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Rabbi Aaron Starr, a native of Troy, Michigan, received from the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion a Master of Arts in Hebrew Letters in 2003 and rabbinic ordination in 2004. During his tenure at HUC-JIR, Rabbi Starr served as spiritual leader of congregations in Kokomo, Indiana; Cincinnati, Ohio; and Dayton, Ohio. In addition, he co-led the HUC-JIR Youth Programs Department and received certification in Clinical and Pastoral Education from Cincinnati’s Christ Hospital. A summary of Rabbi Starr’s rabbinical thesis, “Tradition vs. Modernity: The Committee on Jewish Law and Standards (CJLS) and Conservative Halachah” was published in the Fall 2005 journal of Conservative Judaism. Rabbi Starr is the recipient of the 2003 Rabbi Frederick C. Schwartz Prize, given to the rabbinical student who made the most significant contribution to Jewish youth, and the 2004 Dr. Frank Rosenthal Biennial Award recipient for his paper “God, the Covenant, and the Jewish People: An Analysis of Post-Holocaust Theology. From 2004 to 2008, Rabbi Starr served as director of lifelong learning at Congregation Shir Tikvah in Troy, Michigan, leading Shir Tikvah to earn the 2005 URJ Congregation of Learners’ award.

A 1999 graduate of the University of Michigan, Rabbi Starr achieved a dual-concentration in political science and Hebrew and Jewish cultural studies. He believes that in creating the world, God created Jerusalem first but immediately thereafter created the University of Michigan’s “Big House,” and blessed the U-M Wolverines. And God saw all that He made and found it very good.

Rabbi Starr is currently the president of the Metropolitan Detroit Board of Jewish Educators. He is the author of two books published by the URJ Press: A Taste of Hebrew (2005), a teach-yourself-Hebrew book for adults, and the forthcoming Blood and Lust in the Bible (2008) textbook for high school students. In addition to learning and teaching, Rabbi Starr loves to play tennis and basketball; to strum the guitar; and to help children, adults, and families fall in love with Jewish tradition and ritual.

Rabbi Starr met his wife, Rebecca, while they were both students at the University of Michigan. He was a senior and Rebecca was in the first year of her Masters’ program in social work and Jewish communal service. Both teachers in Ann Arbor’s Temple Beth Emeth religious school’s sixth grade, they were told to get together to “discuss curriculum” by Beth Emeth’s director of education, Terri Ginsburgh. Rebecca and Rabbi Starr have been “discussing curriculum” ever since, and Terri takes great credit in having set the two of them up. They are the proud parents of two beautiful sons. Rebecca and Rabbi Starr feel incredibly blessed, honored, and privileged to be part of the Shaarey Zedek family. To email Rabbi Starr, click here.

Purchase Rabbi Starr’s book, Taste of Hebrew here



Education Staff : Megan Topper, Assistant Director of Education

Megan has been a member of our educational staff since 2005 and now serves as our Jewish Family Educator. She is a graduate of Michigan State University and holds a B.A. in History, a specialization in Sociology, and is certified to teach secondary education. Megan served as a Religious School Teacher and Assistant School Director at Kehillat Israel in East Lansing for two years. At Shaarey Zedek she worked as a Hebrew High School Teacher and Religious School Administrator. Aside from formal educational settings, Megan was also part of the Teen Mission 2006 staff. She participated in the TEAM program, a professional development series for Hebrew High School teachers which culminated in a trip to Prague and Israel.

To email Megan Topper, click here

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