Rabbi Askenazi: Rabbinic Candidate Visiting Feb 28-Mar 3!
The first of our two Rabbinical candidates to visit the OVS community is Rabbi Daniel Askenazi and his wife Rachel, who will be joining our congregation THIS WEEKEND, Friday February 28- Tuesday March 3rd.
Rabbi Askenazi is 35 years old, is married to Rachel, a pre-school teacher, and has three children. He currently lives in Barcelona, Spain, where he currently serves as the Rabbi of Communidad Israelita de Barcelona. 
The rabbi was born and raised in Mexico City, but he made aliyah at the age of 18. He served in the IDF as an officer in the Golani brigade, and participated in the Second Lebanese War and the Oferet Yetzuka operation. He has a BA in Political Science from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, studied at Bat Ayin Yeshiva and Yeshivat Merkaz Harav, and has smicha from the Chief Rabbinate of Israel. Since 2011, he has been teaching in various schools, and was Head of the Jewish Studies Department at Colegio Nuevo Cambridge, in Cali, Colombia. He has also been a pulpit rabbi since 2013, first with the Sephardic Centro Israelita de Beneficiencia in Cali, where he was the Assistant Rabbi, from 2014 - 2018, as the Chief Rabbi for the Centro Israelita Filantropico, and most recently as the Rabbi of Comunidad Israelita de Barcelona since 2018 . He has acted as Madrich in youth movements in Israel and in the diaspora.
Rabbi Askenazi says that his goals are to make people feel inspired by the Jewish experience we provide in the synagogue, to help people to enjoy Judaism to the highest possible level, and to plant the seed of Torah study in the community.
His hobbies are swimming, soccer (he says he is a huge fan), and American football. He is currently finishing his first book, on the Pesach Haggadah.
The opportunities for you to experience and interact with our candidate are follows:
Friday
6:45 PM - Kabbalat Shabbat followed by Ma'ariv
7:30 PM (approx.) following services - Dinner including the Rabbi speaking on topic of his choosing (RSVP in advance here)
Shabbat
8:46 AM Shabbat Morning Services followed by Kiddush Lunch
5 PM Mincha
5:30 PM Torah Study/Seudah Shlisheet
6:30 PM Arvit
Sunday
9 AM Shacharit followed by light breakfast
11 AM – 1 PM Young Adult & Young Families Meet the Rabbi and Rebbetzin with childcare available
Monday
1 PM – Lunch at the JCC - The Rabbi and his wife will be at the JCC for a tour and invite anyone interested to join them for lunch
7PM – Young Adult Cocktail Hour with the Rabbi & Rebbetzin at Or VeShalom
Tuesday
9 AM – 1 PM: Bureka Making with the Sisterhood
Following each visit, the search committee will be requesting your feedback. If you have additional comments or thoughts beyond the requested feedback, please share them with us at rabbisearch@orveshalom.org.
Thank you for your input, patience and understanding throughout this process. As always, if you have any questions on the process, please reach out to Bryan Lavine, Chair of the OVS Rabbinic Search Committee, directly at rabbisearch@orveshalom.org.
Save-the-Date: Rabbinic Candidate Visiting Mar 13-17!
Save the date for our second candidate, Rabbi Joshua Hearshen and his wife, Carrie, who will join us for Friday March 13- Tuesday March 17. The schedule for that weekend will be the same.
Interim Rabbi Biographies: January 1 - June 30, 2020
Rabbi Claudio Kaiser-Blueth
Rabbi Kaiser-Blueth was born in Argentina. He studied at the University of Fine Arts in Buenos Aires in the Department of History, and at the Seminario Rabinico Latino Americano (The Rabbinical Seminary in Latin America). He received Ordination in Israel in 1973 and studied Contemporary Jewish History at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
His pulpits included Lima, Peru; Sao Paulo, Brazil; Puerto Rico; Los Angeles and Lakewood, California.
