Monday, April 21, 2025
On April 5, Temple B’nai Torah in Wantagh honored Rabbi Daniel Bar-Nahum for 13 years of teaching Torah and preserving Jewish tradition on the South Shore.
Bar-Nahum, 44, was ordained in 2012 by Hebrew Union College in Manhattan, and that same year he began serving as assistant rabbi at Temple Emanu-El of East Meadow. He was promoted to rabbi the following year. In 2018, he assumed the leadership at Temple B’nai Torah after its merger with Temple Emanu-El.
Over the years, Bar-Nahum has been active in humanitarian efforts both local and global. He traveled to the Texas-Mexico border to help feed migrants with Team Brownsville, a volunteer group that supports asylum seekers with meals and supplies, and World Central Kitchen, a nonprofit that provides meals in response to humanitarian crises. After the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks by Hamas in Israel, he helped raise thousands of dollars for relief efforts, and took part in a solidarity mission last December to distribute the aid.
The celebration of his 13th year began Friday, as local officials gathered at the temple to mark the milestone. Among those presenting Bar-Nahum with citations were State Sen. Steve Rhoads, Assemblyman Thomas McKevitt, Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, county Legislators Michael Giangregorio, John Ferretti and Seth Koslow, and Hempstead Town Councilman Dennis Dunne.
On Saturday, the congregation hosted a gala dinner in the rabbi’s honor at the Plainview Jewish Center.
Bar-Nahum said it has been an honor to serve the Jewish community on the South Shore. “It’s a wonderful community,” he said. “We’re a thriving reform synagogue here and I’m very lucky, because we have a community of people that work very hard to keep this community going.”
Cantor Rica Timman joined the temple in 2017, and has known Bar-Nahum since their time together at Temple Emanu-El, where she played a role in the merger. She described him as “an extraordinary partner,” noting that they work closely together in all aspects of serving the congregation.
“He is wise,” Timman said, “and the two of us together have the same vision for this congregation, and it’s been flourishing.”
Today the congregation is made up of four legacy temples: Temple Emanu-El; Suburban Temple, in Wantagh; Temple Judea, in Massapequa; and, most recently, Temple Sinai of Massapequa, which joined in January, according to Timman. Thanks to the efforts of Timman and Bar-Nahum, the mergers have been successful, Timman said, helping to grow the congregation. It now includes roughly 470 families and around 170 students in its Hebrew School.
“I love coming to work every day, because we get to work together,” she said.
Among the highlights Bar-Nahum is most proud of are initiatives that have strengthened the congregation’s connection to Jewish tradition and community life, including Tot Shabbat, a monthly service for children and their families. Held on the first Friday of each month, the service uses stories, instruments and upbeat melodies to introduce children to prayer in an accessible, engaging way. It concludes with traditional blessings over wine and challah and is followed by an optional family dinner.
When he started, Bar-Nahum said, only a handful of children took part in the program. Now more than 30 attend regularly, growth he attributes to the temple’s reputation for welcoming families and offering fun, engaging activities.
“We really made that our focus,” he said, “to really invigorate our young kids’ programming.”
Another highlight of his time with the congregation, according to Bar-Nahum, is the community garden, originally planted in the summer of 2020, during the pandemic. It produces thousands of pounds of fresh produce each year — tomatoes, potatoes, squash, eggplant, garlic and onions — all donated to local food pantries.
The garden replaced an underused playground. Volunteers conducted soil testing and built raised planting beds to get the project started.
The garden, Bar-Nahum said, is also used for educational programming, in which children learn about planting and the connection between Judaism and the earth, as well as for services. “It’s really a beautiful, multi-use space that touches so many different aspects of our community,” he said.
In 2020, after the pandemic began, the temple pivoted to Zoom to continue holding services and maintain its connection with the community. The shift helped the congregation become more familiar with technology and upgrade members’ streaming capabilities. Today it still offers livestreams for those who are unable to attend in person.
“Our numbers didn’t really significantly drop because of Covid,” the rabbi noted. “We came out of it a little bit stronger and with a little bit of a look toward the future.”
As a merger of four temples, both Bar-Nahum and Timman said, the congregation has become a hub for Reform Judaism on the South Shore. Looking ahead, Bar-Nahum said, the temple aims to honor its legacy as a merged congregation while finding new ways to reach and engage more members.
“We’re just trying to keep growing,” he said, “and doing the things that we know how to do.”
