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FACULTY

Cantor Perryne Anker

Dean Emerita of the Cantorial School

BS, Juilliard School of Music, where she won the Catherine Tuck Award. Cantor Anker has served as Cantor of Stephen S. Wise Temple in Bel Air, Beth Shalom in Santa Monica, and Temple of the Arts in Los Angeles. Member of the American Conference of Cantors.

Rabbi Ben Barer

Introduction to Mishnah and Talmud; Talmud I

Rabbi Barer teaches the foundational Talmud classes at the Academy of Jewish Religion. He holds ordination and Master’s of Jewish Education from Boston’s Hebrew College. Studied at the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem, SVARA in Chicago, and the Pacific Torah Institute in Vancouver, B.C. Research interests include Talmudic texts in their historical context and the role of the Prophets in the formation of Judaism.

Rabbi Anne Brener

Ritual and Spiritual Development

Rabbi Brener teaches the Creative Ritual and Mourning to Dancing courses in the Chaplaincy program. Rabbi Brener holds rabbinical ordination and MS in Jewish Communal Service from Hebrew Union College; MSW from the University of Southern California. Faculty member at Morei Derekh, a program in Jewish Spiritual Direction. Author of Mourning and Mitzvah.

Fran Chalin, BCC/MSW

The Art of Counseling; Crisis Intervention, Addiction, and Trauma

Chaplain Fran is a Board Certified Chaplain and the Director of Bereavement & Pastoral Guidance at the Orange County Jewish Collaborative. She served as the cantor for Beth Chayim Chadashim, the world’s first synagogue with outreach to the LGBTQ Jewish community. She was a staff hospice chaplain with VITAS Healthcare for 12 years and currently leads grief support groups both online and in-person for the Jewish Collaborative and other Orange County institutions.

Rabbi Mark Diamond

Practical Rabbinics

Rabbi Diamond teaches Professional Ethics, and Rabbinic Leadership in Ritual Life. He holds rabbinical ordination and MA in Jewish Studies, Jewish Theological Seminary. Senior Lecturer in Jewish Studies at Loyola Marymount University and former Executive Vice President of the Board of Rabbis of Southern California. Co-author of Understanding Our Jewish Neighbors and co-editor of Understanding Covenants and Communities: Jews and Latter-day Saints in Dialogue.

Cantor Marcus Feldman

Cantorial Studies

Ordination and Master of Jewish Sacred Music from the Academy for Jewish Religion California. Senior Cantor of Sinai Temple, Los Angeles. Named one of The Top Five Best New Voices in Jewish Music by The Forward.

Cass Fisher, PhD

Medieval Jewish Thought

A graduate of University of Chicago’s Divinity School, where he did his PhD with Michael Fishbane and David Tracy. Fisher is a professor in Religious Studies at the University of South Florida. His research focuses on rabbinic theology and modern Jewish thought, to which he brings resources from both continental and analytic philosophy as he works to restore the place of theology in Judaism. He has published many distinguished books, including Jewish Theological Realism: Recovering Reference to God in Rabbinic and Modern Thought (2026) and Contemplative Nation (2012).

Rabbi Allison Flash

Jewish Education

Rabbi Flash was ordained at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, where she also earned a Master of Arts in Jewish Education. She currently serves as rabbi of Kol HaNeshamah in West Seattle, Washington. Rabbi Flash owns and operates Candy Jar Consulting, a consulting firm that supports not-for-profit organizations.

Cantor Jay Frailich

Cantorial Studies

Cantor Frailich holds a Doctor of Sacred Music and Commission as Cantor from Hebrew Union College School of Sacred Music. He served as Cantor for University Synagogue in Brentwood, California, for more than forty years. He also has served as the President of the American Conference of Cantors, the Reform Cantorial Organization.

Joel Gereboff, PhD

Introduction to Chumash; Introduction to Nevi’im; Judaism in the Second Temple and Early Rabbinic Periods

Professor Gereboff is associate professor at Arizona State University in the School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies, and has taught at AJRCA since its opening. He regularly publishes in the areas of Bible, early Rabbinic Judaism, Jewish ethics and the development of American Jewish identity. He received his PhD from Brown University, and makes his home in the Bay area.

Rabbi Meir Goldstein

Medieval Jewish History

A graduate of Ziegler Rabbinical School, Rabbi Meir has teaching interests in Jewish History, Halacha, Rabbinics, Hasidut and Tefilah. He has served in many distinguished posts at esteemed institutions including Dartmouth University, Elon University and University of Oregon. At Dartmouth, Rabbi Meir also served as Senior Jewish Educator; and at Elon, as Associate Chaplain. He currently serves as a congregational rabbi at Congregation Beth Shalom in Iowa.

