Services

WHAT DOES THE RABBI DO?
Or MY SERVICES ARE AVAILABLE TO YOU.This section is what we call Tachlis, the essential stuff. So let’s get serious:As a rabbi, I officiate at all YOUR life-cycle events. These include: Brit Milah (circumcision) Ceremonies; Baby Namings; Bar and Bat Mitzvah tutoring and officiating at Services, either at Congregation Beth Hillel or at the venue of your choice; Weddings; Special Anniversaries and renewal of vows; and Funerals. I do so with just the right light touch for your joyous moments, and with the compassion and professionalism necessary for your sad times. In gladness and sadness, I am YOUR rabbi, and I am there for YOU.WEDDINGSMeeting your Bashert(e) – Yiddish for Destiny – is a momentous time in your life. Celebrate it with the right rabbi at your ceremony. I work with YOU to produce YOUR WEDDING CEREMONY, a ceremony to remember. A meaningful combination of my light and personal touch as well as stirring cantorial song (Click Here for a Sample) – I am a rabbi AND a cantor, remember (Okay, Click Here for Another Sample) – this Service will truly reflect YOUR love for each other. I will also give you a four-color personalized Ketubah – wedding document – that will grace the walls of your home for years to come; for those who want a more ornate Ketubah, I will refer you to local artists, and you may purchase one of your own. Your service, like your love, will be a work of art. When you look over your photo album and video, you will fall in love all over again, each time, every time. As you begin your lives together, let me amplify your joy and proclaim it to all on your wedding day.BRIT MILAH / BABY NAMING / PINYA BENThe birth of a child occasions great joy. Let me share it with you. I have produced birth ceremonies for both newborn boys and girls. These short-but-inspirational Hebrew-English ceremonies feature song and merriment, poignancy and pride. These are not spectator sports, but rather they are designed for family participation. Everyone gets a copy of the service; this souvenir booklet becomes a truly treasured keepsake for parents, grandparents, and relatives. I will perform this ceremony in your home, or at a place of your choosing. (Temple Service available, too.)If you are looking for a qualified and respected Mohel, ritual circumciser, for your newborn son’s Bris (Brit), I can refer you to the best. Together, the Mohel and I will provide you with the quality of service on which you can depend. Call me.RENEWAL OF VOWSSoon enough, the kids are grown, and they even have children of their own. You look back with pride over the years of growth in your family and your life. You and your spouse want to share the joy of your union with a special ceremony, reflecting your new stage in life as Matriarch and Patriarch of your own clan. Whether Silver or Golden Anniversary – or anywhere in between – let me help you to celebrate this little Jewish moment in your life with a ceremony tailored for the occasion. Imagine your children escorting you down the aisle this time – much as your folks did years before. Share the joy and the moment, in happiness and in song, and cap it off with a special Anniversary Ketubah – wedding document – made just for YOU.Young adults: If you have parents whom you wish to honor with such a celebration, but they are a bit shy, why don’t YOU make the first move and tell them that you want to honor them with this ceremony. They will indeed cherish that moment; I guarantee it!FUNERAL SERVICESThe end-of-life ritual in Judaism is designed to afford the family of a loved one a catharsis and a healing after the rupture of death. It aims to honor the deceased in prayer and rite, in symbol and in speech, as we reminisce about a life well lived and well loved in the bosom of family and friends. This time calls for the caring and nurturing of a professional clergyman, well versed in the Jewish customs of yore and the sensitivities of today. I am that rabbi, one whose eulogies are pointed and pertinent, personal and professional. Whether speaking alone or in conjunction with YOU, the family from the pulpit, I deliver eulogy, literally, good thoughts, in the most appropriate manner. Utilizing poetry, prayers, and readings both ancient and modern, in Hebrew and in English, I provide a quality Service, one that will surely uplift and ennoble and bring meaning and closure as the process of grief begins.Please remember: I am here for YOU, in the sad times, as well as in the glad times.

Bar and Bat Mitzvah  Lessons and Services:

I am an accomplished and experienced Bar and Bat Mitzvah tutor, having taught b'nai mitzvah, at home and abroad, during the school year and at summer camp, for over 30 years.

What makes me stand out from the crowd of tutors who are "out there?"

First of all, when your child learns with me, he or she receives a bonus: a one-on-one, Ordained Rabbi with whom the child can discuss any topic about Judaism and its origins, practice, relevance, etc. This is a one-of-a-kind opportunity.

Second, my system for tutoring has been refined over the course of years, again and again -- by me, YOUR  RABBI, and not canned out of a box of generic software.  It is designed to help your child achieve success, while catering to the individual needs of YOUR CHILD and situation. It is created specifically for YOUR CHILD alone. Thus, the voice YOUR CHILD hears on the recorded Bar/Bat Mitzvah media is MY VOICE, and not some anonymous and disembodied one, recorded by someone in a studio in a faraway shtetl. I am YOURS, and my expertise is YOURS. I record each and every student's material on site in front of YOUR CHILD. The recording? Over the course of time, the original idea of tape recordings have given way to CDs, i-pods, and smart-phone media recording. Please note: In our fast-paced world, it is often difficult for a family to present the student physically at the tutor's home for lessons. Therefore, ONLINE, DISTANCE LEARNING INSTRUCTION IS AVAILABLE. Internet and Skype, among other programs, have made the virtual into the reality -- even with Bar and Bat Mitzvah study. Consider me your cyber-rabbi!  Yes, the media have changed, but the expert and expertise behind that recording remains the same -- me, YOUR RABBI.

