Rabbi Lee Friedlander   rabbilee@rsns.org

Rabbi Lee takes an active role in all aspects of the congregation. Equally at home in his weekly sixth grade Synagogue School class as he is in one of his bi-weekly seminars and Shabbat on the bima, he is a rabbi to all generations.

Rabbi Lee is a graduate of Temple University with a Master’s Degree in Religion, and a graduate of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College. He has been at RSNS since 1981. A past president of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association and of the Jewish Reconstructionist Foundation, he is also readings editor of Kol HaNeshama, the prayerbook series of the Reconstructionist movement and is the immediate past chair of his rabbinical association’s Ethics Committee. Rabbi Lee has two daughters, Sara and Ruthie.

  Rabbi Jodie Siff  rabbijodie@rsns.org

Rabbi Jodie Siff grew up at the Reconstructionist Synagogue of the North Shore in Plandome, NY and she has been serving the RSNS community as their Rabbi for 23 years. Jodie graduated from Lehigh University and then continued her studies at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College. 

Jodie works with the synagogue’s children beginning in the Gan Shalom nursery school and reaching into the senior adult community. At the core of her work is creating and implementing inter-generational experiences that inspire meaningful connections. 

A Registered Yoga Teacher, RYT® 200, Jodie brings in Shabbat with congregants of all ages with Shabbat Yoga. 

Jodie is an active member of local Interfaith Clergy associations where they engage in interfaith study, social action, and worship.

A mentor through the Elaine Breslow Institute at Beit T’Shuvah, she works to support Jewish professionals and individuals who are yearning to create sacred space and build sacred relationships in their work as in their lives. Jodie embraces and expounds the concept, you don’t have to be an addict to be in recovery and she works to help others create a daily practice of reflection and integration.

Jodie and her husband Peter are the proud parents of four young adults. Her work within her family and her community has been essential to her because she believes that living a Jewish life is meaningful. It is her life’s mission to guide individuals to create meaning through a Jewish lens. 

  Cantor Eric Schulmiller   cantoreric@rsns.org

An alumni of the Jewish Greening Fellowship, Cantor Eric is passionate about social justice, creating meaning through music, and helping learners of all ages connect to their Judaism through imagination, a sense of commitment to community, and the desire to make new friends and lifelong memories! Eric has served as cantor at RSNS since 1999, and also runs the synagogue teen program, including the youth group, Kesher Hadash, and the program for teenage boys, "Bro's Hodesh."

Cantor Eric is a regular contributor to the Jewish Daily Forward, where he writes about the intersection of Jews and pop culture, on topics ranging from Star Wars to sports to music. Eric earned his bachelor of music degree in Jazz Piano from the University of Miami in 1994, and has played with his own jazz group at NYC jazz clubs such as the renowned Knitting Factory. A member of the American Conference of Cantors, Eric was ordained in 1999 with a masters degree in Sacred Music from the Debbie Friedman School of Sacred Music at Hebrew Union College, Jewish Institute of Religion.  His commissioned musical settings of liturgical music have been performed at synagogues throughout New York including Temple Emanuel and Temple Rodef Sholom of Manhattan. Eric and his wife Sarah live in Port Washington, with their two lovely children.

Read more from Cantor Eric in the Cantor's Corner.

Liza Wilson, Executive Directorexecutivedirector@rsns.org

Liza Wilson has long-term ties to the community. Through the years, she has spent countless hours at Gan Shalom and has gotten to know the RSNS community and its customs.
Liza is a graduate of Queens College with a B.A. in Psychology, and an A.S. in Paralegal Studies from Broward College.
Through her personal experiences and job achievements, she has gained valuable lessons in administration and aided in solving legal issues for multiple clients which will help her fulfill her duties as your new Executive Director.
She has volunteered for organizations such as AILA, United Way of Broward County, MissionUnited, and Habitat for Humanity.
Liza is a mother to three children. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband and her family. She is eager to work and serve the RSNS community.

   Sara Rubin, Gan Shalom Nursery Educational School Director  GanShalom@rsns.org

Sara Rubin has been with since 2020, beginning as a head three’s teacher. Prior to that, Sara held senior positions at the Community Church of Douglaston Pre-K for All program and abc Early Learning Center. Sara has over 13 years experience as an Early Childhood and administrator. Sara has a Bachelors State University of New York – College at Oneonta in Child and Family Studies, a Masters in Special Education from Dowling College and holds a NYS Teaching License in Early Childhood Education.  Sara lives in Bethpage with her husband and two daughters.

  Lisa Erkus, Gan Shalom Nursery School Admininstrative Director GanShalom@rsns.org

Lisa Erkus has been with us since 2019, serving as a head two’s teacher and the Interim Administrative Director. Before joining Gan Shalom, Lisa was with Mid-Island Y JCC Nursery School for 15 years as a teacher. Lisa has assisted with logistical work of managing Gan Shalom during her time with us and has become integral to our administrative efforts. Lisa has a Bachelor’s in Communications with a minor in Politics and has been CDA certified for teaching since 2004. She is familiar with all OCFS regulations as well as requirements for Covid-19. has developed written curricula for 2s, 3s and 4s.  She lives in Plainview with her husband, two daughters, and dog Luke.

  Ira Eisenstein z”l  Rabbi Emeritus

Rabbi Ira Eisenstein (November 26, 1906 - June 28, 2001) founded Reconstructionist Judaism, along with Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan, his teacher and, later, father-in-law through his marriage to Judith Kaplan, over a period of time spanning from the late 1920s to the 1940s. Reconstructionist Judaism formally became a distinct denomination within Judaism with the foundation of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College in 1968, where he was the founding president.

A native of Manhattan, New York, Rabbi Eisenstein held a bachelor's degree and a doctoral degree from Columbia University. In 1931, he was ordained by the Jewish Theological Seminary, where he first met and married Judith Kaplan Eisenstein, daughter of founder Mordecai Kaplan.

After his ordination, Rabbi Eisenstein became associate rabbi and then rabbi of the Society for the Advancement of Judaism, the first Reconstructionist congregation, which Kaplan founded in 1922. He also served as religious leader of the Anshe Emet Synagoguein Chicago, as well as the Reconstructionist Synagogue of the North Shore.

A former president of the Conservative Rabbinical Assembly of America, Rabbi Eisenstein served as president of the Jewish Reconstructionist Foundation from 1959 to 1970. From 1935 to 1981, he was editor of The Reconstructionist, the movement's magazine."