Professional Staff
Rabbi David J. Small
Rabbi Small moved to West Hartford with his family in August 2002 to become our rabbi. A graduate of the Jewish Theological Seminary and Yale University, Rabbi Small also studied in Jerusalem, Israel at The Hebrew University, Yeshivat Hamivtar, and the Shalom Hartman Institute. He is a regular participant at Camp Ramah in Palmer, Massachusetts. Before coming to The Emanuel, Rabbi Small was the rabbi at Congregation Knesset Israel in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, where he had served since 1993. Prior to his tenure in Pittsfield, Rabbi Small was the assistant rabbi and youth director at Beth El Synagogue Center in New Rochelle, New York, and the rabbi at Ramat Shalom in Chestnut Ridge, New York.
A native of Kansas City, Missouri, Rabbi Small grew up in the Conservative Jewish movement. Educated at Beth Shalom Synagogue, he was active in United Synagogue Youth and he attended Camp Ramah in Wisconsin as both a camper and staff member. He and his wife, West Hartford native Deborah Chaimedes, were married at The Emanuel Synagogue and now have three children: Gabrielle, Sharone, and Ilan.
CONTACT RABBI SMALL ABOUT: personal issues, death of a loved one, upcoming simhas, Jewish Law, Bar/Bat Mitzvah dates, spiritual questions and conversion.
rabbismall@emanuelsynagogue.org, (860) 236-1275 Ext. 115
Hazzan Sanford Cohn
Hazzan Cohn shares with us over 30 years of experience in chanting, conducting, performing, teaching, composing, and arranging Jewish music. Prior to joining The Emanuel, he served at Congregation Shaarey Zedek in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, and before that at synagogues in Silver Spring, Maryland and Whitestone and Port Chester, New York. A Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of Kentucky, he received his Bachelor of Sacred Music and Diploma of Hazzan at the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York City in 1982. There he also received awards in composition and musical excellence. He and his wife Beth Polebaum have three children: Shoshana, Ari, and Gavriel.
CONTACT HAZZAN COHN ABOUT: Adult Choir, Junior Choir, music programs, Bar/Bat Mitzvah lessons, learning Torah and Haftarah trope, and learning to lead services.
cantorcohn@emanuelsynagogue.org, (860) 236-1275 Ext. 114
Ritual Director Moshe Pinchover
Born in Tiberius and raised in Jerusalem, Moshe has degrees from Bar Ilan University in Economics, Accounting, and Jewish Studies. He also studied vocal music, and continues his professional music studies through the Mentorship Program of the Jewish Theological Seminary Cantors Assembly. For twelve years he served on weekends at Congregation Agudas Achim as a ritual director while on weekdays running a diamond import business. He served in the Israeli Defense Forces, and each year he leads the community-wide Yom Hazikaron memorial service at the Mandell Jewish Community Center. Moshe has also served as cantor for the Hebrew Home and Rehabilitation Center. He and his wife Dr. Gail Harris have four children: Zack, Lisa, Matti, and Ariel.
CONTACT MOSHE PINCHOVER ABOUT: having an aliyah on Shabbat morning and holidays, reading Torah/Haftarah, our daily minyan, Yahrzeit plaques, and ritual questions.
mpinch@emanuelsynagogue.org, (860) 236-1275 Ext. 117
Rabbi Emeritus Gerald Zelermyer
Rabbi Gerald B. Zelermyer is Rabbi Emeritus of The Emanuel Synagogue, retiring in 2002 after serving for nearly twenty years. Rabbi Zelermyer’s guidance was tested early when a vandal damaged The Emanuel’s facility and several Torah scrolls, requiring burial, cleanup, rebuilding, and consequent fundraising efforts. Rabbi Zelermyer is a graduate of Middlebury College, with an honorary doctorate in divinity from the Jewish Theological Seminary and a certificate in gerontology from St. Joseph’s College. He and his wife Heske have two grown sons, Gideon and Salo.
