Being involved has always been part of Henry Ramer's make-up.

Henry holds a BA from Rutgers in American Civilization and received his law degree from Columbia University. Though retired from law practice since 2012, "retirement" is a relative term for him. He expects to receive a Master's of Science from the Division of Global Affairs at Rutgers in May 2015. His course work at Rutgers keeps him busy with lots of reading material but his curiosity never stops. He is an avid reader and his tastes run wide and varied: fiction, non-fiction, newspapers, and magazines. "I'm like an addict...I'm learning all the time," Henry adds. If his studies weren't enough to keep him busy, he continues the trend with learning Hebrew and Italian (the Italian is pretty similar to Portuguese, which I still remember from my Peace Corps days, believe it or not.)".

This curiosity about the world runs deep. Spending a few months after college working on Kibbutz Ramat Yohanan, Henry continued this volunteerism after law school by joining the Peace Corps and living in Brazil for two years. He has returned to Israel several times with Carol, on an early Shomrei Torah mission, on Federation missions and his whole family. (When applying to grad school at Rutgers, he tallied the number of foreign countries visited, now over 50!) Henry states that travel has given him "an outlook of appreciating diversity, valuing the US and life we have here."

His interest in activism was nurtured by his mother, whom he credits as being most influential on his life. Henry elaborates "My mother was a typical 1950's type housewife, except she was a political activist. She was involved in Vietnam protests and marches, and very active in Temple Emanuel Paterson and Zionist causes."She set the activist example for me. I ran for N.J. State Assembly in the 1970's. Nowadays I look back and wonder what I thought I was doing, getting involved in politics."

Being active in Shomrei Torah is a family affair (his wife, Carol has held various positions in Sisterhood and is currently serving on the Board of Trustees). With Carol setting the example for activism, Henry, along with Harold WIllner, is a co-chair of the Adult Ed program committee. He is also on the Ritual Committee and admires Stuart Skolnick's and the other committee members' deep knowledge of Jewish ritual and practice. He attends services regularly and is known as the "Friday morning minyan bagel guy." Henry's legal skills have also been recruited by Shomrei Torah president, Cindy Merker, and he adds, "I am only too happy to help Cindy; she does a hard job really well." Henry works with Diane Seltzer and Family Promise of Passaic County and volunteers his time when Shomrei Torah is hosting: "Since nobody seems to want to do it, I end up doing the sleepovers and I can say without fear of contradiction I have slept with some of ST's finest women."

Who knew Henry could SING? This talent, (unbeknownst to everyone, including Henry himself), was revealed with his participation in the Purim Shpiel. Henry declares that he loves working with the group and is grateful for Beth Julie's inspired leadership.

In discussing Shomrei Torah, Henry has a definite idea on the path and responsibility of its members. "I think the synagogue leadership should take a greater part in its religious activities, like coming to synagogue on holidays and Sabbath, but I don't see that changing too fast. Haranguing them would be counter-productive."
He goes on to state how much he likes being part of Shomrei Torah, not only for the people, but also that it "gives me an opportunity to learn, to participate and to help. I think Rabbi Mark is underappreciated. Whenever I've wanted to learn more about some aspect of the religion, or to try leading part of a Sabbath service, he has been helpful and encouraging. He is part of why I feel close to the synagogue."

Responsibility and being Jewish goes hand-in-hand for Henry. He views being Jewish as an opportunity to connect to a tradition, way of life, body of learning and thought.

"When my mother died, I felt grief that I couldn't articulate or express, but I didn't have to reinvent the wheel. The forms of Judaism fit very well. It is a guide, devised by many smart people over the centuries. Thanks to a recommendation from Rabbi Mark, to whom I am grateful, I now am a World Justice Fellow at the American Jewish World Service, kind of a Jewish Peace Corps. The idea is try to apply Jewish ideas and resources to issues of development in the global south."

This responsibility along with a sense of protectiveness extends to the state of Israel. A contributor to AIPAC and Federation, he is concerned about the political climate.

"I couldn't say exactly what I'd do differently if I were the Prime Minister." The country is in a tough neighborhood. It's hard for us Americans to appreciate their problems. Not living there, I'm reluctant to believe I can tell them what to do. I understand the idea of an existential threat from Iran. Over and over, the country has to pick among the least bad choices."

Closer to home, Henry was born and raised in Paterson and moved to Wayne in 1981, with his wife Carol and two young daughters (both of whom were bat mitzvah at Shomrei Torah). His delight and joy is time spent with his growing family. His daughter Paula is a lawyer and counsel to the Manhattan law firm of Kaye Scholer. Paula is married to Jordan Brenner and the mother of Eli (4) and Alexandra (4 months). Sarah Ramer is an intern/resident at Hackensack Hospital and University Hospital in Newark is soon to be a nephrologist. Henry and Carol relishes the two days a week spent with their grandchildren and succulently expresses that they "love it, love it."