Moses Montefiore Anshe Emunah Rabbi's Corner

Rabbi's Corner

Rabbi Yerachmiel Shapiro

MEET THE RABBI

Rabbi Yerachmiel Shapiro has served as the spiritual leader of Moses Montefiore Anshe Emunah Hebrew Congregation since June 2010. Previously he served Congregation Beth Shalom in Red Bank, NJ. Under his leadership, the shul flourished and began many new traditions such as an annual shofar blowing contest, a latke festival, the Red Bank Jewish Reggae Festival, and monthly Friday night dinners. All of these fantastic traditions have been continued during his short time at MMAE. He was a rabbinic intern at Anshe Sholom B'nai Israel in Chicago, IL with Rabbi Asher Lopatin, and at The National Synagogue in Washington, DC with Rabbi Shmuel Hertzfeld.

Rabbi Shapiro was born in Chicago where most of his family still resides. He received his Semicha (Rabbinic ordination) from Yeshivat Chovevei Torah Rabbinical School. While studying Torah and pastoral skills at Chovevei Torah, Yerachmiel became a student of Rabbi Avi Weiss, the founder and Dean of the Yeshiva. Rabbi Shapiro was even arrested twice with Rabbi Weiss while protesting Ahmadinejad's visits and speeches to the UN. He studied the traditional areas of Halacha (Jewish law) for his ordination with his "rebbe", Rav Yaacov Love. He also completed chaplaincy internships at St. Luke's Hospital and Riker's Island Prison.

Rabbi Shapiro studied Torah at Skokie Yeshiva in Chicago, where he began his Talmudic education with Rav Tzvi Haskell. At the same time, he studied under two "Torah Giants", Rav Moshe Soloveichik and Rav Chaim Twersky.

Rabbi Shapiro spent two additional years before rabbinical school studying Torah in Eretz Yisroel at Yeshivat Hakotel. During that time, Yerachmiel resided in the Old City of Jerusalem and prayed at the Western Wall every day. His understanding of Jewish philosophy was nurtured under the tutelage of Rav Yoel Rackovsky, Rav Amos Luban, and Rav Lipman Podolsky OB"M. Also in Israel, Rabbi Shapiro completed three separate rabbinic internships at Isralight Institute where he learned rabbinic skills and Jewish spirituality from the renowned Jewish educators Rabbi David Aaron and Rabbi Bini Friedman.

Rabbi Shapiro attended Brandeis University in Waltham, MA where he excelled in his classes and received a well-rounded education. He majored in Psychology and Near Eastern Judaic Studies, with a minor in Hebrew. It was during those years at Brandeis that Rabbi Shapiro met Rebbetzin Helene and knew he had found his Beshert.

Here in Baltimore, Rabbi Shapiro is one of the only rabbis who is both a member of the Baltimore Board of Rabbis and the Vaad Harabanim of Baltimore. It is a distinction he wears with pride as he hopes to be a future bridge between the spiritual leaders of our Jewish community. He has the background to be this bridge as his background enjoys a hodgepodge of influences such as JCC camp, Chabad day school, NCSY, Solomon Schechter Day School and the Conservative Movement, to name a few.

When Rabbi Shapiro took the reins of Moses Montefiore Anshe Emunah from his mentor and friend Rabbi Elan Adler, the transition to a large shul was a welcome challenge. MMAE has flourished and grown under his leadership. He is genuinely loved by his congregation, and even better, he absolutely loves them.

Yerachmiel was recently featured in the PBS Independent Lens documentary "The Calling". He was one of the two students chosen by the film's director to represent the Jewish faith. The movie highlighted the challenges and the celebrations of becoming a rabbi. You can watch the documentary on Netflix.

Rabbi Shapiro enjoys playing sports and running. In High School he starred on the Glenbrook North football team as an "iron man" Tackle. These days, Rabbi Shapiro can be found at the JCC gym or on the hiking trails where he enjoys everything from family hikes to five day backpacking trips in the Grand Tetons. When he has time, hahaha, he likes to ski, golf, fish, kayak, and go to concerts with Helene.

Rabbi Shapiro resides in Pikesville, MD with his wife Helene, daughter Lila, and son Avraham Ben-Tzion.

RABBI'S MESSAGE FROM ISRAEL - MARCH 23, 2011

Dear Beloved MMAE Family,

I stood at the Kotel today and poured out my heart for the good of our congregation and our families. I prayed that Hashem would bring health and healing, opportunity and employment.

