From left are Rabbi Simeon Cohen, Commissioner President Carlos Pomares, Commissioner Pat Sebold, Jeffrey Haveson and Martin Baum.
A Glen Ridge resident who is president of a Bloomfield temple was among those honored when the Essex Board of County Commissioners held its annual Jewish Heritage Month celebration at the Livingston Senior/Community Center on May 30.
The event is held each year to celebrate the accomplishments of and honor outstanding Jewish men and women of Essex County for their unique contributions to the Essex community and society as a whole, according to a press release from the county.
The honorees this year included Rabbi Simeon Cohen of Temple Beth Shalom in Livingston, Martin Baum from Glen Ridge of Temple Ner Tamid in Bloomfield, and
Jeffrey Haveson of Congregation Ahavas Sholom and the Jewish Museum of New Jersey in Newark.
Rabbi Marc Katz of Temple Ner Tamid delivered opening and closing prayers during the occasion. Musical accompaniment was provided by Cantor Perry Fine of Temple Beth Shalom, accompanied by pianist Karina Bruk.
Baum is currently president of Temple Ner Tamid, a Reform congregation with more than 600 families located in Bloomfield, and serving Montclair, Glen Ridge, Bloomfield, and surrounding towns.
Prior to becoming temple president in June 2023, Baum served on the temple board for many years and in multiple capacities including vice president of communications and first vice president.
His major accomplishment was leading a comprehensive review of the synagogue’s Constitution, and he is now championing a large capital campaign, the release said. Professionally, Baum is a partner at Edgewood Consulting Group based in Parsippany, working with major food and pharmaceutical companies in marketing and sales.
He has a B.A. from George Washington University and an M.B.A. from Columbia University. He and his wife Anne are longtime residents of Glen Ridge, where they have raised four sons.
Cohen joined Temple Beth Shalom in July 2017, after receiving rabbinic ordination and an MA in Jewish Education from the Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS).
Haveson, a lifelong resident of Essex County, with most of that time in Newark, graduated from Peshine Avenue School and Weequahic High School in Newark. He is a broadcast journalist and radio/podcast producer, currently working for the podcast, “Something You Should Know.”
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