For much of October and November, the television at the Cherry Hill Health and Racquet Club was on channel 55 Court TV.

Many of the people at the club knew Rabbi Fred J. Neulander, the defendant in the cable network's marquee murder trial.

Or the victim, his wife Carol.

Or witnesses.

In the lounge and the locker rooms at the club where Neulander played racquetball, the trial was a hotter topic than the weather.

Club manager Brian Kosa said he hears as much outrage about Neulander's affairs as he does about the murder and the rabbi's alleged role in it.

But while everyone seemed to watch, not everyone had something to say.

"The people who were actually involved didn't talk about it at all," said Rob Cortney, owner of the pro shop at the club. "It was a pretty big embarrassment."

On radio talk shows, callers from Cherry Hill argued the case was overpublicized and overanalyzed.

Neulander has been in Camden County Jail since his bail was revoked in June 2000. Carol Neulander, 52, was bludgeoned to death Nov. 1, 1994, in the living room of the family's Wexford Leas home.

Three months later, her husband admitted what he called "indiscretions" with congregants and resigned his post at M'kor Shalom. By then, he was known to be a suspect in her killing.

Neulander, now 60, was charged with murder in 1998; it was upgraded to capital murder last year. Authorities say he arranged his wife's death.

Neulander's trial ended earlier this month with a hung jury. Prosecutors are seeking a retrial again, with the possibility of a death sentence.

"This has been traumatic for us since Nov. 1, 1994, and it still isn't over," said one woman who's been a member of M'kor Shalom for 25 years. "It's very hard that it's not over yet and friends of ours and people we care about will have to testify."

The woman did not want her name used in keeping with the congregation's silence on the case.

Ponzio's, a landmark Cherry Hill diner, and the F&M Deli, a popular Mount Laurel lunch spot, were both mentioned in the trial, and both had the same policy regarding the media.

They and their employees would not comment and customers could not be asked.

The synagogue's volunteer media consultant, Sharla Feldscher, a Cherry Hill resident and longtime member, was willing to talk about the current state of the synagogue.

"M'kor Shalom is stronger than ever," she said. "We have a vital congregation. Our membership keeps growing and I'm very proud to be a member of the synagogue."

M'kor Shalom was founded in 1974 in what was then the booming eastern frontier of Philadelphia's suburbs. Eighteen families formed the congregation, which held services at a series of places including Moorestown Friends School and a warehouse in Mount Laurel.

Fears that the flock would shrink after Carol Neulander's murder have long since subsided, although some members did leave.

Now, there are congregants who don't personally know Neulander.

The two current rabbis were recruited from elsewhere after Neulander's former protege, Gary Mazo, left Cherry Hill in 1999 to head a congregation on Cape Cod, Mass.