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Introducing Cantor
Andrea Rae Markowicz!
Am Shalom is delighted to announce that Cantor Andrea Rae Markowicz will join the Am Shalom staff this coming July as our first permanent, ordained Cantor. Read more about Cantor Markowicz and link to a sampling of her lovely music here.
Am Shalom Leadership
We Welcome Cantor Andrea Rae Markowicz
Am Shalom is delighted to announce that Cantor Andrea Rae Markowicz will join the Am Shalom staff this coming July as our first permanent, ordained Cantor. Cantor Markowicz is presently the Cantor of Temple Beth Shalom in Annapolis, Maryland. At the completion of her five years of Cantorial Studies at the Debbie Friedman School of Sacred Music of the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, her ordination will take place in New York City on May 5th. Cantor Markowicz has an extensive background in music, both secular and liturgical, Jewish education, and youth work. She holds a Master of Sacred Music degree from HUC-JIR and a Master of Music degree in Voice Performance from The Cleveland Institute of Music. Her undergraduate work at the University of Michigan earned her a Bachelor of Music degree in Voice Performance.
Prior to beginning her studies at HUC-JIR she was a Cantorial Soloist at Central Synagogue of New York City, Temple Sinai of Long Island, Temple Shomer Emunim in Sylvania, Ohio, and Congregation Agudath B’nai Israel in Lorain, Ohio. Cantor Markowicz has also led High Holy Days services with Central Synagogue of New York City and Temple Concord of Binghamton, New York, as a Student Cantor, and as such was the first Cantor ever to serve at Montgomery, Alabama’s historic Temple Beth Or. She also maintains close ties with Progressive and Reform congregations in Israel, joining as a summer Cantorial Intern at congregations Ohel Avraham in Haifa and Beit Tefilah Israeli in Tel Aviv. We eagerly anticipate her arrival in our community and look forward to welcoming her at her first Shabbat service on Friday, July 12th.
Please watch for more information from the Cantorial Transition Committee as we welcome Cantor Markowicz to our community. In the meantime, you can enjoy some of her lovely music at https://soundcloud.com/andrea-rae-markowicz/sets/cantorial-demo-2013. (You can also see and hear her in the video below -- Cantor Markowicz is the one in the middle.)
Rabbi Steven Stark Lowenstein
Rabbi Steven Stark Lowenstein was ordained at the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Cincinnati, Ohio in June, 1995. In July of 2002 he began his tenure as the Senior Rabbi of Am Shalom.
Prior to Am Shalom, Rabbi Lowenstein spent seven years as the Associate Rabbi, with a full range of rabbinic responsibilities, at Temple Sholom of Chicago, the largest Reform congregation in Illinois. Rabbi Lowenstein has a wealth of experience in rabbinic and pastoral service. He is a talented chaplain, preacher and youth worker with experience in Jewish camping, and has worked with senior members of the temple on issues regarding adulthood and aging. During rabbinical school, Rabbi Lowenstein was spiritual leader for congregations in Ohio, Michigan and Oklahoma. He has also developed and taught high school and religious school courses in many areas of Jewish life.
Associate Rabbi Phyllis Sommer
Rabbi Phyllis Sommer has served Am Shalom as Associate Rabbi since 2003. She is a native of Wisconsin and attended the University of Wisconsin in Madison. She was ordained at the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in 2003, and in addition to Am Shalom has served congregations in New Iberia, Louisiana and Billings, Montana.
Rabbi Phyllis is passionate about Jewish life and learning... and baking... and technology... and reading... and quilting... and posting regular (!) updates on Facebook... and pretty much everything! She spends part of every summer on faculty at Olin-Sang-Ruby Union Institute, where she also leads a well-attended spring quilting retreat for adults. She has blogged the Exodus at rabbiphyllis.blogspot.com, and the ins-and-outs of balancing her life as Rabbi, wife, and mother of four as Ima On and Off the Bima: Real-Life Jewish Parenting and Living (imabima.blogspot.com).
Associate Rabbi Pamela Mandel
Rabbi Pam Mandel is a native Midwesterner, originally from Cincinnati, Ohio. She graduated from Cornell University where she received a degree in Near Eastern Studies. She then attended the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion and was ordained as a rabbi in 2007. As a student, she served the Hebrew Association of the Deaf in New York City and interned at Temple Chaverim in Plainview, Long Island.
