{"id":34774,"date":"2014-02-06T22:20:23","date_gmt":"2014-02-06T22:20:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/?p=34774"},"modified":"2017-11-05T04:54:29","modified_gmt":"2017-11-05T09:54:29","slug":"takes-lot-leave-mark-new-jersey-rabbi-yaakov-glasser","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/inspiration\/takes-lot-leave-mark-new-jersey-rabbi-yaakov-glasser\/","title":{"rendered":"It Takes a Lot to Leave a Mark on New Jersey. How Rabbi Yaakov Glasser Did It."},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Rabbi<\/a>
Rabbi Yaakov Glasser teaching teens at NCSY’s Yarchei Kallah program.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Thousands of teens across the United States and Canada have learned under his guidance to take pride in their Jewish heritage, but now Rabbi Yaakov Glasser, longtime director of NJ NCSY and international director of education for NCSY, the international youth movement of the Orthodox Union, is taking on a new role. February 1 marked the beginning of his appointment as associate dean of Yeshiva University\u2019s Center for the Jewish Future and he will be engaged in various aspects of university life.<\/p>\n

\u201cLeaving NCSY was one of the hardest decisions I\u2019ve ever had to make,\u201d Rabbi Glasser recounted. \u201cI don\u2019t feel that I\u2019m leaving NCSY insomuch as I\u2019m taking my diverse NCSY experiences and impacting a broader constituency by working with communities across North America on behalf of Yeshiva University.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rabbi Micah Greenland, international director of NCSY, described Rabbi Glasser\u2019s impact on NCSY as \u201ctremendous.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cRabbi Glasser is a dear friend and a cherished colleague and someone from whom we\u2019ve all learned a great deal,\u201d he said. \u201cWe will miss him and look forward to working closely with him in his new capacity.\u201d<\/p>\n

Allen Fagin, chairman of NCSY, praised Rabbi Glasser as a “profound intellect, a master teacher, a passionate leader, an incisive visionary, and a side-splitting comic \u2014 take your pick \u2014 each of these sobriquets fits Rabbi Glasser without exaggeration. He is a rav and a rebbe \u2014 keen of mind, keen of heart, and relentless in his love for Klal Yisroel.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rabbi Glasser\u2019s career in kiruv was somewhat inadvertent, he admits. In a sense, it was launched by a song.<\/p>\n

Rabbi Glasser has been involved in NCSY for most of his life. He grew up in a loving household that was always open to guests. His parents, Paul and Rachel, met as NCSYers and Rabbi Glasser and his wife Ruth met as co-presidents of the Beverly Hills chapter. After the two married, Rabbi Glasser became director of education for NCSY Juniors and then served as director of Junior NCSY.<\/p>\n

\"Rabbi<\/a>
Rabbi Glasser with Rabbi Ethan Katz, the new regional director of NJ NCSY.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

However, after a successful stint in that position Rabbi Glasser was ready to move on. That was when Shira Reifman, then-interim international director of NCSY, approached him about taking over the Jewish Student Union clubs in the New Jersey region. JSU Clubs were rapidly having an effect on unaffiliated public high school teens across the country. Teens came for the free pizza but left inspired by their Jewish heritage.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was an impassioned plea to devote some years to outreach,\u201d Rabbi Glasser recounted. \u201cShe explained how the Jewish people are really assimilating and this is the key window: the teenage years.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reifman made an impression on Rabbi Glasser, but the prospect of spending the next few years of his life in kiruv was daunting, nonetheless. Then, Rabbi Glasser flipped on his tape deck as he drove away from Starbucks and Mordechai Ben David filled his car with \u201cSomeday.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSomeday, we will all be together \/ Someday, we\u2019ll be sheltered and warm,\u201d Ben David sang.<\/p>\n

The song, Rabbi Glasser recalled, seemed right for him at that exact second: a vision of what NCSY hoped to accomplish. He called Reifman later that night and accepted the position.\u00a0Under his leadership, the JSU clubs of New Jersey NCSY blossomed and participation in New Jersey NCSY skyrocketed. <\/b>Shortly thereafter, on an El Al plane, flying back from a JSU conference in Israel, Rabbi Steven Burg, then the international director of NCSY, began a discussion about committing to a career in outreach, and ultimately offered Rabbi Glasser the position of regional director in New Jersey. At the same time, he received an offer to become the rabbi of the Young Israel of Passaic\/Clifton, a shul known for its warm and welcoming atmosphere that had long been a bastion of NCSY support. The positions were a natural fit, though juggling two jobs was only possible, he added, thanks to his \u201camazing supporting wife,\u201d Dr. Ruth Glasser, \u201cwho is, without question, responsible for everything we were able to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

