Temple Emanu-El-Beth Sholom

Senior Rabbi Leigh Lerner

Born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Rabbi Lerner graduated from Duke University with a degree in English, after which he entered Hebrew Union College.  He was ordained in 1972. Rabbi Lerner’s fi¬rst pulpit was at Mount Zion Temple in St. Paul, Minnesota, where he was Assistant Rabbi for three years and Senior Rabbi for the following fourteen. Among his many communal activities in St. Paul, Rabbi Lerner is especially proud of being instrumental in renewing Black-Jewish dialogue.

In March 1989, Rabbi Lerner was appointed Senior Rabbi at Temple Emanu-El-Beth Sholom, where he quickly immersed himself in our community, learning French while earning a vital place in the hearts of our congregants. Rabbi Lerner's activities in Montreal are very impressive, having served as:

• President of the Montreal Board of Jewish Ministers (1992-95); currently Secretary Treasurer
• President of the Canadian Region Central Conference of Reform Rabbis
• Member of the Board of Mazon Canada, a Jewish Response to Hunger
• Vice-President of ARZA (Canadian Association of Reform Zionists)
• Member of the Board of Directors, League of Human Rights in Montreal
• Member of the Board of Editorial Contributors of the Montreal Gazette

Executive Director Shellie Ettinger

Shellie Ettinger grew up in Montreal, having graduated from Jewish Peoples School and West Hill High School.  She attended Sir George Williams University, where she obtained her certificate in Family Life Education and a Bachelor or Arts in Applied Social Science.  She earned her Master of Social Work degree at the Wurzweiler School of Social Work, Yeshiva University in New York.

Shellie has enjoyed a successful career in the Jewish community.  From 1976 until 1983, she worked in the Group Services Department at both the Davis and Laval branches of the YM-YWHA.  From 1985 to 1998, she was the Senior Coordinator of Programs at National Canadian Jewish Congress and responsible for the outreach and development of small Jewish communities across Canada. 

From 1998 until March 2002, Shellie served as the Assistant Director of the Montreal Federation CJA Community Planning and Allocations Department and from January 2002 until March 2008, as Executive Director of Jewish Immigrant Aid Services Montreal. In April 2008, Shellie joined the Temple family as its Executive Director. 
 

Music Director and Cantorial Soloist, Rachelle Mingail Shubert

Rachelle Shubert oversees all aspects of Temple’s musical life. In addition to leading services from the bima, she directs the professional and volunteer choirs, as well as her musical accompanists, from pianists and organists to guest soloists and other musicians. Under Rachelle’s direction, Temple services have become lively and creative. She has added variety to the musical experience by introducing piano, guitar, clarinet, flute and harp.  Owing to her broad musical background and knowledge of many traditions, Rachelle has opened Temple’s ears to wide-ranging melodies – traditional, contemporary and original. 
Rachelle founded and directs Kol HaNeshama, Temple’s adult volunteer choir. She co-directs the annual Purim Spiel and works with Temple’s youth, in particular the Torah School singers (K-8) who can be heard at Kabbalat Shabbat services throughout the year. As Artistic Director of Temple's Concert Shabbat Series, she has brought such recording artists as cellist Denis Brott, harpist Erica Goodman and the Cleveland Duo and James Umble to the Temple bima.
In May 2011, Rachelle released her debut CD – For All These Things – which has received accolades from composers and lovers of Judaic music. Rachelle regularly performs her original compositions from this recording at Temple services and they are now also featured at Reform congregations across North America. 
Rachelle grew up attending Reform services and religious school at Hamilton’s Temple Anshe Sholom and Temple Emanu-El in Toronto. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Music from Concordia University. Over the past 20 years, Rachelle has actively served the cause of Reform Judaism and of Judaic music in North America. She is a member of the URJ Canadian Steering Committee, the Editorial Advisory Committee and the Music Publications Review Committee for Transcontinental Music Publications (the music publishing arm of the Union for Reform Judaism) and the Women Cantors Network. Rachelle served as Secretary to the Executive Board of the Guild of Temple Musicians, as Tefillah Committee Co-Chair for the 2007 American Conference of Cantors-Guild of Temple Musicians Convention and as both Faculty and Parent Ambassador to URJ Camp George.
 

Outreach Rabbi Julia Appel,

A Boston native, Rabbi Appel was ordained by the pluralistic Rabbinical School of Hebrew College in Newton, Massachusetts. A graduate of Harvard University, Rabbi Appel has studied in many institutions, including the Hartman Institute, the Conservative Yeshiva, and the Pardes Institute in Jerusalem. She has participated in numerous retreats and trainings, including with the American Jewish World Service, CLAL, Next Dor, and the Elat Chayyim Center for Jewish Spirituality.

Rabbi Appel’s experience ranges from leading hundreds of worshippers in prayer at the Western Wall in Jerusalem to coordinating outreach to unaffiliated college students at MIT; from directing an interfaith day of community service involving dozens of participants and program sites to orchestrating spiritual Sabbath retreats for over one hundred young adults. She has taught courses, led prayer services, and facilitated community building at synagogues, retreats and campuses across New England and in Israel, and now in Montreal. Rabbi Appel focuses on creative outreach and synagogue renewal.

A former writer, editor, and public relations consultant, Rabbi Appel has a particular interest in politics, women’s rights, and economic justice. She served as the managing editor of an award-winning progressive Jewish blog and her work has been published in several national publications. Rabbi Appel is also a singer, having sung with a Jewish women’s musical midrash group as well as a country blues band. She is very involved in new Jewish liturgical music, especially contemplative chants. Rabbi Appel lives in the Mile End with her husband, Aaron Wenner.

Rabbi Appel is spearheading our groundbreaking new outreach initiative, building community and relationships among Montreal’s Jewish young adults and young families.