Meet Rabbi Jeffrey Leynor

We have received some great comments about Rabbi Leynor’s article “Finding the True Meaning of the Word `Love.” For those who do not know Rabbi Leynor the following bio will introduce you Jeffrey and his remarkable story.

Rabbi Jeffrey Leynor

Jeffrey Leynor was born in Newark, New Jersey and grew up in South Orange. His father was a doctor, his mother was a social worker and his father’s father was an orthodox rabbi. He attended a synagogue associated with the Conservative Movement in Judaism. As a child, Jeffrey went to the Shabbat services with his father and sit next to him, safe and secure under his huge tallit (prayer shawl). He listened and watched, as the service unfolded, and learned the tunes, prayers and the practices on Shabbat and the holidays.

After high school, Jeffrey attended Hiram College in Ohio as a premed major, but while home for the summer, he joined some high school buddies, Jimmy Brown and Richard Bunkiewicz in the Stanky Brown Group (a folk rock trio playing original songs).

Jeffrey (center front row)

The band later played at Folk City in New York City, and many other places, as an opening act. It was managed by local rock promoter, John Scher, who owned the Capital Theater in Passaic, New Jersey. After adding drummer Jerry Cordasco, the band opened shows for the Eagles, Beach Boys, Poco, Jefferson Starship, Doobie Brothers, Melissa Manchester and many others.

In his late twenties, not successful enough to make a living in the music business, he went to work for a shoe store. One day, while stocking shoes in the basement he was thinking -- Is this all there is? What now? It was at that moment he heard a voice in his head that very clearly said -- Whatever you’re going to do, do it now!

Strange, as it may sound. during all my time in Rock and Roll on the road, I would get up and pray daily with my tallit and tephillin (phylacteries) every morning. I tried to emulate my parents values in the way I dealt with others, Jewish or not! I came to this through the window of Jewish tradition. There were rabbis on both sides of my family. Could it be? I went to see my rabbi Yechiel Orenstein. He said you’ll have to go back to school for a BA, majoring in Jewish studies and become part of the community. After that I could apply to a rabbinical seminary.

It was at Rutgers that Jeffrey met a professor who would change his life. Professor Robert Stieglitz was the head of the Hebraic Studies Department. Whatever flame for learning burned in Jeffrey’s soul was transformed into an insatiable quest for knowledge and experience. He accompanied Dr. Stieglitz to Israel and participated in his first archaeological dig. Jeffrey studied Jewish history, philosophy, language, Hebrew Bible, midrash, Mishnah, Talmud and many other near eastern subjects and cultures including Christianity and Islam. Jeffrey graduated from Rutgers University in 1983, Magna Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa, Who’s Who in American Universities and Colleges, and a Rutgers Honors Program Scholar.

After graduation, Jeffrey went for an interview at the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York City with the Dean of the Rabbinical School. He said,” I’ve heard some exotic stories in my time, but yours is pretty exotic!” Nevertheless, JTS accepted him. It only accepts students from the top 5% and it was a different world. There was a great concentration on Hebrew language, grammar and texts from all different historical periods. Jeffrey spent a second year in Israel on a dig with Professor Stieglitz and then a Hebrew immersion course called an ulpan. He also attended seminary classes and classes at Hebrew University in Jerusalem.

It should be noted that Jeffrey is probably the only rabbi in the history of JTS whose studies were paid for by a Christian Protestant denomination. The Presbyterian Church of America, through the Snyder Foundation, provided him with a full scholarship for three years. In 1989 Jeffrey graduated with a MA and was ordained as a rabbi. He decided to take a pulpit position in a small synagogue in Richardson, Texas, a north Dallas suburb.

Later, while teaching a class at the local Jewish Community Center, Jim Myers walked in carrying a lot of books and asking just as many questions. It was the beginning of a friendship that has lasted for almost twenty-five years, in which they have studied both Christianity and Judaism together. They have also taught classes and made many audio and video tapes together. Jeffrey also became a police chaplain for the Plano Police Department and received many certifications -- trauma, death and loss. He also became a Victim Chaplain with the Dallas police Department specializing in homicide, suicide and domestic violence. He also became a Pastoral Care Specialist, Suicide Intervention Trainer and PTSD De-briefer.

In his sixteen years as rabbi of Congregation Beth Torah, the synagogue grew at a tremendous rate -- and so did he – ultimately weighing in at 457 pounds. The day I met his future wife Karen, sparks flew, and so did his desire to do something about the weight. After they were married, he had a gastric bypass and shrunk from size 62, to 40. Life was good. Jeffrey adored my wife, but on the night of May 24, 2004, On September 9th, Karen died. Karen’s illness introduced Jeffrey to Hospice, and after leaving the pulpit, he became Bereavement Counselor.

During the past year, Jeffrey created a program called “Choosing Life”, which deals with Transition and Transformation after Traumatic Loss, Suicide Awareness, Prevention and  Intervention, and lastly, Self-Care, how to care for yourself as you take care of a chronically or terminally ill patient. He teaches at a Continuing Ed class at a local community college and in Texas Independent School Districts, as well as to first responders and others.

Since the early 1990s Jeffrey has been working with Jim Myers and the Biblical Heritage Center. Soon you will be hearing much more about a new project that Jeffrey and Jim have been working on for the past year -- The TOV Center. It is a non-profit organization that will focus on teaching and putting the values and standard revealed in The Bible’s Wisdom of the Beginnings to use in our lives today. They will continue to be actively involved in the work of the Biblical Heritage Center too.