Rabbi Mandel comes to Chicago from South Florida, where she served as associate rabbi at Temple Beth El of Boca Raton for five years. There she had the opportunity to get involved with all aspects of congregational life. She taught individuals of every age, from preschoolers to religious school students to adults on the path toward conversion. She also worked to create health and wellness initiatives to bring support and comfort to those who were sick, in mourning, and in recovery from addiction. She is passionate about spiritually engaging her peers and developed programs for young adults and young families in the temple and community at large.
Interim Cantor Paul Offenkrantz
Cantor Paul Offenkrantz began his professional singing career on the stage of the Metropolitan Opera at the age of nine. As a member of the Children’s Chorus, he appeared at the MET in twenty different productions sharing the stage with such luminaries as Richard Tucker, Robert Merrill, Franco Corelli, Tito Gobbi, Luciano Pavarotti, Carlo Bergonzi, Placido Domingo, Jon Vickers and Jose Carreras, and under the baton of such maestros as Leonard Bernstein and James Levine. As a soloist, he was featured as the shepherd in Puccini's Tosca and Fyodor (the son of Tsar Boris) in Mussorgky's Boris Godunov. At the age of twelve, he was the subject of a feature article in the Arts & Leisure section of the Sunday New York Times in which the late Maestro Thomas Schippers said of his Boris performance:"Paul has it all - the voice, the musicality, and the incredible diction."
Rabbi Harold Kudan - Founding Rabbi
Founding Rabbi Rabbi Harold L. Kudan is a native of Glens Falls, New York. He received his B.A. from Skidmore College. He received his Bachelor of Hebrew Letters, Master of Arts in Hebrew Letters and Doctor of Divinity, Honoris Causa from Hebrew Union College - Jewish Institute of Religion in Cincinnati. He was ordained at HUC in June 1959.
Rabbi Kudan served as Rabbi of Moses Montefiore Temple in Bloomington, IL from 1959-1962. For the next ten years, he was the Assistant and Associate Rabbi at North Shore Congregation Israel in Glencoe, Illinois. In 1972, Rabbi Kudan became the founding rabbi of Congregation Am Shalom in Glencoe.
Edward Alpert FTA, Executive Director
Ed Alpert has served for ten years as Executive Director of Am Shalom in Glencoe, Illinois. Previously Ed served for seven years as Executive Director of Temple Sholom in Chicago. Prior to that he owned his own business for fifteen years in the private sector. Ed is a graduate of the Business School at Indiana University.
Beside his work at Am Shalom, Ed served as a former member of the Reform Pension Board and Hebrew Union College Cincinnati Board of Overseers. Ed is a Past President of the National Association for Temple Administration and currently serves on the Board of the Union for Reform Judaism.
Ed resides in Wilmette with his wife Ilene, and works alongside with his son, Ben, who is Am Shalom's head of security.
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
847-835-4800 ext. 202
Judith Berliner - Director of Religous Education
Judi has lived in New York City, California and Chicago. She attended CUNY at Brooklyn College. Jewish education has always been her passion. She has taught in several different schools and in many different settings. She is in her 21st year at Am Shalom.
Judi was the Associate Director of Education for 7 years before becoming the Director of Education. She has also held such positions as religious school teacher, Hebrew teacher, B’nai Mitzvah tutor, Hebrew school coordinator, family education supervisor, teacher mentor and even more. Judi has lived in Glencoe for almost 23 years. She has 3 children, 2 of whom are married and 2 beautiful granddaughters.
Email Judi Berliner
847-835-4800 Ext. 304
Sharon Morton RJE, Educator Emeritus
Sharon Morton retired in June of 2008 after serving as the Director of Religious Education at Am Shalom for 32 years. During her tenure, she was responsible for the education and social action activities of the youth and the adults. She was the President of the National Association of Temple educators from 1998-2000, and has sat on education boards of American Jewish committee- Midwest Avenue of the Righteous and Jewish Council on Urban Affairs. She was the founder of Sojurrn (Social justice Religious resource network), and Grandparents for social action. She has traveled extensively and led seminars and been scholar in residence in many areas.
Mark Burnstine, President
Mark Burnstine became the 21st President of Am Shalom in June 2012. Prior to becoming President he served on the Am Shalom Board of Trustees since 2000 including four years as Vice President and two years as President Elect. Mark has also served as Assistant Treasurer and is an active member of the Finance Committee.
He is a graduate of the University of Illinois (BS in Accounting) and Northwestern University (MBA) and works in strategy & planning/development for a large international bank.