Hazzan Joseph Gole

Cantorial and Liturgical Studies

Cantor Gole holds a BSM from the University of Southern California School of Music and formerly served as Hazzan of Sinai Temple, the largest Conservative congregation in Los Angeles. He is a past chairman of the West Coast Region of the Cantors Assembly and has also served as an officer of the national organization. Hazzan Joseph Gole served as the President of the Cantors’ Assembly, the Conservative Movement’s Cantorial Organization.

Gil Graff, JD, PhD

Jewish History

Dr Gil Graff led the Bureau of Jewish Education of Los Angeles for 32 years, guiding its growth from a committee of the Federation of Los Angeles, into a free-standing organization, now known as Builders of Jewish Education. He has also taught at AJU, HUC, Touro College, and Spertus Institute for Jewish Learning & Leadership. He is the author of four books and dozens of articles exploring topics in Jewish history, law, and education.

Rabbi Phil Graubart

World of the Bible & Approaches to Zionist Thought

Ordained at Jewish Theological Seminary, Rabbi Philip Graubart has served congregations in Massachusetts and California for thirty-five years. He is the author of eight books, including his latest novel, Here There Is No Why.

Rabbi Avraham Greenstein

Hebrew Language

Rabbi Greenstein received his ordination from Yeshivat Tomchei Temimim in Jerusalem. He holds an MA in Near Eastern Languages and Cultures, with a specialization in Hebrew, from UCLA, where he is also a PhD candidate in Hebrew language. He is a translator of Judeo-Persian poetry and the author of articles on Jews in the Sasanian Empire.

Rabbi Igael Gurin-Malous

Talmud 1; Talmud 2

Rabbi Igael Gurin-Malous teaches Talmud at AJRCA, and also serves as a board member for AJRCA and The Torah Studio, as well as a rabbi in residence at Beit T’Shuvah in Los Angeles. He is a teacher of Talmud, a spiritual counselor, and a much sought-after speaker and writer on subjects blending the Talmud and other Jewish texts, spirituality, addiction, recovery, fatherhood and LGBTQIA+ issues. Through combining ancient texts with practical spirituality, he offers modes of healing that look at an individual’s actions, beliefs and values.

Vered Hopenstand

Hebrew Language

A graduate of Bar-Ilan University, Vered holds a BA in History and Hebrew Literature. A teacher of modern Hebrew language and biblical Hebrew for decades, she was awarded the Milken Family Foundation’s prestigious “Jewish Educator” award in 2001.

Rabbi Margie Jacobs

Megillot; Tehillim, Introduction to Rabbinic Literature; Introduction to Jewish Mysticism, and Lurianic Kabbalah

Ordained at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, Rabbi Jacobs works with individuals and groups as a spiritual coach and is on the faculty of the Jewish Studio Process (JSP). She is pursuing a PhD in the Zohar at Berkeley’s GTU, working with Melilah Hellner Eshed. She has taught nationally on Jewish mysticism, mindfulness, creativity, the Jewish holidays, and on embodied spiritual practices for Jewish organizations including the Institute for Jewish Spirituality, RRC, and Ritualwell.

Stephen Kepnes, PhD

Modern Jewish Thought

Professor Kepnes is a Jewish philosopher and theologian who taught at Colgate University in Hamilton, New York for over 30 years. He is author of 10 books, including The Text as Thou: Martin Buber’s Narrative Theology (Indiana University Press, 1992); Reasoning After Revelation: Dialogues in Postmodern Jewish Philosophy (Routledge, 2000); Jewish Liturgical Reasoning (Oxford University Press, 2007); The Future of Jewish Theology (Wiley & Blackwell, 2012); The Cambridge Companion to Jewish Theology (Cambridge University Press, 2020); and most recently, Reviving Jewish Theology: Metaphysics, Hermeneutics and Ethics (Cambridge University Press, 2025).

Rabbi Ebn Leader

Mysticism, Halacha, Talmud

Rabbi Leader joined his teacher, Rabbi Art Green, in founding the Rabbinical School at Boston’s Hebrew College, where he taught across the curriculum for 20 years. He was also privileged to study extensively with Rabbi David Hartman, z’al, and Rabbi Zalman Schachter Shalomi, z’al. With his teacher and colleagues, he co-authored Speaking Torah: Spiritual Teachings from Around the Maggid’s Table. He and his wife, Rabbi Claudia Kreiman, are raising their two daughters in Brookline, Massachusetts.

Rabbi Jessica E. Locketz

Jewish Education

Rabbi Jessica Locketz was ordained by Hebrew Union College and is a rabbi and Jewish educational leader in the greater Pittsburgh area. She has served in synagogues in Virginia and Pennsylvania, as well as Director of Education at Temple Emanuel of the South Hills in Pittsburgh. In 2016, she completed an Executive Master’s in Religious Education, also from HUC. Rabbi Locketz served for many years as co-chair of the Pittsburgh Area Jewish Educators. She currently serves on the board of the Association of Reform Jewish Educators.

