Shammai Engelmayer

Sheldon David Engelmayer (Hebrew: שמאי; born July 26, 1945) is a full-time pulpit rabbi at the Temple Israel Community Center, an egalitarian Conservative synagogue in Cliffside Park, New Jersey.[1][2] He is the author of eight nonfiction books on topics ranging from corporate irresponsibility in the A.H. Robins Company's Dalkon Shield intrauterine device case, to biographies of public figures, including Hubert Humphrey and Martha Mitchell.

Shammai Engelmayer
photograph
Born
Sheldon David Engelmayer

(1945-07-26) July 26, 1945
New York City, New York, U.S.
Occupation(s)Pulpit rabbi, Jewish commentator
Known forJewish law columnist, social advocacy, political commentary
Spouse(s)Roslyn Engelmayer
Marilyn Henry (deceased)
Children3
WebsiteShammai Engelmayer

History

Media and journalism

In 1967, Engelmayer was a features editor for The Jewish Press, an American weekly newspaper based in Brooklyn, New York.[3] He then became an associate editor with the North American Newspaper Alliance (NANA);[4][5] at the age of 25, Engelmayer became the editor.[5][6][7] United Features Syndicate (UFS) acquired and absorbed NANA, and from 1972 to 1979, Engelmayer edited under the banner of UFS.[8]

He became the first editor of Jack Anderson's "Washington Merry-Go-Round" column and was a part of Anderson's winning of the Pulitzer Prize.[9][5]

His own investigative work writing about the American natural gas shortage in the Seventies won him the Thomas L. Stokes Award for National Reporting, Washington Journalism Center.[10][11]

In the 1970s and 1980s, Engelmayer was almost a regular on the Barry Farber radio show, with Farber calling him "the big Shamm",[5][12] referring to his Hebrew name, Shammai, which he began using professionally once he became a pulpit rabbi.[13][5]

In the early 1980s, Engelmayer replaced David Gross as the executive editor of the New York Jewish Week,[14][5][15][16][17] a New York-based Jewish issues weekly newspaper. He left in 1991 and took a post as director of communications for the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York City,[18][19] where he also renewed his rabbinical ordination, preparing him for his pulpit position.

He was also briefly the editor of the MetroWest Jewish News from 1996 to 1998.[20]

In January 2007, Engelmayer established an award-winning column ("Keeping the Faith") for the New Jersey-based weekly newspaper The Jewish Standard, in which he discusses current issues through the prism of Jewish law. He was the editor of The Jewish Standard until he resigned in 2012. He continued his weekly column, but now had time to teach and run his synagogue, which has since merged with three other synagogues that were dwindling in numbers and looking for new leadership.[5][21][22][23]

In 1981, he and his frequent writing partner, Robert Wagman, NANA's Washington, D.C., bureau chief, produced a documentary called The Making of Lion of the Desert,[24] a film about pre-WWII fascist Italy, starring Anthony Quinn, Oliver Reed, and Rod Steiger.

Rabbinate

Ordained as an Orthodox Jewish rabbi in 1967,[25] he chose the field of journalism. In 1992, while working at the Jewish Theological Society he also enrolled in rabbinate courses and recertified his ordination through the Conservative Jewish movement. His first pulpit was the Lake Hopatcong Jewish Center in New Jersey.[26] He would find a congregation closer to his home, Temple Israel in Cliffside Park, and merged with other neighboring congregations.[22]

Personal life

Engelmayer was married to Roslyn Engelmayer,[27] and then to the writer, Marilyn Henry, who died in 2011.[28] He has three children and lives in Teaneck, New Jersey.[28]

