Clergy | Educators | Staff | Board Members

Clergy

Rabbi Stacy Friedman

Rabbi Stacy Friedman was born in Framingham, Massachusetts, and as a child lived in New York and Salt Lake City, Utah , where she decided to become a rabbi at the age of 16. She attended Brandeis University and received a B.A. in sociology in 1985. After studying at the Jerusalem, Los Angeles, and New York campuses, she was ordained at the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in 1993 and wrote her rabbinic thesis on “Vidui Al Ha-Mita: Confessions on the Deathbed in Jewish Tradition”.

Prior to coming to Rodef Sholom, Rabbi Friedman served Jewish communities in New York City, Montana and Victorville. Rabbi Friedman joined Congregation Rodef Sholom in 1993 as Associate Rabbi and became Senior Rabbi in 2003. She has served on a variety of community boards, including the board of the Marin Interfaith Youth Outreach, Marin Interfaith Council, the Pacific Association of Reform Rabbis, and the Northern California Board of Rabbis. She has also served on committees of the Bureau of Jewish Education and the Family Education Task Force of the Jewish Community Federation in San Francisco . Rabbi Friedman is a member of both the Publications Committee and the Reform Jewish Practices Committee of the CCAR.

Rabbi Friedman sees Judaism as a rich tradition that inspires us to lift each human being and see within them the divine spark. She is passionate about prayer, ritual, the environment, repairing the world and mostly, she feels passionate about the warmth, power and holiness of Congregation Rodef Sholom.

Rabbi Friedman is married to Frank Friedman and they have two sons, Adam and Eli. And, in her spare time, she enjoys hiking, reading fiction, cooking, movies, and gardening.

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Rabbi Michael Lezak

A native of Los Angeles, Michael joined the Rodef Sholom team in July, 2003. He came to us from Peninsula Temple Beth El in San Mateo, California where he served as Associate Rabbi for four years. Michael was ordained from the New York campus of the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in 1999. He received his Bachelor's degree in Marketing from the University of Colorado at Boulder. Michael aims to deepen individual and communal spirituality, through Jewish prayer, study and social activism. He is an avid fan of pop music and cheese. Michael is married to Rabbi Noa Kushner. They have three daughters, Zella, Bluma and Minna.

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Cantor David Margules

David Margules, a native of New York, joined us in July, 1991. Cantor David Margules, a tenor, earned his bachelor’s degree in music in 1976 from Ithaca College and a master of arts degree in sacred music from the Hebrew Union College Jewish Institute of Religion in 1987.  Before coming to Rodef Sholom, he served as Cantor at Temple Sinai in Lawrence, New York. David is married to Marney and they have two children, Benjamin and Danielle.

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Rabbi Noa Kushner

Noa Rachael Kushner received her B.A. in Religious Studies from Brown University in 1992 and was ordained in New York by the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in 1998. While there, she taught for Kollel: A Center for Adult Jewish Study in New York City, and for the Brandeis Bardin Summer Institute in Simi Valley, California. Following ordination, Rabbi Kushner was the Hillel Rabbi and Director for Sarah Lawrence College / SUNY Purchase. She then served as the Rabbi for Stanford University Hillel (1999-2003). Her poems and essays have been published in several books including, Choosing a Jewish Life, and The Women's Seder Sourcebook. Since moving to Marin, Noa has taught and led services for Congregation Rodef Sholom and is happy to be the most recent addition to the clergy serving the Rodef Sholom community. Noa is married to Rabbi Michael Lezak and is the proud mother of three daughters, Zella, Bluma and Minna.

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Rabbi Michael Barenbaum - Rabbi Emeritus

After 27 years as Senior Rabbi, Michael Barenbaum is now Rabbi Emeritus at Congregation Rodef Sholom. A native of Chicago, Rabbi Barenbaum was ordained at the Hebrew Union College Jewish Institute of Religion in Cincinnati . His passions include all aspects of congregational life: worship, education, counseling, youth and programs that involve the congregation in the social and religious concerns of both the Jewish and the general community. Michael is married to Hannah and they have two married children, Naomi and Rob Leonard, Daniel and Michelle Barenbaum and five grandchildren.

Clergy | Educators | Staff | Board Members