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People On The Move - Rabbi Donald Weber
06/27/2011 - By Gayle Davis
“IT’S MY TOWN”
Rabbi Don Weber refers to Marlboro as “my town,” because it is. It’s more than the place he calls home; it’s his community, a place where he believes one should not only receive, but give back to. Having just completed his 27th year at Temple Rodeph Torah in Marlboro, Weber has a resume full of accomplishments in the realm of community service. He says, “Everything I do here at the temple is my calling, but I don’t think that it’s enough. If I ask people to volunteer here, they need to see me doing it as well.” Weber has served on the Morganville First Aid Squad and was an EMT and Captain of the squad for three years. He is a Police Chaplain for the Marlboro Township Police Department, and a founding member of the Marlboro Township Ethics Board. He has also appeared on the Oprah Winfrey Show supporting pro-choice and abortion rights.
TRT Cares is a charity that came out of a sermon that Rabbi Weber did at the synagogue. He says, “When the financial crisis hit a few years ago, I thought to myself, members of our congregation had the skills that people need to help them get through this difficult time.” So Rabbi Weber spoke to his congregation and told them they needed volunteers to make this happen…130 people volunteered (some volunteers are from outside the temple). With such a great response, the charity was started in 2008 with help from congregant David Levy. He helped to orchestrate and administer the program that is now in its third year.
The program is completely confidential. People in need are advised to call the TRT Hotline and provide their information. They are then directed to such free services available including, legal, mental, financial planning, job counseling and more. Workshops, such as resume writing, are held quarterly and are available to members of the community.
Rabbi Weber says that the response has been positive for many people that have used the program. Levy and Weber had recently returned from Washington D.C. where they received Reformed Judaism’s highest award, “The Fain Award for Social Justice” on behalf of the community. The idea of TRT Cares is spreading into other communities throughout the country. In fact, there is a special committee set up to help introduce the charity to other synagogues in the area. The biggest challenge of starting it, according to Weber, is “Inspiring people to volunteer.”
Mazon is an organization that asks Jews to share their “bread” with the hungry on local and national levels. This is another cause that Weber feels is important to contribute to. This past Yom Kippur, Temple Rodeph Torah (a partner congregation) did an appeal and food drive. Four and a half tons of food were donated by congregants and visitors in one single day. Weber says this is the amount of food that has been donated each year, for the last 15 years. He adds, “This is an important cause and people respond. My job is to inspire the people to donate the food. It’s not traditional to carry things to synagogue on this holiday, but while we are fasting I believe it’s important to remember the people who are hungry, really hungry.”
Weber senses a lack of community in many suburban areas and feels that there are ways to improve upon it. He says, “You need to ask yourself…where are you as part of the community, and not just someone who sleeps there? If every one person did one thing, if everyone gave one thing back, we would have community; we would have an investment. Do whatever your thing is…just give back and have a sense that this is my town. Everyone can feel that.” Rabbi Weber praises Marlboro’s Teen Advisory Committee and says those teens “feel that sense of community.”
In addition to his love for helping people, Rabbi Weber enjoys the music of Bruce Springsteen and piloting his private airplane, which is his first love. He and his wife, Rabbi Shira Stern, have three children, Noah, Ari and Eytan Stern Weber, and daughter-in-law, Ronni Jane Reich.
For more information about TRT Cares please call 732 320-8287.
STATS
FAVORITE RESTAURANT
Avenue, Long Branch
FAVORITE MUSICIAN
Bruce Springsteen
FAVORITE MOVIE
“Harvey”
PET PEEVE
People who take and don’t give
THREE PEOPLE YOU WOULD LIKE TO MEET
Ben Franklin, Rabbi Akiba, Leonardo Da Vinci
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