MJ Newman , our Music Director and organist has been at the temple for over eighteen years. She is also an active composer of Jewish music and has written music for Shabbat, B'nai Mitzvah and High Holydays. She is a great supporter of Rabbi Greenberg's efforts on behalf of the State of Israel and has produced three "Nights of Stars" events at the temple to benefit various outreach efforts in the State. She did her undergraduate work at Dartmouth College and at the National Conservatory in Paris, and her graduate work at UCSD, Indiana University and SUNY, and was a member of Who's Who in American Colleges and Universities both as an undergraduate and graduate student. Her work as a conductor, harpsichordist, organ soloist, and record producer are widely recognized here and in Europe . She made her New York debut in 1986 at Lincoln Center ’s "Great Performers Series" at Alice Tully Hall. Ms. Newman has also been soloist with the Cracow Chamber Orchestra, the LA Chamber Orchestra, the Rishon Letzion Symphony and the Israel Philharmonic. 

In 1997 she was the music director for "A Tribute to Diana", a commemorative CD for the Princess of Wales. As a result, she became the first female conductor to make the prestigious Best Selling Classical Artists of the Year list in BILLBOARD Magazine.

She has recorded two critically acclaimed CDs of Jewish music: "The Splendor of the High Holy Days", and "Thank Godl It’s Friday" for Vox Classics, which have become consistent annual best sellers. MJ and her husband Anthony Newman live in North Stamford and have three grown sons.  

Click here to email MJ Newman.  
 

Rabbi Janet Roberts, Torah Study Guest Lecturer

Rabbi Janet Roberts was ordained in May 2005 by Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, and received a Master of Arts degree in Hebrew Literature. Most recently, she served as the rabbi of Temple Beth Israel in Steubenville, Ohio (near Pittsburgh). 

A passion for Torah permeates Rabbi Roberts’ teaching, extending across a range of ages and lifestages. She has taught weekly classes in Torah for many years as well as leading adult Hebrew study, tutoring b’nei mitzvah students, and conducting workshops for parents of young children. 

Rabbi Roberts notes that we become bar or bat mitzvah simply by turning a certain age, but we continue to be sons and daughters of the commandments, and of the Torah, all of our lives - there is no ‘retirement’ from mitzvah!   She writes, “Whether we are 13 or 30 or three times 30, Torah belongs to all of us.  It is our inheritance, and the gift we pass on to the next generations.” 

Rabbi Roberts hopes you’ll join her [and Rabbi Nevarez] whenever you can, sharing the joy of Torah study on Saturday mornings as the community of learners finds ways to keep Torah meaningful at any age, and for the ages.

Rabbi Roberts is a life-long New Yorker, along with her husband, Dr. Eric Stern, and their two adult children.