Our Clergy
Clergy : Rabbi Ronne Friedman, Senior Rabbi
Rabbi Ronne Friedman was born on October 6, 1947 and is a native of Washington, D.C. Rabbi Friedman serves as the Senior Rabbi of Temple Israel of Boston (1999 - ) and has served North Shore Congregation Israel in Glencoe, Illinois and Temple Beth Zion of Buffalo, NY as well. He graduated with a B.A. with distinction in English Literature from Lafayette College in 1969, and received his Masters of Arts in Hebrew Literature from Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion from which he was ordained in 1975. He was awarded a Doctorate (honoris causa) from the same institution in 2000. Rabbi Friedman currently serves on the Joint Placement Commission of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, the Central Conference of American Rabbis and Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, which he chaired for 15 years. He also served as a member of the Board of the CCAR for 18 years and served for many years as a member of the UAHC's (now URJ) Commission of Synagogue Affiliation. His service on national and regional boards has included the National Conference for Community and Justice (formerly the National Conference of Christians and Jews), The Central Conference of American Rabbis, Interns for Peace, The American Jewish Committee (N.E. Region) and Meretz. He has also served as Adjunct Clinical Faculty for the H.U.C.-J.I.R. Rabbi Friedman has been actively and passionately engaged in the work of Jewish Education, the pursuit of Social Justice, the resettlement of Southeast Asian and Soviet Jewish immigrants and the establishment of Interfaith and Inter-group Dialogue. His interest in the use of the Myers-Briggs Type Inventory has led him to create workshops and programs using the MBTI as a tool for teambuilding. He has been married to Irene (Neumann) Friedman since 1972 and they are the parents of two sons, Zachary and Jesse (z'l).
Contact Rabbi Friedman's Assistant, Sue Misselbeck
Clergy : Cantor Roy Einhorn, Cantor
Cantor Roy B. Einhorn was named the Cantor of Temple Israel in 1983, upon his graduation from the Hebrew Union College. Cantor Einhorn is the Coordinator of our B'nei Mitzvah program. He works with our Pre-School, Religious School and High School programs. Cantor Einhorn is responsible for all musical aspects of our worship settings including Shabbat, Festival and High Holiday services. As the staff liaison to the Israel Committee, he established a personal connection with Rabbi Edgar Nof that sparked our relationship with Or Hadash in Haifa. His leadership in creating our CD "Lift Up Your Voice", has enabled families from our pre-school to empty nesters to participate in Shabbat rituals in the Temple and at home. Cantor Einhorn especially enjoys his pastoral responsibilities at Temple Israel.
Contact Cantor Einhorn's Assistant, Laurena Rosenberg
Clergy : Rabbi Elaine Zecher
Rabbi Elaine S. Zecher came to Temple Israel in 1990. She was the first female rabbi in Temple Israel's 153-year history. She has touched the lives of Temple Israel's congregants - from the very youngest to our most senior members in many significant and meaningful ways. Rabbi Zecher has been instrumental in adding to the spiritual richness of our congregation. She developed and implemented the Service for the Healing of the Soul. She created the Learner's Minyan for teaching the fundamentals of the Shabbat Service to adult learners and also "Thank Goodness It's Shabbat!" to teach our very youngest learners. She initiated Women's Study Groups and started the annually-anticipated Women's Kallah. Her work reaches beyond the physical boundaries of the synagogue as she has created intergenerational experiences for our young adults and senior members. She has also developed original and innovative worship opportunities at Temple Israel's High Holiday Services.
Rabbi Zecher's work extends beyond the congregation as she sits on the board of the ADL. She has been instrumental in the development of the Mishkah Tefilah, the Reform Jewish Movement's new prayerbook for Shabbat, weekdays and festivals. She serves as the Chair of the Worship and Practices Committee of the Central Conference of American Rabbis(CCAR). Rabbi Zecher also chairs the Machzor Advisory Group as the CCAR prepares a new machzor. She serves as a member of the Board of Trustees of the CCAR as well. She has also been one of the driving forces behind Synagogue 3000, a national project to revitalize the synagogue structure to support Jewish communities in engaging their congregants in new ways of meaning, spirituality and connectedness.
