Rabbi J. Hershy Worch believes the secret of being real is to accept who you are, and that is what hasidism is all about. It is both the easiest and the hardest spiritual path a person can walk.
Hershy comes from a European Hassidic family. He went to school in England in the 1960's, and finished yeshiva in the 1970's. He worked as a landscape painter in Safed and as a portrait painter in NYC in the 1980s. He was called to rabbinics in the 1990's. Rabbi Worch is a bit of a renaissance man: he writes, he paints, he composes and performs his own music and poetry.
He translated Esh Kodesh, the Piacezna Rebbe’s Torah from the Warsaw Getto (1939-42), published as Sacred Fire, and published his own Kabbalist Haggadah, a handbook of the Passover Seder, and a CD of his songs, My Soul Thirsts.
Hershy has the gift of tapping into the source of Simcha/Joy and sharing this Simcha with his teaching, his music, and his friendships.
He received Smicha/ordination from Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach, whose teachings, music, spirit and example are a never-ending source of abundance.
Rabbi Hershy Worch teaches classical texts, music and nusach, and kabbalah.
Rabbi Marc Labowitz was born into a lineage of rabbis that include his Great-grandfather and namesake, Rabbi Mordechai Rabinovitch of Baltimore Z'l, his grandfather, Rabbi Herschel Leibowitz Z'l, his parents, Rabbi Shoni Labowitz and Rabbi Phillip Labowitz.
Rabbi Labowitz's deepest spiritual practice is to foster a world in which Freedom, Acceptance and Love are the essence of all paths. He endeavours to do this by creating a vibrant, caring community for people of all backgrounds, based on the Joys of Judaism and sharing the sweetness of Torah and Kabbalah and the teachings of our Sages.
After completing Kfar Hayarok Israel High School, Rabbi Marc went on to learn at Scottsdale Torah Institute, and with Reb Zalman Shecter Shalomi at Alef Alliance for Jewish Renewal. He graduated from Ateret Tzvi Academy and received Smicha from Rabbi J.H.Worch in 2004.
Rabbi Marc Labowitz has served as Rabbinic Assitant at Scottsdale Torah Institute, Scottsdale AZ. Since 2002, Rabbi Labowitz has been full time Rabbi at Temple Adath Or in South Florida since 2002, and has also been keynote speaker and lecturer at religious and educational institutes in Florida, including:
Rabbi Labowitz teaches Practical Rabbinics, Synagogue Management, homiletics, sermonizing, and Jewish Texts.