At Chabad of the Main Line, the fall is an exciting time.
That is true for most Jewish institutions and households; however, it’s especially true at the nondescript tan building in Merion Station. That’s because at Chabad of the Main Line, Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement, is “like you’ve never experienced it before,” said Chabad’s Rabbi Shraga Sherman, whose influence is felt across the Chabad and Main Line community.
“It’s very upbeat, very positive, very empowering, very celebratory. And that comes to a real climax in the last hour or hour and a half of the service — there’s a lot of singing, a lot of clapping, there’s a lot of feeling and a lot of soulfulness,” he said.
Sherman believes in Judaism being a source for communal connection and joy. He first came to the Chabad network when he was a college student at University of Pennsylvania, learning about Hasidic philosophy from the on-campus Chabad house before pursuing a career as a rabbi by studying in Israel. He returned to Philadelphia in 1991 to work with the Jewish community in Center City before moving out to the Main Line and the Chabad house in late 1999. Programming there began in 2000, and since then, Sherman has spent most of his waking moments in that building, working to help people discover what Judaism means to them.
Some might be surprised by his interpretation of Yom Kippur, or even balk at it. But Sherman said that it’s actually more than acceptable.
“I would call this approach traditional,” he said. “This approach is totally in line with tradition [which is] meant to celebrate Yom Kippur. And I would say that this somber, almost — God forbid — depressing, frightening experience of Yom Kippur doesn’t align with how we see it’s supposed to be celebrated.”
The results speak for themselves. The Chabad of the Main Line Yom Kippur service is always well-attended, although it’s hard to peg exact attendance because the services are free and not ticketed. That’s another reason for the large crowds, Sherman said.
“It’s soul-based, not membership based. I think it’s a very refreshing Yom Kippur experience. The Talmud tells us that Yom Kippur is one of the happiest days of the year. It’s a day of tremendous closeness to God and closeness to your soul and your deeper purpose,” he said. “To talk about that, sing about that, reflect on that and those ideas — I think for some, given other synagogue experiences, this has been very refreshing for them.”
An idea that is key to Sherman’s philosophy as a rabbi is that the Torah can be relevant to the lives of all Jews today, even if its content is thousands of years old. He said that there is “no generation gap between the Torah and the Jews of 2025.”
Sherman added that one of the things he loves the most about working at a Chabad that serves an area as Jewish as the Main Line is that it gives him the opportunity to work with Jews of all types, ages, backgrounds and with all types of goals. So much so, that the Chabad needs a team behind it.
The Chabad is directed by three rabbis, as well as their wives, who serve as co-directors and rebbetzin. The idea of Sherman and his colleagues, Rabbis Mendy Cohen and Baruch Shalom Davidson, as well as their wives, Michal Sherman, Temma Cohen and Batsheva Davidson, welcoming all regardless of background or even financial contribution is formative to the Chabad of the Main Line experience. Chabad of the Main Line having three rabbis is not particularly common for any Chabad branch, or any other type of synagogue for that matter. Sherman said that having three different rabbis and their families available means that people can achieve whatever their personal version of Jewish observance looks like.
“There are those who need to experience the breadth of Judaism. There are others that are focusing on the depth of Judaism. People are at different stages in their Jewish journeys. Some are coming to experience a Hebrew school for the first time. Some are young couples. There are those who are more focused on the more regular observance,” he said.
“We want to be able to meet people on their level. We have the human resources to be able to help people enter wherever it works for them and help them grow in a way that is real and meaningful to them.”
At the Chabad of the Main Line, where there’s always something happening and a crowd to enjoy it, the goal is to help attendees enjoy being Jewish. After all, there is so much to love about being a part of the tribe. Sherman just wants to help people realize that, if they don’t already, free of charge.
“There’s also a tremendous feeling of joy in what it is that we do. It’s well-known that when a person is in a positive mood, it helps a lot more [than] when they’re the opposite type of mood. And so it’s really a core principle to keep things positive, upbeat and joy-inducing.
We want Judaism here to be experienced in a joyful manner, in a relevant and relatable manner, where people can see that they would experience — not an experience which is synagogue-based — but one that’s home and just life-based.”
For Rabbi Shraga Sherman, Judaism and joy are one. He hopes to continue to spread that message for as long as he can.
