Welcome to my section of our synagogue web site. My biography is below, my monthly message appears under the “Rabbi’s Message” on the menu bar and I invite you to ask questions about anything in Judaism on the “Ask the Rabbi” page.

Even if you are a first-time visitor, you probably know by now that I am the rabbi at Temple Emanu-El. My family and I moved to Rochester in December, 1985 ~ and although we had planned to stay only while I was finishing my doctorate at the University of Rochester, we have been with the congregation for more than 20 years! If you contemplate spending any time with this lovely group of people, you will likely duplicate our own experience and find Temple Emanu-El to be a warm, informal, and very accepting community. You too may even find yourself staying around longer than you had anticipated!

During the years that we have been in Rochester, my wife, son, and I have each followed our own interests beyond the home and outside the temple. My wife Pnina earned her MA at SUNY Brockport, has worked as an elementary school teacher and librarian with the Rochester City School System, and is a tax preparer during the spring tax season. She enjoys folk dancing, swimming, and aerobics; and with our son, visits her family in Israel each summer. Yoni, now in his early 20s, has grown up in Rochester and will graduate this summer (2008) in print-media from the Rochester Institute of Technology. His sports have been Tae Kwon Do (4th degree black belt), SCUBA, rock-climbing, and bicycling (just having completed a ride from Rochester, NY to Eugene, OR).

My own professional pursuits have been both in the Jewish world and in the field of psychology. I am currently the Coordinator of Mental Health Services at St. John Fisher College (one of the local college campuses), where I also teach courses in Jewish thought and in the psychology of religion. You can check out my resume at http://keep2.sjfc.edu/staff/mherzbrun

Goals that I have fantasized about but will likely not attain in the immediate future: professional athlete (golf), recording artist (jazz piano), and Olympic medalist (judo).

Thanks again for visiting our synagogue web site :)