Rabbi Marc Gellman is the senior rabbi of Temple Beth Torah in Melville, New York where he has served since 1981. He was the youngest rabbi ever ordained by Hebrew Union College and the only person to complete the six-year rabbinical program in two years of residence.

Rabbi Gellman earned his Ph.D. in Philosophy from Northwestern University in 1981 where he also served as the director of the B'nai B'rith Hillel Foundation. While at Northwestern, he also completed doctoral course work in the History and Literature of Religions specializing in Buddhism and Judaism. He is the recipient of many honorary degrees.

Rabbi Gellman has served on the faculties of Antioch College, Northwestern University, and Hebrew Union College, lectured at Princeton and Amherst College, and was invited to lecture on the ethics of assisted reproductive technologies during Grand Rounds of the Harvard Medical School. He has delivered many invited lectures and was an invited participant at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. He has contributed academic papers to the Annual of the American Psychiatric Association, The Journal of the US Commission on Civil Rights, and other academic and opinion journals. He was invited to contribute to the collection of essays on the State of Jewish Belief by Commentary Magazine.

Rabbi Gellman was the Chairman of The Medical Ethics Committee of UJA-Federation, and has served on their board of trustees. He was president of The New York Board of Rabbis during the attack on New York in 2001 and delivered one of the keynote speeches at the Memorial Service in Yankee Stadium on September 23, 2001.

He invented and developed the literary field of modern midrash for children when he served as Contributing Editor of Moment Magazine and he has published two collections of these modern bible stories for children: “Does God Have A Big Toe?” which was selected as one of the outstanding children's books of the year by the New York Times, and other periodicals, and “God's Mailbox.” Rabbi Gellman published, “Always Wear Clean Underwear (and other ways your parents tell you they love you).” and its sequel, “Someday You'll Thank Me For This”.

His book, with Monsignor Hartman, “Where Does God Live?” was awarded The Christopher Award, and they also published, “Lost and Found: a child's guide to overcoming grief and loss,” and “How Do You Spell God?” This is an introduction to world religions for young people with a forward by the Dalai Lama. An HBO animated special for children based on this book was awarded The George Foster Peabody Award. Rabbi Gellman and Msgr. Hartman also published, “Religion for Dummies.”

Rabbi Gellman writes a weekly column, “The Spiritual State,” for Newsweek Magazine, which appears online at Newsweek.com. Rabbi Gellman also writes a nationally syndicated religious advice column that appears locally in Newsday. The readers of Newsday voted Rabbi Gellman and Monsignor Hartman the most outstanding leaders and activists of the last century on Long Island. Their daily television program, “The God Squad,” was broadcast to over 15 million homes. They lectured widely and regularly appeared on many cable news programs.

Rabbi Gellman is also a member of the Golf Writers of America and is on the ranking panel of Golf Digest Magazine. He is the recipient of the Winnie Palmer Award from the Metropolitan Golf Writers of New York.

He is married to Betty Schulson of Chicago, and they have two children, Mara, and Max, and two grandchildren, Zeke and Daisy. They raise guide dogs for the blind.

Rabbi Rachel Wiesenberg is thrilled to begin her first year as the Rabbi-Educator of Temple Beth Torah. She looks forward to directing the Religious School, teaching various classes, and aiding the clergy team in any rabbinic capacity necessary.

 

Prior to coming to Temple Beth Torah, Rabbi Wiesenberg served as the Family Life Programmer of The Shelter Rock Jewish Center in Roslyn. She has also had the privilege of serving The North Fork Reform Synagogue for two years as their sole rabbinic presence. Rabbi Wiesenberg has taught fantastic students at Temple Avodah in Oceanside, Central Synagogue in Rockville Centre, Temple Am Echad of Lynbrook, and Temple Isaiah of Great Neck. Her passion for working with Jewish Youth was nurtured through her experiences as both a camper and a counselor at Eisner Camp in Massachusetts, as well as her work with Panim in Washington D.C. and Birthright Israel.

