Torah Café: Caffeine & Commentary (In-Person with a Zoom option available beginning in November)
Nourish your mind, body and soul at our interactive Torah learning with clergy and fellow congregants. Breakfast, coffee and tea will be served.
Arielle (she/her) served as a rabbinic intern here at Rodeph Sholom in the summer of 2023 through the Tisch Fellowship. She was ordained in May, 2024 by the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in New York and joined CRS as Assistant Rabbi in July.
Arielle’s Jewish journey started as a child growing up in the Conservative movement before she found her home within the Reform movement. While at HUC-JIR, Arielle served as rabbinic intern at Columbia-Barnard Hillel, Congregation B’nai Shalom in Bristol, TN, and as a rabbinic fellow with the Center for Small Town Jewish Life in Maine. Arielle has taught adults and youth across the world, including with the Union for Reform Judaism, Jewish Learning Collaborative, and as a visiting instructor at Colby College. She is passionate about integrating Judaism and visual art, a topic explored in her rabbinic thesis, an illustrated exploration of the Song of Songs and its medieval commentary. In addition to her rabbinic studies, Arielle also holds a BFA in Studio Art from New York University.
Justin Callis (he/him), our Cantorial Intern, is a fourth-year student at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in the Debbie Friedman School of Sacred Music. He is the recipient of the Reuben Peretz Abelson Prize for dedication to Yiddish Song, the Temple Israel of Boston Cantorial Prize, and the Lee Gura Memorial Prize for Aptitude in Synagogue Choral Music.
A native of West Hartford, CT, he was an active participant in his home congregation of Congregation Beth Israel. Justin earned a Bachelor of Science in Theatre and English and a Certificate in Music Theatre from Northwestern University in 2011. While in Chicago, IL, he was an active participant in its religious music scene, having worked there as a teaching artist, music director, and composer. He also worked extensively with youth of all ages and backgrounds.
Justin then served as the student cantor for East End Temple in New York City and Washington Hebrew Congregation in Washington, DC. For Justin, becoming a cantor has been a lifelong calling. He told the Washington Jewish Week (July 27, 2021), “I’ve always had the experience of, whenever I walk into a synagogue, someone always asks me, ‘Are you a cantor? You should be a cantor!’”
Cantor Sam Rosen grew up in Sugar Land, Texas, and completed Bachelor’s degrees in Music (Ethnomusicology) and Jewish Studies at the University of Texas at Austin. In 2013, he moved to New York City and earned a Master’s degree in Jewish History at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America (2015) and was ordained as a cantor by the Debbie Friedman School of Sacred Music at HUC-JIR in May 2022. An avid home cook, Sam loves sharing recipes and culinary creations with friends and family near and far. Since August 2022 he has served as Cantor at Congregation Beit Simchat Torah (CBST), the LGBTQ synagogue of New York City.
Kirsten Agresta Copely is an international award-winning harpist and composer who has made music in four continents for heads of state (U.S. President Obama, Mexican President Felipé Calderon), in blockbuster movie soundtracks (Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian), alongside Billboard 100 artists (Lady Gaga, Beyoncé), on late night television (Saturday Night Live), and on the most recognized world stages as a classical artist. Copely served as the Associate Professor of Harp at Vanderbilt University Blair School of Music (2017-2021) and Affiliated Artist at Sarah Lawrence College (2003-2014). A Voting Member of The Recording Academy (NARAS), member of ASCAP and the World Harp Congress Board of Directors, she holds degrees from Indiana University (B.M. & M.M.).
Sam Chung was born in Seoul and raised in Vancouver. Sam received his Bachelor in Classical Cello Performance at MSM in May of 2021 with a commencement award (Hugo Kortschak Award) for outstanding achievement in chamber music. An avid string quartet player, Sam has performed at the WQXR Radio station Midday Special concert (Elysian String Quartet) and also the opening of the MET museum’s art gallery opening concert. Most recently, he returned to Manhattan School of Music with a shared studio of David Geber and Philippe Muller under President’s award scholarship for Masters in Classical Cello Performance. Meanwhile his newly established String Quartet, ‘Dyllis String Quartet’ was accepted into the prestigious International Mozart Competition Salzburg 15th edition and participated in the Robert Mann String Quartet Seminar.
Cantor Jonathan Comisar’s eclectic music background includes Eastman School of Music (pre-college), Oberlin Conservatory (piano) and a Masters in classical composition from the Manhattan School of Music. Comisar is an ordained Cantor with a Masters in Sacred Music from the Hebrew Union College Debbie Friedman School of Sacred Music and currently serves as spiritual leader of Congregation Beth Torah in Florham Park, NJ. He is a highly esteemed and sought after composer of Jewish themed music and has received numerous commissions and artist residencies from synagogues and Jewish organizations throughout North America. Cantor Jonathan Comisar has served on the faculty of the Debbie Friedman School of Sacred Music since 2009, teaching classes on music theory, arranging, and composition. He brings a unique spark of musical creativity to his coaching/mentorship of cantorial students, teaching and encouraging them to bring all of their musical talents to their future congregations.
J. David Williams was born in the small Tennessee town of Paris and was exposed to music from the very beginning owing to the fact that his mother is a church musician, choir director, and singer. After high school, he attended Union University in Jackson, Tennessee, Memphis State University, and received his Bachelor of Music in Organ Performance at the University of Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music. He then moved to New York City and studied organ at The Juilliard School for a Master’s degree, then later at Manhattan School of Music for a Doctoral degree. Mr. Williams has held numerous church positions including Associate Organist at The Riverside Church, and temple positions including Music Director and Soloist at Progressive Temple Beth Ahavath Sholom. Presently, he is the Music Director at Congregation Rodeph Sholom and Director of Music at The Lafayette Avenue Presbyterian Church in Brooklyn, New York.
Corey Schutzer, bass, can currently be heard on Broadway in the Tony-nominated production, New York, New York, having played in numerous productions prior. A graduate of The Juilliard School, Corey now performs and records regularly with the Paragon Ragtime Orchestra and has held a chair for the past 8 seasons of the Radio City Christmas Spectacular. The highlight of his week is performing in Erev Shabbat services every Friday at Congregation Rodeph Sholom.
John Hadfield (Drums/percussion) As a composer and percussionist, John Hadfield’s dedication to music has taken him from his native Missouri to concert halls and clubs across the world. He has released three albums of his own compositions—John Hadfield’s Paris Quartet, The Eye of Gordon and Displaced and has composed for many projects, including Heard By Others, a duo project with Lenny Pickett, Believers a trio with Brad Shepik and Sam Minaie, For James a duo with Ron Blake, as well as the feature-length documentary After Spring. In 2019 he composed and performed in Apologue 2047, a multimedia performance art piece directed by Zhang Yimo which explored themes of the relationships of humans and technology. John’s ability to cross genres has allowed him to appear with a broad range of artists such as Kinan Azmeh’s City Band, Nguyen Le’s STREAMS Quartet, the Saturday Night Live Band on NBC, Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra and the Silk Road Ensemble. He has collaborated on more than 100 recordings, including the GRAMMY award winner Yo-Yo Ma and Friends, Songs of Joy and Peace.
