Andrea Merow will be officially installed as the senior rabbi at The Jewish Center in Princeton.
A celebration beginning at 11 a.m. May 1 will include food and music as The Jewish Center and its members officially welcome their new rabbi.
The installation will be followed by a gala celebration in September 2022.
“We were able to welcome Rabbi Merow in the summer, but we had more limitations,” Joel Berger, executive director of The Jewish Center, said in a prepared statement. “Now we are truly able to celebrate, and we are thrilled to start this new chapter at The Jewish Center.”
On July 1, 2021, Merow became the new rabbi of The Jewish Center in Princeton. Merow, formerly on the rabbinic staff at Beth Sholom Congregation in Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, has experience in rabbinic leadership, pastoral counseling, and membership engagement, according to the statement.
Merow was ordained in the Conservative movement and earned a Master of Arts with a concentration in Education at the Jewish Theological Seminary in 1997. She is a recipient of the Sidney Greenberg Prize in Homiletics and the Simon Greenberg Prize for Rabbinic Achievement at the Seminary. Her education includes a Bachelor of Arts with honors from Columbia University, according to the statement.
On May 1, the installation will include speakers who have been a part of Merow’s life for many years. The Jewish Center will additionally be celebrating her 25 years in the Rabbinate.
The A capella group Pizmon, from Columbia Barnard, will perform and honor Merow as one of their first members.
The event is free and open to the public. RSVP required.
The Rabbi Search Committee was led by Polly Strauss and Dana Molina. Over the nine-month search, the committee received almost two dozen applications, and three were invited for a virtual visit experience that allowed them to meet with members of the congregation, according to the statement.
For more information, email [email protected], call 609-921-0100 or visit thejewishcenter.org.