Shelter Rock Jewish Center Rabbinical Search Committee

Mission Statement of Committee

To hire the Rabbi best suited to lead our congregation forward with vibrancy and success.

Update - March 25, 2024

  • We have received 6 applications for the Senior Rabbi position.

  • We have conducted interviews with 4 of the applicants.

  • Rabbi Claudio Kupchik will be spending the weekend with us on March 29-31

    The Schedule for the weekend will be as follows:

    • Friday night services at 6:30 pm with a short Dvar Torah from the Rabbi

    • Saturday morning services at 9:30 am, which will include Torah reading by our guest as well as a sermon

    • Enhanced Kiddush following services

    • Mincha/Seudat Shlishit/Ma’ariv Saturday afternoon at 6:45 pm with some informal learning with the Rabbi during Seudat Shlishit

    • Sunday morning Minyan at 9:00 am followed by breakfast

  • We had 2nd candidate that we had invited for a Shabbat visit, Rabbi Cara Weinstein Rosenthal. Rabbi Rosenthal has withdrawn her name from candidacy at Shelter Rock as she is accepting another offer and will not be spending a Shabbat with us

Committee members

Rob Hirsch (Chair) - Member since 1991. Past President of Shelter Rock, reads Torah and is a retired software developer.

  • Glenn Pollack - Member since 1993. Past President of Shelter Rock, reads Torah and owns a printing company.

  • Missy Rubenfeld - Member since 2018. Board member. Has two Hebrew school aged children.

  • Jonathan Samuels - Member since 1991. Loves to lead services and is a physician.

  • Rina Shamoun - Member since 1975. Board member. Born and raised in Tel Aviv, reads Torah and Haftorah and is a licensed insurance broker.

  • Debby Snider - Member since 2004. Former member of New Hyde Park Jewish Center. Retired leader in the non-profit healthcare industry, Zumba teacher.

  • Stuart Stein - Member since 1978. Enjoys giving a Dvar Torah when the Rabbi is away. Has chaired the SRJC publication committee and manages an international manufacturing company.

Search Process

We are guided by the Rabbinical Assembly of which all Conservative Rabbis are members. The process with them is as follows:

  1. Shelter Rock submits an application

  2. The application is published to all of their members

  3. Rabbis apply and we receive those applications

  4. The committee reviews, does preliminary interviews and chooses candidates to bring for in-person interviews, including leading us on Shabbat

  5. The committee then recommends a candidate to the board for approval

  6. The congregation then meets to vote on accepting the Rabbi for contract negotiation

Focus group meetings

Please click HERE and let us know which date you would like to attend.

We will be having 3 focus group meetings, facilitated by members of the committee over the next 10 days.

• Tuesday, October 17 at 7:00 PM

• Sunday, October 22 at 10:00 AM

• Wednesday, October 25 at 7:00 PM