Community shares Rabbi Evan Jaffe's
legacy | Letters
Rabbi Evan Jaffe,
shown here in December 2014, is being remembered as a man who cared for people
of all faiths.
Rabbi Evan A. Jaffe
Obituary | Condolences
Rabbi Evan A. Jaffe, died Wednesday August 12, 2015 at the
University of Pennsylvania Medical Center in Philadelphia, PA, he was 62. Born
in Baltimore, MD, son of the late Marvin and Carolyn Moranz Jaffe, he had
resided in Flemington since 1987, and formerly resided in New York City. Rabbi
Jaffe was a graduate of Columbia University and received his Master's Degree in
Social Work from the University of Pennsylvania, and graduated from the Jewish
Theological Seminary, in New York City. Evan was the Rabbi at the Flemington
Jewish Community Center (FJCC) since 1987. At one time, he was a professional
ballet dancer in New York for seven years. Active in community activities for
nearly 30 years, he was the Chaplain at Hunterdon Developmental Center, in
Clinton, NJ and the Greenbrook Regional Center, in Greenbrook NJ. He was the President
of the Hunterdon Interfaith Outreach Council, former President of the Women's
Crisis Center in Flemington, was an active participant with the Volunteer
Guardianship of One-on-One in Hunterdon County and Meals on Wheels of Hunterdon
County, and was a volunteer at the Edna Mahan Correctional Facility in Clinton,
NJ. He was also the founder of the O.P.E.N. Road of Flemington, which
facilitates the transportation for the developmentally disabled and the
homebound elderly to places of worship. He was also very active in the Matheny
School and Hospital in Peapack, NJ. During his tenure at the FJCC, he oversaw
the growth of the community center and was selected by The Forward magazine
"as one of the 33 most inspirational Rabbi's in the US." Rabbi Jaffe
is survived by his wife of 33 years, Phyllis Lerner, two daughters, Atara Jaffe
of Vacaville, CA, and Jordana Jaffe of Hoboken, NJ, and a sister, Mindy Jaffe
of Honolulu HI. Funeral services will take place Friday, August 14, 2015 at
1:00 p.m. in the Flemington Jewish Community Center, 5 Sergeantsville Road,
Flemington, NJ under the joint-direction of Holcombe-Fisher Funeral Home and
Wright & Ford Family Funeral Home, Flemington, NJ. Interment will follow in
the Flemington Jewish Community Cemetery, Capner Street, Flemington, NJ. As is
traditional in the Jewish faith, the Rabbi would not want flowers. Instead,
please consider a donation to the Flemington Jewish Community Center, 5
Sergeantsville Road, Flemington NJ 08822, the Hunterdon Interfaith Outreach Council,
at the same address, or Volunteer Guardianship One-on-One, 188 Route 31,
Flemington, NJ 08822. Holcombe-Fisher Funeral Home 147 Main Street Flemington,
NJ 08822 (908) 782-4343
Published in Hunterdon County Democrat from Aug. 15 to Aug. 18,
2015
- See more at:
http://obits.nj.com/obituaries/hunterdoncountydemocrat/obituary.aspx?pid=175527280&fhid=8072#sthash.rS51HF2g.dpuf
Community shares Rabbi Evan Jaffe's legacy | Letters
Rabbi Evan Jaffe, shown here in December 2014, is being
remembered as a man who cared for people of all faiths.
http://obits.nj.com/obituaries/hunterdoncountydemocrat/obituary.aspx?pid=175527280&fhid=8072#sthash.rS51HF2g.dpuf
To the editor:
Among the hundreds still reeling from the loss of Flemington's
Rabbi Evan Jaffe, I am moved to share insight into a fraction of his impact.
After settling in Hunterdon County, I set out to explore my
options for the 2006 High Holy Days. Flemington Jewish Community Center
appeared a perfect fit with my interfaith marriage and middle-of-the-road
religious observance.
It was evident from the outset that Rabbi Jaffe was a spiritual
leader who danced to the beat of his own drum; in fact, he had been a
professional ballet dancer for several years, an astonishing fact some first
learned upon his passing. He was warm, wise, enthusiastic, energetic,
innovative in all he embraced, active in the community on so many levels it was
as if he was running a race for his life.
The last two years, while dealing with family health issues (my
mother's and my own), the rabbi and I had extended conversations and numerous
email exchanges about topics as diverse as care facility problems, Asperger's
syndrome, humor, and my potential bat mitzvah (which I had never had and for
which he offered to tutor me). We laughed together over mistakes we each had
found on memorial grave stones as we proofread together the one for my mother
after her passing a few months ago. I dare not divulge his repair proposal!
To know this vibrant man was honored recently, and on prior
occasions, for his selfless service, especially to those less fortunate, brings
solace. Society often waits until someone has passed to recognize such
"mitzvot" (colloquial: good deeds).
