Rabbi Jacob Lipkin canceled a visit to another synagogue after interviewing at Temple Beth Sholom. He knew Cherry Hill was home.

Lipkin, a Stanford University graduate who earned rabbinic ordination and a master's degree in Hebrew Bible from the Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS) in New York, began his role as assistant rabbi at TBS on Wednesday, July 1. He succeeds Rabbi Bryan Wexler, who led the congregation for nine years before leaving earlier this year.

The Conservative congregation on Kresson Road serves more than 800 families under Senior Rabbi Micah Peltz. Lipkin is the first new assistant rabbi the community has welcomed in nearly a decade.

His connection to TBS started years earlier. During his second year at JTS, a large delegation from the synagogue visited the seminary, and Lipkin was among a handful of students selected to meet the group.

"I remember being really struck by this really devoted group of people that was taking time out of their day, probably taking time off of work, to come and just be in touch with JTS out of a passion for Jewish community, Jewish learning, and the broader Conservative Jewish world," Lipkin told the Jewish Community Voice in a July 22 interview.

He called the encounter "a little bit bashert," the Yiddish word for fate.

Lipkin grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area as a first-generation American. His mother emigrated from the former Soviet Union, and he was the first person in four generations of his family to have a bar mitzvah. His family has said he started talking about becoming a rabbi at age 8.

A mentor shaped that ambition. Rabbi Corey Helfand arrived at Lipkin's small Bay Area synagogue when Lipkin was starting high school and nearly doubled the congregation's size over the following decade.

"So, I saw the impact that one person could have on a small community," Lipkin said.

Before Cherry Hill, Lipkin served as a rabbinic intern at Congregation Shomrei Emunah in Montclair, N.J., focusing on pastoral care and adult education. He was also a founding staff member at Camp Ramah in Northern California in 2016 and later worked at Camp Ramah in New England. He has led intergenerational programs for older adults experiencing loneliness.

At TBS, Lipkin plans to build on that experience. He described his goal as becoming a "family rabbi" who walks with congregants through every lifecycle event, comparing the role to a family doctor who treats patients from cradle to grave. He wants to connect what he calls "micro communities" within the large congregation to make it feel more intimate.

Lipkin said he believes intergenerational friendships are a key factor in well-being, citing research he encountered during the pandemic. A synagogue, he said, is one of the few places where those cross-generational bonds form naturally.

Lipkin and his wife, Shira, have relocated to Cherry Hill.