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
- 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 […]
- Jewish Agency July 23, 2026As Tisha B’Av ends this evening my thoughts turn to the idea of agency. Every few years or so, an Orthodox rabbi will make the news by declaring that the Holocaust was the result of European Jews abandoning tradition. Sometimes they will blame the Reform and Conservative movements for leading the community away from observance. […]
- How to Live Together July 3, 2026On a recent visit to San Antonio, I happened to be at the Jewish Community Center when I noticed a heavy police presence and a lot of important-looking people around. I asked someone what was going on, and they told me that a press conference with the mayor of the city, other local politicians, and […]
- Tough Journey June 18, 2026This summer I will participate in the Rabbinic Torah Seminar sponsored by the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem. I am looking forward to intensive learning with some of the most thoughtful and important scholars in Jewish life today. I have been planning on attending the program for many months but only recently solidified my plans […]
- Digital Oblivion June 12, 2026I have often wondered how archeologists and historians will develop an understanding of our culture hundreds or thousands of years from now. When we look to the past today, we dig up artifacts and search through old books and manuscripts for clues. But now, so much of the information about our lives and our civilization’s […]
- A Changing Story June 4, 2026If you were going to write the American Jewish story, how would you begin? What themes would you emphasize? How would you frame it? Since the Tree of Life synagogue attack and October 7th, American Jews have rethought our place in this country. It’s no longer a simple arc of progress reaching a pinnacle of […]
- Not a Four-Letter Word May 29, 2026In the 1988 presidential election, George H.W. Bush employed a strategy of turning the word “liberal” into a slur that he connected to his opponent, Michael Dukakis. In Bush’s formulation, liberals were soft on crime and supporters of big government. Bush was so successful that he turned what had been a relatively neutral term into a four-letter word. 38 years later, in […]
- Exhausting and Necessary May 15, 2026Next week, the Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS) will hold its commencement, featuring an address by Isaac Herzog, the president of the State of Israel. Some students have written a letter objecting to his presence, which has in turn led to a major hullabaloo within the Conservative movement. Was it right for the students to write […]