Mark along with his wife Jean have been members of Am Shalom since 1998 and reside in Glencoe with their two children Jill and Jeffrey.
Contact Us
Am Shalom Leadership
We Welcome Cantor Andrea Rae Markowicz
Am Shalom is delighted to announce that Cantor Andrea Rae Markowicz will join the Am Shalom staff this coming July as our first permanent, ordained Cantor. Cantor Markowicz is presently the Cantor of Temple Beth Shalom in Annapolis, Maryland. At the completion of her five years of Cantorial Studies at the Debbie Friedman School of Sacred Music of the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, her ordination will take place in New York City on May 5th. Cantor Markowicz has an extensive background in music, both secular and liturgical, Jewish education, and youth work. She holds a Master of Sacred Music degree from HUC-JIR and a Master of Music degree in Voice Performance from The Cleveland Institute of Music. Her undergraduate work at the University of Michigan earned her a Bachelor of Music degree in Voice Performance.
Prior to beginning her studies at HUC-JIR she was a Cantorial Soloist at Central Synagogue of New York City, Temple Sinai of Long Island, Temple Shomer Emunim in Sylvania, Ohio, and Congregation Agudath B’nai Israel in Lorain, Ohio. Cantor Markowicz has also led High Holy Days services with Central Synagogue of New York City and Temple Concord of Binghamton, New York, as a Student Cantor, and as such was the first Cantor ever to serve at Montgomery, Alabama’s historic Temple Beth Or. She also maintains close ties with Progressive and Reform congregations in Israel, joining as a summer Cantorial Intern at congregations Ohel Avraham in Haifa and Beit Tefilah Israeli in Tel Aviv. We eagerly anticipate her arrival in our community and look forward to welcoming her at her first Shabbat service on Friday, July 12th.
Please watch for more information from the Cantorial Transition Committee as we welcome Cantor Markowicz to our community. In the meantime, you can enjoy some of her lovely music at https://soundcloud.com/andrea-rae-markowicz/sets/cantorial-demo-2013. (You can also see and hear her in the video below -- Cantor Markowicz is the one in the middle.)
Rabbi Steven Stark Lowenstein
Rabbi Steven Stark Lowenstein was ordained at the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Cincinnati, Ohio in June, 1995. In July of 2002 he began his tenure as the Senior Rabbi of Am Shalom.
Prior to Am Shalom, Rabbi Lowenstein spent seven years as the Associate Rabbi, with a full range of rabbinic responsibilities, at Temple Sholom of Chicago, the largest Reform congregation in Illinois. Rabbi Lowenstein has a wealth of experience in rabbinic and pastoral service. He is a talented chaplain, preacher and youth worker with experience in Jewish camping, and has worked with senior members of the temple on issues regarding adulthood and aging. During rabbinical school, Rabbi Lowenstein was spiritual leader for congregations in Ohio, Michigan and Oklahoma. He has also developed and taught high school and religious school courses in many areas of Jewish life.
Associate Rabbi Phyllis Sommer
Rabbi Phyllis Sommer has served Am Shalom as Associate Rabbi since 2003. She is a native of Wisconsin and attended the University of Wisconsin in Madison. She was ordained at the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in 2003, and in addition to Am Shalom has served congregations in New Iberia, Louisiana and Billings, Montana.
Rabbi Phyllis is passionate about Jewish life and learning... and baking... and technology... and reading... and quilting... and posting regular (!) updates on Facebook... and pretty much everything! She spends part of every summer on faculty at Olin-Sang-Ruby Union Institute, where she also leads a well-attended spring quilting retreat for adults. She has blogged the Exodus at rabbiphyllis.blogspot.com, and the ins-and-outs of balancing her life as Rabbi, wife, and mother of four as Ima On and Off the Bima: Real-Life Jewish Parenting and Living (imabima.blogspot.com).
Associate Rabbi Pamela Mandel
Rabbi Pam Mandel is a native Midwesterner, originally from Cincinnati, Ohio. She graduated from Cornell University where she received a degree in Near Eastern Studies. She then attended the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion and was ordained as a rabbi in 2007. As a student, she served the Hebrew Association of the Deaf in New York City and interned at Temple Chaverim in Plainview, Long Island.
