When I found out that Rabbi Wexler would be teaching a Hebrew class, I was eager to relearn what I had forgotten from one year of Hebrew in high school. Under her skilled teaching, we had fun and we learned. After two years of classes, Rabbi Wexler asked the three women in the class if we would be interested in preparing for our bat mitzvahs. My first response was a resounding "No." After some contemplation, I realized that this would be a wonderful challenge and a great honor.

Every spare minute was spent learning the prayers. When I thought I had finished, Rabbi Wexler added another couple of paragraphs. How am I ever going to do this? But with her encouragement and the support of my classmates, Roberta Garris and Joanna Paulson, it got done.

I loved the entire process. On March 29, 2008, each of us aced our portions, spoke about how the portion related to our lives, and assisted in carrying out the Shabbat service. It was a proud moment -- for the b'nai mitzvot, Rabbi Wexler, our friends and families, and the congregation. I am privileged to have had this excellent teacher help me grow as a person and as a Jew. Thank you, Rabbi Wexler.
--Adrianne Greenberg

When Rabbi Wexler told me that she had decided to accept an offer to lead a congregation in Australia -- a long-term dream of hers -- I told her I was happy for her, but that I had hoped she would conduct my bat mitzvah -- a long-term dream of mine. A bat mitzvah was something I had I never quite gotten around to accomplishing. Rabbi Wexler had an idea. Our small but diligent band of Hebrew 101 students -- Roberta Garris, Adrianne Greenberg, Mary Gabriel and I -- had been studying together for most of a year, and the rabbi suggested that those interested could begin to prepare for a b'nai mitzvot. Finding a date was the first of many challenges. Considering travel, family obligations, and the many responsibilities surrounding modern adult women (two working full time), we finally agreed on March 29, 2008. The date was only three months away!

Rabbi Wexler initiated a whirlwind schedule of tutoring, copying and divvying up our portions, making tapes, etc. She worked with us individually and collectively, and spent much time with us on the phone when we were away. And through it all, she made it fun. The rabbi was a gifted teacher and, although she promised that she wouldn't give us more than we could handle, she pushed and prodded us to do more…and more. And we did, laughing all the way, with a real feeling of pride in our accomplishment. She gave us gold stars when we performed well. But the look of pride on her face during our practice sessions and at our final performance will stay with me always.
--Joanna Paulsen

During our second year of Hebrew school, Rabbi Wexler suggested that we have a graduation. She was speaking to the three of us who were there from the beginning, even through the winters -- Adrianne Greenberg, Joanna Paulson, and myself. Under the rabbi's tutelage, like the six-year-olds I teach, I found myself a beginning Hebrew reader. I knew the alef-bet, but still confused similar letters. I recognized a few high-frequency words, such as Shabbat, was slowly building a vocabulary, and I could haltingly sight-read the simple stories in our children's workbook. I could mostly follow along in the siddur on Friday nights, but was challenged by the torah passages.

I was pretty sure I wasn't ready to graduate, but I was enthusiastic about celebrating my progress in reading Hebrew. However, one thing led to another, and the graduation turned into a b'nai mitzvot. I think I agreed because I didn't fully understand what a bat mitzvah encompassed, nor did the rabbi enlighten me. Instead, she started us off slowly, giving each of us just one line of torah. One week later, having heard each of us chant our one line, she said she'd be satisfied if all we could accomplish was that one line. Yet, every time we mastered the task at hand, she suggested another one, and another one, and yet another one. And each time, we rose to the occasion. Before we turned around, we were chanting the whole portion, learning all the prayers, writing bat mitzvah speeches, etc. etc. If she had laid it all out in the beginning, I don't believe I would have agreed to it. Her psychology worked: break down the task into manageable parts, and keep them on a need-to-know basis. I still can't believe what this six-year-old accomplished. Thank you, Rabbi Wexler.
--Roberta Garris

A few years ago, I took ill in the middle of the night and ended up in Eastern Long Island Hospital for several weeks. Needless to say, I became alarmingly apprehensive as my condition worsened. But thanks to excellent medical care by a team of physicians, reassuring monitoring by Dr. Micah Kaplan, and the support of my family, friends and fellow Tifereth Israel congregants, I got well.
During that difficult time, Rabbi Jackie, as we called her, visited me many times. She sat by my bedside, kept me up to date on shul happenings, and always imparted some amusing story to lift my spirits. She also held my hand, prayed for me, and helped me to feel less afraid.
--Sara Bloom

