View Our Latest
Sermons
We Welcome You With Open Arms And Open Minds
Welcome to Our Community
Welcome to Temple Beth Hillel - Beth Abraham
You don’t have to make a sacrifice to be a member.
We welcome and invite individuals from diverse backgrounds, irrespective of their religious beliefs, race, ethnicity, gender, socioeconomic status, abilities, age, sexual orientation, and gender identity, to join and contribute to our sacred community, fostering a connection to Jewish life.
Meet Our Rabbi Cantor
Rabbi/Cantor Rhoda J. Harrison, Ph.D, MSW
Welcome to our synagogue community, or at the very least to our Temple Beth Hillel-Beth Abraham website! If you are reading this page, you may be asking yourself why get involved in a synagogue community?
The word synagogue, a word that has become part of our English language, originates from the Greek meaning gather together. In Hebrew, we have three distinct names for a synagogue: Beit HaMidrash, The House of Study; Beit HaTefillah, The House of Prayer, & finally Beit HaKenesset, The House of Meeting. Each of these terms have deep roots in Jewish tradition and text. Common to all three of these Hebrew names are a sense of engaging in practice as a community and as sense of home. First and foremost, we at Temple Beth Hillel Beth Abraham strive to make our synagogue a welcoming place to explore, learn, practice, and/or connect with Jewish culture and history within the embrace of a Jewish community.
Notice none of the Hebrew terms point to a place for holiness. That is not a given and takes some effort on our part. One of my favorite verses of Torah reminds us that our synagogues need us in order to create holiness. Before outlining the various holy days, the Biblical author writes,
Daber el b’nai Yisrael v’amarta aleyhem, mo’adei Adonai asher tik-r’u o-tam mikra’ei kodesh eileh hem mo’adei.
Tell the Israelites: These are Adonai’s appointed seasons that you will proclaim them holy, even these my seasons. (Lev. 23:2, from Parashat Emor)
Torah is teaching us here that God gives the appointed seasons to the Israelites; but, it isn’t God who sanctifies them. Instead, God charges us to make them holy. The work of making Jewish time holy, of carrying on Jewish traditions and making them sacred is entirely ours – it’s a human endeavor.
Gathering together – whether for study, prayer, the pursuit of social justice, or simply a nosh at our shabbat oneg – that is at the heart of creating sacred time and sense of kedoshim (holiness).
Welcome to Temple Beth Hillel-Beth Abraham!
Rabbi/Cantor Rhoda J. Harrison, Ph.D., MSW
Support
Embracing and upholding Jewish traditions involves actively endorsing and nurturing the rich cultural and religious practices that have been passed down through generations. Find out more about how you can help support Jewish traditions.
Donate
Contributing to Beth Hillel – Beth Abraham through donations is a meaningful way to support the community and sustain its spiritual, cultural, and educational initiatives. Learn more about how your donations can make a difference.
Volunteer
Your volunteer efforts contribute to the smooth operation of religious services, educational programs, and community events, fostering a welcoming environment for all members. Find out more about ways you can help.
Find out more
News & Announcements
The Month of Elul – Preparing for the High Holy Days – 5787
Reflections on Ritual
The Month of Elul – Preparing for the High Holy Days – 5787
– Stephen Freed
The Hebrew month of Elul precedes Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur. It generally coincides with August in the secular calendar, but Elul has special significance in Jewish tradition. It is a time when we prepare ourselves for self-reflection and teshuvah, returning to our better selves, in the coming High Holy Days. Traditionally, the shofar is blown at every morning service, some say to awaken our souls, perhaps to create a sense of expectation in the silence before each blast, or possibly to express what we cannot put into words. It has been said that through the shofar we send cries of longing across the universe.
During Elul we have a tradition of wishing each other a shana tovah, a good year, in anticipation of the year that will begin on Rosh Hashana, literally the “head of the year.” There is a tradition of visiting the graves of parents and others who have made our very existence possible. We remember the past, events and feelings, as we transition to a new year. At the end of Elul – the week before Rosh Hashana, we say special prayers to ask for forgiveness. Many congregations have midnight services. At TBH-BA we will be gathering after sunset on September 5 for our Slichot service.