Third, my Bar and Bat Mitzvah Services are designed to focus on YOUR CHILD as the center of attention around which the Bar or Bat Mitzvah ceremony itself is built. There is no long Congregational Service of some three hours' duration, of which your child's portion forms but 10 short minutes. Rather, the short, hour-long service insures that YOUR CHILD is the main focus. As rabbi, I am the frame around YOUR CHILD and his or her achievement -- Torah, Haftorah, Speech, etc. When you engage a private Bar/Bat Mitzvah Rabbi, you have a personal and personalized experience, from start to finish. And I am YOUR RABBI.

(Click Here for a Sample of the Torah Blessing) - (Click Here for a Sample of the Haftorah Blessing)

Conversion to Judaism:

I specialize in all kinds of Jewish Education, but one of the most fulfilling spiritual moments concerns the studies of those who convert to Judaism. These Jews by Choice have made a special, life-changing decision, and I am there to guide them through the process.

As YOUR RABBI, I guide you personally each step of the way, one-on-one. As the decision to convert to Judaism is a personal one, so too should be the course of instruction. Thus, I tailor the classes and their duration to the needs of the individual. I also provide the student with a guidebook which I have put together over the years -- my personal introduction to Judaism course. At the end of the prescribed course of discussion and instruction, we culminate our studies with the mikvah/conversion ceremony at water's edge, on the ocean, at or around sunrise. It is truly a sublime moment of awe and spiritual uplifting -- and I am with YOU, as YOUR RABBI, throughout this process.

Weddings: YOUR WEDDING, YOUR WAY.

You are getting married! Mazel Tov! Now, it is time to tie yourself to an ages-old-but-forever-young Jewish Past by engaging the services of a knowledgeable, creative, ordained rabbi to conduct YOUR ceremony -- Me! I am fully versed in the Traditions of our storied past, and I am equally capable when dealing with the many styles of our Present. I have written and conducted all kinds of wedding services -- interfaith, non-denominational, spiritual, and traditional. I put each ceremony together with the wants and needs of the bride and groom in mind, and I carry that ceremony out with my special light-but-sacred-but-light touch.

Special Venue? Destination? I pride myself on my flexibility in creating a wedding special for YOU in any locale or venue. Beach weddings are my specialty! Destinations, international or domestic, are no problem for me. Small or large, intimate or extravaganza, I make this YOUR special day -- or night.  Have Chpuah. Will travel.

 

Funerals and Unveilings : The Other Side of This Life

When a loved one passes, the family is often at a loss for direction. This is where the qualified, ordained, experienced rabbi can be of great practical help as well as spiritual solace. As a rabbi, I am involved with all aspects of the life cycle -- including death and mourning. Consider me YOUR RABBI, and I will guide you through the maze of choices that bewilder families at this sensitive time. In addition to giving help and assistance in securing funeral professionals who will meet YOUR NEEDS, I will deliver an inspiring and meaningful, spiritual service that will be tailored to you, as a grieving family, officiating at chapel, graveside, cryptside, or memorial service attendant to cremation. Regardless of the mode you choose, please know this:  As YOUR RABBI, I will present YOUR SERVICE, according to YOUR WISHES.

Additionally, on request, I can arrange for and lead services during the memorial week, shiva, and make sure that the memorial prayer, Kaddish, will be recited for the traditional year-long mourning period, as prescribed by our Tradition. Liberal, Traditional, spiritual -- I am YOUR RABBI, and I am here for YOU.

Jewish custom presents us with the opportunity to remember our loved one soon after death -- anywhere from one month to one year after the passing. This is the Unveiling of the monument to our dearly beloved. I create a dignified remembrance ceremony, tailored to the family and its desires and needs, presenting the best that Tradition and Modernity have to offer. We loved our dear one in life; we honor our dear one, even after his or her passing. This is OUR WAY. Consider me YOUR RABBI.

Baby Naming/Brit Milah: Welcoming the Next Generation into Judaism

Blessed is he or she who has come! With these words, we inaugurate an infant into the Faith of his or her ancestors. As YOUR RABBI, I have created a range of Services to meet the needs of this happy occasion. We gather in your home or place of your choosing, and affirm life in a ritual of naming. I present the parents with a commemorative certificate, and every guest receives from me special personalized Service of Naming booklet, specific to this day and this family's joy. What better gift to give a child or grandchild than the gift of a Hebrew Name, a  tradition, ancient yet ongoing! 

I am YOUR RABBI. Call on me as you welcome your new arrival into this world and YOUR JUDAISM. We will create a service that is light, spiritual, and meaningful, meeting YOUR needs and YOUR family dynamic.

 

High Holy Days with Rabbi Richard Polirer in Coral Springs

Each year, families confront the usual question: Where should we welcome the Jewish New Year this year?  If you want a traditional yet creative, spiritual, thoughtful, inspiring, competent, and ENJOYABLE service, then search no further! You have found Rabbi Richard Polirer.  Ordained as a rabbi and trained as a cantor, I present a service that is steeped in Tradition and immersed in the contemporary. It is an enjoyable ceremony that meets the needs of the Modern and Traditional. Come and enjoy in a light and airy atmosphere. We meet in the Grand Ballroom of Heron Bay's Clubhouse, Plaza del Lago,(capacity 250 people) and we welcome the New Year in style. Make Rabbi Polirer your rabbi of choice in the coming New Year -- and beyond.

Won’t you let him share that learning with you? Contact Rabbi Polirer

 

Modern Thinking & Liberal Rabbi for:

• Baby Naming
• Bat / Bar Mitzvah Services & Lessons
• Brit Milah
• Conversion Lessons
• Funeral Services
• Hebrew Lessons
• High Holiday Services in Coral Springs, FL
• Interfaith Weddings
• Pinya Ben
• Renewal of Vows
• Tutoring
• Unveilings
• Weddings