Courtesy of Congregation Beth El
Congregation Beth El in Voorhees formally installed its newest clergy member on Nov. 22 in a celebration of Rabbi Sam Hollander with a “Dueling Pianos” musical event.
The synagogue was excited to hire Hollander as its associate rabbi following a year-long search. He started the job in July 2024.
The congregation’s senior rabbi, David Englander, said that Hollander’s transition has been very smooth, as he had the advantage of growing up in the South Jersey area and already having a familiarity with the community.
“He’s come home, and I think it’s a really special aspect of his joining our team here. He is a wonderful rabbi in his own right, and he also represents something of the success of the South Jersey Jewish community, and he wanted to continue to be connected to it, raise his family here and serve as a Jewish leader in the very place where he grew up,” Englander said.
Hollander’s installation was celebrated through the Saturday morning Shabbat service and the Dueling Pianos event in the evening. Synagogue president Jason Whitney referred to the musical event as the “the party afterwards.”
Tara Feiner, the synagogue’s executive director, said the morning event mostly featured speeches and tributes to Hollander, with the evening focused on fun.
Whitney described the Dueling Pianos event as multiple piano players performing songs while interacting with people in the audience, who could make requests to enjoy a wide range of music for the night.
The mechanism they implemented for changing a song, he said, had a fun thematic twist. “If people don’t like something, they could use some of these bucks with Rabbi Hollander’s face to change the song,” Whitney said.
Englander said before the installation that he felt Hollander was excited for the event, even though the associate rabbi is a humble person who doesn’t seek the spotlight.
The senior rabbi added that the congregation was looking forward to showing Hollander lots of positive attention and expressing their appreciation for Hollander’s work with the Beth El community.
“It’s something that doesn’t happen very often in a rabbinic career. I’ve made the observation before that we’re very fortunate that Beth El does not install rabbis with great frequency because we tend to stick around, which is a sign of our congregation’s stability and hope for consistency in that regard,” Englander said.
Whitney added that the installation and celebration extended beyond Hollander and included the rabbi’s wife and young son as well.
“There has been a really warm embrace, especially when you have a clergy family with a young child. There’s a sense of great integration with the goal of our synagogue to be multi-generational. It’s represented every time the family is together, that this is a multi-generational family that’s committed to Jewish life, and committed also to Jewish leadership,” Englander said.
Englander said that during Hollander’s first 18 months with the synagogue he’s “hit the ground running,” and has been dedicated to being the best rabbi he can be for as many people as he can serve.
The senior rabbi said Hollander has been integral in providing pastoral care, teaching, preaching and working with the synagogue’s professional staff.
He added that days like the installation are an important part of continuing the warm embrace the congregation has for the Hollander family.
“He’ll be affirmed in what he already knows, which is that he has an important place in our community, that again, we’re very happy that he and his family are here, and that we hope to continue to grow together, and that he can continue to grow in his work with all of our populations,” Englander said.
