Overview
Freehold Jewish Center/ Congregation Agudath Achim (FJC) is proud to offer a full time Rabbinical position. The candidate will be responsible for leading the congregation in all aspects of prayer service: daily, Shabbat, all holidays; lein Torah, officiate at lifecycle rituals and provide religious and spiritual guidance. It is important that our Rabbi has a certificate of Smicha.
The Rabbinical candidate should embrace an enthusiastic approach to imparting knowledge and inspiration to our members, be open minded and creative with strong communication skills, engaging members with warmth and empathy. Our Rabbi is a leader and a team player, working with the Board of Trustees as a partner in the success of the FJC. Our Rabbi shall see the value in FJC outreach and service to congregation members as well as the greater Jewish Community to create visibility and growth for the FJC moving forward.
Our congregation, while centered in tradition, also understands the need for new ways of fostering relationships, building youth-oriented programming, educational opportunities, and cultural connections. We are open to technology to help generate connections and hope that our Rabbi will be comfortable and creative in leveraging these social modalities into our growth strategy.
We presently employ a part time Orthodox Rabbi and feel it is imperative we have a full time Rabbinical presence at the FJC moving forward. We feel a full time Rabbi will be a key part of our congregations growth and will help expand outreach and create a vibrant energized FJC to engage our membership and attract new members. A majority of our membership have expressed a desire that women be counted as part of a minyan for the purposes of saying Kaddish. Our membership, in the majority, have also requested that zoom services be allowed to improve access to our ritual offerings. Our Rabbi must embrace and support these new directions, but will also need to acknowledge and build on a legacy of traditional prayer and observance that the FJC has been building on for over 112 years.
Jeffrey Malkin
searchcommittee@freeholdjc.org
About Freehold Jewish Center/Congregation Agudath Achim
Our community has a rich 300 year history which has been well documented. Located at the Crossroads of the Revolution, Freehold is the county seat of Monmouth County. The earliest Jewish Presence in the County can be traced to the mid 18th century. The congregation was organized and founded ca. 1911. In 1951 the congregation moved from a smallish building to a much bigger facility a number of blocks away. This building, as well, was added to in the early 1970’s to accommodate a larger Hebrew school and added seating for high holiday services.
Our members consist of a mostly older group, many have had children that went through the hebrew school and were Bar and Bat Mitzvah at the FJC. There is a smaller group of members with younger children who have added a great amount of vitality and leadership to our congregation. Recently a number of families have joined with older children (college age and beyond), they are professionals with older children (college age and beyond) who enjoy the feeling they get from being part of our congregation.