Rabbi Marc Jagolinzer: 40 years at Temple Shalom

Rabbi Marc S. Jagolinzer’s

Rabbi Marc S. Jagolinzer’s 40 years as spiritual leader of Temple Shalom of Middletown will be celebrated the weekend of June 5-7.

Jagolinzer came to Temple Shalom, then a new Conservative congregation on Aquidneck Island, while a student rabbi at a yeshiva in Brooklyn.  He was invited to serve as a full-time rabbi to the 50 families of the congregation and moved to Newport in 1974 on his ordination.  Shortly after he arrived, the congregation’s home in the converted Birdland Café on Thames Street in Newport was firebombed. After three years meeting in the Ahavis Achim Synagogue on Central Street, the congregation completed construction on its own building and moved to its current home on Valley Road.

Jagolinzer has guided the small congregation through years of growth and change, making it a welcoming and embracing congregation.  He met and married his wife Barbara shortly after coming to Temple Shalom, and their three children, Charles, Sarah and Jonathan grew up as part of the congregation family. Charles starting attending services when was 3 years old.

Much of the rabbi’s work has been dedicated to Jewish education and outreach to the community, promoting social causes and interfaith understanding. He has been on the faculty of the University of Rhode Island and Salve Regina University and has served as Jewish chaplain at Roger Williams University, Johnson and Wales University and to the Middletown Police Department.

At Salve Regina he teaches a course, “The Jewish Experience,” during which students attend a few Jewish services.  For most, it is their first time inside a synagogue. “When you educate,” Jagolinzer says, “you can alleviate the ignorance and create an appreciation and a respect that’s very important.”

Reaching out to the community, Jewish and non-Jewish, has been a central part of Jagolinzer’s mission as a teacher. He is president of the Aquidneck Island Clergy Association, past convener of the Interfaith Leaders of Rhode Island, past secretary of the Newport Hospital and continues to serve on the hospital’s Ethics Committee.  He was the first Jewish clergyperson to preach from the pulpit of the historic Trinity Episcopal Church in Newport and frequently exchanges and shares pulpits at interfaith services on the island. Next month, he will be the featured speaker at the annual interfaith service that is part of the Bristol Fourth of July Celebration.

This year his work with the Diocese of Rhode Island’s Child Protection Advisory Board as well as other contributions were underscored when he was awarded the prestigious Lumen Gentium Award as a Friend of the Diocese of Providence.  He is the first member of the Jewish faith to be recognized with this honor.  In 2011, he was honored as one of the Men Who Make a Difference by the Women’s Resource Center of Newport and Bristol Counties.

The weekend will culminate with a dinner June 7.

Dr. JEFFREY B. MARTIN is a trustee and past president of Temple Shalom. He is professor of Theater at Roger Williams University.