Rabbi Robin Podolsky

Spiritual Development Seminar

Rabbi Podolsky holds a Master’s in Jewish Studies from Hebrew Union College and in 2013 was ordained by the Academy for Jewish Religion California. She is a lecturer at California State University, Long Beach, and serves as the Adult Educator at Temple Beth Israel of Highland Park and Eagle Rock. She is also an active writer and serves as a service leader for Los Angeles Community Chaplaincy Services.

Rabbi Linda Potemken

Fieldwork Support Seminar

Rabbi Potemken served as the Senior Rabbi at Congregation Beth Israel of Media, where she has served for 27 years. She has served as adjunct faculty at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College and has been a leader in the local Board of Rabbis, the Reconstructionist movement and the local Interfaith community. She holds an advanced degree in Group Process and Group Psychotherapy and has a background in meditation and mussar. She has taught, supervised and mentored seminary students throughout her career.

Rabbi Cantor Samuel B. Radwine

Academic Dean of the Cantorial School, Cantorial Studies Professor

Rabbi Cantor Sam Radwine has been a member of the AJRCA Faculty since 2008. He came to California in 1986 where he served Congregation Ner Tamid of Rancho Palos Verdes until 2012, and continues as Cantor Emeritus. Additionally, he has served on the faculty of Hebrew Union College, Los Angeles. Ordained Rabbi in 2021 by AJRCA, Rabbi Cantor Radwine currently serves as the rabbi of Temple Israel in Springfield, Missouri.

Rabbi Cantor Eva Robbins

Spiritual Development Seminar

Rabbi Cantor Robbins was ordained by AJRCA as a cantor in 2004 and as a rabbi in 2015. Together with her husband, Rabbi Stephen Robbins, she co-founded Congregation Nevay Shalom, an independent synagogue in Los Angeles. The mission of this community reflects their spiritual purpose to support others in their search to connect with the Holy One, to develop spiritual practice, to deepen wisdom through the study of Torah, and to celebrate holidays and other special times. She is also a Jewish fabric artist and the author of Spiritual Surgery: A Journey of Healing Mind, Body, and Spirit, a study of how the construction of the portable sanctuary, the Mishkan, lifts one from slavery to freedom.

Rabbi Ronnie Serr

Hasidic Thought

Rabbi Ronnie Serr is a gifted teacher of Tanakh, Midrash and Jewish Mysticism. Rabbi Serr holds an MA in Communications from The Hebrew University of Jerusalem and did his doctoral studies in Theater Arts at UCLA. In 2013, he received private ordination. In addition to being an educator in Jewish mysticism, Rabbi Serr is a translator of Hebrew books and a court-certified Hebrew interpreter.

Rabbi Stephen Slater

Chief Academic Officer
Dean of the Rabbinical School and Master of Jewish Studies Program

Rabbi Slater was ordained at Hebrew College in Boston, and has led congregations in New York, Alabama and Ohio. Before attending rabbinical school, he lived in Israel for four years while learning Hebrew, and working on his Master’s of Arts in Jewish Civilization specializing in Second Temple Jewish Literature and History at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. Having taken the academic path into Judaism, some of his most impactful learning experiences were in the batei midrash of the Hartman Institute, the Conservative Yeshiva, and Yeshivat Hadar. Stephen believes in the spiritual power of authentic leaders who teach living Torah.

Dr. Tali Tadmor

Cantorial Studies

Dr. Tali Tadmor received her doctorate from USC. She is on the Faculty of California State University, Northridge. She also serves as the Musical Director of Stephen Wise Temple in Los Angeles. MM and DMA in Keyboard Collaborative Arts from USC. Collaborative Piano Program Chair at California State University, Northridge (CSUN), Teaching Artist at LA Opera Connects!, and Music Director at Temple Judea in Tarzana, California.

Rabbi Cantor Arik Wolheim, PhD

Cantorial & Liturgical Studies

Rabbi Cantor Wolheim, PhD holds a Master of Fine Arts in Music and Opera Studies from State University of New York, Purchase. He serves as Hazzan of Beth Jacob Congregation in Beverly Hills, California, and is the Music Director of Harkham Hillel Hebrew Academy, also in Beverly Hills.

Ahoova Zeffren

Hebrew Language

Ahoova holds a bachelor’s degree and teaching credential from Bar-Ilan University in Israel. She has worked as an educator at all levels in both Israel and the United States, specializing in Hebrew language, Biblical studies, and Judaic studies.