Our Staff & Clergy
Clergy
Senior Staff
Administrative Staff
Music Staff
Main Phone: (925) 283-8575
Fax: (925) 283-8355
At Temple Isaiah, an exceptional clergy team and professional staff help all of us - from babies to elders – discover and deepen our Jewish lives. Our leaders counsel and inspire, inform and challenge us to live up to the high ideals of our tradition. They are caring, accessible mentors who guide us through our own personal Jewish journeys, through life’s joys, trials and celebrations. To contact a member of our clergy team please call Nina Jones, Clergy Assistant at (925) 283-8575 ext. 308, or use their email addresses, posted below.
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Rabbi Roberto D. Graetz joined Temple Isaiah in 1991 after having served as rabbi in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil for almost 20 years. He acted as the Director for Latin America for the World Union for Progressive Judaism, was active in human rights issues during the military dictatorship in Argentina, and worked on behalf of the street children in Rio de Janeiro. Since joining Temple Isaiah Rabbi Graetz has served on Jewish and non-Jewish non—profit boards, presently he is vice-chair of the North American Board of the World Union for Progressive Judaism and serves on the Executive Committee of the North American Board of Rabbis for Human Rights. Rabbi Graetz is married (Evelyn) and has three daughters (Deborah, Ilana and Sharon).
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Rabbi Judy Shanks is a native of Phoenix, Arizona, where she grew up in a Reform synagogue and participated actively in her local and regional Youth Groups. She earned her B.A. degree with honors in Religion from Pomona College in Claremont, California in 1977. After college she served as the Director of the summer Day Camp at the Jewish Community Center in Walnut Creek, CA. In 1979 she entered Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, first in Jerusalem and then in New York City. She earned her Masters Degree and was ordained as Rabbi in 1984. From 1984 - 1991 Rabbi Shanks served Temple Beth Hillel in Richmond, California. The following year she taught Jewish Studies at the University of San Francisco and then joined the clergy team at Temple Isaiah in the Fall of 1992. Rabbi Shanks has a special interest in Jewish feminist studies, the development of new rituals for life cycle events, liturgical poetry and modern Hebrew literature. She is the wife of Dr. James Gracer and the mother of Talia and Mira.
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Rabbi Alissa Miller joined the clergy of Temple Isaiah after being ordained from the Los Angeles campus of Hebrew Union College- Jewish Institute of Religion in May 2007. She oversees our vibrant programs for youth, teens and young families, directing Camp Kefli, Noar Night, our teen school, and coordinating Kulanu our family “youth” group. Growing up in Denver, Colorado, Rabbi Miller was active in her local and regional NFTY youth group and spent many summers at Shwayder Camp, a Jewish overnight camp in the Colorado Rocky Mountains. She attended the University of Wisconsin in Madison, earning a BA in Sociology and minor in Jewish studies and spent her junior year of college at Hebrew University in Jerusalem. Upon graduating, she came to Temple Isaiah where she served as the Assistant Youth Director and Administrative Assistant for the Education Department (1999-2001). During rabbinical school, Rabbi Miller served as a student rabbi in Aiken, SC and Worcester, MA and was the rabbinic intern at Congregation Or Ami in Calabasas, CA. Rabbi Miller also earned her Master of Arts in Jewish Education at HUC-JIR in May 2005.
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Cantor Leigh Korn received a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of the Pacific Conservatory of Music in bassoon performance. He went on to receive a Master’s degree in choral conducting from the University of Iowa. In 2000, Cantor Korn began his studies at the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion School of Sacred Music, first in Jerusalem, and then in New York. While in Israel, he received the The Rabbi Jason Huebsch Memorial Prize for his work with Tzi’im, a choir of mentally challenged adults, which included preparing them for a performance at the K’nesset. While a student, Cantor Korn served pulpits in Washington Township, NJ and Falls Church, VA. In 2004, he received a Masters of Sacred Music degree, and in 2005, became invested as cantor. He has spent several summers teaching the laity of the Reform movement through the Synagogue Associates and Mifgash Musical programs. Cantor Korn is an active member of the American Conference of Cantors and is currently working with its Task Force for Continued Education to develop a curriculum in the fields of musicianship, conducting and music technology.
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Rabbi Nicki Greninger was born and raised in Denver, Colorado and graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Dartmouth College with a B.A. in Psychology and a minor in Human Development and Teaching. She was ordained as a Rabbi in 2008 from the New York campus of the Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion (HUC-JIR), where she also earned a Masters of Arts in Religious Education. Rabbi Greninger won numerous awards at HUC-JIR, including those for Bible, Midrash, Hebrew, Talmud, liturgy, homiletics, Jewish education, and social action. Rabbi Greninger is especially passionate about liturgy, prayer, worship, and ritual, and her article “Believing, Behaving, Belonging: Tefillah Education in the 21st Century” in the Journal of Jewish Education is currently used in Jewish education classes throughout the country. In November 2012, Rabbi Greninger was a recipient of the prestigious Pomegranate Prize by the Covenant Foundation, giving her national recognition as a ‘passionate emerging leader’ in the field of Jewish education. Rabbi Greninger is on the board of the National Association of Temple Educators (NATE), is a member of the Presidents Rabbinic Council of HUC-JIR, and is a member of the Committee on Worship and Practice for the Central Conference of American Rabbis (CCAR). Rabbi Greninger is married to Dr. Daniel Greninger, and they have a son (Oren) and a daughter (Lila).
Senior Staff
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(925) 283-8575, ext. 301
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(925) 284-8453
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(925) 283-8575, ext. 311
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(925) 283-8575, ext. 310
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(925) 283-8575, ext. 318
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Administrative & Facilities Staff
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(925) 284-9191
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(925) 283-8575 ext. 401
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(925) 283-8575 ext. 308
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(925) 283-8575 ext. 302
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(925) 283-8575 ext. 303
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(925) 283-8575 ext. 304
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(925) 283-8575 ext. 306
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(925) 284-8453
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(925) 283-8575
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Music Staff
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(925) 283-8575
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(925) 283-8575
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Michael Secour, Musical Accompanist
(925) 283-8575