Rabbi Jon Roos has served as Senior Rabbi at Temple Sinai since 2010. Jon is most enthusiastic about teaching Judaism to Temple Sinai members at every age and every stage of their lives. Each year he offers an adult education class focused on traditional Jewish sources. He also teaches the 10th grade confirmation class. Jon is the leader of the Temple Sinai staff team and loves the opportunity to work with an amazing set of clergy who do great things individually and as a group. Jon is committed to Jewish social justice work at Temple Sinai and in the wider community where he focuses particularly on issues of immigration and refugee rights.
Jon was ordained as a rabbi from the Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion in 2002 with special awards for best sermon delivered, outstanding contributions to women and Judaism and outstanding academic achievement. He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania and received a Masters degree in American History from the University of Maryland at College Park. He is a member of the Central Conference of American Rabbis (CCAR) and previously served congregations in Tinton Falls, New Jersey and Albany, New York. Jon’s love for Judaism and Jewish community is founded on his family’s deep involvement in his childhood temple (Beth Am of Randolph, Mass.), great experiences in his USY youth group, and many amazing summers at Camp Bauercrest in Amesbury, Mass.
In addition to leading worship services, teaching at all levels, and guiding the staff team of Temple Sinai, Roos is available for individual meetings, pastoral counseling and support with any ritual or Jewish matters.
Rachel Rhodes
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Cantor Rachel Rhodes is thrilled to be the cantor at Temple Sinai since July of 2023. She deeply believes in the power of music to form community and transform lives. Whether working with kids in the youth choir or adults preparing to read from Torah, Cantor Rhodes loves making Jewish music accessible for all.
Cantor Rhodes works closely with all musical happenings at Temple Sinai. If you are interested in singing with the choir, participating in the congregational band, chanting Torah, or simply learning more about Jewish music, please get in touch! Cantor Rhodes also participates fully in all lifecycle events at Temple Sinai and revels in being present with families at the most important moments of their lives.
Cantor Rhodes was ordained in 2014 from Debbie Friedman School of Sacred Music at the Hebrew Union College Jewish Institute of Religion in New York. She was awarded the Izzy Goldstein z’l award for Excelling at Chazzanut during her time in school. Her thesis was about inspiring the Jewish Environmental movement through song. Cantor Rhodes then moved to Falls Church, VA where she served at Temple Rodef Shalom for 9 years.
She lives in Bethesda, MD with her husband Dov and her sons Oren and Lev.
Rabbi Hannah Goldstein
Rabbi Hannah Goldstein has been at Temple Sinai since 2013. In addition to leading services and officiating at lifecycle events, Rabbi Goldstein is deeply committed to the education and social justice work of the congregation. She loves teaching learners of all ages from nursery school through 7th grade b’nei mitzvah preparation, to teens. She coordinates Temple Sinai’s adult education program, which includes everything from book discussions to weekday mini-courses, adult Hebrew and adult b’nei mitzvah.
Hannah is also deeply committed to repairing the world through her work with Temple Sinai’s Davis Center for Social Justice. This includes mobilizing congregants to participate in non-partisan GOTV work, supporting the Green Team, advocating for Reproductive Health and Right, and working with the Washington Interfaith Network (WIN) on local issues. She is also dedicated to the work, led by Multiracial Sinai Committee, on being an antiracist congregation. Hannah has served on the Mayor’s Interfaith Council in DC, and is currently serving on the Commission on Social Action of Reform Judaism. She is also a member of the Washington Interfaith Network strategy team.
Hannah received her rabbinic ordination at Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion (HUC-JIR) in New York in 2013. She completed a Masters in Religious Education at HUC-JIR in the spring of 2011. Hannah grew up in Andover, Massachusetts and studied English and Politics as an undergraduate at Brandeis University. Before coming to Temple Sinai, she served as the rabbinic intern at Temple Emanu-El in Manhattan.
Hannah lives in Chevy Chase, DC with her husband, Josh, and their daughters, Bella, Eve, and Sophie.
Noah Diamondstein
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Rabbi Noah Diamondstein joined the Temple Sinai clergy team in the summer of 2020, having been freshly ordained from the Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion. He has had wide ranging experiences as a scholar of Judaism—from handling primary source documents from early 20th Century rabbis who wrote about the Mourners’ Kaddish, to teaching the leadership of Jerusalem’s Women of the Wall movement to blow shofar, to serving as a rabbinic intern at a Jewish Social Justice non-profit organization. His rabbinic thesis is entitled “A Tale of Two Liturgies: Placing Liturgical Development in the Reform and Conservative Movements in Conversation,” and focused on the differences and similarities between the ways these two Liberal Jewish movements approach the work of creating new prayer books.
This project was meaningful for him, given that he was raised simultaneously in both the Conservative and Reform Movements. Noah was brought up in Allentown, Pennsylvania, where he was bar mitzvah-ed at the Conservative synagogue. Alongside this experience, he attended URJ Camp Harlam, eventually serving on the staff and leading the Jewish Life department as Head Songleader over two non-consecutive summers. His experience at camp was one of the chief shapers of his Reform Jewish identity. As a result of these dual, and often dueling, identities, Noah spends much of his intellectual energy on navigating what it means to do Reform Judaism using the model of “Choice-Through-Knowledge.”
Noah is also a published Jewish musician! His first album, entitled “Ashira L’Adonai,” was released in January of 2019 and produced by none other than Dan Nichols! He was featured as an Emerging Artist on Jewish Rock Radio, and spent much of his final year before coming to Temple Sinai as a guest service leader or artist-in-residence in Jewish communities across the country. His musical work has helped him to fine-tune his skills as a service leader, and has taught him the power of leaving your ego at the door for the sake of holding space for the group. You can find his music on Spotify, Youtube, or on his website, noahdiamondstein.com. On that website, in addition to his music, you can also read about Noah’s approach to the rabbinate and to Judaism, and where he stands on various topics relevant to today’s Jewish community, from intermarriage to Israel to God and commandedness.
Cantor Rebecca Robins is Director of Temple Sinai’s religious school and superintends the congregational youth educational programs. She is especially passionate about making sure our children, teens, their families and our teachers feel a sense of significance and belonging at Temple Sinai. Rebecca can also be found leading Tot Shabbat services, Family Shabbat services, and other and other worship services here at Sinai.
Rebecca (also known as “CR”) came to Temple Sinai in 2012. A passion for music, teaching, learning and working with people on life’s journey sent her to cantorial school the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion where she was ordained as cantor in 2008. While at HUC-JIR, Cantor Robins served congregations in Edison, NJ, Katonah, NY and Falls Church, VA. After being ordained she served Congregation Sinai in Milwaukee, WI as Cantor-Educator.
Originally from Long Island, NY, CR holds a BM in Music Education and Vocal Performance from the Crane School of Music, State University of New York College at Potsdam in Potsdam, NY. She began her career in education as a K-8 music teacher at Lyncourt School in Syracuse, NY. CR is a member of the American Conference of Cantors (ACC), and the Association of Reform Jewish Educators (ARJE), and serves as chairperson of the DMV’s Reform Synagogue Musicians professional group. She lives with her husband Zerek (a member of MMC, Sinai’s band), and their son Gus in Rockville, Maryland. When not at Sinai, they can be found exploring, doing projects, baking cupcakes, and having as much fun as possible.