Elana Arian is a composer, multi-instrumentalist, and prayer leader, and is one of the leading voices in contemporary Jewish music today. Elana’s music is part of Jewish life across the globe, and her compositions are sung in spiritual communities, summer camps, and synagogues from Louisville to London, from Chicago to the Czech Republic, and everywhere in between. Elana serves proudly on the faculty of Hava Nashira, the Wexner Heritage Foundation, Shirei Chagiga, and as an instructor at the Hebrew Union Collegein New York, where she teaches in the Debbie Friedman School of Sacred Music.
Elana has performed at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Tanglewood, and perhaps most memorably, five separate appearances at the (Obama) White House. She lives in New York with her wife, Julia, and their two daughters, Maya and Acadia.
Daniel Bailen is a bassist, guitarist, singer and award-winning songwriter born and raised in New York City. His performing experience began at the Metropolitan Opera’s Children’s Chorus where he appeared in over 10 operas and was a featured soloist in A Midsummer’s Night Dream, singing alongside the likes of Luciano Pavarotti, Rene Fleming and Placido Domingo.
Daniel’s band, BAILEN, with his twin brother and sister, have toured internationally. Their debut record, Thrilled to Be Here, was released on Fantasy Records and produced by Grammy winning producer, John Congleton. Rolling Stone Magazine titled their review “Bailen conjure CS&N, Fleetwood Mac and TLC on an impressive debut”. Their song “I Was Wrong” reached the top 10 on Billboard’s Adult Alternative Chart and their album garnered praise from artists of all generations including David Crosby to Hozier, who took them as his opening act on his 2019 U.S tour. NPR voted their song “Something Tells Me” #5 on the Best Songs of 2019, and Spotify included it on their list of best alternative songs of the past decade. Bailen has also toured and worked with Amos Lee, Grace Potter, Joseph, Local Natives, The Lone Bellow, Head and The Heart, Lucius, and X Ambassadors. They have performed their music on CBS this Morning, The Today Show, and Dermot O’Leary’s BBC Radio2 produced music for Hulu’s “Looking For Alaska” and FX’s “Son’s of Anarchy.”
Daniel has also performed extensively as an actor-musician. He has starred in the hit Off-Broadway show, What’s it All About; Bacharach Reimagined directed by Steven Hoggett at New York Theatre Workshop and The Menier Chocolate Factory in London. The show was renamed Close To You: Bacharach Reimagined when it transferred to London’s West End, which Daniel also starred in. He was featured on Upright Bass, Electric Bass, Cello, Guitars and Vocals.
As a bassist Daniel has also toured extensively with Grammy nominated Jazz virtuoso, Raul Midon, and appears on records, or has performed with, Burt Bacharach, Bill Withers, Jonathan Batiste, Dianne Reeves, Liz Wright and the New York Pops.
Sarah Adams, viola, performs locally with the New York Chamber Ensemble, the Claring Chamber Players, the Sherman Chamber Ensemble, the Friends of Mozart, and the Saratoga Chamber Players.
She is principal violist of the Brooklyn Philharmonic and the Riverside Symphony and the violist of the Roerich Quartet,performing and recording in NYC, upstate New York and Vermont.
Formerly violist with the Cassatt Quartet and assistant principal violist with the Houston Symphony Orchestra, Ms. Adams is a member of the American Ballet Theatre, and performs with Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, the American Symphony Orchestra, the New York City Opera Orchestra, and the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, among others.
She has performed as soloist with the Jupiter and Riverside
Symphonies in Alice Tully Hall as well as in recital with the New York Viola Society.
Ms. Adams’ festival appearances include the Bard Music Festival, the Cape May Music Festival, the Windham Music Festival, the Sherman Chamber Music Festival, and the Catskill Mountain Foundation concerts.
Ms. Adams has been teaching viola and chamber music at Columbia University since 1993.
Violinist Michael Roth is a native of Scarsdale, NY and received his early musical training with Frances Magnes at the Hoff-Barthelson Music School. He attended Oberlin College and Conservatory, continuing his studies with Marilyn McDonald. At Oberlin, he won the Kaufman Prize for violin and First Prize in the Ohio String Teacher’s Association Competition. He completed his Master of Music degree at the University of Massachusetts where he worked with the distinguished American violinist and pedagogue Charles Treger and was a recipient of the Julian Olevsky Award. Mr. Roth is currently associate concertmaster of the New York City Ballet Orchestra and has appeared in chamber music and as a soloist with the company, most recently in the debut of “Slice Too Sharp”, a ballet of Biber and Vivaldi violin concerti, and “After the Rain”, violin music of Arvo Part. In addition he is a member of the Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra, Principal 2nd violin of the Westchester Philharmonic, the American Composers Orchestra and the New York Pops. He was concertmaster of the Vermont Mozart Festival Orchestra for many years and often appeared as soloist there, as well as at the Caramoor and Bard Music Festivals. He has played and toured internationally with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and the New York Chamber Soloists.
As a chamber musician, Mr. Roth has collaborated on violin and viola with artists such as Eugene Drucker, Menahem Pressler, James Buswell, Steven Doane, Hamao Fujiwara and members of the Brentano, Manhattan and Ying Quartets, and recently presented a recital of contemporary Cuban solo violin and chamber music in Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall under the auspices of the American Composers Orchestra. With Orpheus, the Eos Orchestra, Philharmonia Virtuosi, The New York Pops and the American Composers Orchestra and others, Mr. Roth has recorded for the Sony, Angel, Telarc, Decca, BMG, Point Music, ESSA.Y. and Arbors Music labels.
Mr. Roth has recorded for the Sony, Angel, Telarc, Decca, BMG, Point Music, ESSA.Y. and Arbors Music labels.
Known for his sweet and “sumptuous” (New York Times) tone, American-born Doori Na took up violin at the age of four and began his studies with Li Lin at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. He quickly made his first performance with orchestra at age seven with the Peninsula Youth Symphony as the first prize winner of the concerto competition. Thereafter Mr. Na went on to win top prizes in The Sound of Music Festival, The Korea Times Youth Music Competition, the Chinese Music Teacher’s Association, The Menuhin Dowling Young Artist Competition, The Junior Bach Festival, VOCE of the Music Teacher’s Association of California, and The Pacific Musical Society. Receiving full scholarships to private high school Crossroads School of Arts and Sciences in Santa Monica, he moved to Los Angeles to study with renown violin teacher, Robert Lipsett, at The Colburn Music School. There he appeared as soloist with the Palisades Symphony, Brentwood Symphony, and Torrance Symphony. During that time, the summer of 2004 was Mr. Na’s first time at the Perlman Music Program where his expression and musical identity were greatly influenced. He has been a part of the program ever since and participated in many of their special residencies in Florida, Vermont, New York, and Israel.
Currently living in New York City, Mr. Na plays with numerous ensembles around the city. He has played with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra with tours in the US, Japan, and Europe performing in venues such as Carnegie Hall in New York and the Musiverien in Vienna. Other orchestras include American Symphony Orchestra at Bard College, American Ballet Theatre at the Metropolitan Opera House, and Riverside Symphony at the Alice Tully Hall in Lincoln Center. The music of our time has also been an integral part of Mr. Na’s New York life. He is part of the New Music Project of Argento Chamber Ensemble performing the works of Georg Friedrich Haas, Beat Furrer, Tristan Murail, and many more. One of his favorite groups to work with is New Chamber Ballet, where he has been a member since 2013. He provides live solo music for dance at their regular venue of City Center Studios and have also gone on tour to Lake Tahoe, Germany, and Guatemala.
