Rabbi Aaron Kriegel
Rabbi Aaron Kriegel has spent a lifetime combining the essential Jewish virtues of study and action. While his educational achievements range from law to theological studies, his work in prisons, law enforcement and emergency medical care show him to be a rabbi who actively contributes to the public good as well as caring for the spiritual life of his congregants.
Rabbi Kriegel was born in Verona, NJ, the son of the founding Rabbi of Congregation Beth Ahm (then known as the Jewish Community Center of Verona), Alter Kriegel, and after graduating from Verona's public schools he received his Bachelor's degree from Rutgers and his Rabbinical degree from the Jewish Theological Seminary. He continued his education at the University of Pennsylvania where he earned a law degree. As a student at various institutions, Rabbi Aaron Kriegel won numerous academic awards including an honorary doctorate from the Seminary.
The Rabbi met his wife, Sarah, after the Six Day War (she was a sergeant in the artillery for the Israeli army). They eventually married and he accepted his first pulpit at Beth Sholom, in Columbia, South Carolina. He then took over as Spiritual Leader of Temple Ner Maarav in Encino, California. During his nineteen-year tenure as Rabbi, fire department officials from Southern California enlisted 20 Chaplains from the area and trained them in how to respond in case of a terrorist attack on the city. Rabbi Kriegel was part of this group.
Just like his father, Aaron Kriegel is concerned for the disenfranchised. He supported Susan McDougall (of the Whitewater case) when she refused to buckle under the pressure of the Kenneth Starr investigation and testified as a defense witness for her. He was a chaplain in the Lompoc Federal Penitentiary and Metropolitan Detention Center where he was counsel to many prisoners. Kriegel also filled the chaplaincy role for the Los Angeles Police Department.
The quality of Rabbi Kriegel’s leadership has elevated him to national and international arenas. The Rabbi has met with three presidents: Carter, Clinton and G.W. Bush. When the German Government sought out rabbis to represent the Orthodox, Conservative and Reform organizations in an effort to help the nation reclaim its Jewish heritage, Rabbi Kriegel was chosen to represent the Conservative movement.
Rabbi Kriegel had been offered and was planning on taking over a pulpit in Prague, Czech Republic when Congregation Beth Ahm called upon him and asked him to return to Verona to accept his late father’s position at Congregation Beth Ahm to ensure its continuation.
His ecumenism is widely known and respected. While in Los Angeles, he was a member of the oldest Catholic-Jewish Dialogue Group in the United States. He has continued the tradition of Jewish-Christian dialogue (link to Interfaith tab) groups to this day as a co-leader with the Rev. Lucy Anne Dure. Rabbi Kriegel is responsible for providing an extensive selection of Adult Education classes and established Beth Ahm as a center for the Dorot University.
The Rabbi believes the synagogue is a vital part of the community and opens Beth Ahm as a meeting place for various support groups. He also strives to remain involved outside the shul. Soon after his return, he became a member of the Volunteer Rescue Squad, sits on the board of the Verona Public Library and has been volunteering his time at the WAE Center in West Orange. Kriegel continues to educate himself and provide services in Clinical Pastoral Care.
Rabbi Aaron Kriegel's greatest desire is to fulfill his father's two primary objectives: to serve the Jewish community and also to serve the community of Verona as a whole.
He and his wife Sarah (link to Sarah’s bio under Hebrew School), who teaches at the synagogue’s Children’s Learning Center, have three children who are exceptionally accomplished in their chosen fields: two sons, Tamir and Elan, and their daughter Liat.
