Clergy
Our Rabbi
Rabbi Joshua Stanton puts Jewish learning, pastoral care, and social justice first. He loves connecting with people individually and supporting their spiritual journeys and pursuit of meaning.
Rabbi Stanton’s passion for religious pluralism and interfaith dialogue has led to his involvement and leadership internationally. He serves as Director for Leadership at CLAL – The National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership, where he focuses on questions of religious pluralism in the United States and Israel. He likewise serves on the Board of Trustees of the Interfaith America, the leading interfaith organization in the country, and on the Board of Governors of the International Jewish Committee on Interreligious Consultations, which presides over Jewish-Christian relations with the Vatican and World Council of Churches. You may have already seen Rabbi Stanton on CNN or in a documentary film, or read about him in syndicated media, publications, and articles that have appeared in a dozen languages.
Rabbi Stanton was ordained from Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion in 2013, where he received the David G. Sacks Prize for General Academic Excellence, the Rabbi M. Cohen Award for Ecumenical Studies and the Rabbi Samuel J. Levinson Prize in Religion and the Humanities. While at HUC-JIR, Rabbi Stanton served as founding co-editor of the Journal of Interreligious Studies, the pre-eminent academic journal in the field of Interreligious Studies, helping it gain recognition as a field of its own by the American Academy of Religion. He received international acclaim for his work, being honored as one of six global finalists for the $100,000 Coexist Prize.
He is an alumnus of Amherst College, from which he graduated magna cum laude with majors in history, economics, and Spanish. He returned there to deliver the 2018 Baccalaureate Address at the tenth anniversary of his own graduation.
To hone his leadership skills, Rabbi Stanton earned a certificate in Spiritual Innovation through the Glean Fellowship with Columbia Business School, and he learns from some of the best Jewish communal professionals in his service on the Board of Directors of Plaza Jewish Community Chapels.
In 2017, Rabbi Stanton co-edited a symposium edition of the Reform Jewish Quarterly on empowering the rising generations in American congregations with his close colleague and friend, Rabbi Benjamin Spratt. The two are longtime creative partners, having co-founded Tribe, a New York-based initiative that has empowered thousands of young professionals to develop vibrant Jewish community. They are co-authors of Awakenings: American Jewish Transformations in Identity, Leadership, and Belonging (Berhman House, 2022) and are currently working on a follow-up volume about similar trends in other religious traditions.
Rabbi Stanton was named a 2019 Faith Justice Hero by the Interfaith Center of New York and received a 2020 Racial Equity and Interfaith Cooperation Award from the Interfaith Youth Core. In 2021, he received the Ann Friedman Award from the Gramercy Stuyvesant Independent Democrats, in recognition of his immigration rights advocacy, and was named to the inaugural class of Sacred Journey Fellows, selected from a group of 1,700 interfaith leaders from across the country. In 2022, he was invited to become a Founding Partner of Starts With Us, a movement to overcome social division and polarization. In 2023, he served as Interfaith Consultant to the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical Parade.
Prior to joining East End Temple in 2017, Rabbi Stanton served as associate rabbi at Congregation B’nai Jeshurun in Short Hills New Jersey, associate director of the Center for Global Judaism at Hebrew College, and director of communications for the Coexist Foundation.
Rabbi Stanton would love to connect with you. You can reach him at jstanton@eastendtemple.org .
Our Cantor
Cantor Olivia Brodsky is passionate about preserving Jewish culture, tradition, and music, while making it evermore applicable to daily life. She is dedicated to the ideal of engaging a diverse community composed of people with varying backgrounds and levels of religious and cultural observance. Growing up, Cantor Brodsky was touched by liturgical music and recognized it as an accessible and powerful means of connecting with her heritage and community. She believes strongly in the transcendent nature of music, and its unparalleled ability to both convey and evoke emotion and spirituality. Her vision is to help people enrich their lives through a Jewish lens: ethically, socially, intellectually, and spiritually.
Cantor Brodsky was raised in West Bloomfield, Michigan, where, from an early age, she studied with Cantor/composer Meir Finkelstein. She had the privilege of performing with Cantor Finkelstein in his original cantata, “Gates of Righteousness,” which was performed with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Maestro Leonard Slatkin.
Cantor Brodsky attended the double-degree program at Tufts University and New England Conservatory of Music (NEC) in Boston, MA, where she earned her Bachelor of Arts Degree in Judaic Studies at Tufts and studied Classical Vocal Performance at NEC. She was one of the few members selected from the Tufts University Gospel Choir chosen to perform at the December 2014 “Holidays at the White House” for President and First Lady Obama.
