Rabbis, Cantors, and Spiritual Leaders
Rabbi Menachem Andrusier
Chabad of Manchester – Manchester, VT
Rabbi Menachem Andrusier and his wife Faygie are the co-directors of Chabad of Manchester, VT. They work to provide for the spiritual and material needs of all Jews living in and visiting the beautiful Shires of Vermont and Bennington County. Let’s make the world a brighter place by increasing in acts of goodness and kindness!
Rabbi Michael M. Cohen
Arava Institute for Environmental Studies
Rabbi Michael M. Cohen is the Rabbi Emeritus, Israel Congregation, Manchester Center, Vermont, who works at the Center for the Advancement of Public Action of Bennington College, and is also the Director of Community Relations for the Friends of the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies. He is a blogger for the Jerusalem Post and the author of Einstein’s Rabbi: A Tale of Science and the Soul.
Cantor Scott Buckner
Israel Congregation of Manchester (ICM) – Manchester, VT
Cantor Scott Buckner was engaged by Israel Congregation of Manchester (ICM) in June, 2017 as its spiritual leader. An ordained cantor, he has energized ICM’s worship services, special events and milestone celebrations with upbeat, creative and deeply spiritual music that has engaged congregants and the community at large. Prior to moving to Vermont, Cantor Buckner had a 23-year tenure as Cantor of Adath Jeshurun Congregation (AJC) in Minnetonka, Minnesota, a 1,200 family congregation where he was responsible for music, religious and spiritual life, Jewish education, and congregational leadership. Upon his departure in 2017, he was honored by AJC as Cantor Emeritus; as a tribute to his musical legacy, AJC sponsored the recording of a CD that showcased Cantor Buckner and
the AJC choir.
Cantor Buckner has served as President of the Hillel Board of Directors at the University of Minnesota and sat on the Ethics Committee of the Cantors Assembly and will soon be installed on their Executive Council. Cantor Buckner was also a reviewer for “Siddur Lev Shalem”, a recent-edition prayer book published by The Rabbinical Assembly. He and his wife Marcy love the outdoors and have embraced the Vermont lifestyle as they enjoy cross-country skiing, biking, running, hiking and golf. More importantly, they enjoy visiting their four adult children as often as they can.
Rabbi David Edelson
Temple Sinai – South Burlington, VT
Rabbi David Edelson believes Judaism must be joyful, inclusive, and flexible in finding ways to make our tradition vibrant and alive for the next generation. David was ordained by Hebrew Union College in 1990, where he successfully fought for the ordination of LGBT rabbis in the Reform movement, and where he won awards in Jewish philosophy, Jewish Music, Modern Hebrew Literature, and Homiletics.
Prior to seminary, David had worked as a teacher at the Kiryat Moriah Education Center in Jerusalem, teaching student leaders from all over the English-speaking world about Judaism and Israel. David served as the rabbi for the Hebrew Association of the Deaf for 25 years, leading services in ASL and adapting services to be participatory and inclusive for hearing and deaf. While serving as a rabbi, David also worked as a leader at several social service agencies, including Vermont CARES, the AIDS service and advocacy agency in Vermont. He was awarded his Doctor of Divinity in 2015. In addition to his work as a rabbi, he has taught courses in literature and religion at the Community College of Vermont, and Middlebury College, where he served as a dean for eight years. David grew up in rural Georgia where he met Tim in ninth grade; they now live with their poodles in a “hippie house” they built by hand in Lincoln.
Rabbi David Fainsilber
Jewish Community of Greater Stowe – Stowe, VT
Rabbi David Fainsilber and his family joined the JCOGS community in 2013. He and his wife Alison Link and their sons, Adar, Yonah, and Hersh, live in the greater Stowe area, and have brought a surge of energy and spirit to JCOGS. The Jewish center has — and will continue to — benefit greatly from having a full-time rabbi who is an active, engaged member of the greater community. You may spot Rabbi David and his family snowshoeing the Notch, biking on the Lamoille Rail Trail, or schmoozing at the farmers’ market. Rabbi David enhances JCOGS with his love of music, focus on family and youth, and warm, pastoral presence. Along with weekly musical Shabbat services, he offers a regular Torah study and other adult-education classes, and has been instrumental in the expansion of our Religious School and year-round family programs. Rabbi David’s religious education spans both Canada and the United States. He grew up in Montreal and earned an honors degree in religious studies from the University of British Columbia. He was ordained in 2014 at the pluralistic Rabbinical School of Hebrew College in Newton, Mass.
Seth Daniel Riemer
Congregation Beth El- Bennington, VT
Seth Riemer grew up in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Austria. He earned an A.B. in History and Literature from Harvard and a Ph.D. in comparative literature from Cornell. A graduate of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, which later awarded him an honorary D.Div., he serves as Rabbi of Congregation Beth El in Bennington. He has also served congregations in Ohio and Connecticut and is Rabbi Emeritus of Temple Beth Torah in Wethersfield, Connecticut. His congregational work involves civic engagement in the areas of Jewish-Christian and Jewish-Muslim dialogue. Dr. Riemer taught Religious Studies, English, History and Theater at the Bi-Cultural Hebrew Academy in Stamford, Connecticut, served as adjunct professor in several universities and community colleges, and taught online and in Israel. Seth worked as a professional editor and published articles and his doctoral dissertation on French and English drama. He writes fiction, drama and poetry, has a blog (“Jewish 24-7”), composes songs, practices tai chi and meditates. He is a dual Israeli-U.S. citizen.
