Shammai Engelmayer, at The Blogs

Apply for a Blog

Jun 29, 2018, 12:28 AM

The ‘Great Experiment’ is under great strain

Twice each year, before the Fourth of July and Thanksgiving, I write about how this country was founded on “biblical values,” by which the founding fathers clearly meant the values of our bible, the Tanach, and especially its first five books, meaning the Torah. Our...

Jun 14, 2018, 10:47 PM

Healthy living, the Torah way

Having undergone open heart surgery not too long ago, the subject of how to improve the quality of life by getting healthy and staying that way is never far from my mind. Here are some suggestions my physicians gave me for achieving this: • Eat...

May 31, 2018, 7:04 PM

The vote: A primary way to honor America’s fallen

On Monday, I participated in a Memorial Day observance co-sponsored by American Legion Post #126 and the Borough of Cliffside Park. Unless it rains, the annual event always is held in Memorial Park, sandwiched on a little island between the municipal building and library on...

May 17, 2018, 6:10 PM

Another ‘Four Questions’: Prepping for Shavuot

Here are four questions to help prepare you for this weekend: On what date does it say Passover falls? On what date does it say Rosh Hashanah falls? On what date does it say we should begin counting the Omer? On what date does it...

May 3, 2018, 11:16 PM

Is it kosher to play God with our genes?

A segment on last Sunday’s edition of the CBS newsmagazine “60 Minutes” provides an excellent vehicle to explore the challenges that some major scientific breakthroughs pose to halachic decisors and Jewish ethicists. The breakthrough in this case is known as CRISPR, an acronym for Clustered Regularly...

Apr 19, 2018, 7:46 PM

Dealing with our ‘dirty little secret’

This Sunday, Project Sarah hosts its 12th annual breakfast in Bergen County. “Sarah” is the acronym that describes the organization’s stated mission — to “Stop Abusive Relationships At Home.” As well as offering its informational programs, the organization also provides a vital array of services...

Apr 5, 2018, 7:15 PM

Now, more than ever, a Passover meal for our time

Tonight, Friday, April 6, 2018, families and friends will gather in many Jewish homes around the world to drink four cups of wine, eat some matzah and other special foods, sing some songs, and pray for our redemption finally to be complete with the coming...

Mar 22, 2018, 6:06 PM

The Exodus: Debunking the debunkers

Moses on Mount Sinai, painted circa 1895-1900, by Jean-Léon Gérôme. (Wikimedia Commons)

The difference between history and sacred history is why things happened, not that they did

Mar 8, 2018, 9:08 PM

Morris Ayin is gone — and it’s our loss

Morris Ayin is dead, and kashrut will never be the same. Morris, you see, was a big influence on me when I was a young boy. He often determined what was proper and what was not. When I was 5, for example, my father refused...

Feb 22, 2018, 8:24 PM

Will we ever get serious about guns?

Illustrative: Danish soldiers guard the synagogue in Copenhagen, Denmark, on September 29, 2017. (AFP PHOTO / SCANPIX DENMARK / Mads Claus Rasmussen)

Jewish law requires that we protect ourselves; to do so responsibly means strict and effective weapons-training

Load more

About Me

Shammai Engelmayer is rabbi of Temple Israel Community Center, in Cliffside Park, and Temple Beth El of North Bergen, both in New Jersey. A former president of the North Jersey Board of Rabbis, he chose to work as a journalist after being ordained. That career helped him hone the skills that serve him so well on the pulpit, and helped him become a popular adult Jewish education teacher in Northern New Jersey.