Jerry joined Shaare Tefila as our Executive Director in July 2023.

Jerry earned his B.A. in Social Work and Sociology at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) in 1983. He went on to obtain three Masters degrees; in Social Work from the University of Maryland (1985), and in Judaic Studies (1985) and then Jewish Education (1997) from the Baltimore Hebrew University.

Jerry began his professional career serving as staff for the B’nai B’rith Youth Organization (BBYO) in Baltimore, then South Florida and then New Jersey. He went on to serve in various roles at PANIM: The Institute for Jewish Leadership and Values, as Executive Director of a Baltimore-based Israel agency, and as Building Director for one of the two JCC facilities in Baltimore. During those years, Jerry participated in and led numerous Jewish educational trips to Israel, the former Soviet Union, Russia, and Poland. 

From 1995-2022, Jerry maintained a part-time position as Educational Director of the Columbia Jewish Community School (CJCS – Reconstructionist) and simultaneously served the past 16 years as the Executive Director of Ohr Kodesh Congregation (Conservative) in Chevy Chase.

Jerry resides in Baltimore with his wife, Suzanne, and two adult children, Micah and Tamar and a menagerie of cats and dogs. An older child, Zephan Blaxberg, also resides nearby.