OUR CLERGY
Rabbi-Cantor Serebro-Litvak was born in St. Petersburg, Russia and was exposed to Synagogue music and Yiddish repertoire at a early age. She made aliya to Israel in 1990 with her whole family where she pursued musical education at the Musical Academy of Tel Aviv University. During that time she sang in numerous concerts throughout the country, had a leading role in the play “A Hosn in Shtetl” in Yiddish theatre, and sang in the Tel Aviv Philharmonic Choir.
In 1997 after graduation from the Musical Academy in Tel Aviv, she came to the United States. She continued her studies for a Masters degree from the Miller Cantorial School at the Jewish Theological Seminary and was the first woman from the former Soviet Union to graduate from JTS. Rabbi-Cantor Inna Serebro-Litvak performed at concerts in various temples in the New York and New Jersey area, and led High Holiday services at Anshei Emeth in Chicago with Cantor Alberto Mizrahi. In addition, she participated in the recordings of the Milken Archive of Jewish Music, and her solo can be heard on one of the CDs from that collection.
From July 2002 through June 2005, Cantor Inna Serebro-Litvak served as cantor at Temple B’nai Or in Morristown, New Jersey. From July 2005 through June 2018, she was on the professional staff at Temple Beth Am as their Cantor. Rabbi Inna Serebro-Litvak received her ordination and Masters Degree in Jewish Studies from AJR (Academy of Jewish Religion) on May 12, 2016. She is married to Anatoly (Tony) Litvak, who works at AvePoint and they have two daughters named Emily and Abigail.
Rabbi Emeritus Joel E. Soffin served as the spiritual leader of Temple Shalom for twenty-seven years from 1979 to his retirement in June of 2006. Before entering rabbinical school, he pursued a PhD in economics. He was ordained in 1976 at HUC-JIR and served as an Assistant Rabbi at Temple Beth Israel in West Hartford, CT before taking the pulpit in Succasunna.
Rabbi Soffin has a passion for social action and Tikkun Olam projects, combined with a search for spirituality and holiness in life. In addition to serving as a member of the Commission on Social Action of the Reform Movement for 15 years, he had undertaken many projects with the congregation of Temple Shalom including founding Shalom Ethiopia and The Million Quarter Project. Rabbi Soffin was also the creator of the Reform Movement’s Adult Mitzvah Corps which has traveled to locations in Kentucky, New Jersey, Vermont, Tennessee, Louisiana and Jerusalem.
As Rabbi Emeritus, Rabbi Soffin enjoys sharing his creative and challenging teaching style with our members. Rabbi Emeritus Soffin resides in New York City with his wife, Sandy, a computer analyst.