With his passing Aug. 12, the entire community has suffered an
enormous wound. We join his loving family in mourning, as we remember the long
arm of his activities. We can look to — and act upon — his legacy to seek
healing and inspiration.
Stephanie P. Ledgin
Pittstown
To the editor:
He ... was a friend of mine.
I am truly humbled and blessed to say that Rabbi Evan Jaffe was
a friend of mine. We were members of the same "social justice gang"
in Hunterdon County. I met him about 12 years ago when I worked with Family
Promise of Hunterdon County, an agency that provides shelter and services to homeless
families.
He led the Flemington Jewish Community Center in their support
and dedication to Family Promise and homeless families.
The first time I saw him, he came to the office to drop off a
personal check to help one of the families with a car repair. He had a spring
to his step and a sparkle in his eyes, that proclaimed the heart of a joyful
giver. He was a community servant extraordinaire - Rabbi by day, social worker
by night.
Champion of those deprived of food, deprived of friends and love
and mood. Delivering meals, guarding affairs, warming homes, visiting the
forgotten. With unlimited energy and capacity to care, he had colossal
compassion for anything not fair. He was the eternal optimist and guardian of
good.
If you were impoverished - he was your wealth.
His own treasure amassed with each hand that he held. And,
always, he had a vision for a better world. Our hearts are breaking, because he
is gone, but his gift is forever and the world will improve-each time we tell
the story of the Rabbi who cared.
Geleen G. Donovan
Glen Gardner
Services Friday for Rabbi Jaffe of
Flemington Jewish Community Center
Rabbi Jaffe was ‘incredible man with a spirit and soul that were
always selfless, always kind’
(Photo: ~Courtesy of The Matheny School)
RARITAN
TOWNSHIP – Services will be held Friday for Rabbi Evan Jaffe, the
spiritual leader of the Flemington Jewish Community Center, who died on
Wednesday at the University of Pennsylvania Medical Center in Philadelphia. He
was 62.
Funeral
services will be at 1 p.m. in the Flemington Jewish Community Center, 5
Sergeantsville Road, under the joint direction of Holcombe-Fisher Funeral Home
and Wright & Ford Family Funeral Home. Interment will follow in the
Flemington Jewish Community Cemetery, Capner Street.
“We
are so heartbroken to announce this news,” his wife, Phyllis, and daughters
Jordana and Atara wrote in his obituary. “He was an incredible man with a
spirit and soul that were always selfless, always kind, forever patient, with
love for everyone.”
Rabbi
Jaffe graduated cum laude from Columbia University with a bachelor’s degree in
Religion. He received a Master of Hebrew Letters from the Jewish Theological
Seminary in New York City. He was also a professional dancer in the city for
seven years.
According
to the Flemington Jewish Community’s website, the congregation has grown
drastically since Rabbi Jaffe arrived in 1987. He acted as rabbi and cantor,
read the Torah, taught Hebrew classes and tutored bar/bat mitzvah students.
Rabbi
Jaffe was very active in the Central Jersey community. He was the Jewish
chaplain at Hunterdon Medical Center and the Hunterdon County Jail. He was also
chaplain for the Hunterdon Developmental Center, where he worked with severely
disabled adults and conducted services for them every Wednesday. He was also
chaplain at the Green Brook Regional Center in Green Brook.
He
also served as president of Hunterdon Interfaith Outreach Council, an
interdenominational organization of 30 congregations dedicated to helping
nonprofit agencies in the county.
Rabbi
Jaffe performed Hanukkah, Passover, Rosh Hashanah, and Yom Kippur services for
students and residents at the Matheny School in Peapack-Gladstone. He also
assisted Matheny residents in getting to their places of worship through his
Open R.O.A.D. program that sought transportation for disabled individuals to
attend religious services.
“We’re
all devastated by the news here,” said Sanford Josephson, director of public
relations and development at Matheny. “He would come to Matheny several times a
year to conduct services during the holidays, and he was always so full of joy
and compassion.”
Earlier
this year, Rabbi Jaffe was named by The Jewish Daily Forward as one of
“America’s Most Inspiring Rabbis.”
“If
you want to make a difference in this would, you don’t have to think on a
grand,” Rabbi Jaffe once wrote in an op-ed for the Courier News. “You don’t
have to donate a million dollars or save a thousand lives. Just a holding of
hands, a show of concern and care where and when it is needed, even for a short
time, is all that is necessary.”
The
family suggests that memorial donations be forwarded to the Flemington Jewish
Community Center, the Hunterdon Interfaith Outreach Council or Volunteer
Guardianship One-on-One.
http://www.mycentraljersey.com/story/news/local/hunterdon-county/2015/08/13/services-friday-rabbi-jaffe-flemington-jewish-community-center/31658585/
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