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Alan Green,
Senior Rabbi
Rabbi Alan Green was
born September 14, 1953 in Los Angeles, California where he lived
for most of his first 39 years. He grew up at Congregation Adat
Ariel in Valley Village, California where he was taken under the
wing of Cantor Allan Michelson, one of the great Hazzanim of that
day. Rabbi Green received his BA and MA in the History of Religions
from UCLA, and studied Rabbinic Literature for three years at the
University of Judaism in Los Angeles. He received rabbinic
ordination from Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, founder and Dean of
the Aleph Alliance for Jewish Renewal, in 1991.
Besides Cantor
Michelson and Rabbi Schachter-Shalomi, Rabbi Green’s other
significant spiritual influences include His Holiness Maharishi
Mahesh Yogi, Rabbi Dr. Abraham Joshua Heschel, Rabbi Dr. Arthur
Green, and Dr. Kees W. Bolle, who for many years was Professor of
the History of Religions at UCLA.
For five years,
Rabbi Green was spiritual leader of Temple B'nai Emet in Montebello,
California before coming to Winnipeg in 1992 and serving as
spiritual leader of Beth Israel Congregation until the year 2000.
Rabbi Green has served as Senior Rabbi of
Shaarey Zedek Congregation since the fall of 2000.
Rabbi Green has been
married to Chaya and her triplets, Daniel, Eve, and Shoshanah, since
1990. He calls his move to Winnipeg “one of the best things that
ever happened to me”, and he looks forward to many more years of
happiness, harmony, and celebration at Shaarey Zedek, and with the
Winnipeg Jewish community.
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Lawrence Pinsker,
Associate Rabbi
Rabbi Lawrence Michael Pinsker, a native of Chicago, Illinois, was ordained by the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College. Previously he has served pulpits in the Conservative movement in Niagara Falls (New York), Chicago, and San Antonio, Texas. In 1985 he founded the West End Synagogue, a new synagogue on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. From 1991-2002, he served as Rabbi of Congregation Darchei Noam in Toronto. Before accepting the position of Associate Rabbi and Scholar-in-Residence at Shaarey Zedek in 2004, he also served an interim year as Associate Rabbi at Beth David B’nai Israel Beth Am Synagogue in Toronto.
Rabbi Pinsker holds degrees from Antioch College and Temple University in Philosophy and Religion. He has taught courses in Jewish philosophy, theology, and history in university programmes wherever he has served, including Niagara Community College, Niagara University, Texas Lutheran College, B'nai B'rith Summer Camp Institute of Canada, and most recently at the Spirituality Diversity program at the Health Sciences Centre in Winnipeg. He has also taught Bible, Comparative Religions, and Jewish Spirituality in middle school and high school settings as well as Diversity Training for the Winnipeg Police Service Training Academy. A career-long advocate of inter-religious dialogue, he frequently joins other faith-community leaders in advocating mutual understanding and respect.
In 2001 and again in 2007, Rabbi Pinsker was honoured with degrees of Doctor of Divinity honoris causa for service to the Jewish community by Jewish institutions of higher learning, most recently by the Jewish Theological Seminary of the Conservative movement.
Rabbi Pinsker incorporates puppets, storytelling, and knowledge of a wide range of religions, science, history, anthropology, and folklore in showing people some of the the ways that belief, prayer, and spiritual disciplines are or can be an important part of living.
Rabbi Pinsker is married to Laurelle Harris Pinsker, an attorney, and is father to four children: three now-adult daughters pursuing careers in music, acupuncture, and medical research, and a thirteen-year-old son who hopes for a career as a neurosurgeon. |
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Chazzanim |
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Aníbal Mass,
Chazzan
Chazzan
Aníbal Mass was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Since he was a
little boy he was interested in music, especially singing. As a
child he participated in the well-known children’s choir of the
Colegio Bet-Am Medinat Israel, which was directed by the teacher
Nestor Stofblat. Chazzan Mass’ interest in liturgical music came
while studying for his own Bar Mitzvah. Only one week after his Bar
Mitzvah, he began to lead the Kabbalat Shabbat Services at Templo
BAMI. His increasing interest in chazzanut inspired him to undertake
formal studies at the Seminario Rabinico Latinoamericano de Buenos
Aires, first as a student at the pre-rabbinical school and then at
the Escuela de Jazanim “Bet Asaf” (School of Chazzanim). Among his
teachers were Jazan Oscar Fleischer (Ashkenazi liturgy) and Jazan
Ramon Tasat (Sefardi liturgy). Immediately after completing his
chazzanut studies, Chazzan Mass was selected as a full-time Chazzan
by the Israelite Community of Santiago, Chile, where he served for
over eight years. During that time, he continued studies in music
and singing with his teacher, Marcelo Olivari. Chazzan Mass has been
with Congregation Shaarey Zedek since August 2002.
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Shammes |
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Bill Weissmann, Shammes
Bill has an extensive
background in human resource management, public relations and
marketing with a number of national companies. He helped design,
manage and implement communication policies; marketing strategies;
new product research, production and advertising campaigns and
developed, implemented and directed public relations policies.
Bill’s first love is
teaching. His teaching career, which began at J. H. Bruns Collegiate
and later moved on to Red River Community College (Market Driven
Training and Continuing Education Divisions) and the University of
Winnipeg Continuing Education Division, has been very rewarding. He
currently advises and works with students in various disciplines.
Serving as Shaarey Zedek
Synagogue’s Shammes since 1997, Bill is happiest when able to offer
guidance to those attending the daily Minyan services. When families
are in need of support, Bill recalls the gentle methods used by his
predecessor, Ben Raber, and follows the example of Rabbi Alan Green
and Rabbi Lawrence Pinsker. He truly believes that the most
satisfying feeling one can experience is being able to provide
encouragement to others during the most difficult times of their
lives. |
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