Remembering Rabbi Jackie Wexler…

Rabbi Jackie (Jacqueline) Wexler died suddenly on Nov. 20, 2009, of cardiac arrest. She was 54. Rabbi Wexler had served as spiritual leader of Congregation Tifereth Israel from 2006-2008. In 2008, she was invited to serve as rabbi of
Temple Shalom in Gold Coast, Queensland, on the continent of Australia, a place that Rabbi Wexler said had fascinated her for much of her adult life. She was in the second year of her two-year contract when she was taken ill. Rabbi Wexler was ordained at the Jewish Theological Seminary in New
York City, and was a member of the Conservative Rabbinical Assembly. Her remains were flown to the United States, and she was interred in Florida. The rabbi is survived by her parents, Beatrice and William Wexler of Pompano Beach, FL, her sons Joshua and Matthew Shapiro, and her sister
--Marcia Levy.

I grew up in Manhattan and went to a Conservative synagogue for services and Hebrew School, which I found obligatory rather than fulfilling. My wife, Jenny, has a much stronger Jewish identity, which she has passed on to our children.
When I brought our daughter, Elizabeth, to meet with Rabbi Wexler for the first time in preparation for bat mitzvah training, I immediately responded to the rabbi's friendly and outgoing demeanor. Her jovial approach made Elizabeth comfortable and gave me a warm feeling about Tifereth Israel.

By Elizabeth's second lesson, we were good friends. When I was picking up Elizabeth from this lesson, the rabbi asked me if I would be willing to read a portion of the Torah at her bat mitzvah. I had not read Hebrew in more than 30 years. I stunned both Elizabeth and myself when the word, "Yes," came out of my mouth. On reflection, my only reasons for having agreed to it were the love of my daughter, and the warm feeling Rabbi Wexler created in that environment.

The rabbi made a tape for me, and every morning after my wife and our son, William, had left the house for work and school, I would take out the recorder and practice with the tape, which concluded with the rabbi's lighthearted inflection, "Good luck."

My Torah reading was going to be a surprise to Jenny and William. On the day of the bat mitzvah, when I went up to the bimah to read my portion, Jenny sat in the audience stunned, and William turned to his mother and said, "What is Daddy doing? He doesn't read Hebrew." Clearly, the day belonged to Elizabeth, and I was so proud of her. But I was also proud to have contributed to her special day in a special way. Rabbi Wexler will always be in our hearts for what she did for our family to make a wonderful time in our lives even more special.
--Mitchell Berg

Although my family occasionally attended services in Greenport, we never really got to know Rabbi Wexler until I started meeting with her to prepare for my bat mitzvah. Admittedly, I wasn't excited about our first meeting and probably didn't make a very good first impression. That was because I was upset about having to learn enough Hebrew for two bat mitzvahs -- one in Manhattan and one in Greenport. Once I got over that, I realized what a great teacher Rabbi Wexler was. I loved how important my bat mitzvah was to her; she convinced me to learn more than I thought I would have ever agreed to, and she even convinced my dad to read from the Torah. (No one ever thought that was possible!)
What I found most impressive about Rabbi Wexler was that she always made herself available. After every one of our meetings, she would remind me that I could call her whenever I had a question, even after my bat mitzvah, just as other students from past years would call her to ask about some question about Judaism. In addition to being a great rabbi, she was honestly the most caring and devoted teacher I've ever met.
--Elizabeth Berg

Class of 2012
I studied Hebrew with Rabbi Wexler. She was the first Hebrew teacher in my experience to stress comprehension -- what the words mean and how they are used to compose sentences -- as opposed to mere recitation of siddur prayers.
Rabbi Wexler was a stickler for the details of Judaism, explaining, for example, how and when to light the Hanukkah candles, and how special, long-burning candles should be used because they needed to be lighted earlier on Shabbat. Her columns in The Shofar (and on the shul's Web site) tended to include such specific instructions.

I remember when the Men's Club bought a TV armoire and set about converting it to an Aron Kodesh, Rabbi Wexler guided us on the rules regarding furniture. The result is a handsome addition to our shul's High Holy Days services.

Rabbi Wexler is interred in the shadow of an elaborate memorial to the victims of the Holocaust, dedicated in 2008 in the Star of David cemetery of North Lauderdale, FL.
--Paul Birman

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