Our Clergy

Senior Rabbi

Rabbi Elaine Zecher

ezecher@tisrael.org

Innovation in ritual and prayer, profound engagement in social action, leadership, scholarship and a palpable love of Jewish life are hallmarks of Rabbi Elaine Zecher’s rabbinate. As the senior rabbi of Temple Israel of Boston, she leads the largest congregation in New England, forging close personal relationships within the congregation and the larger community.

Cantor

Cantor Alicia Stillman

astillman@tisrael.org

Cantor Alicia Stillman is honored to make Boston her home, after a circuitous journey from northern New Jersey and New York to Florida, and back north once again. Cantor Stillman was ordained in 2013 at the Debbie Friedman School of Sacred Music of the Hebrew Union College (HUC). She has an extensive background in theater and music, and holds a master’s degree from HUC as well as a Bachelor’s degree from Brandeis University, after which she performed professionally in such theater favorites as Fiddler on the Roof, Grease, Annie, 1940’s Radio Hour, Into the Woods, and The Threepenny Opera.

Rabbi and Director of Congregational Learning

Rabbi Suzie Jacobson

sjacobson@tisrael.org

Rabbi Suzie Jacobson (she/they) serves as Rabbi and Director of Congregational Learning at Temple Israel, a community that has long been her home. She received a Masters in Jewish Education and was ordained as Rabbi by Hebrew College in 2015 after a six-year immersion in the texts and tenacious creativity of the Jewish people.

Assistant Rabbi and Director of Social Justice

Rabbi Dan Slipakoff

dslipakoff@tisrael.org

A love of storytelling lies at the core of Rabbi Dan Slipakoff’s rabbinate. Whether teaching Torah to toddlers or building value-based relationships for righteous impact, identifying and celebrating our core stories drives Rabbi Slipakoff’s passion for Jewish communal life. Always eager to learn another story, Rabbi Slipakoff’s love for Temple Israel and the broader Boston community continues to grow with every new experience.

Assistant Rabbi and Director of Riverway Project

Rabbi Andrew Oberstein

aoberstein@tisrael.org

Rabbi Andrew Oberstein is thrilled to be part of Temple Israel of Boston’s dynamic clergy team as the Director of the Riverway Project. Previously, Rabbi Oberstein served this community as a Rabbinic Intern and, prior to rabbinical school, as Coordinator for Social Justice and Young Adult Engagement.

Senior Scholar

Rabbi Bernard Mehlman

Rabbi Mehlman was ordained from Hebrew Union College in 1963 and began his rabbinic practice as a United States Army Chaplain at Fort Hood, Texas and Frankfurt, West Germany. His first pulpit position was as Assistant Rabbi at Temple Shaaray Tefila in New York, from 1965-1967, which was followed by becoming Rabbi at Temple Micah in Washington, D.C. During his time as Senior Rabbi of Temple Israel (1978-1999), Rabbi Mehlman was the moderator of The Jewish Perspective on WHDH-TV, Channel 7.

Rabbi Mehlman has actively participated in a long list of communal activities, including but not limited to being Chair of the Jewish Community Relations Committee of Boston’s Committee on Interfaith Relations, Adjunct Professor at Brandeis University, and President of the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion Alumni Association. Rabbi Mehlman served as Vice President of the Central Conference of American Rabbis from 2005-2006, and was part of the Editorial Committee of “Mishkan Tefila” from 2005-2007.

As Senior Scholar, Rabbi Mehlman continues to play an important role in our community, from study to life cycle events.

Rabbi Emeritus

Rabbi Ronne Friedman

Rabbi Ronne Friedman served as the Senior Rabbi of Temple Israel of Boston from 1999 – 2016 and has served North Shore Congregation Israel in Glencoe, Illinois and Temple Beth Zion of Buffalo, NY as well. He graduated with a B.A. with distinction in English Literature from Lafayette College in 1969, and received his Masters of Arts in Hebrew Literature from Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion from which he was ordained in 1975. He was awarded a Doctorate (honoris causa) from the same institution in 2000 and has taught as Adjunct Clinical Faculty for the H.U.C.-J.I.R.  Rabbi Friedman currently serves on the Joint Placement Commission of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, the Central Conference of American Rabbis and Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, which he chaired for 15 years, and as a member of the Reform Pension Board. He also served as a member of the Board of the CCAR for 18 years and chaired the Joint Rabbinic Placement Commission of the Reform Movement (URJ, CCAR and HUC-JIR) for 15 years and served for many years as a member of the UAHC’s (now URJ) Commission of Synagogue Affiliation.

Rabbi Friedman has been actively and passionately engaged in the work of Jewish Education, the pursuit of Social Justice, the resettlement of Southeast Asian and Soviet Jewish immigrants, efforts to establish Equal Marriage in Massachusetts and to ensure the full inclusion of GLBTQ Jews and their families in the larger Jewish and secular community and the establishment of Interfaith Dialogue. He has been married to Irene (Neumann) Friedman since 1972 and they are the parents of two sons, Zachary and Jesse (z’l).

Cantor Emeritus

Cantor Roy Einhorn

Cantor Roy B. Einhorn served as Cantor of Temple Israel from 1983-2020. He came to our synagogue after graduating from Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion’s Debbie Friedman School of Sacred Music in 1983. Cantor Einhorn coordinated our B’nei Mitzvah Program and our music program as well as taught in the Frances Jacobson Early Childhood Center, the Religious School, and The Tent. Cantor Einhorn was the clergy liaison to the Marilyn and Mike Grossman Caring Community (now known as TI Cares) and to Temple Israel’s Green Team. Known as TI’s “recycler” he has been a strong advocate for changes to lower the carbon footprint of Temple Israel and the homes of our congregants.