Rabbi Sruli combines the best of many worlds – a scholarly background in Talmud and the law, musical virtuosity, a passionate Jewish spirit, and a gift for creating a happy and magical community.
After years of in-depth Torah study, Sruli received Rabbinic Ordination from Dean Rabbi Yitzchak Wasserman, as well as a Bachelor’s degree in Judaic Studies from the Denver Talmudic Seminary in 1982.
Sruli went on to attend Fordham Law School where he graduated with honors and was a member of Law Review. He clerked for The Honorable Howard Buschman III, and spent the next few years at the prestigious Wall Street firm, Dewey Ballantine, before opening up his own practice.
Over fifteen years ago, Sruli returned to Jewish life full time as a Klezmer musician and Jewish educator, in addition to serving as High-Holiday Cantor and substitute Rabbi at the West Clarkstown Jewish Center in New City, NY. He also prepared dozens of Bar and Bat Mitzvah students from Hebrew Day Schools, Public Schools and Hebrew Schools, as well as those with special challenges. Most recently, Sruli served as the Rabbi of Temple Beth El of North Bergen, NJ. Sruli is experienced in every aspect of synagogue practice from Torah, Haftorah and Megilla reading, to traditional Shabbat and Holiday nusach, inspiring sermons, pastoral care and life-cycle events.
Sruli and his wife Lisa are international Jewish performers and personalities, and have been featured on PBS-TV and National Public Radio. They have headlined at Jewish Festivals from Cracow, Poland to Jerusalem, Toronto to Texas. Sruli is extensively quoted as a primary source of Hasidic Music and philosophy in the Journal of the Society of Ethnomusicology (Spring/Summer 2007) and he is profiled as a contemporary Jewish educator for the Wexner Oral History Project at the National Yiddish Book Center. Sruli and Lisa’s Family Programs are famous from coast to coast They have performed at theatres, JCC’s, synagogues, universities and schools as well as at hundreds of simchas. Together with their very talented children, they recently performed at Citifield for the NY Mets!
Rabbi Sruli brings incredible energy, gentle wisdom and a deep commitment to Jewish values and Jewish learning. Together with Lisa, he hopes to create a happy and spiritual home for the entire Temple Shalom community.