Rabbi Steven Moskowitz

Message from Rabbi Moskowitz

rabsam@tilb.org

Rabbi Moskowitz was born in New York City, where he attended Central Synagogue. His father was a lawyer; his mother helped to set up the Jewish Museum there. Rabbi Moskowitz graduated from Reed College in Portland, Oregon, and then from Lewis and Clark Law School also in Portland. Prior to rabbinic school, he was a lawyer and spent seven years working for the City of Portland, first as a deputy city attorney and then as an Assistant to the Mayor. Subsequently, he went into private practice, where he primarily represented cities and school districts around the state of Oregon.

In addition to having worked as a lawyer, Rabbi Moskowitz also worked for two years as a daycare teacher. While in Portland, he served on a number of Jewish Federation committees as well as on the board of trustees of Congregation Beth Israel. He related to us that he felt very honored to serve as the lawyer for an organization of Holocaust survivors in the establishment of a Holocaust memorial in Portland.

Rabbi Moskowitz and his wife, Ana, were both members of their synagogue in Portland, which is where they met. During their year in Israel (the first year of rabbinic school), Ana studied with a scribe and learned the art and tradition of Hebrew calligraphy. They have five children.

Cantor Marvin Finnley
finnley@pacbell.net

Cantor Marvin Finnley grew up in California, and always had a keen sense of pitch as far back as he can remember. He learned to play the accordion at a young age, and loved to sing, and kept it up in school where he sang with the All City Chorus in Santa Barbara, and went on to sing with the Music Academy of the West chorus in several opera productions. At Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, NY, although he majored in Physics, Cantor still kept up singing in the RPI Glee Club. Following graduation, he went to work for NASA at Cape Canaveral (Cape Kennedy at the time), met many of the astronauts, and watched many launches close up. After a while, he returned to California and attended graduate school at Cal State Long Beach. During the summer of 1967, he toured with the Roger Wagner Chorale in Japan and was in Roger’s chorus for the movie, “Paint Your Wagon.” In 1968, he entered military service as a member of the United States Air Force Singing Sergeants, a unit of the US Air Force Band in Washington, DC. They performed at the White House many times, and toured in Europe while he was a member.

Cantor Finley began to study with the retired Cantor from one of the large Reform Temples in DC, Temple Sinai, and was able to become the cantor of that synagogue in 1971. He become a full time singer in 1979, and was fortunate to perform with the Washington Opera Company and the Wolf Trap Opera Company in subsequent years.

Towards the end of 1982, he was determined to return to California and seek another technical job while trying to find a Temple where he could continue his work as a cantor.

He began his tenure at Temple Israel in August 1983. Since his arrival in Long Beach, Cantor married his wife, Hannah, welcomed a wonderful young son, Zev, to their family, and shared many joyful and sad events with our Temple family. Cantor Finnley continues to work at General Motors in Torrance, where he is the Manager of IT Operations for the Advanced Technology Center, design center for GM’s electrical traction systems for Hybrids and future Fuel Cell vehicles.

Sharon Amster Brown, RJE, MAJE, MAJCS
Educator

Message from Sharon Amster Brown
sab@tilb.org

EDUCATOR Sharon Amster Brown was born in Texas and grew up in Dallas, Chicago, and Orange County, California. She attended the University of Colorado at Boulder, where she received a degree in Communication Disorders and Speech Science. She then went on to receive a Joint Master’s degree in Jewish Education and Jewish Communal Service from Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in 2000. While in graduate school, Sharon worked at the Westside Jewish Community Center in Los Angeles and Temple Beth Sholom of Santa Ana. She is now the Educator of Temple Israel of Long Beach, where she has served for the past ten years. In 2004, Sharon received the distinguished Reform Jewish Educator title. In addition to her work at the Temple, Sharon serves on the Board of Directors for The Women’s Division of the Long Beach Jewish Federation, The Orange County Jewish Educators Association, The Alumni Association for Hebrew Union College, and The National Association of Temple Educators. Sharon and her husband, Adam, live in Long Beach and are the proud parents of Johanna, Brandon, Sadie, and Levi.