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 Laurie R. Leader (as of June 1)
Laurie R. Leader began serving as our Executive Director in 2010, arriving with over twenty years of professional experience. She was most recently employed by Congregation Beth Israel of West Hartford in the same capacity. Her career in non-profit administration includes
managerial and special project roles at Duke University, grant center administration at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, and management of VNA HealthCare’s Hartford region offices.
Laurie earned her Bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts, Music at Eastern Connecticut State University. She taught in the Youth Education Program and tutored B’nai Mitzvah students at Congregation Beth Israel. She serves on the Advisory Board of the Commission on Jewish Education and Leadership of the Jewish Federation of Greater Hartford and is committee chair of the Commission’s Koopman Library. Laurie and her husband Robert Katz are natives of Connecticut.
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 an 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
Connections Coordinator Francene T. Weingast
Francene Turken Weingast has been our Connections Coordinator since 2004. As a special assistant to Rabbi Small for membership, she helps orient new members and helps new and current members find ways to connect to the congregation.
Francene has a Bachelors degree in Sociology from the University of California at Berkeley and a Masters degree in Social Work from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. Her work with The Emanuel began as an interested parent when she and another congregant began Tot Shabbat in 1991. From 1995 to 2004 she was Family Educator for the synagogue, having received her Family Educator Certificate from the Commission on Jewish Education of the Jewish Federation of Greater Hartford. Francene is a former president of The Emanuel Sisterhood. She also works for the Commission on Jewish Education & Leadership. Previously, she was an art consultant in New York City. She and her husband Jeremy have two grown children, Lila and Jay.
CONTACT FRANCENE WEINGAST ABOUT: havurot, membership, your small group interests and ways that you want to be involved with the synagogue.
franiwg@comcast.net, (860) 523-7778