
Rabbi Joe Rooks Rapport		Rabbi Gaylia Rooks		Rabbi David Ariel-Joel		Rabbi Nadia Siritsky		Rabbi Chester Diamond
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Rabbi Rapport received his Ph.D. in American Jewish History in 1988 from Washington University in St. Louis. He received a Master of Arts in History from that same University in 1986. Rabbi Rapport is a graduate of the Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati where he was ordained in June of 1984. He received his Masters of Arts in Hebrew Letters from the Los Angeles campus of HUC, prior to which he spent a full year at the College's Israel campus in Jerusalem. His undergraduate career was spent at the College of Wooster, in Ohio, where he graduated Phi Beta Kappa, with highest honors, in the spring of 1979.

As an undergraduate, Rabbi Rapport majored in Speech, History, and Computers with secondary education certification in each field. At the Hebrew Union College, he began his study of the American Jewish experience with his Rabbinic Thesis, a computerized collective biography entitled: "Notable American Jewish Women." In addition, he has completed theses and major works on: American Involvement in the Holocaust, The Early Settlement of the Jews in Georgia, Fannie Hurst, Leni Riefenstahl, Local and Regional Campaign Media, as well as various technical works in the field of computers and education. His doctoral dissertation concerned Emma Lazarus, the American-Jewish poetess whose sonnet adorns the Statue of Liberty. Recent publications include: "The Roots of Reform in Louisville" a scholarly review establishing The Temple among the founders of Reform Judaism in America; "Louise Waterman Wise" a biographical entry in the Encyclopedia of American Jewish Women, and Talking Torah Software, computer programs for Hebrew Language education. Rabbi Rapport was recently selected as one of 18 rabbis in America to participate StarTech, a program of the STAR Foundation for the advancement of information technology in Synagogue life.

Rabbi Rapport offers college courses in Jewish Philosophy at the University of Louisville, Bellarmine College, Spalding University and various seminaries throughout the community. He has been involved in various interfaith and social action activities, serving as Chair of the Louisville Coalition for the Homeless and Co-Chair of "Many People-One Community", a prejudice reduction project of the city, county, and the National Conference of Christians & Jews. Within the Jewish community Rabbi Rapport is the Chair of Computers and Technology for the Central Conference of American Rabbis. He has served as president of the Louisville Board of Rabbis, as chair of the Community Relations Council, as a member of the Executive Committee of the Jewish Community Federation and of the UJA Rabbinic Cabinet.

Rabbi Rooks is Rabbi and Director of Adult and Hebrew Education. She is a graduate of the Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati where she was ordained in 1984. She received her Master of Arts in Hebrew Letters from the Los Angeles campus of HUC, prior to which she spent a full year at the College's Israel campus in Jerusalem.

Her Rabbinic Thesis, "Halachic Guidance for the Terminally Ill," provides insights from Jewish tradition for the modern day dilemmas of Bio-Medical Ethics. Rabbi Rooks has continued her interest in morals in medicine by serving on the Ethics Committee of the Norton-Kosair Children's - Alliant Hospital In-vitro Fertilization Program.

Her undergraduate career was spent at Brandeis University, where she graduated cum laude in the spring of 1979 with a B.A. in Psychology and Near Eastern and Judaic Studies. She served twice as the chairperson of the Reform Group of Hillel and studied abroad her Junior year at the Jacob Hiatt Institute in Jerusalem.

Before coming to Louisville, Rabbi Rooks served four years as Associate Rabbi at Congregation Shaare Emeth in St. Louis with a special focus in Young Adults, Social Action, Senior Adult Programming, Hebrew and Adult Education. Rabbi Rooks has continued these efforts at The Temple, adding Women's Studies and Outreach to the many programs she now directs.

Rabbi Rooks is seen weekly on the WHAS-TV Interfaith Panel, "The Moral Side of the News" and serves on the clergy allocations committee of the "Crusade For Children." She has recently released a collection of original Jewish music on CD entitled If You Will It . . . Learn more about the CD here.

Rabbi Ariel-Joel is a graduate of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Jerusalem, where he received his Master of Arts in Jewish Studies and was ordained in 1994. He received a Master of Arts in Jewish Philosophy from The Hebrew University of Jerusalem in 1993. His undergraduate career was spent at Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where he majored in Jewish Philosophy and graduated in 1990.

Before coming to Louisville, Rabbi Ariel-Joel served for four years as Executive Director for the Israel Movement for Progressive Judaism (the Reform Movement in Israel). With a staff of more than twenty, he represented the IMPJ internationally, in contacts with the Israeli government and in all other matters. He also served on the boards of the Council of Reform Rabbis, the Joint Conversion Institute -- where Orthodox, Conservative and Reform Rabbis teach together more than 2,000 people -- and at the Israel Religious Action Center.

Prior to that, Rabbi Ariel-Joel held positions as rabbi for Har-El Congregation, the first Reform congregation in Israel; as Director for the Progressive Beit Midrash; as Director of the Education and Culture Department for Beit Shmuel; and Executive Director and Educational Director of Hamdat, the Association for the Freedom of Science, Religion and Culture in Israel.