Awards and recognition
  • Rockower Award in 2011 for Commentary/2nd place, The Standard (for an article on President Obama's stance on Israel).[29][30][31] It is noteworthy is that back in 1978–79 Engelmayer had held President Jimmy Carter accountable for what he and his co-author Robert Wagman called "broken promises" over wage and price controls, defence spending, and nuclear proliferation.[32]
  • Rockower Award in 2010 - First Place for Editorial Writing,[33] in 2005 for Commentary/2nd place, American Jewish Press Association, Rockower Award for Commentary/2nd place, AJPA, 2004, Rockower Award for Editorial Writing/1st place, American Jewish Press Association, 1990
  • Rockower Award for Editorial Writing/2nd place, AJPA, 1989
  • Rockower Award for Editorial Writing/1st place, AJPA, 1988,[34]
  • Thomas L. Stokes Award for National Reporting, Washington Journalism Center, 1975[35]
  • In 1975, he won the Washington Journalism Center's Thomas L. Stokes Award for National Reporting.[11]
  • Media Humanitarian Award, National Association of Justice, 1974

Books
  • Martha: The Mouth that Roared[36][37]
  • Lord's Justice[38]
  • HUBERT HUMPHREY The man and His Dream[39]
  • Hostage[35]
  • Tax revolt 1980: A how-to guide[40]
  • Where there's smoke (A Last Resort Mystery Book 1)[41]
  • Common Ground[26]

