Why Doug Emhoff took the bus to Hebrew school — and more about his childhood synagogue
The history and philosophy of the New Jersey synagogue where the second gentleman had a bar mitzvah
Doug Emhoff (left), who is married to Vice President Kamala Harris, at his childhood synagogue, Temple Shalom of Aberdeen, New Jersey, with Rabbi Laurence Malinger in 2021. Courtesy of Laurence Malinger
By Beth Harpaz August 22, 2024
Rabbi Laurence Malinger was in his office at Temple Shalom in Aberdeen, New Jersey, when the office manager told him Doug Emhoff was there to see the synagogue where he’d had a bar mitzvah in 1977.
Emhoff, who is married to Vice President Kamala Harris, made the surprise visit three years ago. His connection to the Reform congregation came up again this week in his speech at the Democratic National Convention, when he reminisced about growing up in New Jersey, riding his bike around town and taking the bus to Hebrew school.
“He’s always been proud of his Jewish identity,” Malinger said in a phone interview. “He credits it to the strong community we have in Aberdeen.”
Asked why Emhoff took the bus to Hebrew school, a detail that may have puzzled parents these days accustomed to chauffeuring their kids everywhere, Malinger said: “We were a large suburban congregation back then. The congregation worked with our families to secure a bus from school to bring the students to Hebrew school. Many families had two working parents and/or one car, thus it was easier to bus to the temple.”
A synagogue committed to helping others
Malinger also said he believes Emhoff’s upbringing in a community that was committed “to helping others in need” has helped make him who he is. The synagogue grows fresh produce to donate to a local food pantry; its Instagram feed is full of posts about “Mitzvah Days” and school supply drives for needy kids — amid announcements for Torah Tots, movie screenings and holiday services.
“That’s the environment Mr. Emhoff grew up in,” Malinger said.
Malinger wasn’t the rabbi when Emhoff’s family belonged to the synagogue, but he showed him a memorial brick in the courtyard honoring the rabbi who was there at that time, the late Henry Weiner. Inside, the synagogue also has a memorial plaque honoring Emhoff’s grandfather, Alberto Emhoff.
“We sat in the courtyard and talked, and he told me about growing up here and having his bar mitzvah,” Malinger said. “He had fond memories.”
Emhoff was born in Brooklyn in 1963. His family moved to New Jersey when he was around 5 years old, and then to California when he was 17. He is the first Jewish spouse of a vice president and has been the public face of the Biden administration’s national strategy to combat antisemitism.
Recruiting members door to door
The congregation was founded in 1963 by 12 families who had moved into a new community built by the same developers who created Long Island’s famous Levittown. The original enclave of 1,900 homes, now part of Aberdeen Township, was initially known as Strathmore at Matawan, and many of its first residents arrived in the suburbs from New York City and Newark.
The builder donated a parcel of land for the synagogue, according to New Jersey Jewish News, and the congregation’s first members went door to door, asking neighbors if they were Jewish and inviting them to join.
They met for the first few years in a local elementary school, with the Torah stored in a locked closet during the school year. In the summer, temple members carried the Torah from home to home as they took turns hosting services. Larger crowds for High Holidays were accommodated in a high school auditorium and occasionally even a movie theater.
The synagogue building opened in 1967, though some members left to form a Conservative synagogue and, a decade later, an Orthodox congregation. Membership is now around 250 families.
Malinger said that he is careful to personally refrain from taking sides politically, so the synagogue did not host any watch parties for Emhoff’s speech. Nevertheless, he said, the congregation takes “pride in the connection” to the man who could potentially be the first Jew to live in the White House.
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