Jerry Baer

When my family moved to Cherry Hill in 1975, we looked for a synagogue and a community. We opened up the phone book, and looked up “Conservative Synagogues -- Cherry Hill, NJ” – and found one entry, and it wasn’t TBS. For us, Haddon Heights could have been the other side of the moon.

After a few years, we finally found Haddon Heights and TBS. I’ll never forget that very first Friday night service I went to. This Colonel-Sanders-Looking-Rabbi stepped onto the bimah to start the service. When he opened his mouth, we heard the soothing accent of a New Yorker…from The Bronx! When the service was over, Rabbi Lewis came over to us, put his arm around our shoulders, and welcomed us to TBS. And then a few minutes later, another young guy came over and said he’d give me a lift to shul the next week.

Quickly, we realized that we had found something that you can’t find in the Yellow Pages… we had found a community. We had found an extended family. And when we discovered that not only was Rabbi Lewis from the Bronx, but grew up across the street from my mother – we knew we really were at home.

Before we knew it that offer of a ride to shul turned into founding one of the first chavurot at TBS – and one of the many my family has belonged to over the years. In the decades that followed, I’ve sold Passover wine and eggs, taken Hebrew High students to Crown Heights, tutored Torah readers, and served on too many committees to count. But I have to say that the most memorable moment for me was being involved in helping to build our new home here in Cherry Hill. It was an once-in-a-lifetime experience that I will never forget.When I was a boy of 5 or 6 years old, I remember asking my father how one got their name on the wall of the shul. He looked down at me, and said: “It’s about doing the right thing at the right time.” I am honored that I had the chance to do the right thing at that right time – and had a small part in helping TBS build its new home.

Make no mistake: TBS is an extended family – and my involvement in the shul is only possible because of my wife, Gloria. In all that I do, she has been right there by my side. Her own service to the shul has been an inspiration and a role model to me and our kids. My love and thanks to her is more than words can express.

I also want to thank TBS for what it has given my children, Randi and Kenny. I know that while their Hebrew School teachers didn’t have to keep them after school, they will never forget the amazing teachers they had here at TBS, and what they learned from this community. I am very proud that they have been able to carry what they learned at home and here, forward to their lives, families, and communities.