 

Rabbi Wiesenberg was ordained in 2009 from Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in New York. While a student there, she fed the hungry of New York City as well as her passion for Tikkun Olam as the Sous Chef and then Executive Cook of the HUC-JIR Soup Kitchen. Along with issues of Hunger and Homelessness, she is also an avid supporter for the restoration of New Orleans, Women of the Wall, and the rights of Progressive Judaism in Israel.  

 

She attended Hofstra University for her Undergraduate work, where she worked for two years as the Teaching Assistant for Dr. Jacques Berlinerblau. While at Hofstra, she also had the pleasure of serving on the Executive Boards of HU’s Hillel and Delta Phi Epsilon International Sorority.

Raised in Milford, CT, Rabbi Wiesenberg now lives in Merrick with her husband Jonathan 

Rabbi Susie Heneson Moskowitz is the Associate Rabbi of Temple Beth Torah in Melville. She teaches adult education classes and in the school. Rabbi Moskowitz is on the pulpit and involved in every aspect of Temple life. She is interested in helping you to get involved at Temple Beth Torah.

Since 1996, Rabbi Moskowitz has been Rabbi Educator of the congregation and is credited with growing the religious school to 600 students and establishing Mishpacha University, a learning experience for families.

Prior to coming to Temple Beth Torah, Rabbi Moskowitz was family educator at the Reconstructionist Synagogue of the North Shore, where she implemented one of the first UJA-Federation Continuity grants. She has also served as Assistant Rabbi at Temple Beth El of Great Neck.

A 1986 graduate of Duke University, Rabbi Moskowitz was ordained as a rabbi from the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Cincinnati in1991.

Presently, Rabbi Moskowitz is secretary and on the executive board of the Women’s Rabbinic Network and a member of the Board of Education of the Solomon Schechter Day School of Nassau County. She is also on the board of M’Yad, L’Yad- Helping Hands, and is involved in the Suffolk Association of Jewish Education Services (SAJES) and its Ki Va Moed Israel Project. Rabbi Moskowitz is on the faculty of the URJ Eisner Camp in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. She is also known for having created a Kabbalah Yoga Service that she has presented at conferences around the country.

A native of Baltimore, Maryland Rabbi Moskowitz resides in Huntington, with her husband Rabbi Steven Heneson Moskowitz, rabbi of the Jewish Congregation of Brookville, and their two children, Shira and Ari.

Cantor Stephen Stein was born to Ralph and Anne Stein. He and his sister Sona grew up in Brooklyn surrounded by their loving parents and extended family. As a boy, Stephen became a soloist and sang in many choirs that accompanied world-renowned cantors. After graduating from Lincoln High School, he joined the US Army Reserves and was stationed in Texas, where he conducted Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur services for the Jewish soldiers. Six months later, Stephen returned to New York and enrolled at Hebrew Union College, School of Sacred Music.

During his years as a student, Stephen studied with several outstanding cantors and served as Cantor at the Village Temple, a reform synagogue in New York. After graduating with his Bachelor of Sacred Music (BSM) degree, Cantor Stein took a position at Huntington Jewish Center, where he served until 1998, when he accepted the position at Temple Beth Torah, in Melville, New York. At Temple Beth Torah, Cantor Stein leads the chanting of religious services, teaches the b'nai mitzvah students, supervises the choir, teaches adult education, reads the Torah and provides ministerial services.

Cantor Stein completed a Masters in Music Education at Long Island University, C.W.Post College in 1974 and became certified as a teacher of Special Education. From 1971 through 1997, he provided music therapy and taught music to children with handicapping conditions at the Board of Cooperative Education in the Second Supervisory District (BOCES 2). During this time he was presented with an award for outstanding teaching.

Cantor Stein is a past president and founder of the Long Island Cantors' Association and appears regularly in its concerts. He is also a member of the American Conference of Cantors and the Cantors' Assembly. In 1994, he was honored by the Cantors' Assembly and made an honorary fellow of the Cantors' Institute of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America. He was also honored by the American Conference of Cantors for his many years of service as a cantor-educator.

Cantor Stein and his wife, Linda, have been living in Dix Hills for the past twenty-eight years. They have four children: Alan, Elisa, Ilana and Jeffrey, two sons-in-law, Craig and Mitchell, a daughter-in-law, Julie and several grandchildren.