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Temples name is B’Nai Israel. And we are located in Oakdale. The congregation was first formed in 1964. This year we are celebrating our fortieth anniversary. And the building we are now in was built in 1984. I came here in 1972 as a rabbinical student at the Hebrew Union College in New York. Two years later I was ordained as a rabbi semeecha and I have been here since then and I probably will stay here until I retire.When I first started here in 1972 we had 4o families and about 50 children in our religious school.Today we have about 450 families and about 325 active students in our school.In our Hebrew school we have about 22 faculty members and all the grades from kindergarten to high school and of course we have programs for adults as well.We have people come from all over, from as far east as East Moriches and South Hampton and west from Massapequa and from the north in Smithtown and Stony Brook.

We have a very active sisterhood organization; we have a youth group and adult education programs on all different topics and subjects.Of course depending on what people want to learn in a given year. Every year we have had a basic Judaism class where I teach the basics about Judaism, we have an adult Hebrew Program, every year we have adults who have never been Bar or Bat mitzvah’s do that; some years there have been 20 and one year there was only one person.Also, I enjoy teaching about Kaballah, and a few weeks ago we had a program about using the names of God as a meditation and chanting.We have a very, very active outreach program to the needy, where we supply on a monthly basis food and clothing to a number of families here in Suffolk County.We also supply food to organizations in Suffolk County and on Rosh A-shana we bring in almost a ton of food which we then distribute to people.

We also have a lot of interfaith programs, we were instrumental, along with the local Catholic church…St. John’s in Bohemia… in the formation of the Oakdale-Bohemia Anti-Bias Task Force.We have declared the Oakdale-Bohemia area to be a bias free zone.We work on many programs between our churches and synagogues, and especially after 9/11 we now do a number of programs with the mosque in Seldon with the Muslin communities and we do many educational programs with them.We have all gone to each other’s houses of worship,we went to the mosque and they all can to us.It was very exciting, because for many of the Muslims, it was the first time in their lives that they have come to a synagogue and also for many of our members to go to a mosque, obviously.Now every couple of months we get together and learn things like wedding customs, funeral customs, beliefs and other interfaith programs as well.

Ideally a synagogue is a gathering place and it should be all things, it should not be just religion, not just social, not just cultural, but it should be all of these things.I like the way you called it a center.In the real world it doesn’t work that way, because you can only have so many people doing things and our synagogue is not large enough to be able to have the staff that would be necessary to do all those things, which is why it’s wonderful to have a YMHA in Commack, which provides a lot of the programs we can’t do here, especially the social and cultural ones.But a synagogue should be here for every thing, and every one should feel welcome.

Russians tend to view Judaism as an ethnicity rather than a religion, how would you reconcile this?

Well I don’t think you have to reconcile it. In that when a person comes here to our synagogue, even to come to services, we don’t ask the person what do you believe, When people come here on Shabbas, we don’t say to them what do you believe, they come and they share.And I think that’s a wonderful thing.To me Judaism is no just a religion; it’s a people, a civilization and therefore, includes everyone, even the disbelievers.

The common ground for American Jews is religion, for Russians it’s a nationality.This makes it difficult to bring the two groups together.

I don’t see this as a problem.Everyone is welcome here; I don’t see it as a problem. If a person does see it as a problem, then I would ask them how could we be of help to you?We have had over the years a few Russian families…one or two.One of them became very involved in the Temple. We are having more and more coming from Russia and becoming a part of things.

I have done a lot of work over the years in hospitals, and visiting all kinds of Jewish people and working with all kind of Jewish people and in my heart everyone is welcome, everyone is Jew.I only can say that to people and we can try to create programs that welcome people but then it’s always up to them to feel welcome.

Well, I think we try to create in children while they are still at home a synagogue where they enjoy coming and a good Hebrew school and youth programs.More than that I don’t know what we can do.

