Rabbi Lawrence "Larry" Nash Mahrer

March 2, 1932 – May 8, 2020

Egg Harbor Township, NJ-Rabbi Lawrence Mahrer, died peacefully on May 8, 2020 due to COVID-19 complications. He relocated to Galloway, New Jersey from Florida in 2019. Rabbi Larry was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio. He was ordained as a Reform Rabbi in 1959 from the Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati, Ohio. He earned a masters of Education in 1975, and received a doctorate of Divinity in 1983. He was a member of Phi Sigma Delta fraternity.

He served as the Rabbi for several communities throughout his 47 year career as a congregational Rabbi:

Temple Beth El in Battle Creek, Michigan; Beth Hillel Temple in Kenosha, Wisconsin; Anshai Emeth in Peoria, Illinois; B’nai El in St. Louis, Missouri; Mount Sinai Congregation in Wausau, Wisconsin; Congregation B’nai Israel in Oshkosh, Wisconsin; Temple Beth Shalom in Topeka, Kansas; Beth Israel Congregation in Florence, South Carolina and Temple Emanu-El in Dothan, Alabama.

His father, Hugo Mahrer, instilled a love for Jewish summer camp programs as a child, and Rabbi Larry served on the faculty of several Union for Reform Jewish summer camps for many years. Summer camp programs were an important part of Larry’s ability to connect with Jewish youth. He took pride in the fact that they saw him as an approachable person rather than as formidable clergy. He found great pleasure in helping create a positive Jewish experience for the campers and staff, and relished the fact that some went on to become his colleagues.

Larry participated extensively in every community in which he lived. He was actively involved in: fair housing campaigns, expanding human relations, organizing and joining in civil rights marches, fighting segregation, combating anti-Semitism as well as serving on several NAACP Boards. He did significant outreach to other religious communities in each city in which he lived.

In 2019, a culmination of eleven years of work came to fruition when his book, “I Always Knew You Weren’t Really God” and Other Tales of an Ordinary Rabbinate, was published and became available on Amazon. His book shares stories from his 47 years as a Rabbi, some funny and some poignant. It is an attempt to share the joy he felt throughout his professional life, and the hope that he had made some sort of meaningful contribution to the individuals and the congregations whom he served.

Rabbi Larry is survived by: his three children Debi Rowe, Jeffrey and Scott; children-in-law Alan and Nilda; grandchildren Rachel, Erica, Jahaira and Samuel.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation in his memory to the AtlantiCare COVID-19 Pandemic Response Fund, https://www.atlanticare.org/ways-to-give/atlanticare-foundation/make-a-gift. A private memorial will be held at a future date. Neptune Cremation Society, serving New Jersey, is handling arrangments. 201-909-9845.