References
  1. Beck, Leslie Ann (9 November 2006). "This is a Giving Community". Pittsfield Berkshire Eagle. New England Newspapers Inc.
  2. Santora, Rev. Alexander (27 October 2015). "Faith Matters: Congregations merge to form new community for the future". NJ.com. Advance Local Media LLC.
  3. Engelmayer, Shammai (25 January 2018). "Jerusalem, Frisch, and Jewish law". The Jewish Standard. Times of Israel.
  4. Associated, Press (21 February 1980). "News Service to End 58 Years of Operation". The Nashua Telegraph. New Hampshire: Ogden Newspapers. The Nutting Company.
  5. Palmer, Joanne (26 October 2012). "The man in the mask". Jewish Standard. Times of Israel.
  6. Rangel, Marc (2009). Memories of Mosquitia. Xlibris Corporation. ISBN 9781477163191.
  7. Wire Story (16 October 1973). "Ford Linked to Job Assist for Liddy". The Arizona Republic. USA Today Network. Associated Press.
  8. Engelmayer, Sheldon; Ashman, Charles (25 July 1973). "Nixon Leaves pepsi firm, Meets Mitchell, Martha Meets the Press". The Cincinnati Enquirer. USA Today Network.
  9. "Future Events". Business Week. No. 2287–2294. McGraw-Hill. 1973.
  10. Wagner, Robert; Engelmayer, Sheldon (3 May 1976). "Public Utilities Skirt Gas Issue". High Point Enterprise. hpenews.com.
  11. Associated, Press (16 March 1976). "S-N Columnists Win Stokes Writing Prize". Star News. Associated Press.
  12. "SSSJ Events, 1964-1991. Boxes 1-51 and Oversized Boxes 197 & 385". Yeshiva University Archives. Mendel Gottesman Library: Yeshiva University. p. 248.
  13. "Meet Our Rabbi". cbiotp.org. CONGREGATION BETH ISRAELOF THE PALISADES.
  14. Engelmayer, Sheldon (12 May 1989). "Full-Term Miracle, May 14, 1948". The Jewish Floridian. Vol. 62, no. 19. Jewish Telegraphic Agency. p. 5.
  15. Goldberg, J.J. (1996). Jewish power : inside the American Jewish establishment (3rd printing ed.). Reading, Mass.: Basic Books. p. xi. ISBN 9780201622423.
  16. "News Brief | Jewish Telegraphic Agency". www.jta.org. JTA. 28 September 2005.
  17. Bard, Mitchell G. (2002). From tragedy to triumph : the politics behind the rescue of Ethiopian Jewry. Westport (Conn.): Praeger Publishing. p. 153. ISBN 9780275970000.
  18. Wire (20 March 1992). "Bat Mitzvah Pioneer Marks Another Religious Milsteon". Sedalia Democrat. Associated Press.
  19. Nussbaum Cohen, Debra (30 September 1994). "Camp's Decision to Censor Magazine Illustrates Rift Among Conservatives | Jewish Telegraphic Agency". Daily News Bulletin. www.jta.org. Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
  20. Lorell, Mark (5 June 1997). "Congressional report warns: War in Middle East is imminent | Jewish Telegraphic Agency". www.jta.org. Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
  21. Santora, Alexander (19 November 2014). "Jews in North Bergen get a Shab-Bus to shul". Jersey Journal. NJ.com.
  22. Palmer, Joanne (5 August 2015). "A community marriage". The Jewish Standard. Times of Israel.
  23. Solomon Bernstein, Susan (15 January 2016). "Temple Beth El Has Closed, But It is Not Gone". zicharonot.
  24. Engelmayer, Sheldon; Wagman, Bob (1981). "The Making of Lion of the Desert". IMDb.
  25. "Rabbi Shammai Englemayer". Temple Beth El of North Bergen. Temple Beth El Bergen County.
  26. Ozarowski, Joseph S.; Engelmayer, Shammai; Sofian, David M. (1997). Lipman, Steve (ed.). Common ground : the weekly Torah portion through the eyes of a Conservative, Orthodox, and Reform rabbi. Northvale, N.J.: Jason Aronson. p. 391. ISBN 9780765759924.
  27. "Reports of cases decided in the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the state of New York". Digitized: the University of California. 1978: 756. Retrieved 8 August 2011. Alimony {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  28. Boroson, Rebecca (3 March 2011). "Former 'Post' staffer Marilyn Henry dies, 58". The Jerusalem Post. JPost.com.
  29. Engelmayer, Shammai (6 January 2012). "Obama's distorted Israel image". The Standard. Times of Israel.
  30. JTA Staff (28 June 2013). "Excellence in Jewish journalism: The Rockower Awards | Jewish Telegraphic Agency". www.jta.org. Jewsish Telegraphic Agency.
  31. Sheskin, edited by Arnold Dashefsky, Ira (2014). American Jewish Year Book 2013 The Annual Record of the North American Jewish Communities (Aufl. 2014 ed.). Cham: Springer International Publishing. p. 817. ISBN 9783319016580. {{cite book}}: |first1= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  32. Wagman, Robert; Engelmayer, Sheldon (27 February 1979). "Promises, Promises, More Broken Promises, Part II". Santa Ana Orange County Register. Southern California News Group. p. B17.
  33. Category 4: Award for Excellence in Editorial Writing. "The 31st Annual Simon Rockower Award Winners - American Jewish Press Association". www.ajpa.org.
  34. Editor & Publisher (Vol 123 ed.). Editor & Publisher Company. 1990. p. 2.
  35. Engelmayer, Sheldon D.; Wagman, Robert J. (1981). Hostage. Ottawa, Ill.: Caroline House Publishers. ISBN 0898030846.
  36. Ashman, Charles; Engelmayer, Sheldon (1973). Martha: The Mouth That Roared. Berkley. ISBN 978-0425024683.
  37. Ashman, Charles (24 July 1973). "Martha - The Mouth that Roared". Journal News - Hamilton Ohio. Ohio. Cox Media Group. p. 16.
  38. Engelmayer, Sheldon; Wagman, Robert (1985). Lord's justice (1st ed.). Garden City, N.Y.: Anchor Press/Doubleday. ISBN 978-0385230513.
  39. Library News (4 December 1978). "Through These Doors". Huntingdon Daily News. Sample News Group. The Daily News.
  40. Engelmayer, Sheldon D.; Wagman, Robert J. (1980). Tax revolt 1980 : a how-to guide. Westport, CT: Arlington House Publishers. ISBN 0870004697.
  41. Engelmayer, Shammai (27 November 2012). Where there's smoke. Amazon Digital Services LLC.
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