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.
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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.
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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
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