Rabbi Richard Polirer

We booked Rabbi Polirer about a year before our wedding. We hadn't had much communication with him, so about 4 months prior I tried to touch base with him. I sent multiple e-mails, to both of his e-mail accounts, and after not hearing from him, I even sent a Facebook message about a week later. At that point, I was truly worried that something had happened, but when I checked Facebook the next day, I noticed that he had added friends, but not returned my message. I finally called and was told that he had moved and didn't have internet, which didn't make sense seeing as though he had used Facebook. All of our communication went that way from that point on. I'd send multiple e-mails that would be ignored, and then we'd have to call. I don't think I'm particularly needy, I just wanted to make sure we were on the same page about our ceremony, and I'm busy and work 40+ hours a week, so e-mail is just so much easier that calling. My husband and I began to joke that as long as he just showed up, we'd be happy... And then we got a call 3 days before our wedding... According to him, he thought he'd have enough time to perform a Bar Mitzvah in the morning and then make our wedding, but the time of the Bar Mitzvah had been changed and now he couldn't attend our wedding. In his defense, he found someone else to perform the ceremony and that Rabbi was awesome, and he also compensated us a little. BUT, THREE DAYS before and you JUST found out they changed the time?! Give me a break! The ironic thing is that there's another review on him talking about a dental emergency and he couldn't make their wedding. I remember reading that and thinking, "you can't blame him for that, things happen." However, he can be blamed for non-existant communication and double booking and choosing to perform the Bar Mitzvah, where they allegedly changed the time and didn't tell him, as opposed to our wedding.

Rabbi Polirer was fantastic for our interfaith wedding. He made us feel comfortable and enjoyable throughout the entire ceremony. He respected all of our wishes and provided wonderful advice. He was very prompt and understanding.

We found him in the parkland newspaper. He did a great job. We met him once and then filled out papers about us. We asked him not to sing but he sang the whole ceremony. It ended up being great and everyone loved him because he was super funny. We were super confused about the singing. But he kept is short and sweet and wouldn’t of changed anything. I highly recommend.

This Rabbi cancelled on me 2 days before the wedding, and emailed (did not call me) to let me know that he was not coming. I am giving him 1 star because I do appreciate that he gave us the option of a back-up Rabbi, however the last minute switch was definitely not appreciated. Also, I do feel like in this situation he should have called. What if I was not able to check my email 2 days before my wedding, I would have really been screwed. Also of note, he does not participate in rehearsals, so if you want a rabbi that will be there to rehearse, find someone else.

My husband and I had a interfaith wedding and were looking for an officiant that would compliment both religions. Rabbi Richard Polirer did exactly what we wanted. The ceremony was beautiful. I really love the fact that Rabbi Polirer put a little personality into the ceremony. I couldn't have asked for anything more!