As we begin our work toward teshuvah, I’d like to share two prayers that I find particularly meaningful, and may perhaps resonate with you as well. Both are found in Mishkan Halev, Prayers for S’lichot and the Month of Elul, published by CCAR, the rabbinic organization of the Reform movement.
The first is an excerpt from “A Time for Turning” by Rabbi Jack Riemer.
“ . . . for leaves, birds and animals turning comes instinctively. But for us turning does not come so easily. It takes an act of will to make a turn. It means breaking with old habits. It means admitting that we have been wrong; and this is never easy. It means losing face; it means starting all over again; and this is always painful. It means saying: I am sorry. It means recognizing that we have the ability to change. These things are terribly hard to do. But unless we turn, we will be trapped forever in yesterday’s ways. God, help us to turn – from callousness to sensitivity, from hostility to love, from pettiness to purpose, from envy to contentment, from carelessness to discipline, from fear to faith. Turn us around and bring us back toward You. Revive our lives, as at the beginning. And turn us toward each other – for in isolation there is no life.”
The second prayer is called “V’ahavata for Elul,” a poetic interpretation of “v’ahavata,” Deuteronomy 6: 5-9, which we recite with the Shema.
You shall love the ones who are close
with all your heart,
with all your spirit,
with all your strength.
Remember these words, inscribe them on your heart:
love them when they struggle,
when they sadden and disappoint you;
love them when they fail.
See the good within them, even when they can’t.
Look at them, and listen, even when it is hard.
Be grateful for their guidance (even their reproof)
when they save you from yourself.
Love them when they give you joy,
and love them when they don’t.
When you lie down, let go of anger.
When you rise up at dawn, begin again.
Praise them for their deeds at home;
Speak to them in public with respect.
Bind yourself to the ones you love
with promises kept and vows fulfilled.
Open to them the gates of your heart, the doorway of your soul –
and let them know you.
So shall the ones you cherish feel your love, your presence, and your care.
Looking forward to seeing you at slichot and High Holy Day services. May the new year bring you joy, meaning, good health and much happiness. Shana tova and zeit gezunt!
Stephen Freed
On behalf of the TBH-BA ritual committee
What A Remarkable Journey
In 1986, a group of young Jewish couples in the greater Vineland area, were worshiping at their respective Congregations in Carmel and Rosenhayn, for the High Holidays. We all had children who joined us for the traditional services, polishing it off with the Yom Kippur Tekiyah G’dolah, wishing for a sweet and healthy New Year, followed by a break the fast meal.
Our children were all about the same age. We were convinced there was a better way to practice our faith and initiated discussions of committing to a way to educate and train our kids to be better Jews. Little did we realize how much of an impact it would have on us adults too.
An interview with the head of the Reform movement out of Philadelphia resulted in a couple things that would guide us to the remarkable Congregation that has evolved since our inception in 1986.
Rabbi Richard Address became the pied piper of our group in 1986 as did our Cantor Marlena. We educated our children in our own Hebrew school, and merged our congregations in Carmel, at the formerly historic Orthodox schul, Congregation Beth Hillel, built in 1908.
And so the journey began.
Our children were Bar/Bat Mitzvah, our women’s group did a B’NotMitzvah to celebrate this late in life celebration. We had marriages, funerals, celebrations and grew from a group of 8 families to over 86 family units today.
In 2008, we merged with the Bridgeton Beth Abraham synagogue. They had money and few people. We had people and little money, and so this shiddach led to a remarkable “Kehillah Kedushah” ever since. The larger crowds and the Beth Abaham dawry, enabled us to build Stotter Hall, to better accommodate our needs. We never looked back and have not had any regrets.