Rabbi Mandel comes to Chicago from South Florida, where she served as associate rabbi at Temple Beth El of Boca Raton for five years. There she had the opportunity to get involved with all aspects of congregational life. She taught individuals of every age, from preschoolers to religious school students to adults on the path toward conversion. She also worked to create health and wellness initiatives to bring support and comfort to those who were sick, in mourning, and in recovery from addiction. She is passionate about spiritually engaging her peers and developed programs for young adults and young families in the temple and community at large.
Interim Cantor Paul Offenkrantz
Cantor Paul Offenkrantz began his professional singing career on the stage of the Metropolitan Opera at the age of nine. As a member of the Children’s Chorus, he appeared at the MET in twenty different productions sharing the stage with such luminaries as Richard Tucker, Robert Merrill, Franco Corelli, Tito Gobbi, Luciano Pavarotti, Carlo Bergonzi, Placido Domingo, Jon Vickers and Jose Carreras, and under the baton of such maestros as Leonard Bernstein and James Levine. As a soloist, he was featured as the shepherd in Puccini's Tosca and Fyodor (the son of Tsar Boris) in Mussorgky's Boris Godunov. At the age of twelve, he was the subject of a feature article in the Arts & Leisure section of the Sunday New York Times in which the late Maestro Thomas Schippers said of his Boris performance:"Paul has it all - the voice, the musicality, and the incredible diction."
Rabbi Harold Kudan - Founding Rabbi
Founding Rabbi Rabbi Harold L. Kudan is a native of Glens Falls, New York. He received his B.A. from Skidmore College. He received his Bachelor of Hebrew Letters, Master of Arts in Hebrew Letters and Doctor of Divinity, Honoris Causa from Hebrew Union College - Jewish Institute of Religion in Cincinnati. He was ordained at HUC in June 1959.
Rabbi Kudan served as Rabbi of Moses Montefiore Temple in Bloomington, IL from 1959-1962. For the next ten years, he was the Assistant and Associate Rabbi at North Shore Congregation Israel in Glencoe, Illinois. In 1972, Rabbi Kudan became the founding rabbi of Congregation Am Shalom in Glencoe.
Edward Alpert FTA, Executive Director
Ed Alpert has served for ten years as Executive Director of Am Shalom in Glencoe, Illinois. Previously Ed served for seven years as Executive Director of Temple Sholom in Chicago. Prior to that he owned his own business for fifteen years in the private sector. Ed is a graduate of the Business School at Indiana University.
Beside his work at Am Shalom, Ed served as a former member of the Reform Pension Board and Hebrew Union College Cincinnati Board of Overseers. Ed is a Past President of the National Association for Temple Administration and currently serves on the Board of the Union for Reform Judaism.
Ed resides in Wilmette with his wife Ilene, and works alongside with his son, Ben, who is Am Shalom's head of security.
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
847-835-4800 ext. 202
Judith Berliner - Director of Religous Education
Judi has lived in New York City, California and Chicago. She attended CUNY at Brooklyn College. Jewish education has always been her passion. She has taught in several different schools and in many different settings. She is in her 21st year at Am Shalom.
Judi was the Associate Director of Education for 7 years before becoming the Director of Education. She has also held such positions as religious school teacher, Hebrew teacher, B’nai Mitzvah tutor, Hebrew school coordinator, family education supervisor, teacher mentor and even more. Judi has lived in Glencoe for almost 23 years. She has 3 children, 2 of whom are married and 2 beautiful granddaughters.
Email Judi Berliner
847-835-4800 Ext. 304
Sharon Morton RJE, Educator Emeritus
Sharon Morton retired in June of 2008 after serving as the Director of Religious Education at Am Shalom for 32 years. During her tenure, she was responsible for the education and social action activities of the youth and the adults. She was the President of the National Association of Temple educators from 1998-2000, and has sat on education boards of American Jewish committee- Midwest Avenue of the Righteous and Jewish Council on Urban Affairs. She was the founder of Sojurrn (Social justice Religious resource network), and Grandparents for social action. She has traveled extensively and led seminars and been scholar in residence in many areas.
Mark Burnstine, President
Mark Burnstine became the 21st President of Am Shalom in June 2012. Prior to becoming President he served on the Am Shalom Board of Trustees since 2000 including four years as Vice President and two years as President Elect. Mark has also served as Assistant Treasurer and is an active member of the Finance Committee.
He is a graduate of the University of Illinois (BS in Accounting) and Northwestern University (MBA) and works in strategy & planning/development for a large international bank.
Mark along with his wife Jean have been members of Am Shalom since 1998 and reside in Glencoe with their two children Jill and Jeffrey.
