Rabbi Larry Bazer

Rabbi Larry Bazer is a vice president of JCC Association and director of JWB Jewish Chaplains Council^® (JWB).  As director of the JWB, he is the ecclesiastical endorser for all main-line Jewish denominations, overseeing over 85 military and VA chaplains and candidates is responsible for Jewish spiritual care, programing, and training across the Armed Forces and Veterans Affairs.

Rabbi Bazer retired last spring from the military after a 35-year career, as the highest-ranking Jewish chaplain in the U.S. military. Prior to his military retirement, he was the deputy director of the National Guard Bureau-Joint Chaplain Office and from 2020-2023 and was duel-hatted as the chief, religious affairs for the Army National Guard. Among his military highlights, he oversaw the chaplaincy response for the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing while serving as the MANG State Chaplain, deployed in 2011 to Afghanistan, and was on the ground following the 9/11 World Trade Center attack.

Rabbi Bazer was ordained by The Jewish Theological Seminary in 1993 and received his Doctor of Ministry degree fro Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in 2013, and an honorary Doctor of Divinity from the Jewish Theological Seminary. Chaplain Bazer served as a Congregational Rabbi from 1993 to 2003 at Temple Beth Chai, Hauppauge, NY and at Temple Beth Sholom, Framingham, MA from 2003 to 2018. 

Chaplain Bazer was privileged with lighting the Hanukkah Menorah at the 2012 White House Hanukkah Celebration with the President of the United States and the First Lady. For the last five years, he has been honored with lighting the Hanukkah Menorah with Representative (FL-D) Debbie Wasserman Schultz.

Chaplain Bazer was born in Lynn, MA and experienced his formative years in West Hartford, CT. He is married to Leslie (Gastwirt) Bazer and has two adult children.