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Rabbi Robert Pilavin of Congregation Sons of Israel in Manalapan speaks passionately about his commitment to Judaism, while eschewing denominational labels.

"[Denominations] may reflect institutional realities, but do not reflect the everyday lives of Jews," Pilavin told The Jewish State.

On Nov. 4, at the Union of Traditional Judaism's Annual Dinner, Pilavin and his wife Maxine will be awarded the organization's Emunah v'Yosher (Faith and Integrity) Award.

The UTJ was established in 1984 by a group of traditionalist Conservative rabbis at the Jewish Theological Seminary, the flagship institution of the movement, in response to their dissatisfaction with what they perceived as the leftward drift of the movement, especially in the decision to admit women for rabbinical ordination.

Pilavin has been the rabbi at Congregation Sons of Israel since 2003 and Maxine, who has received degrees and completed advanced coursework in Talmud, library sciences, and medieval Jewish studies, has taught at Jewish schools throughout the tri-state area and is currently a media specialist at two public elementary schools in Highland Park.

Rabbi Ronald Price, the executive vice president of the UTJ, said the award is "presented to individuals we feel represent the values of the organization." The award's name comes from the organization's motto: "emunah tzerufah veyosher da'at" (genuine faith and intellectual honesty).

"He's a real resource to the rabbinic community as well as the lay community," Price said.

Pilavin, a native of Boston, was raised in a non-observant home, though with a strong sense of Jewish and Hebrew culture as a youth. While attending Boston Latin School, he was also enrolled at Prozdor, the high school of Hebrew College.

The school was five days a week and academically intensive with entrance examinations, Hebrew immersion, and finals, Pilavin said.

"It was a very different kind of educational figuration than today, where at the most Hebrew schools will be twice a week," Pilavin said.

He also spent many summers at Camp Yavneh in New Hampshire in a variety of roles, where he was also immersed in Hebrew culture.

Pilavin then attended Brandeis University, initially studying both Near Eastern and Judaic Studies and was pre-med. It was during his junior year abroad at Hebrew University in Jerusalem that he became increasingly more observant in his Judaism and began to adopt traditional religious practices.

Pilavin recalled how upon departing for Israel, he decided to pack his tefillin, which he possessed because Camp Yavneh required campers to bring them. During this time in Jerusalem, he began putting on the tefillin daily.

Upon returning to Brandeis, he decided to drop plans for medical school and focus exclusively on Jewish studies.

Pilavin subsequently considered applying to rabbinical school, though was unsure of whether to make the jump. After soliciting an application for a master's degree at the graduate school of the Jewish Theological Seminary, he was accidentally sent an application for the rabbinical program, and decided to apply.

Following his first year at JTS, Pilavin took a leave of absence for a year in order to study at Yeshivat Hamivtar, an Orthodox institution in Israel.

Caught between Conservative Judaism and Orthodoxy, Pilavin decided ultimately to return to JTS to finish his rabbinical education.

When Pilavin received his ordination in 1984, he was part of the seminary's last all-male class.

"I graduated the seminary at a time of great turmoil," he recalled.

The ordination of women was indicative of what some members of the Conservative movement felt was the movement's deviation from traditional Judaism.

"The egalitarian issue is what galvanized the UTJ, but it was not the only issue," he said.

While having served at the pulpit of conservative congregations in New York and New Jersey, Pilavin eventually left the Conservative movement entirely.

In 2003, Pilavin joined Congregation Sons of Israel, a synagogue that identifies itself as "traditional" and is associated with the Orthodox movement, though has mixed gender seating, except in the first row.

In 2004, Pilavin received smicha from Rabbi David Weiss Halivni, one of the leading forces behind the formation of the UTJ.

Pilavin, who has been involved with the UTJ since its formation, said that the organization appealed to him because of its "trans-denominational" character, describing the organization's orientation as "open-minded observance."

"The Conservative movement is galloping to the left while Orthodoxy, to a large extent, is galloping to the right," he said.

Sons of Israel, Pilavin said, serves a diverse Jewish population, many of whose members have yeshiva backgrounds, though others send their children to the Schechter schools and still some others who only come during the High Holidays.

The synagogue also hosts daily morning and evening minyans as well as daily Talmud study.

Pilavin said that he is honored and humbled to receive the award.

"It's not just humility," he said, "that makes you ask: What did I do to deserve this honor?"

"They are both very down-to-earth educators, while they operate on a very high intellectual level," Price said of the couple. "They can talk to anyone. They are wonderful communicators of Torah and Judaism."