Rabbi Israel Dresner graciously gave over 1000 books on Jewish history and writings from his vast personal collection to Temple Beth Tikvah (TBT) for the establishment of a library and a lecture series for the benefit of the congregation and the greater North Jersey Community.

TBT then proudly established the library two years ago in honor of Rabbi Dresner’s contributions to our House of Hope, its congregants, and the Jewish community for some twenty-five years as its Rabbi and then as Rabbi Emeritus until his death in January 2022.

A small group of dedicated volunteers removed the books from cartons and inserted library cards and pockets in each book. Unfortunately, this process was interrupted by the Covid pandemic.

Upon Rabbi Dresner’s death, the library was renamed the Rabbi Dresner Memorial Library. Since April 2022 Arthur Barchenko, chairman of the committee, along with the volunteers, has retained the services of librarian Wendy Marcus to make the dream a reality. All the books are now on shelves and are being sorted into subject categories. Information about each book is being entered into a computer that was generously donated.

The committee is also planning to continue the Lecture series with participants from religious, educational, and cultural institutions within the area. Further, we are working on programs in conjunction with the Wayne Public Library which is part of a consortium of libraries in the three northern counties.

Through inclusive intergenerational programming and initiatives, we continue to foster understanding and inclusivity for our children and grandchildren and building on Rabbi Dresner’s legacy – his dream of Tikkun Olam – making the world a better place.