R
abbi Sariel Malitzky became the full time Mora d’Asra of Congregation Ohr Torah (OT) in September, 2023. This followed a 7-year period as OT’s Assistant Rabbi under the tutelage and guidance of our now Rabbi Emeritus, Rabbi Yaakov Luban.
Rabbi Malitzky received Smicha at Yeshiva University’s Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary, where he was in the Wexner Smicha Honors program. He then joined the Judaic studies faculty at Torah Academy of Bergen County (TABC), where he remained for ten years and taught Gemara and Mishna at all grade levels and served as the Director of Recruitment and 10th Grade Dean. During his final year at TABC, he began serving as Ohr Torah’s assistant rabbi, and then moved into similar roles at JEC in Elizabeth, where he remained for 6 years. In addition, he was the founder and director of Camp Slapshots, a summer sports camp. These years of experience well prepared Rabbi Malitzky to become a stellar educator and a relatable role model for the shul’s youth.
While during his apprenticeship, Rabbi Malitzky was actively integrating into the kehillah, being present in times of joy and times of need, and giving inspiring shiurim to men and women alike, he has raised his investment in the OT kehillah to an entirely new level since the very first day that he became the Rav. He has brought a palpable energy into the shul, further deepening the kehillah’s excitement about Torah learning, am Yisrael and Eretz Yisrael.
Among the programs that Rabbi Malitzky has launched are:
- TNL – Thursday Night Live, a very popular bi-weekly shiur with food, drink, and inspiring Torah, focusing on timely and relevant topics
- Tuesday Night bi-weekly Halacha Shiur
- Wednesday morning women’s shiur
- 7:47 Shiur – a 10-minute Tefilah shiur between shacharis minyanim
- Shabbos Gemara Shiur before mincha
- 5-minute daily shiur between mincha and maariv
- Parsha Power – 5-minute parsha stories for children on Friday evenings
- Israel Mission – Post October 7th, Rabbi Malitzky led a group of men across Israel, bringing chizuk and chesed from the entire OT community to our Israeli brethren in pain.
Rabbi Malitzky makes a tremendous effort to get to know and engage each and every member family, marks their smachot with genuine joy, and honors their losses and commemorations of loved ones with poignant, personalized words of compassion and chizuk. His endless focus on making Ohr Torah the center of member families’ lives is very evident and so powerful.
Rabbi Malitzky’s weekly drashas are inspiring and thought provoking. His shiurim are relevant, accessible and relatable. He infuses Ohr Torah onegs, chagigas and chagim with a youthful and magnetic energy, and makes OT members of all ages proud and excited to call Ohr Torah their shul and spiritual home.
Finally, Ohr Torah is equally blessed to call Dr. Shoshi Malitzky the Rebbetzin of our shul. Together, R’ Sariel and Shoshi Malitzky exude warmth and caring as intrinsic components of their approach to spiritual leadership. Together with their children – Elisheva, Yechiel, Moshe, Yehuda, Devora and Leba - they are frequent, gracious hosts and are a constant presence at shul and community events.