Staff
Rabbi | Cantor/Educator | Synagogue Administrator
High Holy Day Cantor/Composer | Moadon
Elliot B. Gertel
Rabbi
773-752-2770, ext. 101, ebgertel@aol.com
Rabbi Elliot B. Gertel has been spiritual leader of Congregation Rodfei Zedek since 1988. A native of Springfield, Massachusetts, he attended the Joint Program at Columbia University and the Jewish Theological Seminary from 1972 to 1976, earning a B.A. in philosophy and a B.H.L. in Bible. He received a M.H.L. from the Seminary, where he was ordained in 1981. He did research and editing for Dr. Gershon D. Cohen and for the Rabbinical Assembly, and from 1982 to 1988 served his first pulpit, Congregation Beth El-Keser Israel in New Haven, Connecticut. In December 2007 Rabbi Gertel received a Doctor of Divinity degree, honoris causa, from JTS in recognition of his contributions to Jewish life (Rabbi's response and photos).
In Chicago Rabbi Gertel has been chairman of the Joint Television Commission of the Jewish Federation and the Chicago Board of Rabbis, President of the Hyde Park and Kenwood Interfaith Council, and a board member of the Chicago Jewish Historical Society. Rabbi Gertel has been a contributing editor of Conservative Judaism and Jewish Spectator magazines. He has contributed many essays and reviews to popular and scholarly publications in the fields of Jewish thought, Jewish literature and American Jewish history, and, since 1979, has been the media critic for the Jewish Post and Opinion, American Jewry’s longest-running national English-language weekly. His recent books include Jewish Belief and Practice in Nineteenth Century America: Seminal Essays by Outstanding Pulpit Rabbis of the Era; What Jews Know About Salvation, which prodded the Library of Congress to list "salvation" as a Jewish concept; and Over the Top Judaism, which discusses the depiction of Judaism in film and on television.
On the congregational level, Rabbi Gertel has been an innovator whose programs have won Solomon Schechter awards for music and publications and "unique programming." He has pioneered in outreach to synagogue alumni and in joint ventures with other communal agencies, such as Jewish Family Services. Rabbi Gertel has written several intergenerational Festival services, and he developed the concept of "one synagogue with many schools," which has become fundamental at Rodfei Zedek.
Rachel Gluck Rosenberg
Cantor/Educator
Cantor@rodfei.org
Rachel Rosenberg is currently the Cantor/Educator at Congregation Rodfei Zedek. She formerly served for nine years as Ritual Director at Congregation B'nai Tikvah in Deerfield, Illinois. Rachel recently completed the Cantorial Internship Program of the Cantors Assembly of America and was invested as Hazzan at the annual Cantors Assembly Convention in Toronto in May 2011. She is a member of the Cantors Assembly Education Committee and is involved with coursework and initiatives dealing with best practices in Jewish Family Education.
Cantor Rosenberg serves as the Vice-President of the Chicago Milwaukee Association of Synagogue Musicians, an organization which facilitates professional development and networking throughout the region and raises scholarship funds for cantorial students through community musical programming. She is also a founding member of the well-known Chicago-based musical ensemble, Shakshuka, which features Israeli and Sephardic music "spiced with jazz." The group has performed at many concerts and festivals, including the Chicago Jewish Festival, Navy Pier, and Ravinia, and was recently welcomed by the Jewish community of Alaska!
Cantor Rosenberg is passionate about Jewish music, prayer, and Jewish education, and seeks to find new modes of meaningful expression with diverse communities of all ages.
Cheryl Gutman
Synagogue Administrator
773-752-2770, administrator@rodfei.org
We are delighted that Cheryl Gutman joined us as part-time Synagogue Administrator in December. Sherry's office hours are Monday 10:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m., Tuesday 9:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m., Wednesday 10:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m., and Friday 10:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m.
For the previous nineteen years, Sherry had served the University of Chicago, first as the Director of Undergraduate Student Housing and then as Deputy Dean of Students and Dining Services and Assistant Dean of the College. She thus comes to us with extensive expertise and experience in areas critical to her Rodfei Zedek role, which includes managing the Congregation's finances, communications, and facilities, working with the JCC and our other community partners, supporting our ongoing strategic efforts, and generally helping us become more efficient and effective in everything we do.
Sherry received her Bachelors degree in History from Alfred University in New York, her Masters degree in Higher Education Administration from Bowling Green University in Ohio, and previously served as an administrator at University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point and Oberlin College. She lives in Hyde Park.
Jonathan Miller
High Holy Day Cantor/Composer
singwow@comcast.net
Dr. Jonathan Miller is the High Holy Day Cantor/Composer at Congregation Rodfei Zedek. He is known nationwide for his leadership in choral music. A local product, he grew up “down the street” at KAM Isaiah Israel and CPS schools and spent 10 years in the Chicago Children’s Choir. He was given his first professional singing job at age 17 by Max Janowski, performing the a cappella Conservative high holy day liturgy, a body of music which forms the basis for CRZ’s yontiv services today; Jonathan also manages the published Janowski musical catalogue. While at the University of Chicago, singing in five different professional choirs in the area, Jonathan began his decades-long collaboration with Cantor Julius Solomon. Shortly after completing doctoral studies in musicology at UNC‑Chapel Hill, in 1993 Jonathan founded Chicago a cappella, a professional classical vocal ensemble, which has received international acclaim for its musical quality and fun, inventive programming. He is a guest conductor for high school, community and college choirs and a mentor for those beginning their own groups. He serves on the board of Chorus America, which in 2008 awarded him the Louis Botto Award for Innovative Action and Entrepreneurial Zeal. An active and commissioned composer, Jonathan has written more than 60 choral works, including Hebrew songs sung regularly at CRZ. When he’s not pursuing music, Jonathan sells software in the transportation industry and enjoys time with family and friends.
Scroll down to pp. 3-4 for an article about Jonathan Miller in the Fall 2011 CJE News.
Etty Dolgin
Director of Education at Moadon Kol Chadash
773-661-6340, etty@dolgin1.com
Etty Dolgin directs Moadon Kol Chadash, Rodfei Zedek's North Side religious school affiliate. A life-long Jewish educator and pioneer in Hebrew language programs, Etty is also the Director of Hebrew Learning at Olin-Sang-Ruby Union Institute (OSRUI) and is the Master Israel Educator of the Community Foundation for Jewish Education.