Cantor Brodsky received her Master of Sacred Music and Cantorial Ordination from Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion (HUC-JIR) in New York City. She previously served as the student cantor at Temple Emanuel in Roanoke, VA, Congregation Beth Yam in Hilton Head, SC, the Jewish Community Project (JCP) in Tribeca, and Congregation Rodeph Sholom in NYC. For the past two years, Cantor Brodsky has served as the cantor of Temple Beth Rishon in Wyckoff, NJ. Cantor Brodsky recently attended the IJCIC (International Jewish Committee for Interreligious Consultations) Emerging Leadership Conference in Oxford, England, together with an international group of Jewish and Catholic leaders, to promote open dialogue, foster friendship, and strengthen relations between these two communities.
Cantor Brodsky is honored to join the incredible team at East End Temple and is humbled by the opportunity to serve as the community’s co-spiritual leader. She relishes the opportunity to provide her community with joy, comfort, and meaning through Jewish music. To learn more about Cantor Brodsky please visit her website (cantoroliviapaige.com).
You can contact Cantor Brodsky at obrodsky@eastendtemple.org.
Staff
Director of Education – Mindy Sherry, RJE
Mindy was born and raised in Miami, Florida. Her passion for working with people led her to a B.S. in Social Work from Florida International University. Mindy has worked in congregational life for over 18 years starting as a preschool teacher. Most recently, she has served Director of Youth and Family Engagement at Union Temple in Brooklyn. Mindy is an active member of the Association of Reform Jewish Educators (ARJE) and holds the distinction of Reform Jewish Educator with two M.A.s from The Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Los Angeles in Jewish Education and in Jewish Nonprofit Management.
Email Mindy Sherry at: educator@eastendtemple.org.
Temple Administrator – Sharon Shemesh
Sharon joined East End Temple’s professional staff in the fall of 1997 and officially assumed the position of Temple Administrator in April 2006. She is a swimmer, dancer, baker, and avid traveler. Sharon is a senior member of NATA (National Association for Temple Administration), and she is currently pursuing a certification as an End of Life Doula.
Email Sharon Shemesh at: sharon@eastendtemple.org.
Assistant Temple Administrator – Elyssa Mosbacher
Elyssa Mosbacher has spent much of her career working in the Jewish world, as a teacher and program coordinator, journalist, freelance writer and editor, and summer camp counselor and unit head. (She also taught rock climbing for many years, which made her mother very nervous.) She has a BA in government from Cornell University, and a master’s in comparative government from the London School of Economics. A native of Wisconsin, Elyssa is married to Joel and the mom of Ari and Lev.
Email Elyssa Mosbacher at: info@eastendtemple.org.
Cantor Emerita – Shira Ginsburg
Cantor Emerita Shira Ginsburg served East End Temple for 18 years. As our founding cantor, she developed our co-clergy model, leading us in vision, community, and prayer, created and facilitated the b’nei mitzvah program, developed the EET Artist in Residence series and new synagogue songbook, directed the professional quartet and chamber ensemble for the High Holidays, and performed countless concerts of Yiddish, chazzanut, American classics, and Broadway to delighted audiences.
Cantor Ginsburg is a celebrated actress, singer, and playwright who tours the country extensively with her one-woman musical, Bubby’s Kitchen, which premiered to rave reviews in New York City in 2016 and is now in development of a television series based on the show. Cantor Ginsburg is now based in South Florida where she has launched her private life-cycle residency, www.shiraginsburg.com and is performing as well as visiting communities as a guest Cantor Artist.
Cantor Ginsburg has performed on stages in Israel, England, and all over the United States. She has released five albums, most recently a collaboration with Grammy award winner Ben Wisch, ‘I Will Cover You.’ Her previous albums include her original release entitled ‘Maybe,’ a separate collaboration with award winning songwriter Michael Hunter Ochs, ‘Cantor Shira Ginsburg Sings the Songs of Michael Hunter Ochs’, as well as being featured on the albums of Gerard Edery and Noah Aaronson. All albums are available on all streaming platforms. Cantor Ginsburg is also the chosen soloist for The Jewish Partisans Educational Foundation at numerous benefits and is featured in their documentary The Reunion.
Cantor Shira Ginsburg is the recipient of the 2019 Lev Aryeh, Heart of a Lion Award from the Jewish Partisans Educational Foundation, Women of Reform Judaism Award, Cantorial Alumni Association Prize, and Sylvia Davidson Memorial Award for extraordinary diligence in mastering Chazzanut. Cantor Ginsburg serves on the Jewish Partisans Education Foundations Young Leadership Board, and as a founding member of 3rd Generation Holocaust Survivors program ‘We Educate’ in partnership with Facing History Facing Ourselves, teaching Holocaust education to students of all ages. Cantor Ginsburg has been a guest lecturer at Hebrew Union College, Moishe House, has served on the Israel Task Force at the UJA and as panelist on the Gerecht Institute for Conversion. She has also mentored and coaches Cantorial students at Hebrew Union College. Cantor Ginsburg earned her Masters and Cantorial degrees, and ordination from Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion as a Messinger Scholar and MFA from Syracuse University’s Musical Theatre program. You can contact Cantor Ginsburg through her website, www.shiraginsburg.com
