Fifteen years ago, I decided to take a Wednesday morning Bible class with Rabbi Jeremy Gerber.   Over a ten year span, his class held my attention and educated me on the background, practices, beliefs, history and current events concerning the religion of Judaism.  Every page we read was so interesting and precipitated worthwhile conversations among the diverse members of the class.  Rabbi Gerber always encouraged the different interpretations of the text as our class brought a vast amount of life experience to our discussions.   Being of no particular religion, my questions were mostly about the history of the time period, the writers and how the connections to the surrounding cultures impacted the stories told. All my queries were thoughtfully explored and answered by Rabbi Gerber.  Rabbi Gerber can weave lessons from long-ago religious texts with current events to make the writings relevant to this generation.  He performs what is needed by a religious leader to thrive; make the theology a real part of, and understandable in, people’s daily lives.  

I was also so touched by his kind spirit when he attended my husband’s funeral and spoke a few words at the grave site. I am continuing my exploration of the Hebrew Bible with him as he has so much knowledge to share with the community.  

I am so grateful that Rabbi Jeremy Gerber was my rabbi for more than 13 years. I’ve been a member of a synagogue almost my entire life, including Ohev Shalom for the previous 35+ years.

Rabbi Gerber is a rare embodiment of Jewish knowledge, intellectual curiosity, excellent oratory skills, terrific pedagogy, and empathy. He is an advocate of both social justice and synagogue beautification. Rabbi Gerber created a safe haven for me to learn how to “lain” Torah, including learning Torah trope as a seventy year old. His patience, vision, and emotional availability enable me to now read Torah during daily minyan as well as high holiday services. Rabbi Gerber has been inclusive in tackling difficult topics that currently challenge conservative synagogues.

We are stronger as a community because of his courage and caring. We are so

fortunate that our community has been graced by Rabbi Gerber’s intentions and talents.

Rabbi Gerber officiated at the baby naming of our granddaughter recently. Rabbi made the event special and personal for our family in part due to the time he spent getting to understand what was important to us. He was thus easily able to share that message with our family and friends gathering together to welcome our granddaughter into the Jewish faith. Thank you Rabbi Gerber

I am writing to express my high regard for Rabbi Gerber and to share my appreciation for his guidance. For many years, I have dreamed of learning the blessings and the chanting of the haftarah to honor my father's yahrzeit. After mentioning this to Rabbi Gerber, he helped me turn that dream into a reality.  Throughout our lessons, Rabbi Gerber was professional, relatable, and incredibly patient. He provided the motivation and encouragement I needed when I felt nervous or discouraged. Thanks to his teaching, I gained the confidence to stand before the congregation and recite the prayers and haftarah in Hebrew on my own.  I am deeply grateful for Rabbi Gerber’s dedication and for the confidence he instilled in me. Fulfilling this goal in memory of my father is an experience I will cherish forever.

In my experience, some spiritual leaders exude a professional presence; some are learned and great educators; some are wonderful orators; some are personable and social. Few, however, exhibit several or all of these traits. Having known Rabbi Jeremy Gerber for over 15 years, I can attest to the fact that he does possess and utilize all of the above. Having had the privilege of working with him over the years on several projects in the synagogue, I know him to be a trusted leader, professional resource, and engaged participant. One of the most rewarding experiences was working with him, along with my wife and another couple, to curate and implement a group trip to Israel during which 45 synagogue members and friends experienced Tel Aviv, the Negev Desert, Eilat, Petra, and Jerusalem in an educational, entertaining, and spiritual manner. Thank you, Rabbi Gerber, for your advice, guidance, and friendship.

I have had the pleasure of knowing Rabbi Gerber, as one of his congregants, over a period of many years. Rabbi Gerber was available to answer questions at any time. He was affable, attentive, and inclusive. I found his interest in Haggadahs refreshing----as it illuminated another aspect of Judaism. Besides being a reservoir of Judaism, he is relatable, approachable, and affable. I found these characteristics most appreciated.

A mensch, who really understands: l'chaim.

Dear Rabbi Gerber,

You are the best rabbi ever! You have been an inspiration to me and to so many others in the Ohev congregation. Your talents are varied and many. You write and speak beautifully. You have shown your infinite compassion in all your remarks from the pulpit, in all your writings, and in every conversation you and I have had. You’re enthusiastic and energetic and are wise and knowledgeable about the wide world. 

