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Cherry Hill Synagogues
Embrace Unification
JARRAD SAFFREN | STAFF WRITER
T emple
Emanuel and
Congregation M’kor Shalom
members took separate votes
on Jan. 24 on whether to unify their
Reform synagogues, both based in
Cherry Hill, New Jersey.

All congregants on both sides voted,
according to M’kor Shalom President
Drew Molotsky. And 98% of them
voted to come together in a larger
Jewish community.

“It was pretty unanimous,” Molotsky
said. As the president explained, the South
Jersey communities are living in a time
of declining synagogue attendance.

Their congregations declined from
more than 1,000 members on each
side to between 300 and 350 at the
time of the vote, according to Emanuel
President David Chasen. Therefore, it
just made sense for them to combine
members and resources.

M’kor Shalom was created from
splitting apart from Temple Emanuel
almost 50 years ago, according to
Chasen. And by the 2000s, temple
leaders began discussing a possible
reunification. They just didn’t want
to choose between their respective
rabbis. But Emanuel’s senior rabbi,
Jerome P. David, retired last year after
a 47-year run.

Now, though, the hard part begins:
bringing two still-sizable institutions
together. At the very least, they know the
building into which they’ll be moving:
Temple Emanuel’s home on Springdale
Road. They also know who the
senior rabbi will be: M’kor Shalom’s
Jennifer Frenkel.

Temple Emanuel’s structure is
younger and has less deferred mainte-
nance and a lower mortgage, according
to Molotsky. And Frenkel is the only
senior rabbi left between the commu-
nities. Emanuel’s rabbi, Marc Disick, is
filling in on an interim basis.

Everything else, though, is up in the
air, and the congregations have until
their July 1 unification date to figure
it all out, per the M’kor Shalom pres-
ident. As spring begins, synagogue leaders
have at least determined their process
for moving forward.

A Joint Oversight Committee started
meeting before the vote. Since then,
Molotsky and Chasen have opened a
Transition Committee with a team
of five and a point man who reports
back to the Oversight Committee and
the presidents.

Between 50 and 60 people are help-
ing the Transition Committee focus
on five key areas: finance, operations,
ritual, community and legal.

Some of the bigger tasks include
selling M’kor Shalom’s property on
East Evesham Road and putting the
money into the new synagogue’s fund,
transferring other assets and liabil-
ities into the merged entity, coming
up with a new name, establishing the
unified institution’s charitable organi-
zation status, moving ritual items into
Emanuel’s building, purging unneces-
sary items and finding offices for staff
members. From a more public-facing stand-
point, the congregation needs to
develop a bar and bat mitzvah process
that both communities agree on. They
have, at least, sorted out conflicting
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10 MARCH 24, 2022 | JEWISHEXPONENT.COM