In 2001 we hired a great Rabbi, Bradley Bleefeld, who, for the next 23 years, led us in prayer and inspired us to practice our faith and traditions with great enthusiasm and wisdom. He led us on two missions to Israel in 2016 and 2019. In 2024 he decided to retire. We honored him with Emeritus status. He recently passed. May he rest in peace. Shortly thereafter, our Cantor since inception in 1986, Marlena Taenzer, was recognized for her marvelous service and dedication and became Emerita as well.
The most extraordinary thing about our congregation is the feeling in our family that we all belong.
We are a group of mostly non-traditional Jews who all believe in the tenants of our faith, in each other and have a great to desire to help humankind.
We have been most fortunate to hire a new spiritual leader. Since 2024, Rabbi/Cantor Rhoda Harrison has continued all of our traditions and has added a new dimension to our faith. We updated our prayer book, we do traditional Torah study, we meet regularly for Shabbat services and Holidays in person as well as by ZOOM.
We have just launched our new website and will hopefully attract people interested in practicing their faith amongst non-judgemental fellow congregants, who thoroughly enjoy each other’s company and help one another thru the ups and downs of life.
Come and join us in prayer and practice our beautiful traditions. No commitments necessary. If you like what you see, you’ll come back and want to be a part of our “Kehiilah Kedushah”
Feel free to reach out to me, your President or Merle Silver, our membership chair, if you have any questions by phone or email. If you want to speak to our Rabbi, she would be pleased to accommodate you.
B’Sha lom
M, Jay Einstein President 856 9827707 JEinstein@FT.NewYorkLife.com
Merle Silver Membership Chair 609 364 3164 MZSilver414@gmail.com
Rabbi Rhoda Harrison Rabbi/Cantor 443 286 705L RhojHarrison@gmail.com
The holiday of liberation. It’s spring – and this season of renewal brings Passover, hag ha-aviv. It’s a holiday of hope and rebirth. We know it, too, as zman heirutainu, the season of our liberation, because its central message is our redemption from slavery. Passover reminds us that no matter what our situation, there is hope for redemption. With this, I share some observations on a few of my favorite aspects of Pesach, which for me along with countless others, is the most enjoyable holiday in the Jewish year.
Our story; the seder. The story of our exodus from bondage in Egypt is well known. But the genius of Passover is the timelessness and timeliness of the story, which we retell at the seder, in a ritual framework designed to highlight the character of Jewish memory. We encourage discussion about the story of liberation and how we live today. We start the seder by remembering the events of the past; this helps us understand the possibilities of the present, particularly the unfinished work of liberating all who are still oppressed. Just as God redeemed our ancestors in Egypt – our job is to ask, “What changes should we work for in the world when we leave the seder table?”
No one who has ever sat at a seder table can forget the experience, which by many accounts is the oldest surviving ritual in the Western world. We sit around the table, surrounded by ritual symbols and the text of the Haggadah. And we discuss, question and learn how and why we observe the holiday. The seder invites us to ask questions, and makes it possible to engage and explore in a way that is rare in any other setting. We all own the story. Each generation reshapes it and passes it forward. And the story of liberation stays relevant and alive.
Matzo: the bread of affliction. Early in the seder we recite a paragraph which begins with the words “Ha Lachma.” It says: “This is the bread of affliction that our ancestors ate in the land of Egypt. Let all who are hungry come and eat. This year we are here. Next year may we be in the land of Israel. This year we are slaves. Next year may we be free.” The message is a compelling one: throughout the seder, we discuss, question, debate and enjoy our meal, but above all, we resolve to take action to feed the hungry and care for those in need, because when one person is enslaved, no one is truly liberated. Look closely at the text and you’ll see that God isn’t mentioned in Ha Lachma. The rabbis who put the Haggadah together wanted to remind us that it is up to us to take action before redemption can take place. Everyone who has freedom is responsible to redeem those who aren’t free.
