The Rabbi

He came to Sinai after being the Rabbi of Woodlands Community Temple in White Plains, N.Y. from 1983 to 1988. The Rabbi began his career as an Associate Rabbi for Holy Blossom Temple in Toronto from 1977 to 1982. Rabbi Shapiro was ordained at Hebrew Union College in 1977.

Rabbi Shapiro is interested in the full spectrum of Jewish expression. His interest in liturgy has led to our congregation’s developing a variety of worship styles. Four different prayer pamphlets have been created over the years for use in our Shabbat services.

Jewish education is also important to the Rabbi. He is very much involved with our Religious School and Youth Groups. He also teaches a very popular adult Torah Study Group that meets every Saturday morning from 9 to 10 a.m. The Rabbi has also led several groups of adults through the process of becoming Adult Bar/Bat Mitzvah.

Social action is another interest for Rabbi Shapiro. Sinai recently received national recognition from the Reform Movement for its extensive social action programming.

Outreach is also of interest to the Rabbi. The Rabbi is always working with a number of people interested in conversion. In addition, he chaired the CCAR (Central Conference of American Rabbis) Committee on Conversion from 1982 to 1987. He was a member of and for several years chaired the Commission on Outreach for the Northeast Council of the Union for Reform Judaism (URJ). He was also a member of the National URJ Commission on Outreach for several years.

Rabbi Shapiro was a social work intern for Jewish Family Service in Cincinnati as part of his rabbinic studies. He also graduated from the Pastoral Counseling Program at the Post Graduate Center for Mental Health in New York City.

The Rabbi was president of the Interfaith Council of Western Massachusetts from 1996 to 1998. He was a member of and chaired the Convention Program Committee for the CCAR from 1996 to 2004. He is currently president of NER (Northeast Reform Rabbis), a region of the CCAR. The Rabbi has also been appointed to the Executive of the CCAR as its recording secretary. The Rabbi is also Adjunct Professor at Springfield College.

Rabbi Shapiro’s publications include a book entitled: Gates of Shabbat, plus several articles such as “Defining Our Religious Message,” “Rooting the Religion of Freedman in History: An Assessment of American Reform Judaism,” “The Unfolding of Comfort: A Commentary on the Haftarah Cycle,” and “Becoming Jewish Through the Jewish Information Class.”

Best of all...Rabbi Shapiro is married to Marsha and has two sons, Jordan and Daniel.