Our Clergy and Staff
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Clergy: Rabbi Sonia Saltzman, ssaltzman@ohabei.org
Rabbi Sonia Saltzman was ordained in
2008, as part of the first graduating class of the Rabbinical School at Hebrew
College, an institution committed to a pluralistic approach to Jewish learning
and practice. Upon ordination she served three years at Sha’arei Shalom, a
non-affiliated community in Ashland, MA, where she was the sole clergy
person. She helped lead the community
through a transition process that included extensive new programming as well as
a new location.
Prior to entering the rabbinate Rabbi
Saltzman worked for eleven years in the field of micro-finance, at ACCION
International, a Boston-based non-profit organization. She headed the Financial
Services Department, which provided loan guarantees and equity to institutions
lending to very small businesses throughout Latin America. She also spent seven years at Bank of Boston,
teaching in the Loan Officer Development Program and working in alternative
energy projects in the Project Finance Department.
Her transition to the rabbinate was
a gradual one, which began with her decision to obtain a Masters in Bible and
Jewish Thought at Brandeis University. It was fortuitous for Rabbi Saltzman
that upon completing the Masters at Brandeis, the Rabbinical School at Hebrew
College opened its doors. This was a
unique opportunity to study in an environment that combined the best elements
of academia and the traditional yeshiva.
During the five years in Rabbinical School, Rabbi Saltzman held student
pulpits at Temple Emanuel in Newton and at Temple Aliyah in Needham. She completed chaplaincy training at Brigham
and Women’s Hospital and spent a summer interning at Hebrew Senior Life in
Roslindale. Rabbi Saltzman was also a faculty member of the Bronfman Youth
Fellowship Program in Israel, teaching a select group of rising high school
seniors.
Rabbi Saltzman grew up in Chile, in
a home imbued with Jewish values, but at a time when opportunities for Jewish
learning were especially limited for women. She chose to enter the
rabbinate because she believes in the wisdom and beauty of Judaism and hopes to
inspire others to deepen their relationship to Judaism by offering
opportunities to engage with our sacred texts, to experience the richness of
prayer and to build a caring and committed community.
She graduated summa cum laude from
Tufts University and holds a Masters Degree from Columbia University in
International Affairs.
Rabbi Saltzman is married to Dr. Ned
Saltzman, a urologist at Newton-Wellesley Hospital, and has two grown sons,
Benjamin and Gabriel.
Clergy: Cantor Randall Schloss , rschloss@ohabei.org
Cantor Randall Schloss became cantor of Temple Ohabei Shalom in 2007 after receiving his investiture and a Masters Degree in Sacred Music from the School of Sacred Music at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in New York City. He also received a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Music at CornellUniversity in Ithaca, New York and a Master of Music Degree in Vocal Performance from the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston. He currently serves as a Vice-President of the New England Board of Cantors, is Co-Chair of the 2011 American Conference of Cantors Guild of Temple Musicians Convention in Boston and is a Member of the Union of Reform Judaism Joint Commission on Worship, Music and Religious Living.
After a varied career in music as a classical singer both on the opera stage and in concert, as a teacher of voice and music theory, and as a choral conductor and music director, Cantor Schloss began his journey into the world of Jewish music as a singer and composer.
In 2007, he composed his first extended setting of Shabbat evening liturgy, Avodat Hayom, combining traditional liturgy and modern poetry with musical elements of eastern European nusach and chazzanut, Israeli and Sephardic folk music, classical and twentieth century Reform repertoire and contemporary pop and jazz. He writes, “I have not incorporated these elements solely for the sake of diversity, but rather in recognition of the multitude of styles of music present in contemporary Reform worship. Ultimately, I hope that through a unique blend of musical styles, texts and active participants, my service will involve the congregation as more than singers or listeners, but completely as a community of worshippers.”
Cantor Schloss shares his combined loves of Judaism and music with his wife, soprano Leah Schloss, and their two daughters, Maya and Sonya,(also sopranos!).
Clergy: Rabbi Emerita, Emily Gopen Lipof
Rabbi Lipof is the first woman in the United States to be named Senior Rabbi of a major congregation. In 1988, she was called to our pulpit, where she has been instrumental in revitalizing our congregation with her innovative programs, spitiuality, and inclusiveness.
An educator at heart, Rabbi Lipof founded the Temple Shalom Nursery School in Newton. She served as principal of the High School for Jewish Studies and was the director and teacher of an adult education workshop at Brandeis University.
She has been a visiting professor at Dartmouth, Emmanuel and Boston Colleges and lectures at prestigious institutions and gatherings throughout the country. Here at Ohabei Shalom, she has been the guiding force in the founding of our Ansin Religious School.
Even before her rabbinic ordination, she was deeply involved in Jewish life. She chaired a Russian-Jewish wedding at Mishkan Tefila in Chestnut Hill, where sixty Russian couples, denied a Jewish marriage in the former Soviet Union, were introduced to Judaism and married in a community ceremony.
Among her many secular commitments, Rabbi Lipof served as a trustee of the University of Massachusetts and has long been involved in politics, where she managed the successful election campaigns of several candidates. Her other community activities have included: The Foundation for Racial, Ethnic and Religious Harmony, the Human Rights Commission Advisory Board for the City of Newton and the Governor’s Advisory Council on the Status of Women.
The Jewish community of Greater Boston and beyond is well aware of our rabbi’s uniqueness and accomplishments: She has been honored by Combined Jewish Philanthropies with their annual Rabbinic Award, by Ben-Gurion University of the Negev with their Outstanding Service Award, and by Israel Bonds National Board, which chose her as one of fifty rabbis in the United States to receive the coveted Golden Shofar Award.
Her original Haggadah, illustrated by her late husband, Michael, is now in its seventh printing and enjoys great popularity.
Rabbi Lipof is the mother of five and grandmother of ten.
Clergy | Staff | Educators | ARS Teachers | TCEE Teachers