Meet our Prayer Leaders for the High Holy Days: Rabbi Julie Roth, Talia Lakritz, Jacob Lipkin, Rabbi Justus Baird, Dr. Craig Eicher, Sarah Kamenetsky, and Shira Farbman Lipkin.
Rabbi Julie Roth
Rabbi Julie Roth (she/her) is the rabbi of Congregation Shomrei Emunah. In the two years since she arrived, Shomrei has attracted new members of all ages and launched several community-building initiatives including Zamru Montclair, a highly spirited and musical Friday night service, and Shabbat Your Way, a Shabbat dinner-hosting initiative. She is an active member of the Montclair Interfaith Clergy Association and the only female chaplain in the Montclair Police Department.
Before coming to Shomrei, Rabbi Julie served as the Hillel Director and Jewish Chaplain at Princeton University for 17 years. She was ordained at the Jewish Theological Seminary and is an alumna of the Wexner Graduate Program and the Institute for Jewish Spirituality Clergy Leadership Program. She loves being a part of the Shomrei Emunah community with her husband, Justus, and their kids, Ilan, Rafael, and Noa.
Talia Lakritz
Talia Lakritz (she/her) is a New York-based journalist, interfaith officiant, and shlichat tzibbur (prayer leader). Before joining Shomrei Emunah for Selichot and the High Holidays, she led Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur services at Shira Melbourne in Australia and the Fort Tryon Jewish Center in Washington Heights. A graduate of Barnard College and One Spirit Learning Alliance’s interfaith seminary program, she works as a lifestyle correspondent at Business Insider and volunteers as a mikveh guide with ImmerseNYC.
Jacob Lipkin
Jacob Lipkin (he/him) is a 4th year rabbinical student at the Jewish Theological Seminary, where he is also pursuing a master’s degree in Hebrew Bible. He is starting his year-long role as Resnick Rabbinic Intern at Shomrei Emunah, visiting on Tuesdays and one Shabbat each month. During his first two years of rabbinical school, Jacob worked at Cornell Hillel as the Rabbinic Intern. Jacob is involved in various interfaith activities, for which he was awarded a Milstein Center Fellowship, and he is a leader in JTS’s Dayenu Circle for Climate Action. Prior to starting at JTS, Jacob worked in Jewish social services at DOROT, where he served as the Facilitator of Intergenerational Programming. He recently completed his fifth summer working at Camp Ramah; he served this summer as the Senior Jewish Educator at Ramah NorCal. Jacob recently married Shira Farbman Lipkin.
Rabbi Justus Baird
Rabbi Justus Baird (he/him) is a member of the Shomrei Emunah community (husband of Rabbi Julie Roth) and Senior Vice President at the Shalom Hartman Institute of North America. He directs the Institute’s Kogod Research Center in North America and oversees the Institute’s interfaith and intergroup work. Prior to working at Hartman, he was the Dean of Auburn Seminary. Justus was ordained at HUC-JIR and is an alumnus of both the Wexner Graduate Fellowship and the Hartman Rabbinic Leadership Initiative (RLI).
Dr. Craig Eicher
Craig Eichner (he/him) has been a member of Congregation Shomrei Emunah since the early 1990’s. He served on the JLC Board of Education. He chaired the Ritual Committee for a number of years and in that capacity was a member of the Board of Trustees. He continues to serve on the Religious Life Committee. For about twenty years, he wrote and directed the annual Purim spiel. He frequently leads services on Shababt, Yom Tov, and High Holy Days.
Sarah Kamenetsky
Sarah Kamenetsky (she/her) grew up in Rochester, NY, and Northwest NJ. She earned
degrees in illustration and graphic design, and an MST in Art Education at RIT, then spent six months studying art in Jerusalem. After moving to Chicago in 2012, she was a Moishe House Resident, JCC preschool teacher, summer camp counselor, and a Religious School teacher at Temple Sholom of Chicago before she completed an MAT in Counseling: Art Therapy at Adler University. She has been a Case Manager at
The Ark Chicago, a member of the Anshe Emet Synagogue Religious School faculty, and a B’nai Mitzvah Tutor for multiple Chicago congregations, preparing students to be honored and celebrated on the bimah. She is excited to be returning to New Jersey and looks forward to joining the Shomrei Emunah community.
Shira Farbman Lipkin
Shira Farbman Lipkin (she/her) is originally from the Boston area and has spent the last 7 years studying and working in New York City. She lived this past year in Jerusalem while studying at Pardes and volunteering with various organizations. She is returning to her graduate studies this year obtaining a dual master’s in Social Work (from Columbia University) and Jewish Studies (from the Jewish Theological Seminary). In August, Shira was married to Jacob Lipkin.
Our synagogue is the spiritual home of a warm and inviting community of Jews in and around Montclair, New Jersey. We welcome individuals, couples and families of diverse backgrounds and orientations. We observe an egalitarian, vibrant Judaism, balancing openness and traditional practice.
Open-Door Judaism: members voluntarily set the level of thier dues.
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