November 21, 2008   23 Cheshvan 5769
Temple Sinai, Sharon, MA
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Rabbi Joseph Meszler  


Rabbi Joseph Meszler is the spiritual leader of Temple Sinai of Sharon, Massachusetts. His mission, as it says in Isaiah 54:2, is to “widen the tent…and deepen the pegs,” that is, to help the Jewish community grow, thrive and deepen its connections to God, Torah, and Israel.

Rabbi Meszler is the author of A Man's Responsibility: A Jewish Guide to Being a Son, a Partner in Marriage, a Father and Community Leader (Jewish Lights, 2008), Witnesses to the One: the Spiritual History of the Sh'ma (Jewish Lights, 2006), and Gifts for the Poor: Moses Maimonides? Treatise on Tzedakah (College of William & Mary 2003). He also has edited Jewish premarital counseling materials for the PREPARE/ENRICH program, which is used for couples seeking counseling throughout North America.

Rabbi Meszler currently chairs the Interfaith Clergy Association of Sharon and co-chairs the South Shore Adult Jewish Education Collaborative.

Previously, Rabbi Meszler has served Washington Hebrew Congregation in Washington, DC, as an instructor during the summer of 2002 at the Smithsonian Institution Resident Associates program on the DC National Mall, and as a resident chaplain in Cincinnati’s Children’s Hospital, Drake Rehabilitation Center, and the Pauline Warfield Lewis Center for Mental Health.

Living in Sharon, Rabbi Meszler is married to Rabbi Julie Zupan, and they have two children, Samantha and Justin. 

Go to Rabbi Meszler's sermon archive.
 

Joshua Slovin - Director of Education  

 As Temple Sinai's Director of Education, Joshua Slovin works to create an atmosphere of community and collegiality so that staff, teachers, parents and children will feel that the synagogue is their second home.

Mr. Slovin, who holds a Master’s degree in Education from University of Massachusetts-Boston, and a Bachelor’s degree in Politics and Judaic Studies from Brandeis University manages a staff of 14 teachers and administers Hebrew and Religious School programs for grades K-12. His goal at Temple Sinai is to imbue students with, "a knowledge and love of Judaism in all its facets." In addition, he aims to "transmit the unique values and traditions that distinguish us as Jews, so that our children will feel comfortable in the synagogue and proud to be Jews in the world."

Mr. Slovin, a Sharon native, came to Temple Sinai as interim Director of Education in 1999. He has been the program director of both Camp Bauercrest and Camp Tel Noar, nearby popular Jewish camps; as well as a youth group leader at Temple Sinai and other local congregations. He is a member of many professional organizations, including the National Association of Temple Educators, the Boston Area Reform Temple Educators, and the Coalition for the Advancement of Jewish Education.

Mr. Slovin resides in nearby Easton with his family.
 

Jennifer Rose Ward - Temple Administrator  
 

Cantor Jeff Klepper  


Jeff Klepper has served as Temple Sinai’s cantor since 2003. Raised in New York City, he began playing the guitar at an early age and was strongly influenced by the folk music of Pete Seeger. Prior to his bar mitzvah Jeff studied with the legendary synagogue composer Abraham Wolf Binder, gaining an appreciation for music of the synagogue. In the early 1970s, while at Clark University, he teamed with future rabbi Dan Freelander and formed the popular Jewish singing group Kol B’seder. Jeff’s compositions, many written with Dan, such as Modeh Ani, and Lo Alecha, have become synagogue standards. Their setting of Shalom Rav, composed in 1974, is the defining Jewish melody of a new style of worship, bridging varied traditions and connecting multiple generations.

Jeff graduated from Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in 1980 and was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Music from HUC in 2005. He also holds a Master of Arts in Music from Northeastern Illinois University.

Jeff is a member of the faculty of Hebrew College in Newton, MA. He recently served as a music editor for Mishkan T’filah, the new Reform movement sidur. Jeff and his family live in West Roxbury.

Carol Marton - Adult Choir Director  

Carol Marton head shot.Carol Marton has been directing the Temple Sinai Adult Choir since 1995. During that time she has been a frequent guest faculty of the New England Jewish Choral Music Festival and has performed there regularly with the Temple Sinai Adult Choir. She is also the Artistic Director of Koleinu, a new Jewish community chorus for the Boston area founded in 2002 under the auspices of the Jewish Music Institute of Hebrew College. In 2001, Carol founded and continues to direct and perform with Pandora's Vox, a contemporary music ensemble for women’s voices which performed at Temple Sinai in June, 2003. Carol has taught voice classes, offered vocal and conducting workshops and also maintains an active studio teaching voice and piano.

Carol has many years experience as a singer and soloist in the Boston area. After earning her Masters Degree in choral conducting at Indiana University School of Music 1992, she returned to Boston and served as the assistant conductor for the Zamir Chorale. From 1993-97 she was also the conductor of the Temple Emanuel Choir in Newton  and performed several times with that group and Cantor Charles Osborne at the North American Jewish Choral Festival, also travelling to Israel in 1996 to perform as part of the Cantors’ Assembly “Jerusalem 3000” convention. That same year, Carol celebrated her own “adult” bat mitzvah at Temple Emanuel.

Carol can be reached through the Temple Sinai office, by e-mail or by calling (617) 983-1764.
 

Our Office Staff - Raisa and Janet  


   

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