Rabbi Richard D. Agler, DD

Rabbi Richard Dean Agler is a native of New York City.  He is a graduate of East Meadow High School in East Meadow, New York, and holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Political Science from New York University.  Upon receiving his B.A., he entered the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, studying in Jerusalem and New York.  He earned a Master of Arts in Hebrew Literature in 1976 and received smicha--Rabbinic ordination--in 1978.  He was awarded a Doctor of Divinity degree in March 2003 and was named to the President's Rabbinic Council of the HUC-JIR in 2006.

Following ordination Rabbi Agler served at the Stephen Wise Free Synagogue in Manhattan. Since moving to Florida in 1980, he has held pulpits in Vero Beach and Boca Raton.  In 1984 he became the Founding Rabbi of Congregation B’nai Israel in Boca Raton.  During his tenure the congregation grew from "four families in a living room" to some 1200 member families on the Yamato Road campus.

Rabbi Agler has been especially active in projects relating to the State of Israel, Church-State issues, Interfaith concerns (Black-Jewish, Christian-Jewish and Muslim-Jewish relations in particular), genocide, the Jews of the former Soviet Union and many other social action/tikkun olam initiatives.  To bring these concerns to life, he helped found Congregation B’nai Israel’s "Center for Justice." 

 He has an academic expertise in Hasidism and Jewish Mysticism - having written his rabbinic thesis in that field.  He has also taught it on the graduate level at the Hebrew Union College in New York.  He has been active in the movement to bring renewed faith and spirituality to the rabbinate and the nation’s synagogues.

In 1989, he was named one of the “Outstanding Young Men in America.”  Since 1997, he has appeared in “Who’s Who In America.”  His letters on subjects ranging from the Presidency to Jewish Law to baseball have been published by the New York Times.  He has been broadcast by National Public Radio on the subject of politics and the Jewish community.  His words on the State of Israel were quoted by Presidential candidate John Kerry.  A sermon he wrote upon the death of Mickey Mantle is in the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown.  His "Open Letter to the New President" (2009) is in the Library of Congress.  He looks forward to the day when Jews of all ages will rejoice in and live their heritage and the messianic hope of peace and justice will be nearer for all of God’s children.

Rabbi Agler enjoys athletics, sailing and reading.  He has been married since 1976 to the former Mindy Steinberg of Augusta, Georgia.  They have three children, Jesse Allen, Talia Faith and Sarah Suzan.

Click here to read recent talks by Rabbi Agler.

Read and enjoy Rabbi Agler’s Sermons.