Temple Emanuel Clergy
RABBI LAURA GELLER Rabbi Laura Geller is the Senior Rabbi of Temple Emanuel in Beverly Hills, California. She is the first woman to be selected to lead a major metropolitan synagogue. Prior to being chosen for this position in 1994, she served as the Executive Director of the American Jewish Congress, Pacific Southwest Region. Among her accomplishments at AJCongress was the creation of the AJCongress Feminist Center which became a model for other Jewish feminist projects around the county. She came to AJCongress in 1990 after fourteen years as the Director of Hillel at the University of Southern California. While at Hillel, Rabbi Geller was a co-organizer of the award-winning national conference called “Illuminating the Unwritten Scroll: Women’s Spirituality and Jewish Tradition.” Rabbi Geller has written chapters in many books, including Beginning Anew; Four Centuries of Jewish Women’s Spirituality; On Being a Jewish Feminist; The Jewish Woman; Spinning a Sacred Yarn; Life Cycles; Preaching in the New Millennium; The Women’s Torah Commentary; The Women’s Haftara Commentary; Hineni in Our Lives; Living Words V: A Source Book on Israel in a Time of Struggle; Divorce Is a Mitzvah; Broken Tablets: Restoring the Ten Commandments and Ourselves; Jewish Peoplehood: Change and Challenge, and Gender and Judaism. She was on the Editorial Board of the groundbreaking The Torah: A Woman’s Commentary in which she has two essays. She has also been featured in several books including Rabbis: The Many Faces of Judaism; White Fire: A Portrait of Women Spiritual Leaders in America; In Sweet Company: Conversations with Extraordinary Women About Living a Spiritual Life; and The Mystery of Being Jewish. A popular teacher and speaker, Rabbi Geller gave the Baccalaureate Speech at Brown University in 1986 and the Ordination Sermon at the Hebrew Union College in 1990, and she was one of the preachers in the celebration of the tercentennial of Yale University. She has taught at the University of Judaism, the University of Southern California, the Wexner Fellows Program, and the Wexner Heritage Foundation. Rabbi Geller was a Trustee on the Board of Brown University from 2001-2007 and the Board of Governors of the Hebrew Union College from 2001-2008. She was the founding Chair of the Beverly Hills Human Relations Commission. She is a Rabbinic Fellow at the Hartman Institute in Jerusalem and a graduate of the first cohort of rabbis from the Institute of Jewish Spirituality. Rabbi Geller has received many honors, including the A.C.L.U. of Southern California Award for Fostering Racial and Cultural Harmony, the Alan J. Kassin Award for Outstanding Professional Achievement, the Los Angeles County Commission on the Status of Women Recognition Award, and the Woman of the Year Award from the California State Legislature. She was named as one of the “Hundred Most Distinguished Brown University Alumni of the Past Century” in 2000, and named in 2007 by the Forward newspaper as one of the “Forward 50 Individuals… who are doing or saying things that are making a difference in the way American Jews…view themselves… (and who) have left a mark.” She was featured in the PBS documentary The Jewish Americans. Rabbi Geller graduated from Brown University in 1971 and was ordained by the Hebrew Union College in 1976. She was the third woman in the Reform Movement to become a rabbi. She is married to Richard A. Siegel, and she is the mother of Joshua and Elana Goldstein and the step-mother of Andy and Ruth Siegel.
Click here to read Rabbi Laura Geller's sermons
RABBI JONATHAN AARON Rabbi Jonathan Aaron received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theater from Emerson College in 1983. A gifted performer and musician, he spent several years running a theater company in Connecticut and teaching high school theater. Rabbi Aaron then shifted his focus to the study of Judaism and attended Hebrew Union College, where he received a Masters Degree in Jewish Education in 1993, a Masters Degree in Hebrew Letters in 1994, and where he was ordained as a Rabbi in 1996.
Since 1996, Rabbi Aaron has served Temple Emanuel of Beverly Hills, first as the Associate Rabbi and now as Rabbi and Director of Education. Temple Emanuel is Rabbi Aaron's first pulpit. In 2002, he became the Head of School for Temple Emanuel Academy Day School, our well-respected Jewish Day School. Rabbi Aaron is especially known for his storytelling and for bringing joy to children of all ages. He has written liturgical music for Temple Emanuel, and also penned the full-length musical "Hyrcanus" performed at Temple Emanuel in 2001. Along with Cantor Yonah Kliger, he helped create one of the core Shabbat experiences at Temple Emanuel, Shabbat Unplugged.
Click here to read Rabbi Jonathan Aaron's sermons
RABBI JILL ZIMMERMAN Rabbi Jill Zimmerman was ordained at Hebrew Union College in 2009. She was selected by the faculty at HUC as the recipient of The Myrtle Lorch Pfaelzer-Monroe Award given to an outstanding female student in the School of Rabbinic Studies.
Jill is originally from Skokie, Illinois. She received a Masters of Education in 1980. Prior to moving to Los Angeles, she was an organizational development consultant. She and her husband Ely were active lay leaders in their synagogue in Seattle where they lived with their two sons Josh and Ben. Jill also served on the National Board and Executive Committee of the Women of Reform Judaism. In the process of studying for her adult Bat Mitzvah and becoming deeply engaged in the study of Torah, Jill realized that she wanted to become a rabbi, "to spend the rest of my life immersed in the totality of Judaism - mainly, helping others find the joy and meaning I had found in Jewish texts, rituals, and community." As Rabbinic Intern for Temple Emanuel for the past two years, Jill has focused most of her efforts on the New Emanuel Minyan, helping to create a more welcoming and warm atmosphere.
Through her work on membership, programming, and building community, Rabbi Jill Zimmerman's goal is to help build a community at Temple Emanuel where the best in people is kindled and brought forth, where people have ongoing regular relationships over time and those relationships become the center of people's lives. Rabbi Zimmerman's position at Temple Emanuel was made possible with the generous support of Jon and Lili Bosse.
CANTOR YONAH KLIGER Cantor Yonah Kliger grew up at Temple Emanuel and is a proud graduate of our Day School. He is dedicated to revitalizing worship and creating a bridge between the ancient sounds of Jewish tradition and contemporary music. With a strong background in theater, Cantor Kliger infuses his passion for music and performing with his love of prayer, bringing energy and enthusiasm to the synagogue experience. With Rabbi Aaron, he helped create one of the core Shabbat experiences at Temple Emanuel, Shabbat Unplugged. His passions extend far beyond the bimah, with a focus on engaging our Jewish youth as well as illuminating Judasim through the arts. Cantor Kliger's dedication to the B'nai Mitzvah program has helped to make it a model emulated by temples throughout the Los Angeles Area.
A gifted teacher, he has captured the enthusiasm of our teens by establishing the Junior Cantors Program in which post-B'nai Mitzvah students congregate every Saturday to study Jewish text and music, culminating in their leading Shabbat Services throughout the year. Cantor Kliger also serves as Director of Temple Emanuel's Emanuel Arts Center. Through his leadership, EAC has introduced original plays, musicals, concerts, film screenings, and Shabbat experiences to the Temple Emanuel congregation. He is also very passionate about his work as Executive Producer of a concert in support of Israeli Victims of Terror.
Cantor Kliger received his commission as Hazzan-Minister from the Cantors Assembly and proudly serves on the Executive Board of their Western region.
RABBI MEYER HELLER (EMERITUS) Rabbi Meyer Heller has served the Temple for over 35 years. Today he lives with his family in Oregon.