BJL: Rabbi Shaffer, you have quite an impressive LinkedIn “resume” which includes your stints of leading NCSY-NJ as its OU education director, your assistant rabbi pulpits in The Hampton Synagogue and Ohab Zedek in New York, and your position as Assistant Director of Institutional Placement, YUSP, at your alma mater, Yeshiva University (Y.U.). Let’s update our readers with your current, ambitious, undertakings. For those who are unfamiliar with Pikesville Jewish Congregation, please tell us where it is located and a little about it.

RYS: The shul is located on the corner of Carla and Lightfoot and is approximately four years old; it is a growing community that is 100 member-units strong. There is a diversity within the shul, but 60-70 percent of the congregants are between the ages of thirty and forty. Right now, we meet for Tefilah only on Shabbos and people really identify strongly as members of the PJC community. For a shul that only meets on Shabbos, it has a really strong identity and a very strong loyalty from baalei batim. It is very wonderful getting to know people and what it has built so far is very impressive.

BJL: Did you always want to be a rabbi?

RYS: It’s a tough question to answer. I worked in Jewish education, starting from when I was in college and yeshiva when I was involved with teaching, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. While I was working for NCSY, I was looking for something a little more holistic—where I could work with people (children, parents, and grandparents) throughout their lives and follow the various stages in their lives.

BJL: Why did you decide to go into Rabbonus? What attracted you to it?

RYS: I wanted to build something that I think would be relevant, interesting, and engaging for people. Something that will keep people connected to Yiddishkeit. The majority of the congregants within the shul are professionals working in their fields, and this shul offers them an anchor for their week. The rabbinate is incredibly unique in that way—you assist people to have a spiritual anchor that can keep them grounded. Also, you connect with an array of people; you learn their stories well and have the opportunity to assist people, as they live their lives, to be as meaningful as they desire to be. I feel very blessed to be able to do this work.

BJL: What do you do the rest of the week, if the shul only operates on Shabbos?

RYS: Right now, I spend a lot of time looking after my kids, which is another blessing of the Rabbinate—it gives me a lot of freedom. I’m also blessed to have congregants that want to spend time learning, growing and sharing during the week as well. I hope to launch a number of initiatives in the coming months.

BJL: What do you like to do in your spare time?

RYS: Between being in the Rabbinate and being a parent, you are not left with much spare time, but I enjoy reading, cooking, fishing, and English soccer.

BJL: Tell us about your family structure.

RYS: My wife, Aliza, is from Cherry Hill, New Jersey, and I have a four-year-old son, Bentzy, and a two-year-old daughter, Amalia. Bentzy is going to go to Darchei Noam, a Montessori school, similar to the school he attended in Manhattan. Amalia will be in daycare. My wife is an attorney for Social Security.

BJL: Do you think your wife will be playing an active and traditional role as Rebbetzin?

RYS: My wife is a professional and, thank G-d, we are blessed with having two very rambunctious children. I think she is a role model and a Rebbetzin in figuring out how to balance being a professional ambitious woman who wants to grow spiritually and wants to be a good mother. We plan to have an open and inviting home. She, like many women today, is living through the challenge of balancing motherhood and her professional life in addition to being a spiritual person. It’s a real challenge, but, in my opinion she’s a big role model for women of the community.

BJL:Please tell us more about your shul.

RYS: PJC is a brand of Judaism that most closely associates itself with the Y.U. derech. We are middle of the road and Zionists who are committed to the halacha. I personally address the questions that come my way to Rav Hershel Schachter, Rosh Kollel at RIETS. The baalei batim are professionals that are intensely committed to creating that environment for growing and being supportive of one another and embracing chesed. It is a young committee driven by very mature, thoughtful, and emotionally intelligent leadership. We hope to continue to grow and inspire many people who pass through our doors.

BJL: You’ve expressed that you want to help your congregants be connected and deeply spiritual and figure out where within their observant life they find most meaning. What is an example of how you try to achieve this?

RYS: We are doing a project, this summer, called, “1Book1PJC”, where we are trying to get the entire “community” to read one book together. Before Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, iy”H, we hope to have a community-wide book club to talk about the major themes of the book. We are reading together the book “Turbulent Souls”, by Stephen Dubner, the author of “Freakonomics” (he wrote the book we are reading before that book) about his journey to Judaism. I haven’t finished the book yet; I’ll have to let you know what happens.

BJL: In what other ways is your congregation unique?

RYS: We plan to emphasize collaborative learning and utilize online learning--since we recognize that our community is a very young community, the majority of people have to get home during the evenings and it is very difficult for parents to get out. For those parents who want to engage in Torah study, we are working hard to bring it to them within their homes. We also try to make every moment within the Shul engaging. Krias haTorah is a great example. We make it more engaging and an involved experience by produce a weekly parsha sheet, called The Kriyas HaTorah Companion which provides a couple of questions on each aliya and three or four sources on each question. Our goal is to help people pay attention to the structure, analyze the words, and notice interesting points in the text. PJC is a warm and caring community, with beautiful singing and inspiring tefilah. It is a special place and we invite you to join us for our beautiful Tefilah, amazing youth groups or just for some delicious kiddush.

BJL: Thank you for your time, Rabbi Shaffer, and mazel tov on your new position.

RYS: You’re welcome, it was a pleasure.

To learn more about PJC, visit: www.PikesvilleJewish.com