RABBI KAREN STROK: Director, Florence Melton School of Adult Jewish Learning of Stephen Wise
Rabbi Karen Strok has served as the founding director for the Florence Melton School of Adult Jewish Learning at Stephen Wise Temple since 2010. Before directing the Melton School, she taught ethics at the Canejo/West Valley Melton School. Since ordination, she has worked at Milken Community Middle School, taught at the Stephen Wise religious school, directed an educational resource center and served as an education consultant at HUC-JIR, and coordinated an alternative Hebrew program at Temple Judea. Born and raised in Long Beach, California, Rabbi Karen Strok graduated Phi Beta Kappa from U.C. Santa Cruz with a B.A. in Religious Studies. She continued her education in Los Angeles at the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion (HUC-JIR) where she received Master’s Degrees in Hebrew Letters and Jewish Education, and rabbinic ordination in 2002. Her husband Joshua and sons Micah and Avi share her excitement about the opportunities that lie ahead at Stephen Wise Temple.
RABBI SABINE MEYER: Teaching Dramas of Jewish Living
Rabbi Sabine Meyer, Ph.D. is the director of the URJ Introduction to Judaism program in Southern California and Arizona. She is a dedicated teacher with over 20 years of experience with students in academic and congregational settings. She taught in the German Studies and Judaic Studies departments at the University of Southern California, and holds a Ph.D. in German Studies from USC. Her dissertation, “Lives Remembered: Memoirs of German-Jewish Women Who Left Germany in the 1930s” examines issues relating to history, memory, gender and identity. Upon her ordination from Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion (HUC-JIR) in 2007, Rabbi Meyer joined the faculty of the International Peace School in Cologne, Germany where she created the first state-approved progressive Jewish curriculum for German elementary schools. Adult education is Rabbi Meyer’s true passion. Working with adult learners and guiding them on their Jewish journeys has been her greatest inspiration in the past five years as director of the URJ Introduction to Judaism program. In addition to teaching Intro classes, Rabbi Meyer has offered advanced courses at local congregations, including classes on Jewish history, prayer, and women Torah scholars. She also officiates at life cycle events. Rabbi Meyer is excited to join the Melton faculty at Stephen Wise Temple. When not in the classroom, you can find the rabbi and her trusted hiking companion Pepper (a rescue dog of vague terrier lineage) on the trails of the San Gabriel Mountains and the Angeles National Forest.
RABBI DALIA SAMANSKY: Teaching Foundations of Jewish Family Living, Jews in America: Insiders and Outsiders & Purposes of Jewish Living
Rabbi Dalia Samansky has been teaching with Melton for several years. In that time, she has covered a variety of topics: pastoral work, working both with hospice patients and recovering addicts, as well as coursework for multiple graduate courses. In addition to her work with Melton, Rabbi Samansky at Beit T’Shuvah. She also welcomes many new babies into the Jewish community with personalized baby naming ceremonies. Prior to her pastoral work, Rabbi Samansky was an Assistant Rabbi at Temple Ahavat Shalom in Northridge, California for three years. Before entering rabbinic school Rabbi Samansky spent several years working in the Boston Jewish community, including serving as Director of Education and Family Educator. In 2003, she served on the Mazkirut board for the Conference for Alternatives in Jewish Education. Rabbi Samansky’s life is enriched by her wonderful husband Jason and their beautiful daughters Naomi and Tova.
RABBI ADAM SCHAFFER: Teaching Beyond Borders: History of the Arab-Israeli Conflict
Rabbi Adam Schaffer is the Religious School Director at Temple Aliyah in Woodland Hills, California, a school of 350+ students. Prior to that he served as the School Rabbi at Abraham Joshua Heschel Day School in Northridge for seven years where he taught Judaic Studies, Cantillation, Tefillah, and Jewish Ethics. He prides himself on being an eclectic rabbi who defies denominational labels and serves in a variety of capacities including as a congregational rabbi in Bremerton, Washington, an assistant education director in Santa Ana, and a chaplain at UCLA Hospital. He holds rabbinic ordination and a Master’s degree in Jewish Education from the Hebrew Union College here in Los Angeles, and a Bachelor’s degree in Communications from the University of Pennsylvania. His proudest role, however is being the abba to his two children, Ezra and Eliana, and his greatest honor is to be married to the wonderful Melissa Sandler.
NEAL SCHNALL: Teaching Beyond Borders: History of the Arab-Israeli Conflict, Jews in America: Insiders and Outsiders & Rhythms of Jewish Living
Neal Schnall grew up in Philadelphia, PA. He graduated from UCLA with a BA in Psychology. Neal took Jewish studies courses both at Gratz College in Philadelphia and the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, where he became fluent in Hebrew. Neal has been a dedicated Jewish educator in Los Angeles for nearly 40 years. He spent most of his career working at Valley Beth Shalom as principal of the Hebrew School. There, he initiated both the Sha’are Tikveh and Moreshet programs for special needs children. Neal taught many adult courses, including but not limited to Jewish history, Hebrew, General Judaica, and adult b’nai mitzah. In addition, Neal has taught in many synagogue schools in Los Angeles including Sinai Temple, Adat Ariel and Ramat Tzion. In 2000, Neal was recognized as educator of the year through the Los Angeles Bureau of Jewish Education. Neal served as a volunteer in Israel during the 1973 Yom Kippur war. There, he met his future wife, Yael. Neal and Yael have two grown daughters, Noa and Adi. Neal is pleased to be part of the Melton faculty at Stephen Wise Temple, where he taught an adult Hebrew course a few years ago. He enjoys teaching and receives a great deal of satisfaction in seeing adults find greater appreciation in the Jewish tradition.
GARY SHAPIRO: Teaching BaMidbar: Leadership Defied and Defended
Gary Shapiro received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Hebrew Language and Literature from the University of Minnesota. Following four years of study in Israeli yeshivot, he taught at the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem from 1989-1998. During that period, Gary also designed and wrote the Jewish Ethics curriculum used for many years by the Melton School. After returning to the U.S. in 1998, Gary helped to build and taught at a community Jewish high school in Minneapolis, and went on to serve for 10 years as Director of Jewish Learning at the central agency for Jewish education in Metropolitan Chicago. At that time, he designed and wrote a course used with Jewish teenagers on the fundamentals of Jewish thought. In 2005 he received his Master’s degree in Religious Studies from the Divinity School at the University of Chicago where he is pursuing a Ph.D. in History of Judaism. Currently, Gary teaches full-time at Milken Community High School.
RABBI JILL ZIMMERMAN: Teaching Mysticism and Kabbalah: Secret Knowledge in Judaism
Rabbi Jill Berkson Zimmerman, M.Ed. is the founder of the Jewish Mindfulness Network and has been teaching for over 35 years. Most recently, she has focused her teaching on Judaism through the lens of mindfulness practice and teaches widely on this topic. Rabbi Zimmerman was ordained from Hebrew Union College and selected by the faculty as the recipient of The Myrtle Lorch Pfaelzer-Monroe Award given to an outstanding female student in the School of Rabbinic Studies. She served as Assistant Rabbi/Director of Building Community at Temple Emanuel of Beverly Hills and has worked at congregations in the greater Los Angeles area, Carlsbad, Riverside, Mammoth Lakes and Seattle, WA. Jill is a graduate of the Institute for Jewish Spirituality’s Mindfulness rabbinic program and is certified as a Jewish Mindfulness Teacher. Her masters degree in education is from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Rabbi Jill is known for her warm and accessible teaching style, and for making Jewish teachings relevant and meaningful for people in their everyday lives. Jill has been married to Ely for 34 years and they have two grown sons.