Morton Yolkut

In addition to his rabbinical responsibilities, he presided over his congregation's attempt to break the world record for dreidels spinning in unison for 10 seconds. According to an article in Jewish Exponent on December 21, 2006, "This was the third time Shaare Shamayim made headlines for attempting to break records in recent years. In 2002, the synagogue successfully baked the world's largest hamantashen, which measured 20 feet on each side ... In October 2005, Shaare Shamayim teamed up with Gratz College in Elkins Park to make up the largest number of people -- exactly 400 -- blowing a shofar at same time ... Yolkut said that he's proud ... that so many people came together at a time when many synagogues in the area are closing ... 'We've had some mergers with other congregations. They have brought their members and their vitality with them, so all in all, the state of our synagogue is in good shape at this point,' he said."

Morton F. Yolkut (1943–2013) was a nationally renowned rabbi who served Jewish congregations in three American cities, Chicago, Illinois; Southfield, Michigan; and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He represented the American Jewish community at a meeting in 2003 with President George W. Bush and was the Jewish rabbi at the traditional Presidential Inaugural Prayer Service at Washington National Cathedral the day after President Bush's second inauguration, January 21, 2005.

Yolkut was one of the rabbis who met with President George W. Bush at the White House in 2003 and was the Jewish rabbi at the traditional Presidential Inaugural Prayer Service at Washington National Cathedral the day after President Bush's second inauguration, January 21, 2005.

In Yolkut's final pulpit, from 1995 to his retirement in 2008, he was rabbi of Shaare Shamayim-Beth Judah in Northeast Philadelphia.