Congregation Ohr Torah Honors Congregants

 Congregation Ohr Torah of West Orange will be celebrating the 18^th anniversary of its founding at a gala dinner on June 20^th at the synagogue located at 270 Pleasant Valley Way, West Orange.

Located in the Pleasantdale section of West Orange, Congregation Ohr Torah was formed by a handful of families in order to establish an Orthodox synagogue at the northern end of West Orange.
Before that time, residents of the area north of Woodland Avenue had to walk almost two miles to one of the area’s other Orthodox synagogues.  With the growth of available housing north of Eagle Rock Avenue, the synagogue that started in a house on Pleasant Valley Way was able to grow into a 130 member synagogue with its own building.

The gala dinner will honor three members of the Ohr Torah and West Orange community, Elaine Scherman, Rabbi Richard Kirsch and Stephen M. Flatow.

Elaine Scherman, a 40-year resident of Pleasantdale will receive Congregation Ohr Torah’s M’Dor L’Dor Award; Rabbi Richard Kirsch will receive its Young Leadership Award; and Stephen M. Flatow will receive its Founder’s Award.

Elaine and her late husband, Herman z”l, moved to West Orange in 1970 at a time when, in Elaine’s words, “it was dark at our end of town and there was nothing here.”  Elaine and her husband quickly put together informal religious services in their home.

The Schermans next sought to provide residents with a ready supply of kosher foods brought from New York City.  That led to her opening of Gourmet Galaxy in Pleasantdale Center and the start of a catering business carried on today by daughter Beth Indyk.

Elaine’s children span the globe.  Sarah and Shmuel Geller reside in Zichron Yaakov, Israel.  Bracha and Frank Udelsohn live in Memphis.  Zev and Devora Scherman call Passaic Park their home.  Beth and Ben Indyk are here in West Orange.

Rabbi Richard Kirsch, the popular leader of the synagogue’s Teen Minyan will receive the synagogue’s Young Leadership Award.

Rabbi Kirsch is a graduate of Yeshiva College, received his ordination from Yeshiva University’s Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary, and a Master’s in Social Work from Yeshiva University’s Wurzweiler School of Social Work. 

A guidance counselor, Jewish studies teacher and athletic director at Rae Kushner Yeshiva High School, Rabbi Kirsch also teaches Hebrew school, prepares students for bar mitzvah, and serves as the winter rabbi in Lake Hopatcong.  In his spare time, you can find him serving on the Board of Governors of the New York Board of Rabbis.

Rabbi Kirsch and his wife Jill have been residents of West Orange for 10 years and are the proud parents of four.

Stephen M. Flatow, recipient of the synagogue’s Founder’s Award, was Ohr Torah’s first president, serving from 1992 to 1996.  Moving with his wife Rosalyn and two daughters to West Orange in 1978, their family soon grew to five children and a need for a larger house led them to move to the Cunningham Drive area in 1986.           

In the early 1990s community meetings were held at the Flatow’s home to gauge interest in a new synagogue.  The interest was there and Congregation Ohr Torah, then known as the West Orange Orthodox Jewish Congregation, Inc., was created in 1992.

The synagogue’s growth since 1992 has made it a mainstay in West Orange’s Orthodox Jewish community and provides a needed anchor for young families moving to the north end of West Orange.

For more information about the dinner and Congregation Ohr Torah, visit the synagogue’s website.