Ted Rosenthal is one of the leading jazz pianist/composers of his generation. He actively tours worldwide with his trio, as a soloist, and has performed with many jazz greats, including Gerry Mulligan, Art Farmer, Phil Woods, Bob Brookmeyer, and James Moody.
Rosenthal’s orchestral performances include solo and featured appearances with The Detroit Symphony, The Phoenix Symphony The Boston Pops, The Grand Rapids Symphony, The Rochester Philharmonic, The Pittsburgh Symphony and The Fort Worth Symphony. Rosenthal performed Gershwin’s Concerto in F and Rhapsody in Blue for the opening concert of the 92nd Street Y’s 2015-16 season. The New York Times called his playing “notable both for its flair and languid, sultry expressive gestures.” In 2014 Rosenthal performed Rhapsody in Blue at Town Hall in a concert celebrating the 90th anniversary of its premiere.
Alan Goodis is a touring Jewish musician playing over 150 events a year. Born and raised in Toronto, Alan is a proud product of URJ Goldman Union Camp Institute. Noted for his dedication to building relationships and community through music, Alan tours throughout the US to serve as an Artist-In-Residence and performer at Temples, Youth Conventions and Jewish summer camps.
For more than a decade, Alan has been a strong presence in the Reform Jewish movement to engage and empower Jewish youth and adults through music. He’s served as Musical Director for NFTY InternationalConvention and on faculty at Hava Nashira. In 2011, he developed Nashir: NFTY Teen Song leading Institute in partnership with the URJ to provide meaningful song leader training to high school students. Alan has been a featured performer and presenter at URJ Biennials and the Wexner Foundation. In 2014, Alan released his long awaited full-length studio album “This Place.” In 2016, Alan co-founded “Friday Night: A Key ShabbatCelebration” with two Chicago congregations to engage underserved young professionals. Later that year he was named to Chicago’s Jewish 36 under 36. Later this year Alan will release a new album entitled Joy.
Alan lives in Chicago with his wife Codi and their daughters Noa and Maya. To learn more about Alan visit: www.alangoodis.com.
Julie Silver is one of the most celebrated and beloved performers in the world of contemporary Jewish music today. She tours throughout the world, and has been engaging audiences with her gorgeous compositions and liturgical settings, her lyrical guitar playing, her dynamic stage presence, and her megawatt smile for over 25 years.
Dan is a product of the URJ Jewish camping movement. He has toured Jewish summer camps across North America for the last 15 years. A classically trained singer, Dan received his Bachelor of Music degree in vocal performance at the University of North Carolina. In 1995, realizing the potential of music to make powerful connections with Jewish youth, Dan established the Jewish rock band Eighteen. Since that time, Dan and Eighteen have released 13 albums. Songs like, L’takein, B’tzelem Elo-him, Kehillah Kedoshah, Chazak, Sweet As Honey, and Asher Yatzar have become Jewish communal anthems throughout North America.
Dan has toured over 190 days for the last 20 years, where he often serves as artist-in-residence and teacher for congregations and camp communities. He has served on the faculty of Hava Nashira since 2001. In 2009 he co-founded Shulhouse Rock, a song leading workshop for Jewish high-school students. He has performed live in Israel at the historic fortress of Masada and in the studio for the groundbreaking XM Radio presentation of Radio Hanukkah.
Dan created the Road to Eden Deep South Sukkot Tour to bring the message of Sukkot to communities in the southern United States, where he and his band played 11 shows in 10 days. Their experiences are captured in the documentary film, Road to Eden. In addition to these highlights, Dan has been featured at conferences and conventions of nearly every major Jewish movement, including the URJ Biennial, NFTY Convention, BBYO International, Limmud and the Wexner Heritage Program.
Naomi Less is an internationally celebrated singer/songwriter, ritualist and educator. Beloved for her warm smile and inviting presence, communities celebrate her imagination and innovation, tenderness and pizzazz! Her original music is sung in worship communities worldwide. Naomi serves as Co-Founder, Ritual Leader and Associate Director of Lab/Shul and is a leader in amplifying women’s voices through her work at Songleader Boot Camp and her Jewish Women Rock show on Jewish Rock Radio. Naomiadvocates for people struggling with fertility journeys as a performance artist and speaker for Uprooted: A Jewish Response to Fertility Challenges. Fun fact: Naomi and her husband wrote the song shine/Yivarech’cha, a Friday night blessing, specifically composed for URJ Crane Lake Camp, sung every Friday night in the dining hall.
Her destiny became obvious to Joanie Leeds’ parents when, at the tender age of 2, Joanie grabbed the performer’s mic at a party and belted out the entire song“Tomorrow” from Annie. Jaws dropped! No one could remember ever hearing a big voice like that coming from one so tiny and certainly no one would have thought she would one day earn a GRAMMY® Award for her original music.
As a musical theater major at Syracuse University, Joanie began composing her own songs. After graduation, she did the New York City thing, bartending at The Bitter End when not on stage performing. While making the rounds as a singer/songwriter in NewYork clubs (her favorites were Rockwood, The Bitter End, The Living Room, Arlene’sGrocery and CBGB’s), Joanie tried her hand at about ten different day gigs until a friend suggested that she get a job where she could sing with kids during the day and perhaps sleep at night. You could say that Joanie found (as in “discovered”) herself, managing one of the Manhattan Gymboree locations and singing with and for kids all day long. The nocturnal club scene was fun, but making music with children was real fun. Life clicked into place when Joanie realized that when she was with children, they transformed themselves into amazing creatures of joy, forgetting how to hold back. Seeing the kids get in touch with their true selves gave Joanie a sense of fulfillment that far surpassed playing for adults on the club circuit.
The songs that Joanie Leeds began turning out reflected this sense that life is a joyful adventure. Entertaining at birthday parties and pre- schools soon progressed into concert performances nationwide back in 2008 and has since generated material for nine full length albums: City Kid!, Challah, Challah, I’m A Rock Star, What A Zoo, Bandwagon, Good Egg, Meshugana, Brooklyn Baby and most recently, GRAMMY®Nominated All the Ladies! Joanie has also released 2 full length DVDs, City Kid Live and Joanie Leeds & The Nightlights- Live from Madison Square Park.
Over the past decade, Joanie has won 1st place in the USA Songwriting Competition, an Independent Music Award, a GOLD Parents’ Choice Award, NAPPA GOLD Award, Family Choice Award and is a John Lennon Songwriting Competition Finalist and international Songwriting Competition Finalist. She has performed at venues nationwide including Lollapalooza, Clearwater Festival, The Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center, Wolftrap and Levitt Pavilion. Her music has been featured in the New York Times, People Magazine, Parents Magazine, Billboard and The Washington Post and played on radio stations and rose to #1 on Sirius XM’s Kids Place Live.
Joanie released her GRAMMY® AWARD WINNING album (All the Ladies) in April 2020 during the ongoing pandemic and spent the pandemic working on song commission work, releasing several singles and performing from home. Joanie is thrilled to be back on tour bringing songs from her 9 albums to a city near you. Her favorite job of all is mama to her 6 year old daughter.