Ma Nishtana: Perhaps the most beloved centerpiece of the seder is the Ma Nishtana, the Four Questions, traditionally asked by the youngest person who asks four variations on “why is this night different?” This provokes children and adults to engage, ask harder questions and seek understanding. The expectation of questioning is as old as our origins. We read in Exodus 13:14, “When in time, your son asks you, ‘What does this mean?’ you will tell him, ‘It was with a mighty hand that the Lord brought us out from Egypt, the house of bondage.’”
The seder exemplifies how we learn. We don’t learn alone; we learn as a community, and the more we question and challenge, the better we can confront what we face. Sitting around the seder table is a master class in how this is done.
The four sons. The seder doesn’t sugarcoat history or human nature. For example, the Haggadah tells of the four sons: when we’re honest with ourselves, we can recognize part of ourselves in the description of each. At one time or another, each of us can be wise, insolent or naïve, or maybe lacking sufficient knowledge to even know how or what to ask. Sometimes we want to know every detail of what’s happening; sometimes we’re lost and distracted. Sometimes we might not connect with what’s happening, don’t seek knowledge, but just want to eat. It’s our obligation to understand the person we wish to connect with and meet them where they are.
We were slaves; we were strangers. In the seder, we’re in a moment when we reflect on our identity, how we see ourselves, how we conduct ourselves and treat others. When we say, “We were slaves; we were strangers” we remember the commands of Exodus 22:20 , “You shall not wrong a stranger or oppress him, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.” This is a recurring theme of biblical literature. It’s no accident that the Torah admonishes us about the treatment of strangers no fewer than 36 times, one of the clearest expressions being in Exodus 23:9: “You shall not oppress a stranger, for you know the feelings of the stranger, having yourselves been strangers in the Land of Egypt.” No other commandment is repeated so often.
Next year in Jerusalem. The seder begins and ends with the hope that next year we will all be free and in Jerusalem. Some view this literally, but for many Jerusalem symbolizes our personal and national fulfillment, and our hope next year to be in a place where there is joy, peace, redemption, and a commitment to build a better world. The ritual of the seder ends, but we are now directed to do something harder: to begin the work of redemption, making the world a better place.
To all: Chag Sameach. Have a wonderful Passover. Enjoy your seder and family tradtions. A zisn, koshern un freilikhen Pesach! Stay healthy and strong. Zeit gezunt un shtark.
On behalf of the TBH-BA ritual committee,
Stephen Freed
Reform Movement Condemns Knesset Vote to Criminalize Egalitarian Prayer at the Western Wall
February 26, 2026 — The Reform Movement unequivocally condemns the preliminary vote in the Israeli Knesset to advance legislation that would criminalize egalitarian Jewish worship at the Western Wall, one of Judaism’s holiest and most-enduring symbols. If enacted, the proposed bill by MK Avi Maoz of the far-right Noam party would render forms of Jewish prayer not sanctioned by the ultra-Orthodox Chief Rabbinate punishable by up to seven years in prison.
This alarming proposal represents an unprecedented attempt to criminalize mainstream Jewish worship in the Jewish state. It is a direct affront to Jews in Israel, North America, and across the globe who pray in egalitarian settings.
The Kotel does not belong to one stream of Judaism. It is a national symbol and a spiritual inheritance of the entire Jewish people. The existence of a dignified egalitarian prayer space alongside gender-segregated sections does not diminish the rights of Orthodox or ultra-Orthodox Jews to worship according to their tradition. Religious freedom in Israel must not be treated as a zero-sum proposition.
The global implications of this bill cannot be overstated. Outside Israel – especially in North America – 85% of Jews worship in egalitarian communities. Criminalizing those forms of prayer at Judaism’s holiest accessible site would alienate millions of Jews from the State of Israel at a time when Jewish unity is both fragile and essential. Only months ago, at the October 2025 World Zionist Congress, representatives of global Jewish communities overwhelmingly supported restoring direct access to the Ezrat Yisrael – the section designated for egalitarian worship. This legislation moves decisively in the opposite direction.
