Rabbi Mary Zamore

Rabbi Mary Zamore came to the JCNWJ in July 2013, succeeding Rabbi Emerita Ellen Lewis, and served until June 2015. Rabbi Zamore was ordained from the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in 1997. She has also studied at Yad Vashem and the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem. She previously served Temple Emanu-El in Westfield, Temple Beth Am (interim rabbi-educator) in Parsippany, and most recently Temple B’nai Or in Morristown.

Rabbi Zamore is a past Co-President of Women’s Rabbinic Network, a past editor of the Central Conference of American Rabbis Newsletter, and has served as a CCAR board member. She lectures and writes on a wide variety of topics, including Judaism and food, lifecycles, and education. Rabbi Zamore is the editor of and a contributing author to The Sacred Table: Creating a Jewish Food Ethic (CCAR Press, 2011), which was designated a finalist by the National Jewish Book Awards. She blogs for the Huffington Post.

She says of her life’s journey, “The decision to become a rabbi was a natural extension of my individual passion for Judaism. With time that passion has only deepened, becoming the cornerstone of my rabbinate. To me, being a rabbi is to help others discover their individual connections to Judaism. It is empowering others to ask questions and to seek out satisfying answers. Study, prayer and acts of kindness weave together to create strong synagogues and, therefore, strong individuals. I feel blessed to work with my community, doing God’s will and, I hope, improving this world.”

She is married to Dr. Terje Z. Lande and they are the proud parents of a teen.

Rabbi Zamore’s monthly messages from September 2013 to Summer 2015, can be found on the past messages page.

E-mail Rabbi Zamore