Rabbi Laurence Bazer

Rabbi Laurence Bazer (Colonel, Ret. USA) is a vice president of JCC Association and director of JWB Jewish Chaplains Council^® (JWB). Rabbi Bazer enjoyed a distinguished 35-year military career, retiring in 2024 as the highest-ranking Jewish chaplain in the U.S. military. Most recently, he was the deputy director of the National Guard Bureau-Joint Chaplain Office and a longtime spiritual leader of two Conservative Movement synagogues for 25 years. Among his military highlights, he oversaw the chaplaincy response for the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, deployed in 2011 to Afghanistan, and was on the ground following the 9/11 World Trade Center attack. The recipient of numerous military awards and honors, Rabbi Bazer led the 2012 White House Hanukkah menorah lighting and regularly leads it at Congresswoman Wasserman Schultz’s annual congressional Hanukkah celebration. Bazer earned a bachelor’s degree in zoology from Connecticut College and was ordained by The Jewish Theological Seminary. He holds a Doctor of Ministry in pastoral counseling from Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in New York. He and his wife, Leslie, have two adult children who attended JCC summer camp.