synagogue spotlight
What’s happening at ... Congregation Kol Ami
Kol Ami Echoes Voice of the People
JARRAD SAFFREN | STAFF WRITER
O n June 26 at M’kor Shalom
in Cherry Hill, New Jersey,
Rabbi Jennifer Frenkel took
the Torahs out of the ark and handed
them to the seven past presidents
standing on the bimah. Th e group then
joined hundreds of their fellow con-
gregants in marching about two miles
from their Evesham Road home to
their new home: Temple Emanuel on
Springdale Road, also in Cherry Hill.

Later that day, two of South Jersey’s
biggest Reform synagogues unifi ed
under the name of Congregation
Kol Ami, which means “voice of
my people.”
Th e new community of about 700
families held its fi rst Shabbat service
on July 1. Frenkel, the former leader
of M’kor Shalom and the new senior
rabbi of Kol Ami, led the service from
the bimah.

Marylee Alperin, who with her hus-
band Stuart Alperin was one of the
founders of M’kor Shalom in 1974,
watched Stuart accept one of the
Torahs from Frenkel as a past president
before the march to their new temple.

Th en the couple walked to Springdale
Road together.

“It was beautiful,” Marylee said.

Th e Reform temples are unifying
because it just made sense, according to
leaders from both institutions. M’kor
Shalom and Temple Emanuel saw their
respective memberships decline from
over 1,000 to about 300 to 350 in recent
years. In becoming one, they could add
members, sell M’kor Shalom’s building
and devote their resources to a single
location. Th e June 26 “March of the Torahs,”
as a press release described it, was
the culmination of a two-year process
made possible by the retirement of
Rabbi Jerome P. David, who led Temple
Emanuel for 47 years. David’s decision
allowed Frenkel, who was ordained in
2009, to become the senior rabbi of the
unifi ed congregation.

But even with their senior rabbi role
fi gured out, the synagogues would not
have proceeded without the support of
their congregants. On Jan. 24, 98% of
24 JULY 14, 2022 | JEWISHEXPONENT.COM
them voted to come together, accord-
ing to former M’kor Shalom presi-
dent and Kol Ami co-president Drew
Molotsky. A few weeks ago, about 300
members marched together with the
Torahs. Th e new name was submitted
by a congregant.

“I believe that change is a good
thing,” said Amy Sussman, a Temple
Emanuel member for 11 years. “I’m
excited to make new friends and make
our community larger.”
For M’kor Shalom congregants, the
change was a little more bittersweet, as
they were leaving their building. Sharla
Feldscher, a Voorhees resident and PR
executive who wrote the release about
the “March of the Torahs,” was a mem-
ber at M’kor from the beginning. She
sang in the choir there for over three
decades; her daughters were confi rmed
there; her granddaughter went to pre-
school there.

During the last Shabbat service in
the building on June 24, Feldscher and
other choir members cried and hugged.

Th ey looked out at fellow members,
who looked back.

“It was a love fest,” Feldscher said.

But the M’kor alum is also “excited”
to become a Kol Ami member. She said
she’s looking forward to meeting new
people. Two days aft er that fi nal service,
she watched the presidents place the
Torahs in the new ark at the conclusion
of the “March of the Torahs.” At that
moment, “it felt like we were a part of
it,” Feldscher explained.

Marylee Alperin felt the same way.

She called the transition “diffi cult at
fi rst.” But she kept reminding herself
that she wanted all of their eff orts over
the years to live on.

“We must perpetuate Judaism,”
Alperin said.

If the last Shabbat service at M’kor
Shalom was emotional, the fi rst one
at Kol Ami was hopeful, according to
Sussman. People were saying hello to
each other and starting conversations.

“It was diff erent, but it was a good
diff erent,” she said.

Th e 39-year-old is part of a group
of about 15 Emanuel families called
“the up-and-comers.” Th e parents are
around Sussman’s age and the kids
The Lieberson family on the “March of the Torahs” to the new Congregation
Kol Ami in Cherry Hill on June 26
Photo by Sharla Feldscher
Longtime M’kor Shalom member Steve Friedman at the new and unifi ed
Congregation Kol Ami in Cherry Hill
Photo by Sharla Feldscher
are going through preschool, religious
school and Jewish life at the Cherry
Hill temple.

Th e Sussmans moved to South Jersey
because they wanted their two children
to “grow up in a more Jewish area,” the
mom said. Susan Marinoff , 40, joined
Emanuel with her husband and three
children because she always felt more
connected to her Jewish friends grow-
ing up, and she wanted the same thing
for her own kids.

Rob Baron, another “up-and-comer”
at Emanuel, also said it was important
for his two children to grow up in a
synagogue. Now, with the two temples
unifying, Reform Judaism in South
Jersey will have “strength in numbers,”
he said. Th at strength will give his kids
“a place they can call home.”
“It’s every parent’s hope,” Baron
explained. “So that when they leave the
house, they take those ideals with them
and build their own life in Judaism.” JE
jsaff ren@midatlanticmedia.com