A composer, multi-instrumentalist, and prayer leader, Elana Arian is one of the leading voices in contemporary Jewish music. Elana’s music is part of Jewish life across the globe, and her compositions are sung in spiritual communities, summer camps, and synagogues from Louisville to London, from Chicago to the CzechRepublic, and everywhere in between. Elana just released her fourth album of original music, The Other Side of Fear, and her compositions have been published in countless Transcontinental Music collections. Elana serves proudly on the faculty of Hava Nashira (Oconomowoc, WI), the Wexner Heritage Foundation (Aspen, CO), Shirei Chagiga (London, England), and as an instructor at the Hebrew Union College in New York, where she teaches in the Debbie Friedman School of Sacred Music. Elana has performed at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Tanglewood, and perhaps most memorably, five separate appearances at the (Obama) White House. She lives in New York with her wife, Julia, and their two daughters, Maya and Acadia.
Known for his unique, engaging, and deeply soulful approach, Noah Aronson is considered one of the most sought after Jewish musicians in North America, making over 65 community appearances each year.
There is a reason why Time Magazine has listed Michelle in their Top Ten list of Jewish rock stars.
Best known as a pioneer in creating holiday viral videos on Youtube that have garnered millions of views and leading soulful worship services, Michelle enjoys “taking what’s old and making it new” to help people connect to the rich tradition, culture and wisdom of Judaism.
Michelle’s music is celebrated in Jewish communities around the world, on radio and on television and her knack for songwriting and composition has led to a variety of accolades such as ranking as one of Billboard Music’s top Songwriters, A VH1 Song of the Year Finalist, and is proud to have been considered one of Jewish Week’s “Next Wave of Jewish Innovators.”
Kol B’Seder has been composing and performing contemporary Jewish music since the early1970s. Rabbi Dan Freelander and Cantor Jeff Klepper met as college students; over the past 50years they have released numerous CDs and songbooks. With Debbie Friedman (z”l) and others, they forged a new musical sound for American Jewish camps, schools and synagogues. Their songs, such as “Shalom Rav,” “Modeh Ani,” and “Lo Alecha,” have become traditionalJewish melodies around the world. They are delighted to be inaugurating their fiftieth anniversary celebration by appearing in support of URJ camps, where they first composed and incubated many of their early songs.
Rabbi Mira Weller (she/her) received her ordination at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Los Angeles in May 2022. She studied Culture and Politics at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service and received her Master’s in Jewish Education at the Rhea Hirsch School of Education at HUC-JIR. She is the proud recipient of awards for her studies in rabbinic literature, her work in Jewish education, and she was granted the Myrtle Lorch Pfaelzer-Monroe Pfaelzer Award for an Outstanding Female Rabbinical School Student (2022). Rabbi Mira speaks Hebrew and Spanish (so please practice with her!). She has a passion for uncovering new possibilities in the great wealth of our tradition and for making music inspired by Judaism’s many cultures. Her guilty pleasures include cupcakes, classical music, and philosophy.
New York bassist Roger Wagner enjoys a long and diverse career. As soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral bassist, Mr. Wagner has appeared on many of the world’s great concert stages.
Born in Honolulu Hawaii, he played the violin before switching to the double bass at the age of 13 and later went on to study at the Juilliard School with famed teachers Homer Mensch and David Walter.
In 1985, Wagner was appointed Solo Bassist with the Munich Chamber Orchestra, an ensemble with which he toured throughout Europe, Japan, Korea and Taiwan.
Wagner is associated with the venerable choral ensembles Musica Sacra of New York, The Oratorio Society of New York, The Choirs of St. Ignatius Loyola, and The Cathedral of St. John the Divine and has performed extensively with acclaimed choral conductor Kent Tritle.
Wagner appears regularly with The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, The New York City Ballet, and The American Ballet Theater among many other ensembles in the tri-state region.
He has played on many classical recordings with Philharmonia Virtuosi and The Munich Chamber Orchestra. In addition, he has recorded numerous television and motion picture soundtracks.
Todd Groves is a New York City based performer and composer, performing and recording on saxophones, flutes, clarinets, recorders, and world flutes. His performances range from Broadway pit orchestras to jazz ensembles, commercial ensembles, classical orchestras, solo appearances, and more. Todd plays Reed 1 for Disney’s Aladdin on Broadway; has been an orchestra member for the Radio City Christmas Spectacular and NY City Center’s Encores since 2009; has performed with the New York Philharmonic, Metropolitan Opera (receiving a Grammy for being a part of the 2019 recording of Porgy and Bess), Philadelphia Orchestra, New York Pops, NYC Ballet, the Knights, American Symphony; and is a member of both the New York and New Jersey Saxophone Quartets. Other recent Broadway: Sunday In The Park With George, Motown, Nice Work If You Can Get It, Follies, Catch Me If You Can. He has performed with Seth Macfarlane, Audra McDonald, Michael Feinstein, Kristin Chenoweth, Randy Newman, Johnny Mathis, Boyz II Men, Natalie Cole, Aretha Franklin and many others. Todd is adjunct professor of saxophone and jazz at the University of Delaware, saxophone at Brooklyn College, and woodwind doubling at New Jersey City University. He also teaches at the Summer Music in Tuscany chamber music festival. As a composer, Todd focuses on writing chamber music for woodwinds and music for jazz ensembles of various sizes. Check out his videos where he performs all of the parts for many of his compositions at his website, toddgrovesmusic.com.
Oboist Setsuko Otake, a founding member of the Broadway Chamber Players, enjoys a diverse career as chamber musician, orchestral performer, and teacher.
Throughout the U.S. and Japan, she has presented numerous chamber music recitals with various woodwind quintet and trio groups-including the 2002 recital debut at the Carnegie Weil Recital Hall. She currently holds the second oboe/ English Horn position with the Riverside Symphonia in Lambertville, New Jersey. And as a freelance oboist, regularly appeared with New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, New Jersey Festival Orchestra, and Queens Symphony.
On Broadway, frequently appeared as a substitute member including Miss Saigon, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, On the Town, Les Miserables, Porgy and Bess, and Mary Poppins to name few. Most recently she was the oboist for the Grammy nominated The Public Theater production of Soft Power.
She received her bachelor’s degree from the Toho Gakuen School of Music, and her master’s degree from the Manhattan School of Music, where she studied with former New York Philharmonic oboist Joseph Robinson. During the summer, she is an oboe and chamber music coach at the Summerkeys, adult music camp in Lubec, Maine. Ms. Otake is also the oboe teacher at the Packer Collegiate Institute in Brooklyn,Rodeph Sholom School, and from 2021 at The Dalton School in Manhattan.
The guitarist Oren Fader played Brilliantly.” — The New York Times.
“His scholarship, technique, and intelligent musicianship are plainly evident and the beauty of his tone is consistently compelling.”— Guitar Review
Classical and electric guitarist Oren Fader (www.orenfader.com) has performed in Asia, Europe, and throughout the United States. Concerto performances include the Villa-Lobos Guitar Concerto with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, and Rodrigo’s “Concierto de Aranjuez” with the New Jersey and the Omaha Symphonies.
Mr. Fader has performed hundreds of concerts with a wide range of classical and new music groups, including the Met Chamber Ensemble, Cygnus Ensemble, Bowers Fader Duo, New York Philharmonic, Talea Ensemble, ICE, Mark Morris Dance Group, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, and the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center.
