emails, please email Rabbi Torczyner at
.
Rabbi
Torczyner also teaches a wide variety of classes throughout the week, both for
the synagogue and for our community’s Melton Program. Every summer Rabbi
Torczyner teaches a multi-part “Jewish Bioethics” series. For more
information please call our office and request our semi-annual Kol Bo
schedule of classes and programs. The rabbi’s free weekly Jewish Events
email helps our community by advertising Jewish events from all around the
Lehigh Valley for several hundred subscribers – email rabbi@att.net to sign
up.
Our
rabbi sits on the boards of many local institutions, such as the Jewish
Federation of the Lehigh Valley, the Jewish Day School, and Jewish Family
Service. Rabbi Torczyner heads the Vaad (Rabbinic Leadership Board) for the
Hebrew Family League, which oversees the Mikvah, Lehigh
Valley Kashrut Commission, and
Chevra Kadisha. Rabbi Torczyner is also the local rabbinic authority for the
Allentown Eruv.
Rabbi
Torczyner serves our community as a spiritual advisor at the Lehigh County
Prison, and he teaches classes at our local Muhlenberg College Hillel.
The rabbi also writes articles for the Religion column and Op-Ed section of
our local newspaper, the Allentown Morning Call.
Rabbi
Torczyner's efforts to spread Torah go beyond our immediate community. He
maintains two websites which are designed to spread Torah to anyone interested
in increasing his Jewish awareness. One site is called "WebShas;" it
provides a topical index to the Talmud
(http://www.webshas.org).
The other site, called "HaMakor," provides bibliographic references
to classic Judaic texts, on a range of popular topics
(http://www.hamakor.org).
Caren
Torczyner grew
up in Atlanta, and spent a year studying at Michlala Yerushalayim leBanot
before attending college. She is a graduate of Yeshiva University's Stern
College, and Harvard Law School. Caren practiced law for a time when the
Torczyners lived in Rhode Island, but the Pennsylvania Bar will have to wait
for a while: Caren plays a strong communal role in Allentown, learning
privately with women of the community and serving on the Jewish Community
Center’s Campaign as a writer, even as she raises the Torczyner children.