Rabbi Neil Sandler is a native of Minneapolis, Minnesota where his family was an active member of the Adath Jeshurun Congregation. His warm experiences in the congregation, especially when he served as a leader in USY, contributed directly to his eventual decision to enter the rabbinate.

Rabbi Sandler is a graduate of the University of Minnesota where he majored in Hebrew Language and Literature. His final year of undergraduate study was spent in Jerusalem at The Hebrew University. Thereafter, Rabbi Sandler entered the Jewish Theological Seminary from which he received a Master’s degree and Rabbinic Ordination. Upon his ordination, Rabbi Sandler completed a Master of Science degree in Social Work at Columbia University. In his more than twenty years of service to the Jewish community Rabbi Sandler has served congregations in Richardson, Texas, St. Louis, Missouri, Des Moines, Iowa and Marlboro, New Jersey. He gained his greatest contentment in the rabbinate from the sacred moments he has shared with his congregants in their times of joy and sorrow. Rabbi Sandler has also been actively involved in Camp Ramah, the camp of the Conservative Movement. For many years, he and his wife served on the staff of Camp Ramah in Wisconsin.

Rabbi Sandler is married to Susan Hart Sandler, a social worker who has concentrated on Jewish communal service. Neil and Susan are the parents of Ariel, a student at the University of Wisconsin, Aliza and Joshua, both high school students.

As a Conservative congregation, Ahavath Achim Synagogue strives to support its members in attaining a meaningful commitment to Jewish life and tradition in the 21st Century. Rabbi Sandler’s desire is to nurture our caring and egalitarian religious community to deepen its commitment to Jewish learning, living, and values.

Naomi earned her Master’s degree in Education at Stanford University in 2001. Naomi focused her Master’s paper on the intersections between Jewish Values of Social Action and Service Learning Education.  Her passion for service learning and activism began as an undergraduate at the George Washington University, where she graduated cum laude in 1996. In 1996-97, she participated in Project OTZMA, a ten month community service program in Israel and went on to work for the program upon her return to the states. For eight years, Naomi was the Director of Service Learning at the Jewish Funds for Justice. Her other professional experiences include The Service Learning 2000 Center, the Wexner Heritage Foundation, and COJE, a service learning focused Hebrew High School Program. For the past three years, Naomi has directed her passion for vegetarian cooking, nutrition and sustainable agriculture into developing Hazon’s Tuv Ha’Aretz program at Congregation Shearith Israel as site coordinator and member of the national Tuv Ha’Aretz Advisory Board.

Debra has been an avid teacher of classical Jewish texts for the past 20 years and has served in a variety of educational settings in Israel and North America.  Most recently, Debra served as the Principal of Rambam Atlanta Day School. Debra brings a depth of experience in building learning communities, mentoring educators, and fostering a love of learning in students of all ages. Her Masters in Education from Harvard University focused on Moral Development. Debra is the mother of two gorgeous girls and is married to Rabbi Dr. Don Seeman.

(Jeffrey Guyer Photography - headshot)

Rabbi Loren Filson Lapidus joined the clergy team at The Temple in July of 2008. She was ordained at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Cincinnati in 2008 where she also received a Master of Arts in Hebrew Letters. Additionally, she completed a Master of Education in Administration through a joint program with Xavier University in 2007. While at HUC-JIR, Rabbi Lapidus served congregations in Arkansas, Texas, South Dakota, Alaska, and Michigan.

Rabbi Lapidus is most recently from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. After graduating with a degree in science from Pennsylvania State University, she decided to pursue a career in the rabbinate.

Since July 2000, Dr. Sim Pearl has served as the Head of the Weber School, a transdenominational Jewish high school in Sandy Springs. He earned his B.A. from Princeton and a D.M.D from the University of Pennsylvania.He is an experienced teacher of Judaics and is a graduate of the Senior Educator's Program at Hebrew University, Melton Center of Education, and the Jerusalem Fellows' Program of the Center for Advanced Professional Educators.

He is married to Dr. Elana Zimand.