Rabbi Shaul Robinson

Rabbi

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rabbi@lss.org

Cantor Sherwood (The Chaz) Goffin

Cantor

Cantor Goffin began his years of service with Rabbi Shlomo Riskin, founding Rabbi of LSS, in 1965. During this time, he has created a unique LSS musical atmosphere, that blends the best of contemporary and traditional Jewish melodies, into a service that is true to the time-honored musical chant that is the essence of the centuries-old synagogue tradition.

Honored with "Cantor for Life" tenure in 1986, Cantor Goffin has been the first and only Principal of the LSS Feldman Hebrew School since 1965, and gives various LSS Adult Education classes in the evening, as well as a full program of Bar and Bat Mitzvah training.

For thirty-five years Cantor Goffin was one of America’s first and foremost artists in the world of contemporary Jewish Music from 1961 to 1995, recording seven popular albums and appearing as a Hebrew Folksinger/guitarist at venues in most major cities in North America, as well as in South Africa and Israel, until he voluntarily “retired” from the concert stage to enter the world of academia. From 1964-1990 he was recognized as the “Voice of Soviet Jewry,” singing at all the massive Soviet Jewry U.N. “Solidarity Day” rallies. He has appeared in the major concert halls of the US and Canada, such as Carnegie Hall and Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center, and devoted more than twenty-seven years to music programs at NCSY National Conventions and voluntarily working with teenagers at NCSY and Yeshiva U. Seminars. It was those years of working with teenage “outreach” that he considers to be the most satisfying part of his music career, second only to the thrill of participating in building his synagogue from a small one-room shul to one of the largest and most famous in America.

Cantor Goffin is a faculty member of the Belz School of Jewish Music at Yeshiva University, where he teaches college-level classes in Jewish Liturgy and folk music. In this position he teaches a new generation of young cantors/Baalei Tefilla who will carry on the tradition he loves deeply and to which he is dedicated. He is the Honorary President of the Cantorial Council of America, the only Orthodox organization of cantors in the world, an affiliate of Yeshiva University.

We welcome you to join us on a Friday evening or Saturday morning in the main synagogue, to experience the inspirational atmosphere created by the voice and melodies of Cantor Sherwood Goffin, a "davening" that has in no small measure helped build LSS and its international reputation as one of the leading synagogues of our times.

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chaz@lss.org

Elana Stein Hain, MA, MPhil.

Community Scholar

Elana Stein Hain has been at Lincoln Square Synagogue for five years. While functioning as the Community Scholar - sermonizing, counseling, building relationships, teaching and collaborating on programs with volunteers - she also lectures to Jewish communities throughout the country and has served on the Wexner Institute Faculty. Several years ago, she was named one of the Jewish Week's first "36 Under 36." Our Community Scholar is currently writing her doctoral dissertation in Religion at Columbia University. Her topic is: Talmudic Loopholes and the Role of Intention. As part of her academic studies, she has been privileged to study with Professors David Weiss Halivni, Suzanne Last Stone, and Barry Wimpfheimer. She participated in a two-year fellowship in Jewish Law and Legal Theory and takes part in academic conferences in Talmud and Rabbinics. This year, she has joined the staff of NYU Wagner School of Public Service, teaching courses as part of a new minor in Religious Life and Leadership.

Beyond academic interests, Ms. Stein Hain enjoys music and travel, as well as a good comedian's sketch. She and her husband Yonah and son Azzan live on the Upper West Side.

 

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mesh@lss.org

Rabbi Ephraim Buchwald

Rabbi, Beginners' program

Rabbi Ephraim Buchwald is one of the leaders in the movement of Jewish return in America today. He has pioneered and developed many of the most dramatic and effective outreach programs in this country.

Ordained at Yeshiva University, where he was a student of Rabbi Dr. J. B. Soloveitchik, Rabbi Buchwald served from 1973 for 15 years as the Director of Education at Lincoln Square Synagogue in New York, which, during his tenure, became one of the largest and most successful centers for adult Jewish education programs in America. He also established and coordinated Lincoln Square's celebrated outreach program. Since 1975, Rabbi Buchwald has led the now-renowned "Beginners Service," a special Shabbat service for people with little or no synagogue experience.

In July of 1987, Rabbi Buchwald founded the National Jewish Outreach Program. NJOP sponsors the acclaimed Shabbat Across America/Canada and Read Hebrew America/Canada campaigns, establishes Beginners Services and offers the Turn Friday Night Into Shabbat, Passover Across America and Sukkot Across America programs, as well as free "Crash Courses" in Hebrew Reading, Basic Judaism and Jewish History. These programs are now hosted by more than 4759* locations across North America, and in 39* countries worldwide. NJOP also has an extensive presence on the web. NJOP’s “JewishTweets” was the first Jewish presence on Twitter, and has become Twitter’s most highly-followed Jewish newswire, generating more than 450,000 impressions daily. “Jewish Treats,” NJOP’s enormously popular email, offers “Juicy bits of Judaism, daily,” on diverse Jewish topics.

Through these much admired programs and the innovative Jewish consciousness-raising advertising campaigns, NJOP has successfully reached more than 1,323,000* North American Jews and engaged them in Jewish life.

In May 2001, Rabbi Buchwald was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters by Yeshiva University in recognition of his pioneering outreach work. He has been included in the Forward 50, a list of America’s 50 most influential Jews and Newsweek’s list of the top 50 Rabbis in America.

Rabbi Buchwald was Founding President of the Association for Jewish Outreach Professionals (AJOP). He lectures across the country and overseas, and leads experiential programs in cities throughout the world. He and his wife Aidel, reside in New York City, and are the proud parents of four children and a growing number of grandchildren.

*****

* figures as of 2/12

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ezb@lss.org

Dov Lerner

Rabbinic Intern

For the second year in a row Dov Lerner is a Rabbinic Intern at our Shul. He served as our Summer Rabbi last year and lead services over Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. Having graduated from Yeshiva University with a degree in English Literature, he is now enrolled in his final year of Rabbinic Ordination at RIETS. This year he is a Tikvah Fellow and has published on JewishIdeasDaily.com and various publications in the U.K. He and his wife, Miriam, live together in Washington Heights.

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Rabbi Eitan Bendavid

Rabbinic Fellow

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Josh Rosenfeld

Rabbinic Intern

Josh Rosenfeld studied for two years in Yeshivat Hakotel, and received a BA with Honors in English Literature from Yeshiva University and an MS ed. from the Azrilei Graduate School. He served as a company sharpshooter in the 605^th Combat Engineers in the IDF as a ‘Lone Soldier’ through the Second Lebanon War. He is currently in his final year of Semikha studies at the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary, and a Beit Midrash Fellow at the SAR Academy in Riverdale. He plans to continue his learning towards a PhD in Judaic Studies in the near future. He is married to Chani, an RN in Memorial Sloan-Kettering, and they can usually be found enjoying their free time with their beautiful daughter Sofia, traveling to Israel, Switzerland, India, hiking, skiing, scuba diving, cooking, and enjoying the outdoors.

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