Executive Director Stuart Levy 
After a 20 year career in automated business systems with major corporations and community colleges, Stuart went into the restaurant business in West Hartford as MJ’s Restaurant on Bishop’s Corners. After moving to the Washington DC area, he was in the wholesale fabric decorating business as a screen printer and embroiderer, employing 35 people, and also had an advertising specialty business. He comes to The Emanuel after several years of Executive Director positions with two Jewish organizations. He is married to Judy Levy and has children and grandchildren in the area.
CONTACT STUART LEVY ABOUT: membership, lifecycle events, building maintenance, event scheduling and member concerns.
stuart@emanuelsynagogue.org, (860) 236-1275 Ext. 112
Director of Education Judith T. Fox
Our Director of Education since 1994, Judith T. Fox is responsible for adult education as well as religious school programming for the congregation. Judith has taught at The Emanuel Synagogue since 1983, serving as a Resource Room teacher and Head Teacher of our high school department. She holds Bachelors degrees from Columbia University and The Jewish Theological Seminary, and Masters degrees from Long Island University and the Jewish Theological Seminary. She is also a certified Family Educator. Before coming to West Hartford, she served as Director of Education in Port Chester, New York and Norwich, Connecticut.
Judith has done pioneering work in both Jewish education for children with special learning needs and Jewish family education. She received a grant to train teachers in other religious schools to work with children with special needs so that all Jewish children in the community can receive a Jewish education in their home synagogues. In addition, she was selected to receive a Legacy Heritage Innovator Award in recognition of her outstanding work in Jewish Family Education and Synagogue Change. Judith and her husband Fred have two grown sons, Jonathan and Michael.
CONTACT JUDITH T. FOX ABOUT: religious school for your children, special learning needs, adult B’nei Mitzvah, adult education, Jewish day school options, and personal learning goals.
judyefox@emanuelsynagogue.org, (860) 233-2774
Family Educator Grae Sibelman
Grae Sibelman holds a Bachelors degree in Liberal Arts from The Evergreen State College, a Masters degree in Theater and Dance from SUNY Buffalo, and a Masters degree in the Academic Study of Drama from the University of Toronto. Her specific area of research was dramatic representation of the Holocaust. Grae has taught Judaic Studies in both Seattle and Toronto, and held volunteer positions as a madricha for Birthright Israel and coordinator of theatrics for “Colouring Ourselves,” a collegiate Jewish arts festival in Canada.
Grae founded a successful non-profit organization, Olive Brach for Israel, outreaching to the twenty- and thirty-something members of the greater Toronto Jewish community. Grae has also worked as the Washington and Oregon States Director of AIPAC, and most recently as the Director of Community Relations and as the Anna P. Housen Israel Desk for the Jewish Federation of Western Massachusetts. Grae also teaches classes at Yachad intersecting Judaism with drama. She and her husband Ofer have a toddler, Raviv and an infant, Mayan.
CONTACT GRAE SIBELMAN ABOUT: family education programming, Tikkun Olam projects for Bar/Bat Mitzvah students, and personal learning goals for your family.
grae_es@yahoo.com, (860) 233-2774, Ext. 131
Communications Coordinator, Susan Kurtis
Susan holds a Bachelor’s degree in Communications from SUNY Albany and a Master’s degree in Education, also from SUNY Albany, with dual certification in Elementary and Special Education. She is a middle school teacher at the Solomon Schechter Day School of Greater Hartford where she was previously Director of Admissions. She also teaches at Yachad: Greater Hartford Jewish Community High School. Susan has been very active in The Emanuel Synagogue both in Sisterhood and serving on the Board of Trustees and the Ritual Committee. Susan and her husband Peter (z”l) have three sons, Jason, Ryan and David.
CONTACT SUSAN KURTIS ABOUT weekly eblasts, Shabbat announcement brochures, monthly newsletters and publicity.
skurtis@emanuelsynagogue.org, (860) 236-1275.