Rabbi Jarah Greenfield
Independent Rabbi
Rabbi Jarah Greenfield is a graduate of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College. Rabbi Greenfield officiates a full range of lifecycle events for those who seek to mark significant milestones within a framework of Jewish culture, custom, and tradition. She welcomes the opportunity to work with a variety of people, including those who identify as Jewish, interfaith, secular, multiracial, straight, and LGBTQI.
Rabbi Ilene Harkavy Haigh
Congregation Shir Shalom – Woodstock, VT
Rabbi Ilene Harkavy Haigh is the rabbi at WAJC/ Congregation Shir Shalom-Woodstock Vermont. She is a graduate of HUC/JIR and the University of Pennsylvania; Rabbi Haigh is deeply committed to the cause of liberal and progressive Judaism in Vermont.
Rabbi Debra Kolodny
Brattleboro Area Jewish Community – Brattleboro, VT
BAJC welcomed Rabbi Debra as their new spiritual leader on Monday, August 11, 2025.
Prior to ordination Rabbi Debra (they/them) had a rewarding career in the labor movement, organization development consulting, and conflict transformation. Since 1998 they have been serving spiritually nourishing, musically lyrical, civically engaged Jewish congregations, national non-profits and interfaith coalitions.
Among other amazing deployments, Rabbi Debra led ALEPH (Alliance for Jewish Renewal) for nine years, where they supported Renewal communities, strengthened the architecture for Renewal’s sustainability, and studied with some of the greatest Jewish teachers in the world.
Rabbi Shana Margolin
Independant Rabbi
Rabbi Shana Margolin graduated from the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College in 1989, and has 20 years of experience as a congregational rabbi in central New Jersey and in Vermont. She loves officiating at life cycle events, because they are an opportunity to guide people to experience the holiness of life-changing moments. She is available for baby-namings, Bar/Bat Mitzvah tutoring and services, weddings, funerals, shiva minyans, and study towards conversion.
Rabbi Mark Melamut
Upper Valley Jewish Community – Hanover, New Hampshire
Rabbi Mark Melamut joined the Upper Valley Jewish Community in August of 2018. Prior to this he was rabbi for ten years at Congregation B’nai Emunah, an egalitarian and conservative congregation in San Francisco. Growing up in Mobile, Alabama, he attended Jewish summer camp at Henry S. Jacob’s Camp in Utica, Mississippi. Mark studied business at Washington University, in St. Louis, Missouri. With a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and a minor in religious studies, he moved to Burlington, Vermont, and worked at the U.S. Immigration administrative office doing accounting work. The Green Mountains fed his soul for a few years before he decided to pursue a Master of Religious Studies at the Yale Divinity School. Mark then journeyed to Israel for a couple years to gain experience and study, first in Arad at the World Union for Jewish Students (WUJS) and then in Jerusalem at the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies, before entering rabbinical school. While at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, Mark studied in Israel for two more years, including at Hebrew University. He earned his Master of Arts in Hebrew Letters and rabbinic ordination in 2008.
Rabbi Binyamin Murray
Chabad of Middlebury – Middlebury, VT
Rabbi Binyamin Murray and his wife Davida are the co-directors at Chabad of Middlebury. Their services include serving Jewish college students, parents and alumni of Middlebury College and the Jewish community in Addison County. They provide a traditional home away from home complete with Shabbat and holiday dinners and celebrations, Torah classes and kosher dining.
Rabbi Yitzchok Raskin and Rabbi Eliyahu Junik
Chabad of Vermont – Burlington, VT
Rabbi Yitzchok Raskin and Rabbi Eliyahu Junik at Chabad of Vermont. Services provided include synagogue services, Torah classes, Shabbat and holiday dinners, holiday celebrations and awareness programs, Gan Yeladim Preschool, Chabad Hebrew School, and Camp Gan Israel Day Camp.
Rabbi Jan Salzman
Independent Rabbi
Rabbi Jan Salzman founder of Congregation Ruach haMaqom in Burlington received smicha (ordination) through ALEPH, a seminary of Jewish Renewal, which is a non-denominational and neo-chassidic movement. She has lived in Vermont since 1978. Rabbi Jan Salzman was ordained in 2010 by ALEPH: Alliance for Jewish Renewal. She served as the Assistant Rabbi and Cantor for 6 years at Ohavi Zedek Synagogue in Burlington, Vermont. She was blessed to have been a student of Reb Zalman. She serves in the capacity of Treasurer on the Board of OHALAH, an international professional Association of Renewal Rabbis, Cantors and Rabbinic Pastors. She is on the board of Living Tree Alliance located in Moretown, Vermont, which is an ecologically-oriented community that offers co-housing, farming, and educational opportunities. She has lived in Vermont for over 35 years, is married to her rebbitzmon, Loredo Sola, and has two grown children and a grandchild. She can be reached at (802) 356-1668
Rabbi Michal Woll
Rutland Jewish Center – Rutland, VT
Rabbi Woll was active in the Interfaith Council of Greater Milwaukee and Tikkun Ha-Ir/Repair our City and is affiliated nationally with T'ruah: The Rabbinical Call for Human Rights as well as Dayenu: A Jewish Call to Climate Action. She now lives in Middlebury, Vermont with her husband, writer and publisher Jon M. Sweeney, and their daughter Sima.
