Sweet offer to attract Jews to Perth Amboy

By Dan Newman
Special to The Jewish State

Leo Gursky isn't sure how long he's been a member of Congregation Shaarey Tefiloh. It might be 30 years. Perhaps it's 40 or more years.

Any way you cut it, he's seen many people come into the Perth Amboy neighborhood where the temple is located. But he's also more than his fair share of people go from the neighborhood, to places like Highland Park and even into Monmouth County and other areas where the Jewish community is thriving.

"I'm sure other places are really nice, but so is Perth Amboy. But unfortunately, the Jews have shifted out of this area for the most part. We want to revitalize things, and now is the time to do it," Gursky said.

Now is the time because, according to Gursky, Perth Amboy itself is undergoing a revitalization. With new homes being built, Gursky wants his Modern Orthodox shul to take advantage of the fact that many new faces will be in the area.

One way Shaarey Tefiloh is trying to attract more people is by offering free memberships.

"We're going to have promotions as well," Gursky explained. "We want to show people how great Perth Amboy once was and how great it will become again. Highland Park is a nice place to be, but if there's anybody out there that wants to come by, then I welcome them to do so. We want to bring people here to show them what's going on. Many people moved to Edison, and we would like to at least some of them come back.

"The population of Perth Amboy used to be very Jewish, and now it's Spanish and Puerto Rican and there are Dominicans as well. Our shul is like the Odessa (Russia) of New Jersey; it's beautiful and we want to keep it that way forever."

Initially, once membership started to falter not too long ago, there was talk of selling the shul but in the end, Gursky and others decided that they wanted to stay for the long haul and become part of the new Perth Amboy by making sure that the 110-year-old synagogue stays in the community.  

"We know what's ahead of us as far as getting back to where we once were, but we want things to work out and we are willing to work hard to do it," Gursky said. "We have funds to succeed, but we also need members. That's very important to us. That's what makes a synagogue work."

Gursky says that the temple has about 40 members, all of whom are dedicated people. He hopes that perhaps a yeshiva will come in and help out.

"We would like to have a minyan each day, because right now we only have it on Saturdays. By having one each day, I think that would attract more people certainly," Gursky explained. "I know that other places have closed up due to lack of membership but we don't think that will happen here. This synagogue has been here too long, and there's too many people that care about it. Sure, we're struggling everyday but we do think this can work out."

For more information on Congregation Shaarey Tefiloh, call (732) 826-2977.