Rabbi Benjamin Adler

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

RSS Click on the title of the articles below to read on Rabbi Adler’s website

  • Making Gaza Great Again? February 6, 2025
    Now that the guns have fallen silent, the question of what to do with Gaza has risen to the top of the international community’s agenda with President Donald Trump’s shocking and audacious suggestion that the United States take over the territory, remove the entire 2 million Palestinians who live there, and rebuild it into the […]
  • To Keep or Not to Keep January 31, 2025
    In an effort to declutter our lives, we inevitably have to ask the question, “What should I keep and what should I throw away?” For each person, the answer will be different. Sure, everyone keeps important documents like wills, birth certificates, and the like, but what about hard cases? Do you need to retain every […]
  • Come On You Spurs January 23, 2025
    The joy of seeing a hostage return home is always tinged with sadness and pain. On the one hand, video and images of family reunions are heartwarming, but at the same time, we are reminded of the trauma the hostages have gone through, both psychological and physical. When the hostage Emily Damari came home, together […]
  • The Hope for Return January 17, 2025
    After 15 months of war following the October 7th attacks, it seems a ceasefire agreement will be signed shortly. Despite some last-minute disagreements, the Israeli cabinet is set to vote on the deal and implement it within days. One far-right party has vowed to vote against the deal and leave the government over the agreement, […]
  • The Good and the Bad January 9, 2025
    It’s often the case that the people we admire are full of flaws. Human beings, even great ones, are, after all, human. No one is perfect, and sometimes the very qualities that lead to greatness also lead to faults. Today, the nation says good-bye to the 39th president of the United States at his state […]
  • Evil in the House January 2, 2025
    If you could go back in time and kill baby Hitler, would you do it? This science fiction trope and late-night dorm discussion topic asks whether it is morally justified to end the life of an innocent baby who you know will grow up to commit monstrous crimes. On the one hand, baby Hitler is […]
  • Want to Want to Read December 19, 2024
    There are books that you want to read and then there are books that, as my wife would say, you want to want to read. That is, books that seem like an intriguing challenge, but when you actually start reading them you find you just can’t get through them. When I was in college, I […]
  • Your Enemy’s Enemy December 5, 2024
    It is a truism that we live in a connected world where each event can have a profound impact in another part of the globe, often in surprising ways. This week the world was caught off guard by a massive offensive by the Syrian rebels against the regime of Bashar al-Assad. Many people, like me, […]
  • What the Bible Can Teach November 21, 2024
    A few years ago, I had a daydream about spending the summer working at my kids Jewish summer camp, something that rabbis do all the time. The difference for me was that I didn’t want to do what rabbis usually do at camp: teach Judaism. Instead, I would do a science activity. At the time […]
  • People of the Codex November 14, 2024
    What is the first use of a new technology? Often an innovation arrives before people know what to do with it, but people are still amazed by the capabilities. When long distance calling became readily available, many would call their far-off relatives just to hear their voices; only later did companies use the service to […]