He has premiered over 250 solo and chamber works with guitar, and can be heard on over 50 commercial recordings and film.
Mr. Fader received his undergraduate degree from SUNY Purchase and his Master of Music degree from Florida State University. His major teachers include David Starobin and Bruce Holzman. Since 1994 Mr. Fader has been on the guitar and chamber music faculty of the Manhattan School of Music. He also directs the classical guitar programs at Montclair State University and SUNY Purchase.
Sarah Adams has appeared as viola soloist with the Riverside and Jupiter Symphonies in Alice Tully Hall, Orchestra of St. Luke’s at Caramoor, Berkshire Bach Ensemble, Washington Square Music Festival, Philharmonia Virtuosi, and Adelphi Chamber Orchestra. Ms. Adams appeared as recitalist for the Hong Kong Chamber Series, Houston Chamber Music Society, Parnassus, New York Viola Society, Long Island Composer’s Alliance, Brooklyn Philharmonic’s Off the Wall series and at the Cosmos Club in Washington, DC. Ms. Adams is a long-time member of Sherman Chamber Ensemble and the New York Chamber Ensemble, and former violist of the Cassatt, Tahoe, and Roerich Quartets. She performed and recorded with Smithsonian Chamber Players, Windham Chamber Orchestra and Parnassus, and appeared as guest artist with the Amernet Quartet, Haverford College Music Series, Bard Summerscape, Friends of Mozart, Claring Chamber Series, New Jersey Chamber Music Society, Speculum Musicae, Si-Yo Chamber Concerts, and the Metropolitan Museum Chamber Series. Ms. Adams is principal violist of the Riverside Symphony, a member of American Ballet Theatre, Orchestra of St. Luke’s, Little Orchestra Society and New York City Opera, and performs frequently with New York City Ballet. She was formerly principal violist of the Brooklyn Philharmonic, associate principal violist of the Houston Symphony Orchestra, guest principal violist of American Symphony Orchestra, and appeared frequently with Orpheus, the New York Philharmonic and the Metropolitan Opera. Summer festivals include NYC Ballet at SPAC, Festival Napa Valley, Classical Tahoe, Cape May Music Festival, Windham Music Festival, Seal Bay American Chamber Music Festival, Music Mountain, and Bargemusic. Sarah’s Broadway credits include Jerome Robbin’s Broadway, Kiss of the Spiderwoman, Candide, Aida, La Boheme and Swan Lake. She has recorded for the Atlantic, Dorian, Koch, New World, Nimbus, Nonesuch and Virgin labels, and performs on a Hiroshi Iizuka viola, circa 1982. Ms. Adams has been a Music Associate at Columbia University since 1993, where she teaches viola and chamber music, and is director of Viola Hour. Sarah and her family live in Cortlandt Manor, N.Y, where she is an amateur gardener, bread baker, mandolinist, and chief dog walker.
Leonard Bernstein described Paul Woodiel as “a first-class performer who combines spirituality with intellect.” A busy New York-based purveyor of violin and fiddle music, his broad stylistic compass includes the dance fiddle traditions of America and the British Isles, ragtime and jazz, and the music of Charles Ives. Mr. Woodiel has presented recitals at the 92nd St. Y, Wesleyan University, Caramoor, Miller Theater, Yale University, and the New York Festival of Song at Carnegie Hall, and has appeared as soloist at festivals from Bard College to Moab, Utah. A veteran of dozens of Broadway orchestras, Mr. Woodiel has dozens of productions to his credit, including Ragtime, Sunset Boulevard, West Side Story, and Sting’s The Last Ship. A three-time New England Fiddle Contest champion in his hometown, Hartford, CT, Mr. Woodiel is a widely respected exponent of the fiddle traditions of New England. In this vein, he performs across the US and abroad with the Scottish dance band Local Hero. His many film credits include Woody Allen films and Carter Burwell scores, and he is heard on recordings for Tony Bennett, Sting, Fall Out Boy, and over 20 Broadway cast albums. Other engagements have included performances and recordings with Steve Reich, piano wizards Dick Hyman and Neely Bruce, Marin Alsop’s Concordia, Vince Giordano’s Nighthawks, American Composers Orchestra and the Grammy Awards Orchestra. Mr. Woodiel’s proudest achievements to date are his son Carter and daughter Tennessee.
Praised by the New York Times as “irresistible in both music and performance.” flutist, Susan Rotholz continues to be in demand as a soloist, chamber and orchestral musician and teacher. Winner of Young Concert Artists with Hexagon Piano and Winds and of Concert Artists Guild as soloist, Susan is Principal Flute of the Greenwich Symphony, The New York Pops and The New York Chamber Ensemble and is a member of the Orchestra of St. Luke’s and the Little Orchestra Society. She has performed as soloist and toured nationally and internationally with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra.
Susan Rotholz is co-founder of the Sherman Chamber Ensemble presenting multi-genre chamber music concerts, she also appears each season with the Cape May Music Festival, Greenwich Chamber Players the Sebago Long Lake Chamber Music Festival, Chamber Music at Rodeph Sholom and the Saratoga Chamber Players.
Susan attended the Yale School of Music in 1979-81 and the Marlboro Music Festival in 1980 and 1981 and through the Marlboro Festival, became the principal flutist with the New England Bach Festival for the following 25 years. Her recordings of the complete Bach Flute Sonatas and the Solo Partita with the late forte–pianist, Kenneth Cooper and the more recently released American Tapestry, Duos for Flute and Piano with pianist, Margaret Kampmeier have continually been received with acclaim. Susan is Professor at Vassar College, Columbia University, ACSM at Queens College and Manhattan School of Music Pre–college.
Margaret Kampmeier, piano, enjoys a varied career as soloist, collaborative artist and educator. She is equally fluent in classical and contemporary repertoire. She has concertized and recorded extensively and premiered hundreds of works. She is a founding member of the Naumburg award-winning New Millennium Ensemble, and performs regularly with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and Orchestra of St. Luke’s. She has appeared with the St. Petersburg Chamber Philharmonic, New York Philharmonic Ensembles, Metropolitan Opera Chamber Ensemble, Kronos Quartet, Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and the Mirror Visions Ensemble. As a recording artist, Ms. Kampmeier can be heard on the Albany, Centaur, CRI, Koch, Nonesuch, Bridge and Deutsche Gramophon labels. A dedicated educator, Ms. Kampmeier teaches piano at Princeton University and is Chair and Artistic Director of the Contemporary Performance Program at the Manhattan School of Music. She has given lecture recitals on a wide range of topics including preludes and fugues through the ages, contemporary techniques, and the music of women composers.
