Clergy
Rabbi Alan Berg
We at Temple Beth Tikvah feel privileged to have Rabbi Alan Berg leading our congregation. Rabbi Berg led our inaugural Yom Kippur services, and our congregation felt an immediate kinship with him. We hired him as our congregational Rabbi shortly thereafter. Rabbi Berg has substantial experience helping new congregations grow and establish their identities, and he has much wisdom, enthusiasm and knowledge to offer both children and adults. Plus, he's a real mensch.
Rabbi Berg travels to Bend monthly for three full days to lead our services, adult education programs and children’s activities. He also holds regular office hours and helps train our lay leaders.
Formerly senior rabbi of Peninsula Temple Beth El in San Mateo, California, and of Temple Anshe Amunim in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, Rabbi Berg currently lives in Portland with his wife Bonnie. The Bergs have three children, Emily, Rebekah and Edward.
Rabbi Berg previously served as the associate rabbi at Congregation Beth Israel and the first rabbi of Havurah Shalom, both in Portland. He also served as chaplain and teacher at Williams College and an instructor in medical ethics at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. Rabbi Berg is a partner in the HUC-JIR Kalsman Institute on Judaism and Health and serves on the advisory board of the Guthrie Center in Housatonic, Massachusetts. He is a past chairman and co-founder of the URJ Kallot. He has also served as the Jewish Chaplain at the Oregon State Penitentiary. Rabbi Berg was ordained at the Hebrew Union College.
Additional Jewish Professionals
To meet our growing needs, Temple Beth Tikvah occasionally brings in visiting rabbis, cantors, Jewish educators and performers. Following are some of the outstanding professionals who have visited us in addition to Rabbi Berg.
Rabbi Emanuel Rose
Rabbi Rose is Rabbi Emeritus of Congregation Beth Israel, where he served as senior rabbi for over 46 years. He has been a prominent voice in Portland civic affairs and is highly regarded nationally for his leadership, his emphasis on social activism and the pivotal role he has played in the growth of Portland’s Jewish community. He was featured in the award-winning OPB production of “The Three Rabbis.” He currently serves as a visiting professor at Portland State University in the Harold Schnitzer Family Program in Judaic Studies. Rabbi Rose is a graduate of Hebrew Union College, B.H.L., M.A.H.L., D.H.L., with an Honorary D.D. from HUC-JIR and an L.H.D. from Lewis and Clark College.
Website: http://www.bethisrael-pdx.org/leadership.htm
Rabbi Laura Rappaport
Rabbi Rappaport, currently of Boise, Idaho, received her BA degree from the University of Pennsylvania and her M.A.H.L. and rabbinic ordination from the Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion, Jerusalem and Cincinnati campuses. She is working toward her Doctor of Science in Jewish Studies degree through Spertus College, Chicago. Nationally certified as a hospital chaplain by the Association of Professional Chaplains, Rabbi Rappaport provides pastoral care at Alphonsus Regional Medical Center in Boise. She has served congregations in Harrisonburg and Staunton, Virginia; Sun Valley, Idaho; Bainbridge Island, Washington, and Great Falls, Montana. Rabbi Rappaport is published in two rabbinic essay collections:
The Women’s Torah Commentary and
The Women’s Haftarah Commentary. She enjoys new challenges and tries to avoid doing the exact same thing two years in a row.
Click here for messages to the Congregation from Rabbi Laura Rappaport
Rabbi David Kominsky
Rabbi David Kominsky currently serves
Temple Beth Sholom in Salem as Interim Rabbi. He is a member of the Oregon Board of Rabbis and teaches in the Board’s Introduction to Judaism course. A graduate of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College in Wyncote, PA, Rabbi Kominsky served as student rabbi of Congregation Beth Abraham in Bridgeton, New Jersey. He graduated from Reed College with a Bachelor's degree in classics, and while some say this proves he is good at languages, he says it demonstrates he has spent too many years poring over texts in languages no longer spoken.
Website: www.rabbidavidkominsky.com
Cantor Stephen Saxon
Cantor, jazz singer, composer, arranger, trumpet player – Stephen Saxon is a man of unique musical talent. He has served as cantor for various Conservative and Reform Jewish congregations since 1989. He was the cantor at Temple Beth Abraham in Oakland, California, and an auxiliary cantor for congregation Valley Beth Shalom in Encino, California, leading High Holy Days services. Cantor Saxon also is the bass singer and primary arranger for the a cappella jazz quintet
Clockwork and has performed and/or recorded with many outstanding ensembles and artists, including the Berkeley Symphony Orchestra, Shlomo Carlebach, The San Francisco Symphony Orchestra and Frank Zappa.
Website: www.stephensaxon.com
Cantorial Soloist Brad Smith
Brad Smith has been leading services at Reform and Conservative congregations for seventeen years, including the last seven as cantorial soloist and choir director at Temple Beth El (Reform) in Tacoma, Washington. He has been baritone soloist with OperaPacifica in Olympia, has sung in the Tacoma Opera chorus, and could not resist the opportunity to be a rabbi — if only in “Fiddler on the Roof.” In recent years he has written and arranged music for both flute choir and synagogue choir. Cantor Smith was born in the Bronx and grew up on Long Island. After earning degrees in physics and astronomy from Yale and the University of Arizona, he worked with computers for many years. He lives in Olympia, Washington, with his wife, Ellen Silverman, and 8-year-old daughter, Miriam.
Concert Violinist Aaron Meyer
Aaron Meyer has performed for world leaders and dignitaries and has held solo appearances with major orchestras and ballet companies throughout the world. He has composed music for and/or shared the stage with Smokey Robinson, Aaron Neville, Pink Martini, Leftover Salmon, The Temptations and Everclear. His credits include a nationally televised PBS Frontline special, "The Execution," and the soundtrack for a PBS Holocaust documentary, “Two Men One Message.” Meyer has performed at two World Peace Conferences, held at the United Nations in New York and in The Hague, Holland. Meyer lives in Portland and performs annually in Southeast Asia, Mexico, and the South Pacific.
Website: www.aaronmeyer.com
