Clergy
Clergy Overview
Rabbi Malcolm Cohen hails from the West London Synagogue, England’s oldest reform temple, located in the Jewish ghetto in northwest London; Cantor Mariana Gidlin is originally from Argentina’s Temple Libertad, a now-conservative shul nestled in a traditional Buenos Aires neighborhood. Each of these passionate Jewish leaders is a trailblazer and brings a historic perspective to the pulpit. Together, they make up a dynamic duo the Temple Sinai board believes was well worth the effort and exhaustive interviewing process to bring them here. Having spent time with them recently, I’m inclined to agree.
Rabbi Malcolm Cohen
Rabbi Malcolm Cohen joined Temple Sinai September 2009, just in time for High Holy Days. He and his distinctive London accent came as a package from the UK, along with his wife Sarah, a Jewish Studies educator, and his son, Elijah. His daughter, Rachel,was born in the United States.
Philosophy:
Rabbi Cohen‘s approach emphasizes the very best that Reform Judaism has to offer. He works with the synagogue team and lay leaders to develop key initiatives designed to bring in those who have not yet found their place in the community. He successfully starts up projects to reach out to young people and offers them meaningful ways to express their Jewish identity. He enriches his congregation with humor, insight, and challenge and adds diversity to prayer and community activity. He has an infectious passion for texts and for Jewish tradition, but tempers this with the warmth and the modernity of present-day progressive Judaism. He is an articulate and engaging advocate for his congregation.
History:
Rabbi Cohen was a key leader of young people at Edgware & District Reform Synagogue (his ‘home’ community, and one of the largest congregations in Europe) and an intern at North Western Reform Synagogue (the leading Reform Congregation in the Jewish heartland of North London).In addition, he was one of three full-time rabbis at West London Synagogue (WLS). WLS is the flagship congregation of the Reform movement in the UK, with a membership of 1700 families. It is the oldest established progressive Jewish community in the UK,and is a magnet for Jewish students, visitors, and business people from all over the world (notably from the US) when they pass through London
Cantor Mariana Gindlin
Cantor Mariana Gindlin was born and raised in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Mariana felt a passion for Judaic music early on in life and has devoted her career to teaching, performing and leading liturgical and popular Jewish music. In 2001, she served as a cantor in the LibertadTemple in Buenos Aires, where her father sung for 30 years in the professional choir. Mariana’s enchanting voice, love of Judaism and music, and her engaging and charismatic personality, resonate with all her congregants and touch everyone who knows her.
History:
MarianaGindlin has been a full-time Cantor/Musical Director in the United States for the past 9 years, starting in Florida and ending in Las Vegas by way of California. Before coming to the United States, Mariana was a cantor at several congregations in Buenos Aires, where she also served as a music teacher and choir director for many prominent Jewish institutions. In the United States, Cantor Mariana is currently enrolled at the Academy for Jewish Religion in Los Angeles, where she is studying to become a Rabbi. In addition to her musical skills, Mariana is a licensed psychologist (UBA) and is fluent in several languages, including English, Spanish, Hebrew and Yiddish. She studied at the Latin American Rabbinical Seminary and at the National Conservatory of Music in Argentina. In America, she completed the two year cantorial program at the Institute for Jewish Spirituality. She taught workshops at the 2005 American Conference of Cantors Convention in New Orleans, the 2005 Coalition for the Advancement in Jewish Education (CAJE) Convention and the Jewish Reconstructionist Federation Convention in 2010. For the past six years, the cantor has also been teaching workshops about Latin American Jewish Music at the American Jewish University.
Music:
In 2007, Mariana was selected to officiate at a Kabbalat Shabbat honoring the Israeli Prime Minister, Ehud Barak, prior to a dinner at the American Jewish University. Mariana has produced and performed on three critically acclaimed CD’s of inspiring Jewish music. She has also performed extensively in concerts throughout the world and has produced and participated in numerous benefits for the Magen David Adom and various other temples.Mariana has performed in the city of Ariel, Israel, together with other cantors from the Cantor’s Assembly. Last July, she was invited to perform at the Philharmonic Hall of Krakow as part of the Jewish Music Festival. Go to Mariana Gindlin’s website
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