About Shammai
For nearly three decades, people travelled from all over Northern
New Jersey (and some even from New York) to attend his Shabbat
and holiday services. His virtual services, begun during the
coronavirus lockdown, not only have attracted participants from the
tri-state area, but also from Florida, California, and Texas, as well as
from Canada, Mexico and, at times, even Israel. These services
continue even now because those participants don’t want them to
end.
Shammai is also among Northern New Jersey’s most popular
instructors of continuing adult Jewish education.
People relate to Shammai because Shammai relates to them.
One reason is the ruach (spirit) he facilitates during services and
the openness he shows during the classes he conducts. He is down-to-
earth, accessible, and believes other people know more about certain
subjects than he does. He’s happy to share his knowledge in a way
that makes things understandable. He also is not afraid to admit it
when he doesn’t know the answer to a question—but he does
research it and gets back to the questioner with an answer.
Shammai wears several hats—literally and figuratively. First and
foremost, he is a rabbi. A former executive editor of the New York
Jewish Week, he writes an award-winning column, “Keeping the
Faith,” for Bergen County’s The Jewish Standard newspaper, and has
been doing so since the early 1990s (so far, he has won six American
Jewish Press Association awards). His articles also appear at times in
the Long Island Jewish World.
Shammai also has a bi-weekly podcast, “Keep the Faith with
Shammai Engelmayer,” which is available on most podcast providers.
Both his columns and his podcasts deal with contemporary issues
through the prism of Jewish law and tradition.
For several years, he was also the editor of Judaism: A Quarterly
Journal of Jewish Life and Thought (it was published by the American
Jewish Congress).
A product of the yeshivah world, Shammai was ordained in 1967,
but chose to pursue a career in journalism before assuming the
pulpit, winning several prestigious journalism awards in the general
media world (including the Washington Journalism Center’s Thomas
L. Stokes Award for National Reporting, and the National Association
for Justice’s Media Humanitarian Award).
Shammai is the author of eight books, most on secular topics, and is
at work on several more. His first book, “Martha: The Mouth That
Roared,” is being made into a miniseries (it’s about Martha Mitchell
and Watergate) by Sir Ridley Scott’s Scott Free production company.
His two latest books, one tentatively titled “Judaism for the
Disinterested” and the other tentatively titled “Finding Moses:
Rethinking who wrote the Bible’s first books.” They are expected to
be published later this year.
THE DAY SHAMMAI WENT GLOBAL!
Over two decades ago,
Shammai met Dr. Frederik
Paulsen, chairman and CEO
of an international
pharmaceutical company
headquartered at the time
in Copenhagen. The two
men had significant
philosophical discussions
over the next couple of
years. Then, one day, Dr.
Paulsen, who is not Jewish, called Shammai and asked him
to help craft a philosophy for the company that would
reflect the Paulsen family's own values. The result was “The
Ferring Philosophy,” which was unveiled in January 2004.
Today, “The Ferring Philosophy” appears on entry walls in
Ferring facilities worldwide, is the first thing employees see
when they turn on their computers each day, and is among
the first items handed and explained to new hires.
In December 2014, Ferring opened its headquarters for its
U.S. affiliate, Ferring USA, amid great pomp and festivity,
and a very impressive guest list of Nobel Prize winners,
distinguished internationally recognized scientists,
government officials, and others. Shammai delivered the
keynote address at the ceremonies. His address, seen in the
linked film, is bracketed by comments by several Ferring
officials about his effort. We are proud to present
Shammai on this prestigious international stage. Click on
the photo above to view the video.
In March 2024, Ferring USA celebrated reaching $1 billion in
sales, and credited Shammai’s “Ferring Philosophy” for
some of that success. As a result,he was invited to give the
opening remarks at that celebration.
ABOUT SHAMMAI
For nearly three decades, people
travelled from all over Northern New
Jersey (and some even from New York) to
attend his Shabbat and holiday services.
His virtual services, begun during the
coronavirus lockdown, not only have
attracted participants from the tri-state
area, but also from Florida, California,
and Texas, as well as from Canada,
Mexico and, at times, even Israel. These
services continue even now because
those participants don’t want them to
end.
Shammai is also among Northern New
Jersey’s most popular instructors of
continuing adult Jewish education.
People relate to Shammai because
Shammai relates to them.
One reason is the ruach (spirit) he
facilitates during services and the
openness he shows during the classes he
conducts. He is down-to-earth,
accessible, and believes other people
know more about certain subjects than
he does. He’s happy to share his
knowledge in a way that makes things
understandable. He also is not afraid to
admit it when he doesn’t know the
answer to a question—but he does
research it and gets back to the
questioner with an answer.
