Rabbi Joseph B. Meszler has been the spiritual leader of Temple Sinai of Sharon, Massachusetts since 2005. 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. He loves to teach and be a part of people’s spiritual journeys. Rabbi Meszler is the author of several books, including:

Facing Illness, Finding God: How Judaism Can Help You and Caregivers Cope When Body or Spirit Fails (Jewish Lights Publishing 2010),  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).

Rabbi Meszler previously served at Washington Hebrew Congregation in Washington, DC and as a resident chaplain in Cincinnati’s Children’s Hospital, Drake Rehabilitation Center, and the Pauline Warfield Lewis Center for Mental Health. He was ordained at Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati in 1999.

Living in Sharon, Rabbi Meszler is married to Rabbi Julie Zupan, and they have two children. Since moving to New England, he has become a Patriots fan.

Go to Rabbi Meszler's sermon archive      

Go to Rabbi Meszler's website

 Nathaniel Fink grew up in Des Moines, Iowa, where his father was the Reform rabbi of a congregation for sixteen years. He and his family moved to Baltimore, Maryland, where his father got another job as the fifth senior rabbi of Temple Oheb Shalom and his mother became the Director of Life Long Learning at the same synagogue. He graduated high school in Baltimore, and went on to the University of Maryland at College Park where he received his bachelors in Psychology, Criminology and Criminal Justice in 2003. In 2008, Nathaniel received his Masters of Arts in Religious Education (M.A.R.E.) from Hebrew Union College School of Education in New York. After receiving his degree, he worked as the Reform congregation liaison for the Center of Jewish Education in Baltimore and then spent two year working as a director of education in Richmond, Virginia.
Mr. Fink is very happy to be the new director of education at Temple Sinai. As director of education, Nathaniel has three main goals. The first goal is to keep the lines of communication open between families and teachers. The second goal is to have a strong partnership with the teachers, families, and clergy. Religious school is only a place where the students can enhance their Jewish knowledge. It is in the home that the real learning takes place. He is here to help the families in any way continue to be their children’s first resource for Judaism. Mr. Fink’s third goal is to instill a love and a passion for learning about Judaism and the State of Israel. He wants the students to feel a sense of pride when talking about their religion and beliefs.

   

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 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.
 

Illyse received her bachelor's degree from Brandeis University in 1986 and her Doctorate in Psychology in 1993 from the Massachusetts School of Professional Psychology.
As a teen Illyse was very involved with her local and regional NFTY youth groups, serving on the boards of each. She also spent summers at URJ Eisner Camp and traveled to Israel in the summer of 1980 with a NFTY group. In 1988 she returned for another summer in Israel as a NFTY tour leader, and had one of our Religious School teachers (Nina Shatz) as her camper. The world comes full circle, as Nina is now Illyse's son's teacher!
Illyse works not only to develop our Senior and Junior Youth Groups, but also to promote Jewish camperships and travel to Israel. She also teaches two sections of 7th grade religious school classes.
Outside of Temple Sinai, Illyse maintains a full time practice in psychology seeing clients of all ages. She is a resident of Sharon and a member of Temple Sinai where her children, Julia and Noah, are students in our religious school.