Rabbi Danielle Stillman
Middlebury College – Middlebury, VT
Danielle Stillman works as the Rabbi and Associate Chaplain at Middlebury College. In her rabbinic role she advises the Hillel student org, leads services for major Jewish holidays, and acts as a resource and educator for all things Jewish on campus. As a chaplain she works with all students to create opportunities for multi-faith encounters, contemplative practice, and pastoral counseling. She is passionate about deep listening, dialogue, foodways, and the intersection of spirituality and the outdoors. She received a BA from Oberlin College, an MTS from Harvard Divinity School, and a Master in Hebrew Letters and Rabbinic Ordination from the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College.
Rabbi Dov Taylor
Chavurat Ki-tov – Woodstock, VT
Rabbi Dov Taylor is rabbi of Chavurat Ki-tov: A Gathering for Jewish Life and Learning in Woodstock, Vermont, and Rabbi Emeritus of Congregation Solel in Highland Park, Illinois. Ordained at HUC-JIR in New York City, he has also taught at Brandeis University, New England College, the Hebrew University, and HUC-JIR in Jerusalem; held post-graduate fellowships at Oxford and Harvard; established and directed International Torah Corps—an intensive summer program in Hebrew and Judaica for high school students; and translated the first Hebrew novel—Joseph Perl’s Revealer of Secrets (1819). He especially enjoys teaching, lecturing and counseling with couples and families to prepare meaningful life-cycle ceremonies. As an expression of his commitment to both Israel and justice, he recently, he led an Interfaith Experience of Israel and Palestine, including visits to Jericho, Bethlehem and Hebron.
Rabbi Tobie Weisman, MSW
Director Yearning For Learning, Creating Soulful Journeys
Rabbi Tobie Weisman, MSW is currently the Director of Jewish Communities of Vermont. She received her ordination from the Academy of Jewish Religion, a trans-denominational rabbinical school in New York City. She lives in Montpelier with her husband David and has two daughters, Navah and Gaia.
Rabbi Zalman Wilhelm
Chabad at University of Vermont – Burlington, VT
Rabbi Zalman Wilhelm is the Rabbi at Chabad at University of Vermont. His services include serving Jewish college students, parents and alumni, Shabbat and holiday dinners and celebrations, Torah classes and kosher dining.
Sarit Katzew
Middlebury Havurah
Sarit Katzew serves as Director of Education and Program & Outreach Coordinator. She runs Havurah’s Hebrew School, B-Mitzvah Program, Adult Education and officiates various ritual offerings. She is deeply invested in her work, students and community and is involved in almost everything Havurah has to offer (as the only staff member - working closely with lay leaders).
Sarit joined Havurah’s leadership team in June 2015 with an extensive and diverse Jewish background. She also serves a high holy day pulpit at a small congregation in Binghamton, N.Y., and has been their Cantorial soloist since 2013. Her bachelor’s degree is from Binghamton University where she majored in Creative Writing with a concentration in Holocaust Poetry.
Sarit also holds an Executive Masters Degree in Jewish Education from Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion and recently received certification from the ICenter’s program: IFellows Master’s Concentration in Israel Education. She has taught a Service Leaders Fellowship for Hillel students at Middlebury College and does independent Education Consulting for Jewish Communities of various kinds.
Sarit is passionate about creating unique Jewish learning experiences for all ages and helping Havurah community members connect with content that inspires them.
Rabbi Brian Besser
Independent Rabbi serving Central VT
After serving two congregations over twenty-two years (JCOGS in Stowe, then Congregation Beth Shalom, Bloomington, Indiana), Rabbi Brian has returned to his spiritual home in Vermont (shared with husband Joe and two tuxedo kittens).
Rabbi Brian’s background is multifaceted: he grew up Conservative, became lay leader in Reform congregation Sha’ar Zahav in San Francisco, studied Talmud in Vermont from Orthodox Reb Sholom Brodt z’’l, led Renewal services in Indiana, and earned Rabbinic ordination at trans-denominational Hebrew College.
Rabbinic passions include: crafting community worship and life-cycle rituals, applying lessons of Torah (especially Hasidic interpretations) to personal life situations and challenges, supporting individuals pastorally, building interfaith networks, exploring spirituality in nature, and conjoining Judaism with 12-Step recovery.
Rabbi Brian welcomes opportunities to serve individuals and families during times of grief and celebration (funerals, Shivas, weddings, etc.), and to provide spiritual direction (conversion to Judaism and especially growth in 12-Step recovery).