Roly’s History & Impact | Participate & Celebrate | Make a Gift in Roly’s Honor

For forty years, Rabbi Roly Matalon has guided B’nai Jeshurun with spiritual depth, moral clarity, and an unwavering devotion to prayer, music, learning, justice, and community. His rabbinate has shaped BJ into far more than a synagogue. Under his leadership, we have become a sacred community alive with song, rooted in Torah, animated by moral responsibility, and committed to the dignity of every human being. BJ’s spirit—its intensity, its warmth, its audacity—bears his imprint.

This spring, we begin a four-month journey of celebration leading to Rabbi Matalon’s retirement. Through five core pathways that have defined his rabbinate and shaped BJ—prayer, justice, learning, community, and music—we will gather to reflect, to study, to sing, and to give thanks. Together, we will honor not only the years that have been, but the spiritual imagination that continues to guide us forward.

At the same time, as we celebrate Roly’s forty years of leadership, we stand at another sacred threshold: BJ’s bicentennial. The community he helped nurture is now entering its third century. In that spirit, we launched Sacred Space, Sacred Future—a bold campaign to renew the physical spaces that hold our communal life and to strengthen BJ for generations to come. At its heart will be a lasting tribute: the dedication of BJ’s Community House in honor of Rabbi Roly Matalon, linking his legacy to the sacred home he helped shape.

There is no single way to thank a rabbi whose presence has touched so many lives so differently. But there is something we can do together: gather, learn, sing, remember, and invest in the future he helped build.

We hope you will join us for this Season of Gratitude.

Rabbi Roly Matalon has been one of the principal architects of BJ’s modern identity, reshaping the congregation through a blend of spiritual intentionality, musical depth, and communal openness. Arriving in 1986 from Argentina, and a disciple of Rabbi Marshall T. Meyer, he helped lead a liturgical transformation that centered heartfelt prayer and music, global Jewish melodies, and a participatory prayer culture that is now a hallmark of BJ. Deeply grounded in Jewish text and tradition, Rabbi Matalon has cultivated a community where prayer is alive, learning is shared, and every person is invited to bring their whole self into the life of the community.

Rabbi Matalon’s leadership has also been defined by moral courage and pastoral presence in moments of profound communal need. BJ’s response to the HIV/AIDS crisis—including creating sanctuary, care, and belonging at a time when many were turned away—became one of the congregation’s defining expressions of Judaism lived with dignity and responsibility. His commitment to social justice, Israel engagement, and interfaith partnership expanded BJ’s moral voice in New York City and beyond. Rabbi Matalon is a founding co-director of Piyut North America (now Global Piyut Music), a partnership dedicated to sharing liturgical music from Jewish communities around the world; a student of Arabic and Turkish music, he also plays the oud. His contributions have been recognized with awards from the New York Board of Rabbis, the Jewish Peace Fellowship, the New Israel Fund, and T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights.

“Our community is made of ordinary people who are striving to create holiness together. People are thirsty to be together and yearning to be engaged in meaningful, relevant, and authentic experiences of Jewish identity and Jewish history.”

Read Roly’s heartfelt announcement from December 2024 →

Shabbat morning, March 21: Partnership Event with SPSA

Justice and Sacred Partnership
Rabbi Roly Matalon and Rev. K. Karpen in conversation will reflect on four decades of relationship between BJ and SPSA—what it has meant for our communities, how sacred partnership has shaped our justice work, and what becomes possible when a rabbi and pastor walk the path together over time.

April–May: Learning Series: Teachings in Honor of Roly

Between Pesah and Shavuot (April 15–May 20), leading scholars and teachers close to Roly will offer teachings on texts or themes of their choice in his honor. This learning series will culminate at Tikkun Leil Shavuot.

April 23: Retrospective Conversation with Roly & David Litt

An evening of reflection and storytelling with Rabbi Roly Matalon and David Litt, political speechwriter and author of the comedic memoir Thanks, Obama: My Hopey Changey White House Years, where they will look back on Roly’s journey.

April 24–25: BJ Rabbinic Fellowship Alumni Shabbat

Alumni from the BJ Rabbinic Fellowship return for a special Shabbat of prayer, learning, and community—reflecting on the impact of BJ and Roly’s mentorship on their rabbinate and leadership. We’ll also gather for a Community Shabbat Dinner to celebrate together.

May 21: Tikkun Leil Shavuot: All-Night Study in Roly’s Honor

Our Tikkun Leil Shavuot will feature Rabbi Chaim Seidler-Feller, followed by all-night learning with BJ’s rabbis and fellows, as we dedicate our Shavuot study to Roly with gratitude for the learning he has cultivated here for decades.

May 29–31: Community Retreat at Camp Zeke

A full Shabbat weekend of prayer, music, and learning—an opportunity to be together in nature as a BJ community. Expression of interest form →

June 11 & 13: Concert and Shabbat of Blessing

A culminating weekend of music and gratitude honoring Roly’s four decades at BJ:

• Thursday, June 11: A Tribute Concert for Rabbi Roly Matalon: Forty Years of Prayer, Music, and Sacred Leadership
• Saturday, June 13: A Shabbat service in which Roly will receive a special aliyah and blessing, followed by a festive Kiddush in his honor.

Give to Sacred Space, Sacred Future

Mark this milestone with a gift to BJ’s bicentennial campaign, strengthening the sacred spaces that Roly helped build and that will carry our community forward.

Share Your Gratitude & Blessings

Soon we will share opportunities to contribute to a community Tribute Book and a digital journal for the June concert—spaces for your stories, reflections, and words of thanks.