Rabbi Ariel-Joel has edited two books: Baruch She'assani Isha (Praised be the One Who Made Me a Woman) about the women in Judaism from biblical times to the present, and The War of Gog and Magog: The Jewish Messianic Idea. He wrote about the portion "Be-ha'alotekha" for the book Opening the Week. He has also published articles in scholarly journals.

Rabbi Siritsky was born in Montreal, Canada where she studied at College Marie de France under the European educational system. She went on to receive a double degree in Social Studies and Theater from Marianopolis College. She received her B.A. in Jewish Studies from McGill University and her undergraduate honors thesis was: "Rabbinic Perspectives on Conversion."

Rabbi Siritsky lived in Jerusalem for nearly three years, during which time she studied Hebrew in two ULPANS, as well as studying Talmud and other Jewish texts at the PARDES Institute, as well as at the Beit Midrash Institute of Beit Shmuel, at the Conservative Yeshiva at the Hebrew University and at several other Yeshivas in Jerusalem. She was ordained at HUC-JIR in New York in 2002. She also completed four units of Clinical Pastoral Education, with the Health Care Chaplaincy and the Jewish Institute for Pastoral Care, as well as receiving specialty training for disaster response from the American Red Cross.

Over the last several years, Rabbi Siritsky has been a spiritual leader and/or rabbinic intern in several congregations including Temple Emanu-El -- Beth Sholom in Montreal, Central Synagogue of Nassau County and Beth Am in Washington Heights. She has developed curriculum and taught for adults and children of all ages for many years, in synagogues throughout New York and Montreal, as well as with Elderhostel participants through Sullivan County Community College in the Catskills and at the JCC of Manhattan. She has counseled people as a staff interfaith chaplain at several hospitals, including New York Hospital and Beth Israel Medical Center, as well as with the American Red Cross. She was the Rabbinic Chaplain for the Jewish Board of Family and Children's Services where she counseled adults living with mental illness at day treatment centers, and with the Jewish Healing Center where she facilitated bereavement support groups.

Rabbi Siritsky has a wide variety of expertise in social action, coordinating soup kitchens in New York and Montreal, and working with Rabbis for Human Rights in Jerusalem. Her commitment to interfaith relations has led her to be active with the National Conference of Community and Justice (NCCJ) and to lead training sessions for the Protestant School Board of Quebec. Most recently, she was a consultant and trainer for the Tanenbaum Center for Interreligious Understanding, where she developed and implemented a curriculum on religious diversity in health care settings.

Rabbi Diamond has been a Rabbi at The Temple since 1963. He was graduated from Brooklyn College in 1957 with a Bachelor of Science degree and a commission in the U.S. Air Force. In 1960 he earned his Bachelor of Hebrew Literature degree from the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in New York and his teaching certificate from the College-Institute School of Religious Education and the New York Federation of Reform Synagogues. He was ordained in 1963 after receiving his Master of Arts in Hebrew Literature with honors. Having graduated first in his class, he was awarded a fellowship at the College-Institute in Cincinnati where he was a Graduate Fellow from 1963-1966.

Rabbi Diamond has served on the executive board of many communal organizations, including Jewish Hospital, Jewish Community Federation, the Boy Scouts of America--Old Kentucky Home Council, National Conference of Christians and Jews--Louisville Chapter, American Jewish Committee, Council on Peacemaking, Senior House, Jefferson Alcohol and Drug Abuse Center, Louisville Free Public Library Foundation, Apple Patch Community for Mentally Handicapped Adults, and the Louisville and Jefferson County Youth Orchestra. Rabbi Diamond presently serves on the Louisville Board of Rabbis and Cantors. He is also a member of the Character Education Advisory Council for the Kentucky Department of Education and recently was invited to become a member of Citizens for Better Judges. In addition, for the past three years he has been a volunteer tutor at Dunn Elementary School. Rabbi Diamond was the first Rabbi to serve on the Board of the Office of Ecumenism of the Louisville Archdiocese. In 1999 he was recognized by Interfaith Paths to Peace for his work in promoting interfaith understanding and in 2001 was the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Cathedral Heritage Foundation. His civic activities has also included participation on advisory committees for Metro United Way, Jewish and Humana Hospitals, Louisville United Against Hunger, and WKPC-TV, Channel 15.

Rabbi Diamond helped to develop a Hillel Counselorship at the University of Louisville and was its first counselor. He is past president of the Louisville Board of Rabbis and one of its founding members. He is an adjunct Professor of Religion at the Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary and has been a visiting lecturer in Hebrew Scriptures at Bellarmine College. Rabbi Diamond is a graduate of Leadership Louisville Class of 1985, is a member of the Louisville Rotary Club and has the distinction of being the first Rabbi to serve as Chaplain of the Louisville Jaycees. In 1988, in recognition of his years of spiritual leadership at The Temple where he has served since his Ordination, Rabbi Diamond was awarded the Degree of Doctor of Divinity, honoris causa, by the Hebrew Union College.