Rabbi Zecher was ordained from Hebrew Union College - Jewish Institute of Religion in 1988. Upon her ordination she became Program Director and Jewish Resource Director at the Striar Jewish Community Center in Stoughton. She grew up in Monroeville, Pennsylvania and is a graduate of Brandeis University. Rabbi Zecher is married to David M. Eisenberg. They have three children: Jacob, Benjamin, and Naomi.
Contact Rabbi Zecher's Assistant, Laurena Rosenberg
Clergy : Rabbi Jeremy S. Morrison
Rabbi Jeremy S. Morrison joined the clergy of Temple Israel in 2001 with a mission to reach out and engage greater numbers of adults in their 20s and 30s. During the past six years, through the Riverway Project, an initiative of which he was the director, hundreds of Jews in their 20s and 30s have become members of the synagogue and deepened their connections to Judaism. Rabbi Morrison oversees Temple Israel's interfaith programming, and focuses on enriching the membership experience here at Temple Israel. Rabbi Morrison was ordained at the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, N.Y., in May, 2001. During his tenure at HUC-JIR, Rabbi Morrison was awarded a Steinhardt Scholar Fellowship and served internships at Temple Beth El, Great Neck, here at Temple Israel, and was a Wexner Rabbinic Resident at Temple Beth Zion, Buffalo. He has extensive experience and credentials as an educator, has served as a Project Coordinator for the UAHC-CCAR Commission on Education and is a member of the Union of Reform Judaism's Commission on Outreach and Synagogue Community. Rabbi Morrison is also a doctoral student in Bible and the Ancient Near East at Brandeis University. As of July 1, 2010, Rabbi Morrison is the new Director of Education.
Contact Rabbi Morrison's Assistants:
For Rabbinic needs, contact Sue Misselbeck
For Education needs, contact Irina Preys
Clergy : Rabbi Matthew V. Soffer
Rabbi Matthew V. Soffer was ordained as a graduate of the New York Campus of the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, having previously served as a Rabbinic Intern here at TI. He has enjoyed a distinguished career as a student and student rabbi, having graduated from Muhlenberg College as a Phi Beta Kappa and having been awarded academic prizes at HUC in Halakhic Literature, Midrash and Hebrew, Liturgy and the prestigious 3-year Tisch Fellowship, which provides curricular enrichment in the fields of Congregational Studies, Personal Theology and Contemporary Religion in North America. Rabbi Soffer served as Rabbinical Intern at Main Line Reform Temple and Congregation Beth Elohim in Brooklyn, where he carried portfolios for Social Justice and for "Brooklyn Jews," a Project of Congregation Beth Elohim that, like Temple Israel's Riverway Project, focuses upon outreach to and engagement of Jews in their 20s and 30s. Rabbi Soffer has had extensive experience in youth work, both within the synagogue and as a long-time staff member of the URJ Camp Joseph and Betty Harlam and NFTY's Kutz Camp. Prior to beginning rabbinical school, he served as an Eisendrath Legislative Assistant Fellow at the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism in Washington, D.C., and worked as the advisor to the North American Board of NFTY. The topic of his Rabbinic Thesis, "Listening for Laughter: Sensing Humor in the Babylonian Talmud," is a wonderful window on his character and style.
Visit Rabbi Soffer's blog or follow him on twitter @mattsoffer
Contact Rabbi Soffer's Assistant, Sue Misselbeck
Clergy : Rabbi Bernard Mehlman, Rabbi Emeritus
Rabbi Bernard Mehlman is committed to life-long Jewish education and the centrality of the synagogue in Jewish life. Rabbi Mehlman recently returned from Milan, Italy, where he was Rabbino Mehlman of Congregazione Beth Shalom, Milano. He revitalized the congregation with his scholarship, deep love of Judaism, humanity and total dedication. Rabbi Mehlman returns to us at Temple Israel in addition to New York's Hebrew Union College, where he is Professor of Homiletics and Midrash.
Contact Rabbi Mehlman's Assistant, Sue Misselbeck