Anshe Chesed Fairmount Temple

Please join us for: These Events - Open to All!

Make this Your Time to Belong. Learn more about first-year voluntary dues.
 


A Variety of Shabbat Experiences 

Adult Learning Opportunities
Calendar of Shabbat Services.
 
Fairmount Temple Cookbook
Perfect for Chanukah, wedding and hostess gifts.

 

 

CLERGY


Rabbi Arturo L. Kalfus

Rabbi Arturo L. Kalfus

Rabbi Arturo L. Kalfus joined the clergy team in the summer of 2003.

Before joining Fairmount Temple, was a rabbi at Temple Emeth in Teaneck, New Jersey. Rabbi Kalfus also served at two New York congregations, Temple Beth Emeth in Albany and Temple Emanuel in New Hyde Park. Like Rabbi Ruben, Rabbi Kalfus is a Rabbinic Fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem, Center for Rabbinic Enrichment.

Rabbi Kalfus was ordained in 1992 from Hebrew Union College - Jewish Institute of Religion, and he holds a Bachelor of Arts degree with honors in Jewish History and Philosophy from Hebrew University in Jerusalem. He has participated in a program on Language, Culture and Civilization at the Sorbonne University in Paris.

Rabbi Kalfus has coordinated and taught adult education programs, expanded outreach activities for interfaith families, and taught an array of courses, including Survey of Latin American Judaism, Learning Jewish Theology for the Seeking Adult, and Introduction to Modern Jewish Thought.

Rabbi Kalfus is married to Phyllis Meyers and they are parents of two children.

Rabbi Joshua L. Caruso

Rabbi Joshua L.
Caruso

Rabbi Joshua L. Caruso, who has served as an assistant and associate rabbi at Temple Beth El in Spring Valley, New York, joined the Fairmount Temple clergy team in July, 2002 and was named the Religious School Director in 2007.

While at Temple Beth El, Rabbi Caruso was involved in all aspects of a pulpit rabbinate, from Torah teaching and adult learning, to life cycle rituals and religious school. He led "Senior Torah Topics," a weekly course of ethical teachings, taught "Circle of Learning," a bi-weekly Torah study for adults congregants, and developed curriculum for grade-wide family programs for parents and children to study Torah passages. He also worked closely with the Outreach Committee to develop inclusive programs that serve a diverse community. Before joining Temple Beth El, Rabbi Caruso was a student rabbi at Sha'are Shalom in White Plains, Maryland, a religious school teacher at Congregation Rodeph Sholom in New York, and co-director/coordinator of Shalom ben Chorin Forum for Interfaith Dialogue.

Rabbi Caruso was ordained in 1998 at Hebrew Union College - Jewish Institute in New York.

He and his wife, Leah, have three young children. Leah's parents are Phil and Debbie Weiss, long-time members of Fairmount Temple.

Cantor Sarah J. Sager

Cantor Sarah J.
Sager

Cantor Sarah J. Sager has been the Cantor of Fairmount Temple since 1980, and is the first person in the history of this congregation to hold the position of Cantor. She was invested by the Hebrew Union College - School of Sacred Music in New York and was one of the first women in the world to hold the title of Cantor. Cantor Sager is a graduate, Phi Beta Kappa and Magna Cum Laude, of Brown University and also holds a Master's Degree from the New England Conservatory of Music.

In recent years, Cantor Sager's career has taken on an additional dimension. She has become quite sought-after as a speaker on the topic of Judaism & Feminism, particularly as it relates to the images of women in our tradition. She was the keynote speaker at the 1993 Biennial Convention of the Women of Reform Judaism in San Francisco. Her address at that time was entitled: "Sarah's Hidden Voice: Recovering and Discovering Women's Spirituality." As a result of her charge to the assembly, the Women of Reform Judaism voted to undertake the project of a transformative commentary to the Torah that will include feminist commentary, interpretations and scholarship in an effort to uncover and recover women's voices from our tradition and enable women to interact freely with our sacred texts in the future. She receives frequent invitations to serve as Scholar-in-Residence on this topic and in the more traditional field of Jewish music.

Cantor Sager has been honored for her contributions to the Jewish community and for her spiritual leadership by the State of Israel Bonds, and the Commission for Women's Equality of the American Jewish Congress.

Cantor Sager serves on the Commission on Synagogue Music of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations. She is also involved in the creation of a new clergy manual - through a committee of representatives from both the Central Conference of American Rabbis (CCAR) and the American Conference of Cantors (ACC). She is married to William R. Joseph and is the proud mother of a son and daughter.

Listen to Cantor Sager now! Select a format:

Selection: Shavua Tov


Anshe Chesed Fairmount Temple

Anshe Chesed Fairmount Temple
23737 Fairmount Blvd., Beachwood, Ohio 44122-2296 USA
Phone: 216-464-1330, Fax: 216-464-3628, E-Mail: mail@fairmounttemple.org

Copyright © Anshe Chesed Fairmount Temple. All Rights Reserved.
Website maintenance by Dynamics Online. This website space is provided by CoreComm.