The next several years were a period of unrestrained growth for NCSY in the Garden State. Rabbi Glasser\u2019s havdalah ceremonies at Shabbatons became the stuff of NCSY legend. He oversaw a structural transformation that saw New Jersey NCSY refocus on outreach to unaffiliated Jewish teens and build up a network of JSU Clubs around New Jersey from three clubs to 20, while also launching weekly Latte & Learn programs in five cities. Instead of chapters staffed by part-time college advisors, Rabbi Glasser helped develop NCSY\u2019s city director program, hiring couples to embed themselves full-time in the day-to-day lives of Jewish communities. With Rabbi Glasser at the helm, New Jersey NCSY came to embody the possibilities of NCSY. But the achievement in which he takes the most pride remains the Torah he was able to imbue into each program and every relationship New Jersey NCSY had with teens.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe foundation of all of our kiruv and chizuk work was in cultivating meaningful and substantive relationships with teens \u2014 and within those contexts \u2014 educating them in substantive Torah ideas,\u201d he said. \u201cTalmud Torah was the ultimate metric of our success. It was the basis for all of the people I hired \u2014 and fundamental to what we were trying to accomplish.\u201d<\/p>\n

Three years ago, Rabbi Glasser was asked to assume another responsibility, that of director of education for International NCSY. In his new position, Rabbi Glasser took the success of New Jersey NCSY and helped apply its methods to NCSY regions across the country.<\/p>\n

While Rabbi Glasser remained as regional director, that was only possible, he said, due to the efforts of his dedicated New Jersey staff.<\/p>\n

\u201cI always looked to surround myself with people more talented than I was in the areas that they were assigned to,\u201d he said. \u201cThe greatest moments of management are when one innovates an idea and one\u2019s staff can translates that idea into a reality that far eclipses anything originally imagined.\u201d<\/p>\n

One example he offered was the free carnival for the children of Hoboken that NJ NCSY ran after Hurricane Sandy destroyed parts of their community. Rabbi Glasser recalled that he had felt having a\u00a0Shabbaton after the storm without a social action component would send the wrong message to teens. He came up with the idea of the carnival and his staff developed all the particulars, from the booths the teens ran to working with local government officials to orchestrate the event. Rabbi Ethan Katz will be assuming the mantle of NJ NCSY regional director<\/a>\u00a0after serving under Rabbi Glasser as the associate regional director of NJ NCSY since 2009.<\/p>\n

Even though he\u2019s officially leaving NCSY behind, it appears to have made a permanent impact on the Glassers\u2019 children: Rina, 12, Chaim, 11, Neima, 8 and Meira, 4.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom the time they were infants my kids have been coming to Shabbatons and it has affected them dramatically,\u201d he said. \u201cMy kids have a tremendous comfort level around other Jews no matter their level of religious observance.\u201d<\/p>\n

And NCSY, in turn, has had an effect on him.<\/p>\n

\u201cNCSY attracts talented people with lots of potential,\u201d he said. \u201cIt trains and nurtures their abilities \u2013 and ultimately provides the Jewish community with its cadre of leaders whose impact on the broader community can always be traced back to the mentorship and experience they gained within this remarkable organization.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rabbi Steven Weil, Senior Managing Director of the Orthodox Union, said that while Rabbi Glasser\u2019s departure is a loss for the organization, it is also a testament to NCSY\u2019s success.<\/p>\n

\u201cRabbi Glasser grew up with NCSY and it is a part of who he is,\u201d Rabbi Weil said. \u201cYaakov is one of the most talented and thoughtful educators the Jewish community has. We can\u2019t help but feel a certain amount of pride, mixed with our sadness, as he moves to a broader stage. As we celebrate NCSY\u2019s 60th anniversary we celebrate individuals like Rabbi Yaakov Glasser, who ensure that Jewish teens across the world know that our Torah truly is the Tree of Life.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Thousands of teens across the United States and Canada have learned under his guidance to take pride in their Jewish heritage, but now Rabbi Yaakov Glasser, longtime director of NJ NCSY and international director of education for NCSY, the international youth movement of the Orthodox Union, is taking on a new role. February 1 marked<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1008,"featured_media":34794,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_cloudinary_featured_overwrite":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[85],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-34774","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-inspiration"],"yoast_head":"\nIt Takes a Lot to Leave a Mark on New Jersey. 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