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Congregation Torat El has tapped Rabbi Aaron Schonbrun to lead the newly merged Monmouth County Conservative synagogue.

"The work of envisioning and creating a vibrant and dynamic holy community is really at the heart of a rabbi's work," the 34-year-old Schonbrun told The Jewish State. "I'm really excited to do that here."

The 625-family synagogue was established several months ago after a merger of Temple Beth Torah of Ocean and Temple Beth El in Oakhurst. While the congregation continues to meet at both locations for services, the synagogue to be used as the permanent home for Torat El will be determined sometime in the next several weeks.

Rabbi Michael Goldstein, rabbi of the former Temple Beth Torah, has accepted a position at Temple Beth Shalom in Spokane, Wash., and Rabbi Gordon Yaffe of the former Temple Beth El will head to Long Island for a position at Little Neck Jewish Center in Little Neck.

For the past six years, Schonbrun has served as one of the rabbis of Congregation Beth David in Saratoga, Calif., which he described as "a wonderful community."

At Beth David, Schonbrun helped developed major synagogue initiatives for all ages, including establishing a group for members in their 20s and 30s, forming the synagogue's first daily minyan, and reconstructing the religious school's curriculum.

During his years in Saratoga, Schonbrun was also involved in the greater San Jose community, including as the rabbinic advisor to the Yavneh Day School, a local K-8 Schechter school, and was a member of the Saratoga Interfaith Ministerial Group.

A San Diego native, Schonbrun graduated from Washington University in St. Louis with degrees in psychology and Jewish/Near Eastern studies. In 2004, he was ordained by the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York, at which time he also received a master's from the seminary's William Davidson School of Education. While in rabbinic school, Schonbrun served as a student rabbi at Congregation Beth El in Baltimore and worked as a chaplain at Roosevelt Hospital in New York.

Schonbrun said he is excited to help lead the recently merged congregation in the coming years.

"We want to build on the best of the past and current that exists and really together develop a mission and vision for Congregation Torat El," he said.

Schonbrun is married to Jane-Rachel, a social worker and Jewish educator, and they are the parents of three children, 4-year-old Aviva, and 2-year-old twins Gavriel and Leora.

With his wife's family located on the East Coast, the move to New Jersey made sense for the whole family, Schonbrun said.

In a yearlong search, the synagogue received more than 30 applicants, according to Peter Gurman, the co-chair of the 10-person search committee, who said he was surprised after the committee was "deluged with qualified applicants from across the country."

"We were looking for a rabbi that strongly identified with our unified congregation and would help us unify," Gurman, an Ocean resident, said.

"He showed us that desire," he added.

After the committee conducted phone or in-person interviews with the applicants, two finalists were selected to come to the synagogue for a Shabbat, in what Gurman described as an "audition."

The entire congregation was actively involved in the decision, Gurman explained. After the respective weekends, congregants were asked to fill out surveys about what they thought about the two finalists.

Rabbi Schonbrun, Gurman said, was "universally accepted by everyone," young and old alike.

"He is a real people person to say the least, and relates well to so many demographics," he added.