New assistant rabbi for Great Neck Synagogue

by The Jewish Star Staff

The Great Neck Synagogue has welcomed a new assistant rabbi and he is warmly welcoming them back.

"It's just as I told my wife, I'm loving every minute of it," Rabbi Ian Lichter told The Jewish Star.

Rabbi Lichter grew up in Plainview and graduated from RIETS, Yeshiva University’s Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary, in 2007. He was a rabbinical intern at the Young Israel of Holliswood under Rabbi Mark Penner for two years, and then served as the assistant rabbi for two years at Congregation Shomrei Torah in Fair Lawn, N.J., under Rabbi Benjamin Yuden. The two rabbis colored his approach to the profession, Rabbi Lichter said.

"Rabbi Penner is just a creative non-stop type of person," Rabbi Lichter explained. "I remember sitting with him one time and we went through the entire membership list, so each person had one shiur or chavrusa to get them through the week. Rabbi Yuden is just such a soft, gentle individual that people — his shul has both ba'alei teshuva and people who have been religious all their lives — take to his clear love of Torah and the sensitivity he displays to each person."

While Rabbi Lichter says the size of his new shul is daunting — there are more than 700 families at Great Neck Synagogue — he says he has a strong role model in Rabbi Dale Polakoff.

"Rabbi Polakoff is someone whose reputation precedes him," Rabbi Lichter explained. "He's just such a warm person and he has really walked me through every step, insuring that both me and my family are comfortable and ready to succeed in every way possible."

Rabbi Lichter comes to the shul with his wife, Katie nee Leifer from Hillcrest, and their three children: Zechariah, 4, Yonina, 3, and Gavriel, 13 months. Rabbi Lichter will also teach two classes at the North Shore Hebrew Academy elementary school.

"We felt that the Great Neck Synagogue was a wonderful opportunity," Rabbi Lichter said. "Not just programming and teaching, but having an impact on as many people as possible."