At the same time, this is not primarily a Diaspora issue. The bill would directly harm and potentially imprison Israelis who choose pluralistic expressions of Judaism or who visit the Kotel and its outer plaza for heritage visits, IDF ceremonies, and tourism. The number of Israelis seeking egalitarian prayer continues to grow. This legislation would label their Judaism illegitimate and even criminal.
The debate over this legislation raises a fundamental question: Will Israel be a state of the Jewish people or a state for only one interpretation of Judaism? For North American Jews, engagement on this issue is not interference; it is investment. Jewish sovereignty must reflect the diversity, dignity, and shared destiny of the Jewish people everywhere.
This proposal risks setting a broader precedent. If codified, it could embolden efforts to restrict recognition of non-Orthodox conversions, limit public funding for pluralistic institutions, and expand rabbinic court jurisdiction in ways that further erode religious freedom. This is not an isolated fight but part of a larger ideological project.
We call on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to use his authority to prevent this legislation from advancing and to instruct members of his coalition to reject this brazen attempt to criminalize egalitarian prayer. Enacting such a law would severely damage Klal Yisrael – the unity of the Jewish people – and undermine Israel’s foundational commitment to freedom of religion and conscience.
The Reform Movement remains steadfast in our love for and commitment to the State of Israel. Precisely because of that commitment, we will continue to advocate for a Zionism that reflects the full diversity of the Jewish people and safeguards the right of every Jew to approach the Holy One in their own voice.
We urge the global Jewish community to take immediate action. Join our Reform and Conservative partners worldwide in calling on Israeli leaders and diplomats to halt this dangerous legislation and uphold Israel’s promise as a homeland for all Jews.
Central Conference of American Rabbis
Rabbi David Lyon (he/him)
President
Rabbi Hara Person (she/her)
Chief Executive
Union for Reform Judaism
Rabbi Rick Jacobs (he/him)
President
Shelley Nicely Groff (she/her)
Chair
American Conference of Cantors
Cantor Josh Breitzer (he/him)
President
Rachel Roth (she/her)
Chief Executive Officer
Association of Reform Zionists of America
Harry Levy (he/him)
Chair
Rabbi Josh Weinberg (he/him)
Director
Association of Reform Jewish Educators
Rabbi Stacy Rigler, RJE (she/her)
CEO
Stacy Rosenthal, RJE (she/her)
President
Women’s Rabbinic Network
Rabbi Lisa Delson (she/her)
Co-President
Rabbi Simone Schicker (she/her)
Co-President
Rabbi Mary Zamore (she/her)
Executive Director
Program and Engagement Professionals of Reform Judaism (PEP-RJ)
Scott Hertz (he/him)
President
Women of Reform Judaism
Karen Sim (she/her)
President
Rabbi Liz P. G. Hirsch (she/her)
CEO
Men of Reform Judaism
Larry Pepper (he/him)
President
Steven Portnoy (he/him)
Executive Director
Early Childhood Educators of Reform Judaism
Tricia Ginis (she/her)
CEO
Ellen Lefkowitz (she/her)
President
Rowan University Boyd Recital Hall 7:30pm
Strings of Hope — The journey of violins that survived the horrors of the Holocaust and the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, in film, live performance & spoken word. Sharing the powerful stories of the artists they belonged to, from Hiroshima to Vienna, Warsaw & Shanghai, this promises to be an historic event as the violins carry forward stories of resilience, courage, and hope.
Created by cellist & producer Udi Bar-David, the international ensemble will feature teenage violin virtuoso Mio Imai, Taiko drummer Joe Small, pianist Keiko Sato and Udi Bar-David.
To purchase tickets please visit Rowan University’s site: Strings of Hope – Rowan University Box Office
Shalom!
At Temple Beth Hillel – Beth Abraham we embrace the spirit of Shalom, extending warm greetings of peace, harmony, and wholeness to all who join us.
Don't miss our events
Our Events
Our Valued Supporters
