Rabbi Shmuel Polin

Rabbi Polin is the Rabbi of Congregation Etz Chaim - Monroe Township Jewish Center. Rabbi Polin was born in Trenton, New Jersey, and grew up in Central New Jersey and the Greater Philadelphia suburbs. After high school, he immigrated to Israel, where he was a medic before returning to the United States for college at American University. Rabbi Polin graduated with a B.A. and double major in International Relations and Jewish Studies. After completing his undergraduate degree, he returned to Israel and worked for Israeli non-governmental organizations and in public policy. After living a few more years in Israel, Rabbi Polin enrolled in Gratz College of Philadelphia and completed two master’s degrees, one in Jewish Studies and the other in Holocaust and Genocide Studies. After completing both master’s programs, Rabbi Polin enrolled in Hebrew Union College - Jewish Institute of Religion, where Rabbi Polin attained his third master’s degree in Hebrew Letters and also his Rabbinical Ordination (S'micha). Throughout rabbinical training, Rabbi Polin served Adath Israel Congregation of Cincinnati, Beth Boruk Temple of Richmond, Indiana, and Temple Israel of Paducah, Kentucky. In addition, in Rabbi Polin's final year of rabbinical school, he founded the Opening the Ark Project of Cincinnati. The non-profit rebuilt the twenty-foot Torah Ark of Sidra, Poland, that was destroyed in the Holocaust. The reconstructed Torah ark has since been on exhibit across the United States, and Rabbi Polin's academic research on Torah Arks from Poland has been published in Poland, featured in Muzeum Ziemi Nadnotckiej, and broadcasted upon in TLV Trzcianka Polish television.  Rabbi Polin joined Congregation Etz Chaim - Monroe Township Jewish Center in 2022 after serving Temple Israel in Georgia. Since Rabbi Polin has begun at Congregation Etz Chaim - Monroe Township Jewish Center, Rabbi Polin co-authored Kadosh, Kadosh, Kadosh, Siddur Etz Chaim, which was published in 2025, and he has joined the Board of Rabbis of Princeton, Mercer, and Bucks. In addition to these accolades, Rabbi Polin is a trustee of Jewish Family Services of Middlesex County, and he is part of the Stephen Wise, Amplify Israel Fellowship of Rabbis. Rabbi Polin lives in Windsor with his family and is proud to be serving our community.  

You may read more about him on his website, https://www.rabbishmuelpolin.com/

You can email Rabbi Polin at rabbi@mtjc.org