Michael Roth, violin and viola, a native of Scarsdale, NY, received his early musical training with Frances Magnes at the Hoff-Barthelson Music School. He attended Oberlin College and Conservatory and continued his studies with Marilyn McDonald. While at Oberlin, he won the Kaufman Prize for violin and First Prize in the Ohio String Teacher’s Association Competition. Michael Roth completed his Master of Music degree at the University of Massachusetts where he worked with the distinguished American violinist and pedagogue Charles Treger and was a recipient of the Julian Olevsky Award. He is currently associate concertmaster of the New York City Ballet Orchestra and has appeared in chamber music and as a soloist with the company, most recently in the debut of Slice Too Sharp, a ballet of Biber and Vivaldi violin concerti, and After the Rain, violin music of ArvoPärt. In addition, Mr. Roth is a member of the Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra, Principal 2nd violin of the Westchester Philharmonic, the American Composers Orchestra and the New York Pops. He has served as concertmaster of the Vermont Symphony Orchestra and was concertmaster of the Vermont Mozart Festival Orchestra for many years and often appeared as soloist there, as well as at the Caramoor and Bard Music Festivals. He has played and toured internationally with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and the New York Chamber Soloists. As a chamber musician, Mr. Roth has collaborated on violin and viola with artists such as Eugene Drucker, Menahem Pressler, James Buswell, Steven Doane, Hamao Fujiwara and members of the Brentano, Manhattan and Ying Quartets. He regularly participates in the Central Vermont Chamber Music Festival and the Windham Chamber Music Festival and recently presented a recital of contemporary Cuban solo violin and chamber music in Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall under the auspices of the American Composers Orchestra. He has recorded for the Sony, Angel, Telarc, Decca, BMG, Point Music, ESSA.Y. and Arbors Music labels with Orpheus, the Eos Orchestra, Philharmonia Virtuosi, The New York Pops, The American Composers Orchestra and others.
Eliot Bailen has an active career as an artistic director, cellist, composer and teacher. Strings Magazine writes, “At Merkin Hall ‘cellist Eliot Bailen displayed a warm focused tone, concentrated expressiveness and admirable technical command always at the service of the music.” Founder and Artistic Director of the Sherman Chamber Ensemble, now celebrating its 40th year, whose performances the New York Times has described as “the Platonic ideal of a chamber music concert,” Mr. Bailen is also Founder and Artistic Director of Chamber Music at Rodeph Sholom in New York and Artistic Director of the New York Chamber Ensemble. Principal cello of the New Jersey Festival Orchestra, New York Chamber Ensemble, Orchestra New England, Teatro Grattacielo and the New Choral Society (The Michael B. Packer Chair),Mr. Bailen has performed regularly with the Saratoga Chamber Players, Cape May Music Festival, Sebago-Long Lake Chamber Music Festival as well as with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, New York City Opera and Ballet, Oratorio Society, American Symphony, Stamford Symphony, New Jersey Symphony and is heard frequently in numerous Broadway shows. Among Mr. Bailen’s commissions are an Octet, a Double Concerto for Flute and Cello, Perhaps a Butterfly, Saratoga Sextet, The Tiny Mustache (a musical) and recently a Dectet (“Inclusion”) commissioned by the New Choral Society. Mr. Bailen is recipient of over forty commissions for his “Song to Symphony” for schools (subject of a NY Times feature article Sept. 2006 and winner of a Yale Alumni Grant). In 2002 he received the Norman Vincent Peale Award for Positive Thinking. Mr. Bailen received his Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA) from Yale Universityand an M.B.A. from NYU. He is on the cello and chamber music faculty at Columbia University and Teachers College.
Annie Epstein is a senior at Northwestern University majoring in Journalism with minors in Psychology and Jewish Studies. She’s currently finishing up her term as Co-President of Northwestern Hillel. Annie attended RSS since preschool, worked with the Rodeph Sholom Theater Company, and served as Youth Group Board President.
Kai Falkenberg currently serves as EVP, General Counsel & Corporate Secretary at G/O Media, a digital publishing company with 10+ category-leading sites, including Quartz, Gizmodo, Deadspin, Jezebel, Kotaku, The Root and The Onion. Kai brings to that role over 20 years of expertise in media law including M&A, data privacy, intellectual property, labor relations, compliance, litigation and other matters.
Prior to joining G/O, Kai served as Acting Commissioner and First Deputy Commissioner of the Mayor’s Office of Media Entertainment where she oversaw NYC Media, the country’s largest municipal broadcast network, and the regulation of all film and television production in NYC. In addition to her role as a C-Suite executive, Kai teaches media law at Columbia Law School where she originated and teaches the country’s first course on the Law & Regulation of Social Media. Earlier in her career she served in senior legal roles at several media companies including Forbes and NBC. She was the President of The Jewish Week Media Group and currently serves as a board member for a number of organizations including the Manhattan Chamber of Commerce, the Gotham Institute for Film & Media, 70 Faces Media and the NFT platform known as Voice.
Kai began her legal career at Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz. She is a graduate of Dartmouth College and Columbia Law School, where she was a Kent Scholar and Senior Editor of the Law Review. She lives in Manhattan with her husband and their two children.
Debora serves as the Vice President, Brand & Marketing at ADL (the Anti-Defamation League). In her role, she is responsible for creating awareness of and engagement with ADL and its brand through impactful integrated campaigns and events. Her team works to tell ADL’s story and address its mission, “to stop the defamation of the Jewish people and secure justice and fair treatment to all,” in addition to managing direct response marketing efforts and all engagements within the sports and entertainment industries.
Debora joined ADL in August 2017, as a consultant, program manager following a career in the sports industry. Prior to ADL, Debora’s experience includes leading marketing efforts for the 2017 World Baseball Classic during her second stint at Major League Baseball, being Director of Marketing for Thuzio, an influencer marketing and sports events company, and serving as Manager of Communications and Digital Marketing for the NY/NJ Super Bowl Host Committee.
Debora has a BA in History and minor in Jewish Studies from Dartmouth College and an MBA from Harvard Business School. She lives on the UWS with her husband Bryan and daughters Jamie (RSS ’34) and Rory. Aside from her family and friends, she loves the Yankees, dumplings, pizza and puns.
Shoshana Nambi (she/her), our Rabbinic Intern, grew up in Mbale, Uganda’s Abayudaya Jewish community, learning Hebrew at the nearby synagogue and teaching songs and the Torah portion to young children. Shoshana, who is interested in sharing, will undoubtedly introduce her new Rodeph Sholom community to Ugandan Jewish traditions.
After graduating from the University of Kampala in 2011, she worked three summers as camp counselor and Tefillah coordinator at URJ Camp Coleman in Cleveland, GA. Having learned more about Judaism there paved the way to her dream of becoming a rabbi. After a year studying Hebrew and Jewish texts at the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem, she was offered admission to the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in New York City and spent her first year at its Jerusalem campus.
Along with her 12-year-old daughter, Emunah, who is a student at Schechter Manhattan, we welcome Shoshana who hopes: “Most importantly, I am on my way to becoming a Jewish leader myself, just like the leaders I admired growing up.”
Rabbi Robert N. Levine, DD, led Congregation Rodeph Sholom for three decades, its tenth Senior Rabbi from 1991 to 2021. An inspiring teacher, speaker, counselor, and frequent guest of local and national media, he has been beloved by congregants and community alike.
Rabbi Levine was ordained at the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in 1977 and received his Doctor of Divinity Degree in March 2002. He is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Columbia College.
Rabbi Levine is the author of three books. What God Can Do For You Now: For Seekers Who Want to Believe; Where Are You When I Need You? Befriending God When Life Hurts; and There Is No Messiah and You’re It: The Stunning Transformation of Judaism’s Most Provocative Idea.