Rabbi, you brought Ohev into the 21st century with your emphasis on the wider community and your incorporation of sustainability tenets into synagogue life. You were the impetus to beautifying our sanctuary. You educate in the most relatable way, being patient and never denigrating anyone in your responses to questions. 

I loved the Lunch n’Learn sessions and the Learning to Read Hebrew class you presented. I’ve read every one of your blogs and it was remarkable how you brought understanding about Torah to someone as unschooled in the subject as I. What a blessing you have been to our family!

It gives me great pleasure to write a testimonial for Rabbi Jeremy Gerber.  Rabbi Gerber is a kind, energetic, intelligent, and very thoughtful person. He has revitalized a small, struggling congregation with his meaningful interpretations of Judaism in general, and the weekly Torah portions in particular. It’s a spiritual and educational experience spending Shabbat with him. I wish him to continue his wonderful work and go from strength to strength. Amen.

We have had the privilege of knowing Rabbi Jeremy Gerber for the past 17 years.  Fresh out of the Seminary, we were impressed by his maturity and wisdom.  From day one, he knew your name and made you feel appreciated and important.  As our Rabbi, we found him to be intelligent, scholarly, kind, compassionate, engaging, and a terrific teacher, with a quick sense of humor.  A true professional in every sense.  All the qualities you could ask for in a spiritual leader, and then some.

On the pulpit, Rabbi’s sermons were inspiring.  His lunch and learn sessions always interesting and thought provoking.
His community programs and inter-faith initiatives enhanced our presence in our community.
He brought Judaism to Life!   We are proud to call him a friend.

Rabbi Gerber has always been a compassionate and thoughtful spiritual leader.  He has helped our family through grief, prayer and joyful life experiences.  Besides being a wonderful Rabbi, he is a kind and caring human being.

I have been a member of Congregation Beth El for 50 years. Rabbi Gerber came onboard in 2023.  He has  been a breath of fresh air.  For three years our congregation has grown because of Rabbi Gerber.  During his third year he took on a class of six women to learn to read Torah for a B’not Mitzvah class. Some did not know any Hebrew, and he started with them from the very beginning. He has guided and taught others to read Torah for special occasions and/or for the High Holidays.  He exudes enthusiasm, patience and kindness. His sermons are always informative and his knowledge is impressive. Rabbi Gerber added to our Shabbes morning service a learning session after the kiddush luncheon, something we never had before and truly enjoy.

I have known Rabbi Gerber for about 9 years, since he joined the Ohev Shalom community as
our rabbi. He bat mitzvah-ed my daughter and bar mitzvah-ed my son, worked with me on some sanctuary beautification
projects, and along the way we became friends. I trust him as a friend and as a spiritual leader.
He has a deep commitment to his faith, his family, his community and his friends.
I stand by Rabbi Jeremy Gerber.

I’ve known Rabbi Gerber in several capacities over several years. First as a compelling rabbi of the  congregation to which I belonged and then as an inspirational teacher for the bar/bat mitzvahs of my grandchildren.  

    The most recent and possibly the most important was my need for spiritual guidance in order to understand and process some emotionally difficult occurrences in my life. 

      Rabbi Gerber made me feel as if I was a priority and speaking with him felt like confiding in a very close friend. He was kind, knowledgeable, and extremely helpful. The counseling he offered was meaningful and obvious meant specifically for me. In other words, it wasn’t prepared dialog for a specific situation.  

      Thank you Rabbi Gerber, for all the ways you’ve graciously been there for me and my entire family. We are all grateful. 

Who is Rabbi Jeremy Gerber?

- A genuine, compassionate and approachable person who shows deep care through his eyes, smile and soul.

- A dynamic speaker and teacher of Jewish prayer, Torah, ritual, etc.

- A Rabbi who elicits conversation during D'var Torah discussions and positively validates each person's contributions to the conversation.

- A Rabbi who personally welcomes each person during Shabbat services and publicly acknowledges all contributions to the services.

- A Rabbi organizing art projects to enhance the synagogue sanctuary's beauty and spirituality. 

- A Rabbi whose uplifting eulogies showed compassion and understanding of the value and love in each person's life. 

