B'nai Jacob has a proud legacy of long-serving rabbinic leadership. In 2025, Rabbi Adam Berman became only the fourth rabbi to serve our community since 1932: Rabbi Samuel Cooper served from 1932 to 1981, Rabbi Chaim Landau from 1981 to 1986, and Rabbi Victor Urecki from 1986 to 2025.
Click here to read more about our recent rabbinic transition from the Forward.
Click here to read more about our recent rabbinic transition from the Forward.
Rabbi Adam Berman has served as the spiritual leader of Congregation B'nai Jacob since August 2025. He received rabbinic ordination in 2022 from the Schechter Rabbinical Seminary in Jerusalem, Israel. A native of Columbus, Ohio, Rabbi Berman graduated magna cum laude with a BA in Political Science from Yale University, graduated summa cum laude with an MA in Judaic Studies from the Schechter Institutes, and served for two years as a lone soldier in the Israel Defense Forces. Before moving to West Virginia, he worked for the Partnership2Gether Global Network at the Jewish Agency for Israel, connecting southern Israeli municipalities with Jewish communities around the world. Rabbi Berman prides himself in his inclusive and pluralistic approach, blending a depth of study with Midwestern approachability. He has served as a rabbinic intern and Jewish educator for communities and organizations across the United States and Israel, with professional experience spanning early childhood programming to adult education, advocacy on Capitol Hill with AIPAC to advancing religious pluralism at the Israeli Knesset. Rabbi Berman was previously elected as the Secretary of the Rabbinical Assembly in Israel, is an alumnus of AIPAC Leffell Israel Fellowship, and is a Makom Fellow with the Center for Small Town Jewish Life. He is active in local interfaith work, such as the Charleston Area Religious Leaders Association and the Root and Branch interfaith discussion series. He and his wife Emuna are the proud parents of Asaf and Nili. He enjoys hiking, vegetarian cooking, and recording college football games to watch after Shabbat.
Rabbi Berman can be reached at [email protected]
Rabbi Berman can be reached at [email protected]
Rabbi Victor Urecki recently retired after serving as rabbi and spiritual leader of Congregation B’nai Jacob for almost 40 years. He is one of the founders and former president of the West Virginia Interfaith Refugee Ministry, served for over a decade on the National Council of AIPAC (The American Israel Public Affairs Committee), the West Virginia Commission on Holocaust Education, and on the board of directors at the University of Charleston. He was the recipient of the "Living the Dream Award", the “West Virginia Civil Rights Day Award”, the ACLU Syd Bell Memorial Award for his work on interfaith relations and civil rights, and the T’ruah (Rabbic Call For Human Rights) Lifetime Achievement Award for nearly 40 years of leading a congregation that prioritizes interfaith community-building, refugee resettlement, and human rights for all people. He co-founded the Root and the Branch, an organization dedicated to creating opportunities for faith traditions in the Kanawha Valley to come together, dialogue, and learn from one another. Rabbi Urecki wrote frequently for the Charleston Gazette-Mail and on social media about religious tolerance, mutual respect, and has been an activist for immigration/refugee resettlement and local issues of importance. In his final years of service, Rabbi Urecki went to the Arizona/Mexico border with the Jewish Council for Public Affairs to witness the humanitarian crisis there and completed a fellowship that took him to Guatemala with the American World Jewish Services. Rabbi Urecki continues to be an interfaith leader who has been a religious and spiritual advisor for individuals of all faiths.
The following are those who have conducted the essential religious functions of the community. Most of the information comes from the booklet published on the 100th anniversary of the congregation in 1994.
1885 — Rebbe Bleeden, Shochet-Teacher
1893 — Rebbe Altrecht, Shochet-Teacher
1893-? — Rebbe Mudrick, Shochet-Teacher-Cantor
1895-1930 — Rev. Samuel Friedman, Shochet-Teacher-Cantor
1904-1912 — Rabbi Nachman Heller
1906-1914 — Rebbe Phillip Cohen, Teacher
1914-1918? — Rebbe Harry Wolensky, Teacher-Shochet
1918-? — I. J. Rubin, Teacher
1919-1954 — Kalman Shore, Teacher
1919-1921 — Rabbi Leon Spitz
1921-1925 — Rabbi Morris Kaaplander
1926-1927 — Rabbi Sol Weinreb
1928-1934 — Rev. Nathan Silverman, Mohel-Teacher-Baal Koreh-Cantor-Shochet
1928-1930 — Rabbi Jack Friedman
1932-1981 — Rabbi Samuel Cooper
1934-1941 — Rev. Alter B. Freedman, Mohel-Cantor-Teacher-Shochet
1940-1941 — Cantor Irving Ashery
1941-1989 — Rev. Benjamin Samuels, Teacher-Shochet-Mohel-Baal Koreh
1941-1945 — Cantor Bezalel Newberger
1945-1947 — Cantor David Wolfe
1948 — Cantor Isaac Warman
1948-1968 — Cantor Paul Reiss
1981-1986 — Rabbi Chaim Landau
1986-2025 — Rabbi Victor Urecki
1992-1993 — Cantor Fred Margolis
2025-present — Rabbi Adam Berman
The following are those who have conducted the essential religious functions of the community. Most of the information comes from the booklet published on the 100th anniversary of the congregation in 1994.
1885 — Rebbe Bleeden, Shochet-Teacher
1893 — Rebbe Altrecht, Shochet-Teacher
1893-? — Rebbe Mudrick, Shochet-Teacher-Cantor
1895-1930 — Rev. Samuel Friedman, Shochet-Teacher-Cantor
1904-1912 — Rabbi Nachman Heller
1906-1914 — Rebbe Phillip Cohen, Teacher
1914-1918? — Rebbe Harry Wolensky, Teacher-Shochet
1918-? — I. J. Rubin, Teacher
1919-1954 — Kalman Shore, Teacher
1919-1921 — Rabbi Leon Spitz
1921-1925 — Rabbi Morris Kaaplander
1926-1927 — Rabbi Sol Weinreb
1928-1934 — Rev. Nathan Silverman, Mohel-Teacher-Baal Koreh-Cantor-Shochet
1928-1930 — Rabbi Jack Friedman
1932-1981 — Rabbi Samuel Cooper
1934-1941 — Rev. Alter B. Freedman, Mohel-Cantor-Teacher-Shochet
1940-1941 — Cantor Irving Ashery
1941-1989 — Rev. Benjamin Samuels, Teacher-Shochet-Mohel-Baal Koreh
1941-1945 — Cantor Bezalel Newberger
1945-1947 — Cantor David Wolfe
1948 — Cantor Isaac Warman
1948-1968 — Cantor Paul Reiss
1981-1986 — Rabbi Chaim Landau
1986-2025 — Rabbi Victor Urecki
1992-1993 — Cantor Fred Margolis
2025-present — Rabbi Adam Berman
