Contact Rabbi Adler at 609-896-4977
Rabbi Benjamin Adler has been the spiritual leader of Adath Israel Congregation since 2014. He is passionate about being present and guiding individuals and families through the sweetness, sorrows, challenges, and opportunities of Jewish life. Drawing on the ancient wisdom of the tradition and the progressive values of modern Judaism, he has spent years building and sustaining warm, committed, and caring communities that support each member as they find their own unique spiritual path.
A graduate of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America in New York City where he earned a master’s degree in Jewish Philosophy, Rabbi Adler also studied at the Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem. Born and raised in San Antonio, Texas, he graduated cum laude from Columbia University with a BA in History.
Before entering rabbinical school, he worked for Congregation B’nai Jeshurun in New York City and spent time working in the digital media world. Rabbi Adler has served congregations in Rockaway, New Jersey, Pittsfield, Massachusetts and Greenport, New York.
He has served as president of the Board of Rabbis of Princeton Mercer Bucks, vice president of the New Jersey Rabbinical Assembly, on the board of trustees of the Gottesman RTW Academy, and on the Religious Pluralism committee of the Jewish Federation of Greater MetroWest New Jersey. Rabbi Adler co-founded the Rockaway Interfaith Community, worked with the New Jersey Muslim-Jewish Solidarity Committee and Clergy of Lawrence Township, and helped plan a conference that trained Conservative rabbis in the skills of community organizing.
When he is not teaching, preaching, and leading his congregation, Rabbi Adler can probably be found following the San Antonio Spurs, reading, watching a good movie or TV show, fixing things around the house, or on the slopes in the winter. He is married to Lisa Adler and they have three children: Ronen, Jonah, and Miya.
Photo credit: Mike Schwartz
Click on the title of the articles below to read on Rabbi Adler’s website
- Semicolon-ization October 1, 2026On a recent podcast, the writer Dara Horn spoke about her experience on college campuses when she speaks to students. Usually, during the question-and-answer period, a student will come up to make an assertion about Israel or Zionism. Horn quickly realized that the students are generally ill-informed. Their claims are easily refuted because there is […]
- All Roads Lead to the Text September 24, 2026The Jewish tradition is a textual tradition. Our most authoritative text, the Talmud, is the result of an intergenerational effort to understand, analyze, and squeeze out meaning from documents produced in the past – whether by God in the Torah or by other rabbis from different historical periods. So it is almost incomprehensible that the […]
- The Cancel Effect September 17, 2026My sermon on the first day of Rosh Hashanah advocated for two related positions: 1. Jews aren’t responsible for antisemitism and 2. Jews should fight to defend Zionism. Non-Jews must take the lead in the effort to end hatred of Jews since this is ultimate their problem, not ours. At the same time, if we […]
- Worth a Thousand Emotions September 10, 2026When I moved to central New Jersey from the northwestern part of the state, I was struck by the difference in geography. Gone were the rolling hills, replaced by relatively flat stretches of farmland between the cities and towns. In my previous neighborhood in Morris County, there was a place that was high enough to […]
- Surrogate Court September 3, 2026Thirty years ago, the Conservative movement addressed a relatively new path for infertile couples to have children: surrogacy. Some women are not able to carry a child to term so the couple can use in vitro fertilization and then hire someone else to give birth. While the process offered great promise, it also held great […]
- Goodbye Dolly August 27, 2026In an age of deep polarization, it’s hard to be a public figure everyone likes. Almost by default if one group likes you, the opposing group will hate you. So, one of the most remarkable aspects of the life of Dolly Parton, who died this week, was that she was beloved by all, regardless of […]
- Weekend for All August 21, 2026Israel has a lot of advantages over America. Better humus and falafel, of course. Great weather and delicious ice cafes too. But not everything about Israeli life compares favorably with the United States. For one, Israel doesn’t really have a weekend. It has Shabbat, but that is only one day. Sunday in Israel is a […]
- Cultural Adaptation August 13, 2026One of the supposed sins of western civilization is cultural appropriation, the adopting and adapting of another society’s music, art, or food and calling it your own. Debates about cultural appropriation are really just debates about politics. In the public discourse white rappers are problematic but McDonald’s selling bagels is not. The reason is simple: […]
- Those Who Serve August 7, 2026Israelis will go to the polls on October 27th of this year with a dizzying array of choices. Each election cycle new parties form, others wither and die, and some join forces to create new coalitions. A few Israeli parties have been around for a long time, but the situation is nothing like America, where Democrats and Republicans have been […]
- Preserving Destruction July 30, 2026An essential part of memory is choice. We can’t remember everything; our brains are not computers. We pick and choose what is important enough to carry with us. In theory we could decide only to remember the good times in life, but in practice that doesn’t happen. Some of our most vivid memories are of […]