March 10, 2010   24 Adar 5770
Congregation Or Ami Calabasas CA 
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Rabbi Paul J. Kipnes  

Follow this link to see a list of Rabbi Kipnes articles/stories/writings/sermons.

Follow this link to read Rabbi Kipnes' "Or Ami I?" blog.

Follow this link to read Rabbi Kipnes' latest Rabbi's Tisch eLearning Writing.

Rabbi Paul J. KipnRabbi Headshot with microphonees is the spiritual leader of Congregation Or Ami and our first full-time rabbi. He also directs our Religious School. He came to us after serving as Rabbi and Director of Education at Temple Beth Hillel in North Hollywood, California. Previously, he directed Camp Hess Kramer and Gindling Hilltop Camp in Malibu, California. Born and raised in Massachusetts, Rabbi Kipnes is a graduate of Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut and of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Los Angeles and New York City.

Rabbi Kipnes identifies his roles:
" So many of us are searching for spirituality, that somewhat elusive sense of Shalom, wholeness and completeness. As a rabbi, I seek to illuminate the texts, traditions and prayers of Judaism because I believe they offer clear, time-tested paths to elevate our lives. Each individual, with the help of a caring and patient teacher, can discover meaning and joy within the mitzvot of Torah (study), Avodah (worship) and Gemilut Chasadim (righteous acts).

I find fulfillment in teaching Torah, studying Torah and introducing people to the wisdom of Judaism. I view Judaism through the prism of healing. Each of us carries around within himself or herself the burden of unfinished business or unresolved pain. Jewish tradition, through healing services, religious acts and teshuva (a path of change), invites the Jew and his/her family to bring age-old wisdom to new problems. The results can be astounding as we transform our values and change our lives.

I am a product of NFTY, Reform Judaism's youth movement, and its camps. Those formative experiences taught me how important it is for our youth to develop close relationships with their rabbis. I look forward to our regular free-flowing school sessions of "Rap with the Rabbi," in which the students and I discuss personal questions concerning our Jewish youth today. Counseling Jews in 12-Step programs, I have witnessed the healing potential within our tradition. My nine-year-old outreach program to Jews recovering from alcoholism, addictions and co-dependency offers an annual series of Yom Kippur and Chanukah 12-Step celebrations as well as an annual Spiritual Retreat for Jews in Recovery. I am proud that Congregation Or AmRabbi at Tashlich 2002i leads a coalition of Rabbis who offer holiday programs to explore the intersection between Judaism and the 12-Steps.

I joined with Congregation Or Ami because of its commitment to Torah study, to God-talk and to being a community in which members take note of and care for each other. We are dedicated to opening doors to Jewish life to all who strive to create a Jewish home. We welcome all who are prepared to open themselves to new and meaningful experiences. We invite you to join our holy community. We promise to help you feel cared for and welcomed."

Rabbi Kipnes plays an active role in all aspects of Congregation Or Ami, including simcha celebration and grief processing, adult education, youth work, and family education. All Bar and Bat Mitzvah students spend 5-7 sessions with the rabbi, studying the Torah portion and getting to know each other. Rabbi Kipnes enjoys all opportunities to explore the breadth and depth of Judaism and synagogue life. Rabbi Kipnes is easily accessible for spiritual counseling, for Torah study, or just to "shmooze."

Please call the Congregation office to speak to him, or contact him by e-mail rabbipaul@orami.org. Rabbi Kipnes also served as the national Convention Chairperson for the Central Conference of American Rabbis, and past chair of the West Valley Rabbinic Task Force. He sits as a member of the clinical faculty at the Rhea Hirsch School of Jewish Education, teaches Rabbinic pastoral counseling at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, and serves as a Rabbinic mentor and a member of the CCAR Task Force on Addictions in the Jewish Community. Rabbi Kipnes and wife, Michelle November, have three children.

Follow this link to see a list of Rabbi Kipnes articles/stories/writings/sermons.

Follow this link to read Rabbi Kipnes' "Or Ami I?" blog.

Follow this link to read Rabbi Kipnes' latest Rabbi's Tisch eLearning Writing.
Cantor Doug Cotler  

Congregation Or Ami's Cantor, Doug Cotler, is a Grammy Award-winning composer and an accomplished singer, songwriter and musician. Cantor Doug singingBlessed with a warm and expressive voice, Doug's sensitive and penetrating interpretations of liturgy as well as his insightful and humorous songs about Jewish events and heroes have placed him in the forefront of contemporary Jewish music. He and his wife, Gail, have two sons, Kyle and Noah.

When asked how and why he became a Cantor, Doug responded:
"Like so many others, my grandmother's first step in America was on Ellis Island. It was 1905. She was 15. She had left her parents in Russia, in a shelter just outside Slutsk, now a major industrial city, but then a small community not too far from Minsk and Pinsk. When I was a boy, these were just funny sounding names. The hardships and pogroms that had driven my grandmother's family out of their homes were rarely mentioned. She was strong, hard-working, resourceful, and as a mother, totally dedicated to her family. She carried within her an embrace of Judaism that was directly out of Sholom Aleichem. I have always seen her as one of Tevye's daughters. In her later years, she lived in her daughter's home, and each Shabbat she would light the candles in a softly whispered ritual that was a private, reverent moment for her. Three grandsons, of which I am the youngest, usually ricocheting loudly from baseball diamond to refrigerator as sundown approached, would see the shawl on her head and instantly go silent and motionless. Her hands would circle in the air above the candles, and then cover her face as she recited the Shabbat blessing. After the special dinner she had prepared was eaten, we would all go to temple.

My father was the Cantor. My grandmother loved him. We all did. He was my inspiration. As I listened to my father stretching the notes and pulling the emotion out of every prayer, I remember thinking it remarkable that my grandmother knew them all by heart. These days, however, most congregants repeat them word for word-usually with little understanding of what they really mean. But I'm not criticizing. Ritual is supposed to get you in the mood, to center you, to get your mind off the world outside. As a sweet singer of Israel, I try to help the worshipers do that, to lead them through the words and into the heart and spirit of what the ritual is all about. I learned that if I embrace Judaism as my grandmother did, it will envelop and protect me just as she enveloped and protected it. She lit those candles every week. To a boy growing up as one of the only Jews in a small farming town in California, she kept the flame alive."

You can get more information on Cantor Cotler's music via the World Wide Web at www.dougcotler.com and for general Jewish music purchases go to www.soundswrite.com or you can contact him via e-mail at dougcotler@aol.com. Rabbi Kipnes & Cantor Cotler laughing
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