Congregation Agudath Israel Welcomes Associate Rabbi Ari Lucas
CALDWELL, NJ — The following news release comes courtesy of Congregation Agudath Israel. Learn more about posting announcements or events to your local Patch site here.
Congregation Agudath Israel (CAI) of Caldwell, NJ is pleased to announce the arrival of Rabbi Ari Lucas, the first Associate Rabbi in the congregation’s almost 100-year history. At CAI Rabbi Lucas will join current clergy, Rabbi Alan Silverstein, Cantor Joel Caplan and Education Director Susan Werk and he looks forward to working closely with them.
Rabbi Lucas has ties to the New York metropolitan area having been born in New Jersey and raised in Roslyn, NY. He graduated magna cum laude from Brown University with a B.A. in International Relations. Rabbi Lucas was ordained by the Jewish Theological Seminary in 2012 and comes to CAI from Temple Beth Am, a large Conservative synagogue in Los Angeles.
In addition to his impressive credentials, Rabbi Lucas is an exemplary teacher, a skilled speaker, an empathic pastor and a strategic thinker. Everyone who has met Rabbi Lucas has been impressed with his ability to immediately connect with people in a meaningful way and with his thoughtful and engaging demeanor.
When asked what drew him to CAI, Lucas pointed to its, “national reputation as a leading synagogue known for its great leadership — lay and professional — and its warmth.” When he visited the congregation as a candidate, he said, “I met so many wonderful, committed people who take pride in their community and have vision and hopes for its future. I feel confident that we will make great partners in building that future together.”
CAI shares Rabbi Lucas’s confidence and expects that he and his family will be an incredible resource and asset to CAI, Caldwell and the surrounding Essex County community. We are truly excited to welcome Rabbi Lucas, his wife, Talya Oberfield and their three young children Gideon, Shalev and Reya.
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