Lay Leadership

President Jay L. Kooper Welcomes You to TBA

Welcome to Temple B'nai Abraham. We are proud of being a warm, embracing synagogue and community with an excellent educational institution.

Rooted in tradition and progressive in outlook, we are one of the oldest and largest independent synagogues in the United States. We continually define ourselves by our pulpit, our lay leadership, and the generational legacies that have been lovingly embraced and preserved for more than a century and a half. 

We are an extended family that offers inclusive connection, compassion, and community to all. Our religious services for Shabbat, High Holy Days, and all the holidays and festivals in between are rich, meaningful, and filled with warmth. 

Our temple is in constant motion, reflecting active involvement across all age groups. In the mornings our preschoolers arrive at our highly regarded Early School, and afternoons see students engaged at our exceptional Jewish Learning Program, ongoing bar and bat mitzvah lessons, and our dynamic High School program and youth groups: Temple B’nai Abraham is a busy and exciting place. In addition, there is a steady stream of opportunities to participate in the meetings, programs, committees and associations that make up every aspect of our rich Temple life, ranging from our active Adult Learning, Social Action, and Ritual Committees to our events hosting important regional, national, and international speakers. 

Temple B’nai Abraham combines the best of what the modern Jewish community has to offer. I invite you to explore our website and then come and see us in person—meet our clergy, tour our schools, sit in on services, or participate in an open program. See us in action and be inspired! I look forward to welcoming you personally.

B’shalom,

Jay L. Kooper
President 

** headshot by TBA member Jan Press**

Bio:
Jay L. Kooper is the 30^th President of Temple B’nai Abraham. A member of the Temple’s Board of Trustees since 2016, Jay previously served as a Vice President and a Co-Chair of the Buildings and Grounds Committee prior to his election as President.

Jay is the Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary of Middlesex Water Company, one of New Jersey’s 13 investor-owned utility companies, and currently sits on the Board of Directors of the National Association of Water Companies and the New Jersey State Bar Association’s Public Utility Law Section, where he previously served as Chair. A native of New York City, Jay received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science and History from Emory University and his Juris Doctor degree from George Washington University Law School.

A longtime public utilities attorney, Jay has represented clients across every public utilities sector – water, wastewater, electric, gas, telephone and cable – across the entire span of his career. In 2019, Jay was honored as General Counsel of the Year by NJBIZ, and in 2020 was honored with the New Jersey Law Journal’s Professional Excellence Award. Previously, Jay was recognized as a finalist in 2016 for the New York Stock Exchange’s Distinguished General Counsel Award.

In addition to his work with Temple B’nai Abraham, Jay serves on the Board of Directors of the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation’s New Jersey Chapter, a board his wife Jessica also served on from 2018 to 2022. In 2022, Jay, Jessica and their two sons, Jordan and Ethan, were the recipients of the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation’s Community Impact Award for their longtime work with the Foundation.

The Koopers moved to Livingston, where they still reside, in 2003 and joined Temple B’nai Abraham that same year. Jordan and Ethan Kooper are both alumni of TBA’s Summer Day Camp, Early School and Jewish Learning Program and celebrated their B’nai Mitzvah at TBA.