- A Rabbi helping me to find meaning in our Jewish rituals and our Shabbat services, 

- A Rabbi who, during the 2020 Covid pandemic, provided a haven on Zoom for our community to pray daily, for Shabbat, and for all holiday services.  He created our norms and processes with our input, and encouraged me as the Zoom facilitator, a role I've held for almost six years.  Today, we still follow everything Rabbi Gerber put in place. 

When I joined my synagogue, I noticed that there was a Holocaust Torah in a case for all to see. As the child of Holocaust survivors, it was always a reminder of my parents. When Rabbi Gerber became the rabbi at our synagogue, he had a vision that we should use that Torah to honor the memories of all who were killed, not keep it in a glass case. After many years of working on this vision, it finally came to fruition. My husband and I helped to fund the kashering of the Lostice Torah in memory of my parents and every member of the congregation had an opportunity to write a letter with the scribe, fulfilling an important mitzvah. The scroll is used throughout the year and is placed front and center in our Ark. None of this would have been possible without Rabbi Gerber’s vision and dedication. Thank you.

A rabbi is famously someone who often holds many, many roles at once: teacher, spiritual leader, counselor, community leader, prayer leader, public speaker, writer, diplomat and peace-maker, administrator, fund raiser . . .  Rabbi Gerber is one of those rare individuals who, motivated by a deep love for Judaism and blessed with an enormous range of talents and an exceptional capacity for empathy, checks all the boxes. 

It has been my good fortune to have experienced Rabbi Gerber in all these roles, but what I will remember him for most is the care, wisdom, tact and sensitivity with which he responded when I turned to him at a time of personal crisis.  He made it clear that he had my back, and I knew that placing my trust in him as I did was the right thing to do. Words can’t do justice to my gratitude.

Rabbi Jeremy Gerber was my Rabbi at Congregation Ohev Shalom for a long enough period of time, and in many ritual settings that, I believe, allowed me to get to know him both as a person and as my Rabbi. 

I am a regular attendee of Shabbat services. Due to Rabbi Gerber's deep sense of what being and doing Jewish means, I became more knowledgeable and more deeply involved in Judaism. Rabbi Gerber wrote a weekly blog that captured and expanded each week's Torah portion. Rabbi Gerber leads Shabbat services with passion.

Rabbi Gerber created a new baby naming ceremony which involved the participation of the newborn's family and the congregation 

A Rabbi's job is not limited to ritual. A Rabbi's interests can become the congregation's interests. As one example, Rabbi Gerber's love of ritual became, thru original created works of art, ritual beautification for our synagogue's main Sanctuary. 

Rabbi Gerber worked well with the children of our Synagogue school.

Above all, Rabbi Gerber has respect for others, puts others before himself and, although confident in his Rabbinical duties is a humble man. 

I have a high regard for Rabbi Jeremy Gerber.

Rabbi Gerber is and always has been a compassionate human being and a gentleman who remembers people’s names & addresses them as such because he is a caring person and a dedicated Rabbi.

Rabbi Gerber understood that there was a group of congregants, including me, who never had a previous opportunity to join a synagogue.  Rabbi Gerber enabled us and taught us so that we could as adults learn to read Hebrew and learn the prayers so that we could participate in minyan and Shabbat services.

Rabbi Gerber remembers everyone’s names.  He remembers the names of my grandchildren and that they play ice hockey, go to private Jewish schools, and are raised in a very Jewish home.

Rabbi Gerber provided congregants with a welcoming and artistically beautiful synagogue with artwork that we congregants created.

Rabbi Gerber’s Wednesday Bible classes were so extremely informative, inspiring, interesting, and challenging so that we all looked forward to them.

Rabbi Gerber helped me to reconnect to & to appreciate my Judaism..

Thank you, Rabbi Gerber.

My wife and I, in our mid 70’s, wanted to expand our social circle, because many of our friends had moved out of the area or passed away. We chose to join the synagogue because Rabbi Gerber officiated and we had family and friends who were already members. Even before we were members, Rabbi Gerber went out of his way to warmly greet and welcome us, when we were attending the synagogue. Rabbi Gerber is a very knowledgeable Jewish teacher and educator. We attended services and bible study classes and saw the depth of his knowledge and expertise. We did expand our social circle with wonderful new friends, in a religious and educational atmosphere, led by Rabbi Gerber.