feature story
NEWTOWN SYNAGOGUE
Plants a
Seed IN ISRAEL
JARRAD SAFFREN | STAFF WRITER
W hen Rabbi Nesanel Cadle knew he was moving to Israel
and starting a new synagogue, he emailed some Bucks
County contacts to try and raise money.

Rabbi Aaron Gaber of the Conservative Congregation Brothers
of Israel in Newtown was on that list. Gaber and Cadle, the leader
of the Orthodox community Knesset Hasefer in Yardley, are fellow
religious leaders and friendly with one another.

But when Gaber read the email, he decided to give a gift more
valuable than money: He gave Cadle and his new community the
Torah for their synagogue.

Th e Newtown rabbi presented the gift to his Yardley colleague
during a ceremony at CBOI on June 16. Cadle will make aliyah in
August with families from across the United States, including New
16 JUNE 30, 2022 | JEWISHEXPONENT.COM
York, Milwaukee and Los Angeles, among other places. About 150
families are “working toward coming” between this summer and
next, according to Cadle.

“To have a Sefer Torah is one of the essential things that a com-
munity needs,” Cadle said, referring to the term for a handwritten
Torah. “To have that as a gift is just very valuable and appreciated.”
Cadle comes across as an Orthodox man. He leads a traditional
community and is now making aliyah at 41 aft er living his whole
life in the United States.

But his Orthodox roots were planted relatively recently. Cadle’s
grandparents were secular Jews, but his parents wanted something
deeper and, in their process of seeking it, they met each other.

So by the time the future rabbi was born, his parents were