Staff and Clergy

Rabbi Geoffrey A. Spector

Rabbi Geoffrey Spector has been the Senior Rabbi of Temple Beth Shalom since July, 2005. Previously, he served as the spiritual leader of Shir Chadash Conservative Congregation in Metairie, Louisiana. Rabbi Spector is a Phi Beta Kappa, summa cum laude graduate of the University of Pennsylvania where he majored in Jewish Studies. He received his M.A. and rabbinical ordination from the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, and was the recipient of academic prizes in Homiletics and Talmud. In addition, Rabbi Spector holds a Master of Theology degree in Comparative Religion from Harvard University Divinity School where he was awarded the prestigious Charles E. Merrill Fellowship for clergy. Rabbi Spector served as Adjunct Professor of Jewish Studies at Tulane University where he taught popular courses in Bible and Jewish Thought. Rabbi Spector has held the position of President of the Southwest Region of the Rabbinical Assembly. He is also past-President of the New Orleans Rabbinic Council. As chairman of the New Orleans Jewish Federation Community Relations Council, Rabbi Spector became particularly involved in interfaith dialogue. In 1996, Rabbi Spector was selected as a community hero to carry the Olympic torch through New Orleans on its way to the Summer Games in Atlanta. Rabbi Spector and his wife Karen are the proud parents of Joshua and Jordan.

Rabbi Adam J. Rosenbaum

Rabbi Rosenbaum was born in Winnipeg, Canada and grew up in Denver, Colorado. He attended Jewish Day School and was a chapter and regional officer in United Synagogue Youth. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Journalism from Northwestern University in 1998.

Rabbi Rosenbaum received his rabbinic ordination and a Master of Arts in Bible from the Jewish Theological Seminary in May 2005. But his rabbinic training went far beyond the classroom. Along the way, he was a teacher at a Solomon Schechter Middle School in Chicago, a counselor and teacher at Camp Ramah Wisconsin and Camp Ramah California, a Hebrew school teacher at synagogues in New York City and Westchester County, a gabbai at the JTS synagogue, and a Bar/Bat Mitzvah tutor in numerous venues.

From 2001-2003, he was the Student Rabbi for Degel Israel Synagogue in Watertown, NY. He traveled there two weekends per month to lead the congregation in study and prayer.

In 2003, he became the Rabbinic Intern at Temple Beth Shalom, and upon his ordination from the Seminary, he was hired as the congregation’s assistant rabbi. He enjoys working in all facets of congregational life, including working with Bar/Bat Mitzvah students, teaching and sermonizing, and organizing programs for all ages.

Rabbi Rosenbaum and his wife, Ellen Miriam Brandwein, are the proud parents of their daughter, Shoshana.

Cantor Benjamin D. Matis

Cantor Matis joined our clergy staff in May, 2008 after receiving his Master’s of Sacred Music from the H. L. Miller Cantorial School of the Jewish Theological Seminary. He earned a Master of Arts in Music History from Queens College and a Bachelor of Music from the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore. Cantor Matis has also studied at the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem and, while a cantorial student, served as part time cantor at the Highland Park Conservative Temple in Highland Park, NJ. He also served at the East 55th Street Conservative Synagogue in Manhattan.

It was at Highland Park, after their disastrous fire, that Cantor Matis brought together some of the great cantorial talents of our era, among them Sol Zim and Alberto Mizrahi, to put on a cantorial extravaganza. Cantor Matis has performed a number of operatic roles, including Rodolfo in La Boheme, and the lead in Aaron Copland’s The Tender Land.

Prior to attending JTS, Cantor Matis worked as a Hazzan in several congregations, officiating at religious services and life cycle events, training Bar Mitzvah students, leading choirs, and teaching adult classes. He has been a member of the Baltimore Opera Company Chorus and the men’s choir at the Great Synagogue of Jerusalem.

Cantor Matis is married to Stefanie Stolzenberg and they are the proud parents of Jacob and Shoshana.

Cantor Sharon Knoller

Cantor Knoller holds a Certificate of Jewish Music from Gratz College. She graduated from the University of Rhode Island with a BS in Elementary Education and Communicative Disorders and from Adelphi University with a Masters Degree in Special Education. Prior to joining Temple Beth Shalom in July 2002, Cantor Knoller served as Cantorial Soloist and music and Hebrew teacher at Congregation B’nai Israel of Somerset Hills. In addition to her Temple responsibilities, Cantor Knoller also teaches Torah Trope to fifth graders at Solomon Schechter Day School of Essex and Union.