Yes, as a matter of fact, I recently officiated the marriage of a couple, who had met at our school and now got married. So that was nice.I mean the thing is that young people don’t come back to LI because they can’t afford to live here, so it has nothing to do with their Jewish roots.On the other hand, some of the families report to me that some of the kids when they go off to college, even those kids who I have not seen for a couple of years, call their parents and say...whoa! I just conducted the prayer services at my college.So the Jewish feelings are still there.Also we have a larger percentage than other synagogues of children staying after bar and bat mitzvahs in our Hebrew school.This year in my ninth grade class…my class…we have 20 students.

About 40% of our congregation is interfaith families.Where either the mother or father is not Jewish.

Let me put it this way…I was brought up in Queens, Rockaway, in a very, very liberal Jewish home and everyone was welcome in my home.Every race, religion, everyone andmy parents welcomed everyone and they taught me this.One Pasach, in addition to having matzos we also had an Easter cake, so that our Catholic friends could feel welcome at the table.And it wasn’t the matzo meal cake…it was a real humaz dik cake with a bunny on it.But that’s the way I was brought up, to welcome everyone.So in our temple here…everyone is welcome.Obviously, it’s a commitment to a Jewish way of life, to raising the children as Jews here in our Hebrew school.

As a Reform Jew, certainly the Hassidim see me as assimilated. So I am very, very careful not to be critical of all Jews.In my heart, all Jews are welcome and those who want to be with them are welcome.I think that it is a danger to a certain degree if we are blocking them out. This is the mistake, I think, of some of the extreme Orthodox or Conservative Jews, in that they push away these interfaith couples, because they say since you have interfaith and you are married this way, you have no place here. And that’s a mistake, because we can still bring back their children, if we show them we welcome them.

I do not officiate at interfaith ceremonies, however we do welcome interfaith couples inter our temple.And they feel very comfortable here because they know that.

A couple is a family and we receive them even though it’s not hoopa and not Jewish, as long as they are willing to raise their children as Jewish and at least one partner is Jewish.They are welcome here.

No, it’s not a big problem.It’s here and always a problem, but we have to be always fighting against it.We need to be aware of it it’s constant.I am the Chairman of the Suffolk County Human Rights Commission and founder of the County’s Anti-Bias Task force. And I’m also founder of the only educational program in Suffolk county called STOP BIAS..in which every person, man, woman and child who commits a bias crime…any Anti-Semitic, racial, ethnic crime in Suffolk… has to see me.The majority of bias crimes in Suffolk are anti-semitic.I have created programs to deal with that.

It’s very sad but yes we have it.There are Jews on the other extreme, who say Rabbi Moss I think you are great, but we won’t come to your synagogue.It’s sad…. but we don’t have the Israeli extremes, it’s a shanda, it’s actually hillah la shem. There’s no question of it.In my experience, just because a person wears a black hat, doesn’t make him, what shall I say, what’s the right word, doesn’t make him a true Jew.It’s the ruchaniot, ruchanit, I guess it would be,really what’s important.When I was working as a rabbi in a hospital in NY and a Sachmed Hassid appointed by the rebbi, came to me and said he needs my help in getting the proper kosher food in the hospital for them, because they had only Rabbi Tittlebaum’s kashrut ashkaxa… and I worked with them and made that happen in part, is because to me all Jews call Isreal "aravim Leazazel" where in truth they don’t really view me as part of that and that’s sad.

Covers everything.Not only Pask and shailes to be sure, it would be answering questions they might have on Jewish laws, customs, counseling, visiting in hospitals, reading the philot, leading the services, really being here for everyone, but it certainly isn’t most of the people belong to my synagogue do not come to me to ask me questions on halaha because in most cases they are not going to ask those questions.That is a very small part of their lives.

I guess you could say that, when there is criticism of Israel it certainly is veiled anti-Semitism.You get some of these Palestinians or Arabs who say we are criticizing Israel, and not Jews….that’s not true.I would agree with your statement.

Rabbi Yaffie is the President of our organization, he has the right to speak out, and I don’t see anything wrong with that.

SPIRITUAL LIFE IS NECESSARY FOR JEWISH SOUL