Especially active in communal affairs, he is a past President of the New York Board of Rabbis, as well as having served as Vice-President and Chairman of its Interfaith Committee. He was Chair of the Catholic-Jewish Dialogue with the Archdiocese of New York, the publications committee of the Central Conference of American Rabbis, and is a member of the Commission of Religious Leaders of New York City, the American Jewish Committee, and Synergy/UJA Federation. He served on the Planned Parenthood Federation of America Clergy Advocacy Board and the Muslim Jewish Advisory Council.
Among his many awards are the New York Board of Rabbis’ Maria and Joel Finkle Prize for Rabbi of the Year; the International Humanitarian Award by the World Union for Progressive Judaism alongside Ehud Barak, former Prime Minister of Israel; the Westy Award from the West Side Spirit; the Champion of Choice from NARAL; the All Stars Project Bridge Building Award for Leadership in Community Relations; and he was inducted into the Manhattan Jewish Hall of Fame in 2020 by the Manhattan Jewish Historical Initiative.
Rabbi Levine and his wife Gina are blessed with three children, their spouses, and grandchildren.
Emily Anabeth Hoolihan (she/her), our Cantorial intern, is currently a fourth year Cantorial student at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in New York City. She spent her first year of HUC-JIR studying in Jerusalem before moving to New York City in 2019.
She is also receiving a second masters degree in Jewish Non-Profit Management from the Zelikow School of Jewish Non-Profit Management in Los Angeles. Emily will be the first cantorial student ever to graduate with these dual masters degrees. Before attending HUC-JIR, Emily was the Development Manager and an actor of the National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene, known for its recently successful production of Fiddler on the Roof in Yiddish. Originally from San Diego, California, Emily attended Muhlenberg College in Allentown, PA where she graduated Magna Cum Laude with her Bachelor of Arts in Theatre, minoring in Music and Jewish Studies. Passionate for artistry, innovation, and Jewish music, Emily led the Reform services at her Hillel as a song-leader and worked at Temple Keneseth Israel as a Religious School teacher during her undergraduate studies. Emily previously worked as the cantorial intern for Temple Adas Israel in Sag Harbor, NY and Temple Isaiah in Stony Brook, NY. Emily now happily lives in Hell’s Kitchen with her fiancé, Francesca, their dog Kiwi, and their two cats, Hugo and Finn.
Stefano Iacono (he/him), our new Assistant Cantor, was ordained as Cantor from HUC-JIR’s Debbie Friedman School of Sacred Music in New York City in May 2021. Cantor Iacono (pronounced ya-ko-no) brings his deep sense of Jewish spirituality to the CRS community. His goal, as he puts it: “To enhance prayer and foster learning. To share in celebration and mourning. To connect with one another as we seek connection with God. To make distance feel close.”
For the past four years, Stefano served as Student Cantor of Congregation Gates of Heaven in Schenectady, NY, leading services and teaching in their religious school. An alumnus of the Weitzman-JDC-HUC-JIR Fellowship for Global Jewish Leaders, he traveled to India in 2019 where he found a centuries-long legacy of Jewish community and thought anew about global Jewish peoplehood. Cantor Iacono composes Hebrew texts to various musical genres and traditions, his way of celebrating the diversity of Jewish expression in worship and ritual. A native of San Antonio, Stefano lives in Brooklyn with his husband, Alex and their conure, Gandhi.
Deborah Goldberg (she/her) was ordained from Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Cincinnati, OH in May 2021. She was thrilled to join Congregation Rodeph Sholom in July of 2021 as our assistant rabbi. Deborah attended Washington University in St. Louis, MO, where she studied history and political science, graduating with college honors in 2013. She grew up in the Chicagoland area and spent her summers as a camper, staff member, and unit head in Wisconsin at Olin-Sang-Ruby Union Institute, the Reform Movement’s first summer camp. Deborah returned to camp for two summers during rabbinical school to serve as the summer program director. Before starting her studies at HUC-JIR, she served as an Eisendrath Legislative Assistant at the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism in Washington, DC, and as the teen programs coordinator at the Jewish Council on Urban Affairs in Chicago, IL. While in school, Deborah served communities in Columbus and Sandusky, OH, as well as Grand Forks, ND. She is the proud recipient of the Rabbi Morris H. Youngerman Memorial Prize for best sermon delivered during the academic year 2019-2020.
Deborah is proud to work with Sholom 20s & 30s, our community building initiative for 20s and 30s in NYC. At Sholom 20s & 30s, we celebrate Shabbat and Jewish holidays, connect to Jewish wisdom, and meet old and new friends. Deborah also leads our Discovering Judaism course, our introduction to Judaism class for anyone looking to learn more about Judaism and Jewish life. She loves sharing her love of Jewish learning with students! She is passionate about building Jewish communities that are warm and inclusive, that enrich people’s lives with meaningful Jewish engagement, and that help people feel connected to Judaism and each other.
When she isn’t working or reading for fun, you can find Deborah exploring museums, trying new restaurants, or petting as many dogs as she possibly can.
Rabbi Juliana Schnur Karol (she/her) is our Associate Rabbi. She first served here as rabbinical intern then Assistant Rabbi, and prior to that at the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism in Washington, DC and the Union for Reform Judaism in New York City. Rabbi Karol is a member of Phi Beta Kappa, an alumna of the Wexner Graduate Fellowship, the Tisch Rabbinical Fellowship, and the American Jewish World Service Global Justice Fellowship, and a Senior Fellow of Humanity in Action.
With a passion for building community here among her congregants, Rabbi Karol launched CRS Outings as a way for them to experience fun and adventure in New York City and beyond while creating connections with each other. She also convenes the LGBTQIA+ Working Group, launched in 2021, which strives toward full inclusion and belonging for LGBTQIA+ members of our community. This group has instituted annual observances of National Coming Out Day, Trans Day of Visibility, and worked to grow Rodeph Sholom’s Pride Month celebrations, as well as auditing our programming, systems, and culture to ensure all genders, sexual orientations, and gender expressions are recognized and honored.
Rabbi Karol is privileged to serve on the Board of American Friends of the Parents Circle—Family Forum, a joint Israeli-Palestinian organization working toward peace and reconciliation. Juli grew up in Scarsdale, NY and now lives in Manhattan with her husband Adam and their two children.
Rabbi Greg D. Weitzman (he/him), our Associate Rabbi, started his tenure at Congregation Rodeph Sholom as Rabbinic Intern in 2012, working closely with our youth groups. He was ordained at the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in New York City in May 2015 and installed as our Assistant Rabbi later that year. Rabbi Weitzman tends to the needs of his congregants who are in major transitional moments of their lives. He sees to those individuals who are interested in becoming Jewish through our Jewish Basics program and families new to the Rodeph Sholom community through our Sholom Sprouts program. Working closely with our partner, West Side Campaign Against Hunger, Rabbi Weitzman is a forceful advocate in fighting food insecurity in New York City.
His enduring passion for Jewish education began at Temple Beth Shalom in Hastings-on-Hudson, NY, followed by three years at Central Synagogue as a full-time teacher and Youth Director. Besides meeting his future wife Ashley there, he spent many years at Eisner Camp as a camper, counselor, song leader, and Education Director. Dedicated to building community amongst young Jewish professionals, he was instrumental in the success of NextDOR NYC, a pilot initiative sponsored by Synagogue 3000 in which he was co-director, and Shabbat Unplugged where he used his musical skills as bandleader. Greg grew up in Stony Brook, NY and graduated with a BA from Hobart and William Smith Colleges in 2005. Ashley and Greg, who were married here at Congregation Rodeph Sholom, live in Manhattan with their daughter Eden, son Jonathan, and their Goldendoodle Chewbacca. With a warm and joyful outlook and always available for a chat and a nosh, Rabbi Weitzman is beloved by congregants and students alike.