As I davened, I felt so fortunate to once again stand in the place that is the center of our religion. I also realized that it felt very close to home. Our sanctuary at MMAE is a little replica of the Western Wall. This is true in spirit as well as in design. As my mind's image of our shul was superimposed on the Kotel plaza, I felt so happy and blessed to be your rabbi. Going to the Kotel felt like coming home.

Then I heard the sirens. First one, then another and another. I remembered that sound from 2001 when I was living here. Those sirens can only mean one thing. My heart fell. It is so difficult for me, your rabbi, to hold this great happiness and gratitude in one hand, while trying to hold the pain, the horror, and the sadness of today and of the last few weeks in the other.

We live in such an imperfect world. It is impossible to understand. Why is Hashem so hidden? Even your rabbi does not have an easy answer for this. My instinct, though, is to respond to evil with great acts of kindness and piety. As I have said in the past, "If you believe in the power of destruction, then you must also believe in our power to create, to fix, and to heal" (Rav Nachman).

I am deeply moved that as a congregation we raised over $300 for the Jewish poor of Baltimore and over $600 for the Fogel family children on Purim alone. We breathed new life into an old Torah, and brought smiles of joy to the faces of all who participated in our Purim party.

I miss you and cherish all our time together.

From Jerusalem with love,

Rabbi Shapiro

RABBI'S HOLIDAY MESSAGE - 5771

At the end of every week, as I am rushing to prepare for Shabbat during the last few hours of Friday afternoon, I inevitably ask myself, "Where did this week go?" I sometimes feel as if each Shabbat flows into the next and the week inbetween is nothing but a passing dream. Actually, I feel this way as well towards the end of every month and certainly as I approach another Rosh Hashanah. This year has passed like the sand that trickles down through the hourglass, and I find myself wishing that I could just slow things down.

After graduating high school, I traveled to Israel to study Torah in Yeshivat Hakotel for a year. It was a dream come true to spend a whole year devoted to my Jewish studies and traveling through the Holy Land. It was my first time in Israel and I would get to spend a whole year living in the Old City of Jerusalem. With all that time, I felt like I could do and see everything there was to see. I remember clearly the first day of school. All the students were nervous and excited as the Rosh HaYeshiva - the head rabbi - began to speak. His first words to us were, "The year is already over."

We laughed at the time, but the truth is he was right. Even though each day of Torah study felt powerful and important, by the end of the year the whole experience felt like a dream and that first day with the rabbi's peculiar speech seemed like it had just happened.

Time is strange like that, we sometimes have days that feel like a whole year, and we look back at events that happened years ago and say, "it feels like yesterday". A central purpose of Judaism is to help us harness and be aware of time. Each of our holidays and Sabbaths are tools that we can use to concentrate on the blessing of each moment and our connection to nature and the seasons. On Shabbat, we are commanded not to work or create. Thus, Shabbat teaches us that enjoying and being thankful for our time here on earth is just as important as working and creativity.

So too, Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur celebrate the beginning of the Jewish calendar. Our futures lie in the balance, and it is not space and possessions we are concerned about, but rather our time. Will we have many more years to live or, God forbid, few? Will they be years that are pleasant or years filled with difficulties? The High Holidays, the most important moments in Judaism, are those which for millennia have been reminding our people that the most expensive and important commodity in the world is our time. Will we heed the ancient call of the shofar to cherish our time?

Rabbi Isaac Luria (the AriZal, Tzfat 1534-1572), the founder of modern kabbala, believed that each year on Rosh Hashanah everything returns to its original state as it was at the moment of creation and the beginning of time. For a short moment during the High Holidays, time begins again. We are given a clean slate. Even if in the past we let our time slip away, the carousel of time slows to a halt so we can get back on board.

We must pray fervently and search for this moment so that when it comes we don't miss it, for it is during this moment, that we can regain control over time. May we all have the blessing this year to use our time wisely and appreciate every single miraculous moment we have on earth.

As for me, I thank Hashem for the great opportunity to spend my precious time on earth with you, as your rabbi at Moses Montefiore Anshe Emunah. Every moment we share is truly a moment in heaven.

May you be blessed with a sweet year!

SHANA TOVA,

With love and joyfulness.

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