Meet Our Clergy

Rabbi Rachel I. Salston

Rabbi Rachel I. Salston is a graduate of Brandeis University, where she received a Bachelor of Arts in neuroscience with a minor in Near Eastern and Judaic Studies. She then attended the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies in Los Angeles, earning her rabbinic ordination as well as the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism’s Award for Congregational Leadership, in 2018. While in California, Rabbi Salston taught religious school at several Los Angeles congregations and served as a rabbinic intern at Burbank Temple Emanu-El in Burbank, CA, where she led worship services, taught Torah and prayer classes, and ran Tot Shabbat and preschool celebrations.

Following her ordination, Rabbi Salston returned to the east coast, serving as the Ritual Director at the Park Avenue Synagogue in New York City before becoming Chaplain at the Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick, NJ. She also served as a part-time Rabbi at the East Brunswick Jewish Center in East Brunswick, NJ.

Rabbi Salston is a Soferet STaM (Ritual Scribe) and specializes in Torah scroll and tefillin repair and restoration. As such, she is a valuable resource to the Jewish community on issues related to the fitness and usability of Torah scrolls.

Rabbi Salston has a passion for social justice and human rights and has traveled to Thailand with the American Jewish World Service and to India with the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee. In her spare time, she enjoys baking, needlework, yoga, and running.

Rabbi Salston is here to connect with you. Please reach out to her and introduce yourself. Rabbi Salston is available for walks, visits, coffee, meals, and phone calls. She is so glad to be a part of the CBS/FLJC community.
To reach Rabbi Salston, please contact the synagogue office or email her at rabbi@fljc.com

Rabbi David Bockman

Rabbi David Bockman, who grew up in California, was ordained at the Jewish Theological Seminary. He has a Master of Arts in Jewish Studies and has completed course work towards his Ph.D. in Jewish philosophy focusing on the post-modern French Jewish philosopher Emmanuel Levinas. He has led congregations in Park Ridge, Bergenfield, and Pompton Lakes. Rabbi Bockman taught Jewish History at the University of New Orleans and is currently a Judaic studies teacher at the Golda Och Academy in West Orange. He has been instrumental in the North Jersey Board of Rabbi’s annual night of adult Jewish education, “Sweet Tastes of Torah.”

Over the years, Rabbi Bockman has created adult courses as diverse as Jewish Philosophy in the Musicals of Stephen Sondheim, Oppression & Jewish Thought, and the Nexus of 20th Century Math & Judaism. Rabbi Bockman is a talented musician known for playing jazz trumpet and shofar in klezmer, gospel, and jazz groups. He performed at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival and House of Blues. He has played with the vocal quartet ‘Beignet Yisrael’ and the smooth jazz trio ‘Rabbi, Russian and Blonde.’ Early in his career Rabbi Bockman served congregations in Kansas City, Maryland, New Orleans, and North Carolina.

Please reach out to Rabbi Bockman and introduce yourself. He is delighted to be a part of the CBS/FLJC community. To reach Rabbi Bockman, please contact the synagogue office or email him at Bockmonides@gmail.com

Cantor Yoni Stokar

Yoni Stokar is a musician and Chazan. He is the owner and musical director of Ta Shma Orchestra, a New Jersey-based band playing weddings, bar mitzvahs, and other Jewish events. Yoni has led davening services and ran children’s musical programming for schools and synagogues all across the US. Yoni also works full time as an Occupational Therapist, treating elderly patients in their homes in New York City and Jersey. Yoni lives in Fair Lawn with his wife Chavie and their two sons Joseph and Perry. Click here to learn more about his debut album “Atzeres.”

Rabbi Emeritus

Rabbi Ronald Roth became the Rabbi of the Congregation B’nai Sholom/Fair Lawn Jewish Center in 2007. He was born in Far Rockaway, Queens, and spent his childhood in Brooklyn, New York. He graduated from Cornell University with a BA in theatre arts and then spent three years as a teacher before attending the Rabbinical School of the Jewish Theological Seminary, where he received an M.A. in Rabbinics and Rabbinic Ordination in 1978. He has been the Rabbi of the Beth El Synagogue in East Windsor New Jersey, and the West End Synagogue in Nashville, Tennessee.

He retired from our congregation in 2018. He continues to teach adult education for the congregation and is an active member of the Fair Lawn Borough Community Relations Advisory Committee.

Rabbi Emeritus

Rabbi Simon Glustrom (ZT”L) was born in Atlanta, Georgia, and was ordained by the Jewish Theological Seminary in 1948. He spent 2 years as the rabbi at Congregation Beth El in Durham, North Carolina before accepting an appointment to serve as the first rabbi at the Fair Lawn Jewish Center in 1950. Rabbi Glustrom served as Rabbi from 1950 until his retirement in 1991, when he was granted the title of Rabbi Emeritus. He is the author of several books, including “I Would Do It Again—Perhaps” and “Unfinished Journey: A Rabbi’s Bout With Doubt.”

Connections

We are a community that supports the United States of America, and Israel — the eternal home of the Jewish people.