Temple Emeth Clergy

Rabbi Steven Sirbu [message from the rabbi]

Rabbi Steven Sirbu joined the Temple Emeth family in 2003, bringing his breadth of knowledge and enthusiasm to every aspect of Temple and community life. Rabbi Sirbu brings his love of Jewish knowledge to everything he does, whether telling stories to the children in the Early Childhood Program, discussing the Torah portion with the seventh grade students in his seminar, or sharing his insights with the adult learners in the Shabbat morning Torah study class. He cherishes the chance to know each Bar or Bat Mitzvah child by working with each student on his or her speech.

An avid supporter of Israel, Rabbi Sirbu lead a congregational trip there this summer. He shared his Israel experiences with the trip participants, and got to know them in this unique setting.

Social action is an integral part of Rabbi Sirbus rabbinate. His experience as a legislative assistant at the Religious Action Center in Washington, DC, gave him valuable background on the Reform Movement’s history of social action. Every year he participates in Temple Emeth’s homeless shelter program by spending a night at a family shelter in Englewood, and he regularly attends Social Action Committee meetings so he can be involved in their many activities.

Rabbi Sirbu believes Temple Emeth should be at the forefront of community events and activities. He offered invocations at the 2004 Bergen County celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday, the Organization Day of the State Assembly in Trenton, the Teaneck Memorial Day observance, and the Organization of the Teaneck Township Council. He serves as president of the Teaneck Clergy Council. He also sits on the board of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Northern New Jersey and on the Conversion Committee of the Central Conference of American Rabbis.

Before coming to Temple Emeth, Rabbi Sirbu served as Associate Rabbi at North Shore Synagogue in Syosset, New York. He received his ordination from the New York campus of the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in 1998, and he holds a Bachelor’s degree in political science from UCLA. He is especially proud of the three trips he has led to Israel in the last six years and of the innovations he has brought to Temple worship.

Rabbi Sirbu is the Treasurer of the North Jersey Board of Rabbis and the First Vice-President of the New Jersey-West Hudson Valley Association of Reform Rabbis. He is the Vice Chair of Intergroup Relations and serves on the board of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Northern New Jersey, and cherishes his involvement in dialogue between faiths and collaboration among synagogues.

Rabbinic Intern Daniel Bar-Nahum

Born in Israel, Rabbinic Intern Daniel Bar-Nahum moved to the United States as an infant with his family in 1981. He grew up speaking Hebrew at home in the northwest suburbs of Chicago where his family belonged to Congregation Beth Judea.

In high school, Daniel began teaching religious school at a local Reform Temple, Congregation Hakafa. Daniel attended Vanderbilt University in Nashville, TN earning a BA in French and European Studies.

After college, Daniel was selected to be in the first cohort of the DeLeT Fellowship in day school education at Brandeis University, where he began his graduate work.

When he completed the fellowship, Daniel moved to Atlanta to begin teaching at the Davis Academy, Atlanta’s Reform Jewish Day School and local Conservative and Reform Synagogues. There, he taught 7th and 8th grade Social Studies and Judaic Studies.

While in Atlanta, Daniel completed his Master’s Degree in Jewish Studies of Jewish Education via distance learning at Siegal College in Cleveland, OH focusing on Jewish Identity formation in middle school students.

Daniel is in his fifth year at Hebrew Union College - Jewish Institute of Religion in New York, where his areas of interest include Talmud and Early Rabbinic Judaism.

In his spare time, Daniel enjoys fencing, cooking, and awaiting a Chicago Cubs World Series victory.

Cantor Ellen Tilem

Cantor Ellen Tilem was born in Freehold, New Jersey and raised in Marlboro, New Jersey. She attended the University of Hartford, Hartt School of Music and Greenberg Center for Judaic Studies, in West Hartford, Connecticut. In 1990 she received a Bachelor of Music, with a Major in Voice and a Minor in Judaic Studies. Cantor Tilem studied for the Cantorate at the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion-School of Sacred Music, where she was Invested as Cantor and received a Master of Sacred Music in 1994.

During her Cantorial studies, Cantor Tilem served at Congregation Kol Haverim, Glastonbury, CT, Temple Sinai, Newington, CT, Congregation Beth El, Torrington, CT, Temple Sinai in Lawrence, New York, and Union Temple, Brooklyn, New York. Upon her Investiture in 1994, she assumed the pulpit at Temple Emeth.

Cantor Tilem is involved in many facets of Temple life. She performs life cycle rituals including baby namings, weddings and funerals. She visits congregants in the hospital and does counseling. She is proud of her forty-five voice junior choir, Etz Chayim, as well as her dedicated Temple Emeth Adult Choir "Kol Emeth". Each Thanksgiving Cantor Tilem directs the Teaneck Interfaith Youth Chorus, which she founded ten years ago.

Cantor Tilem completed Hospital Chaplaincy Training Programs at New York Hospital, New York City, and Methodist Hospital, Brooklyn, New York. She is a member of the American Conference of Cantors and the Teaneck Clergy Council.

Cantor Tilem resides in Teaneck with her husband, Peter and their beautiful daughters, Eve, Leila and Eliana.

Louis J. Sigel - Rabbi Emeritus (z"l)

Rabbi Louis J. Sigel was born in Derby, Connecticut. A graduate of Yale University, Rabbi Sigel was ordained by Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Cincinnati, Ohio. He also held a Doctor of Divinity from HUC-JIR.

Having served a pulpit in Malden, Massachusetts Rabbi Sigel assumed the pulpit of Temple Emeth in 1960 and served as rabbi of the congregation until his retirement in 1992.

A master teacher and preacher, Rabbi Sigel continued to play an active role in the life of our congregation until this year. He is survived by his wife, Mimi, who lives in Hackensack, his children Judy and David Fox and Debbie and Ken Rutz, and by his grandchildren Jacob and Matthew Fox; Robert and Jeffrey Rutz.

May Rabbi Sigel’s memory be a blessing.