Cantor Shayna De Lowe (she/her) is our Senior Cantor. Shayna has dedicated her career to Congregation Rodeph Sholom, beginning her role in our community directly after being ordained from the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion’s School of Sacred Music in 2007. Growing up in a very small, tight-knit Jewish community in the Midwest, Shayna never imagined finding her spiritual home in one of the largest congregations in the country, but she was immediately drawn in by the warmth and connection she found at CRS.
The feeling of connection was so impactful in Shayna’s life that she has focused her work in the cantorate on helping others find connection and fulfillment. Shayna is a seeker, always looking for more ways to deepen spirituality in both herself and others. She is a graduate of the Clergy Leadership Program through the Institute for Jewish Spirituality, which trains clergy in the study of Hasidic text, chant, meditation, silence, and yoga. This program fueled Shayna’s search for different avenues of spiritual connection at CRS and she dives into this work in various ways. Shayna helped develop a special needs B’nai Mitzvah program which opens Jewish tradition to families with all kinds of needs. She created an American Sign Language choir, combining ASL and singing to offer prayer in a medium accessible to those in the Deaf and Hard of Hearing community. In 2016, she and Rabbi Spratt created Minyan, a small-group initiative focused on making deep connections between members of the CRS community. This is the first initiative of its kind at Rodeph Sholom.
Shayna has also made social action and social justice a focus of her work here. As the clergy liaison to the Social Action committee, she partners with congregants as well as outside organizations to maintain CRS’s commitment to bettering the world. Actions include becoming a sponsor through the HIAS domestic refugee resettlement that resulted in CRS resettling five refugees to America, supporting and expanding the Backpack Buddies weekend food program, supporting the work of Days for Girls, and helping to run the Homeless Shelter that is at the heart of our synagogue. Shayna sees it as the job of each person to continue the work of making the world better and she strives to instill that value throughout the CRS community.
Called to the cantorate by the desire to use music to guide people as they navigate their own spiritual path and to bring people closer to one another, Shayna continues to be called by that desire and is honored to do this work at Congregation Rodeph Sholom.
Our initiative for young children and their grown-ups provides a slate of offerings including Shabbat and holiday celebrations, music, classroom readiness programs, and new parent experiences. During the pandemic, we have leaned on $1m of seed funding for Sholom Sprouts established through this campaign as we offer age-appropriate virtual programs for our families with young children, who are the future of our community. We look forward to welcoming our littlest members and their grown-ups back to our new fifth floor, as well as hiring a Program Assistant to increase the capacity of Sholom Sprouts to grow. This program provides a crucial entry-point to the congregation and membership for young families.
Ben Spratt (he/him) is the 11th Senior Rabbi in Congregation Rodeph Sholom’s distinguished 179-year history. He previously served as our Senior Associate Rabbi and the Rabbi in Residence of Rodeph Sholom School. His Jewish journey took him from the Orthodox, Reconstructionist, and Renewal worlds to becoming ordained from the Conservative movement’s Jewish Theological Seminary, and eventually landing him as Rabbi here, one of the country’s renowned Reform congregations.
It is with a passionate drive that he works to build and shape community beyond existent boundaries. In 2009, Ben helped found CRS’s Shireinu, an inclusion initiative for Jewish families with special needs that now serves as a spiritual model for synagogues and churches around the world. With prominently featured articles in the New York Times, The Jewish Week, Autism Speaks, Huffington Post, Jewish Journal, and Times of Israel, the Shireinu program has also received numerous national awards and grants including the Union for Reform Judaism’s Exemplar Award for Inclusion and the UJA-Federation of New York’s First Place Synagogue Inclusion Award. Ben serves as co-chair of Inclusion and Disability Awareness for the Central Conference of American Rabbis. In 2014, he co-founded Tribe, a joint initiative to engage Jewish Millennials through grassroots leadership and a community of empowerment. In 2016, Rabbi Spratt and Cantor Shayna De Lowe collaborated to reimagine the future of a large legacy congregation, planting the seeds of Minyan, a Jewish small-group-based approach to human flourishing through connection. In 2017, he was co-editor of a special symposium edition of the CCAR’s Reform Jewish Quarterly Journal on Millennial Engagement and sparked the New Day Fellowship to foster connection between Muslim and Jewish Millennials.
Accessibility efforts of the early aughts started a larger dialogue about inclusion. How could we better serve those for whom attending a religious service was difficult? In 2010, we inaugurated first Shireinu special needs worship service at Rosh Hashanah. CRS now leads four holiday Shireinu services each year.
The way we live now175 years after our founding, Congregation Rodeph Sholom remains a steadfast beacon for Judaism and celebrating Jewish traditions. We are also a nimble and adaptable institution that strives to serve our people and community now and for generations to come.
We’re not just getting better—we’re getting older! CRS took on some major capital projects in this era. Accessibility and space upgrades ensure optimal access and worship experience for our congregants.
In 125 years, Congregation Rodeph Sholom has had four senior rabbis. Our number four , Rabbi Robert N. Levine, is celebrating 25 years along with the shul’s 175th. The 1990s also saw CRS making a bold move with new clergy.
Tikkun olam, in the form of sewing, helping the poor, and making contributions to worthy causes were part of CRS from the first day. In this era, we upped our game considerably.
Education was a top priority for Rodeph Sholom, which made some first-ever moves by a Reform congregation.
With early waves of immigration now mostly a faint memory, younger generations were interested in reclaiming their identity, through learning Hebrew and travel to Israel. The Seven Day War of 1967 proved to be a strong rallying point for support of Israel and Jewish pride.
1940s and 50s – Rodeph Sholom worked hard to support the war effort, and to be essential part serving earlier pioneering generations as they grew into their retirement years in the 1950s. The 1950s was also an era of new view of early childhood education as a foundation for a good life, and CRS stepped up.
CRS roared through the 1920s in robust health, purchasing land for what is our current building and having an architect draw up plans. The early 30’s continued a trend at CRS that is still with us to this day—welcoming clergy and staff who choose to spend their entire careers at CRS.
As Jews began to assume leadership positions in political life and in industry, Jewish identity shifted to a strong emphasis on “being American.” Those of an older generation were disinclined to pass along fluency in Yiddish to their children and grandchildren. This was also an era where Jews served in large numbers fighting for their country.
An era of prosperity paved the way to assuring the future of Judaism in America, through founding new institutions and keeping up with the congregants.
In this era CRS functioned as a shul working steadily to ensure that Jews had wide and equal access to American health care and social welfare.
As Rodeph Sholom became an established shul, leadership and congregants pursued tikkun olam and its central role in the serving the Jewish Community.
In the 1840s, the Lower East Side, new Americans flooded into the city. Many used their new freedom to practice religion to set up houses of worship that would also serve as centers of social and cultural life
1980s – Tikkun olam, in the form of sewing, helping the poor, and making contributions to worthy causes were part of CRS from the first day. In this era, we upped our game considerably.