He also taught at the University of Judaism in the Rabbinical Department, at the Elderhostel and in a Continuing Education program. He lectured extensively in the USA and abroad. He was President of the
Clergy Association from Westchester-Ladera Heights and the Harbor Board of Rabbis of Long Beach; and a member of the Executive Committee of the Rabbinical Assembly, Western Region.
He actively participated in various Rabbinical/Humanitarian missions to Cuba. He performed life-cycle events for the various communities in Cuba, and was instrumental in Cuban Jewish Aliyot to Israel. He was the Director of Jewish Studies at Tarbut V’Torah Community Day School in Irvine, California, where he also taught middle and high School students. Before retiring, his last pulpit duty was in Vancouver, Canada at Beth Tikvah Congregation in Richmond, B.C. from September 2004 to August 2014.
Rabbi Kaiser-Blueth is married to Susy Kaiser-Blueth. They have three adult children. Rabbi Yoni and his wife Mandy have three children: Zoe, Shai and Liel. Rabbi Rafi is married to Rachel Goodman and they
have three boys: Tuvia, Jordi and Nathan. Finally, their daughter Elisheva is married to Elie Engler and they have three children: Bella, Yaacov and Hannah.
Rabbi Melvin Sirner
He was born in Chicago and graduated from the University of Michigan. He received his Masters in Hebrew Letters and Rabbinic ordination from the Jewish Theological Seminary of America. He served 43 years at Beth El Synagogue of New Rochelle, New York. There he was an Assistant/ Associate Rabbi from 1972-1977. Then from 1977-2015, he was their Senior Rabbi now is their Rabbi Emeritus. In Atlanta, he worked at Congregation Shearith Israel from 2015-2016 as their Interim Rabbi.
Rabbi Stephen Chaim Listfield
Rabbi Listfield is a native of New Jersey. He began his education with a BA from Rutgers, where he was Phi Beta Kappa and graduated Magna Cum Laude. He continued his studies at the Jewish Theological Seminary, received his MA and graduated as the class valedictorian in 1974. He also studied at Princeton and Yale Graduate Schools, as well as at the Sorbonne in Paris and at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He has been a congregational rabbi for 39 years, since his ordination from JTS.
Rabbi Listfield’s extensive experience began in Hollywood, FL, as Associate Rabbi of Temple Sinai, then continued as Associate Rabbi in Washington, DC, at Adas Israel. While in Washington, he created the largest synagogue singles program in America and is responsible for over 100 marriages. Stephen Listfield was a full-time congregational rabbi for 40 years. Since his retirement in 2014, he has been officiating as part-time rabbi of Congregation Etz Chayim in Huntsville, AL. He was also Interim Rabbi at the Ahavath Achim Synagogue in Atlanta during Rabbi Neil Sandler’s sabbatical in 2016.
Rabbinic Search Update
Updates on the Rabbinic Search will be posted periodically on this site. Click below to read each update in detail:
AmazonSmile - Support OVS
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Security Fund Update
Thank you to those who have answered the call to donate to the OVS Security Fund. If you have not already, please click here to make your pledge. With your help, we will continue to improve our building to ensure the safety of our community.
OVS Strategic Plan
As an outcome of the 2017 annual meeting, the OVS board launched a formal initiative to better understand the needs of our Keilah, the results of which were presented at the 2018 annual meeting on Sunday, December 9th, OVS members can see results of the report by logging in to their account on this site and then clicking on this link.
Your Path to Spanish Citizenship Begins at OVS
When Luis Portero, an attorney licensed to practice in Spain and served as counsel for the Federation of Jewish Communities of Spain during the parliamentary process of approval of the Law on granting the Spanish citizenship to Sephardim, presented at OVS last spring, he discussed the process of getting the law enacted, of which he was a major contributor, and presented on the steps involved in applying for Spanish Citizenship through this program. A copy of his presentation, including a detailed walkthrough of the process, can be found here.
Or VeShalom is proud to be a guide for you through this process. Note that the program ends on October 1, 2019, so get started today. To find out more and begin the process, click here.
OVS Featured in NY Times Article by Joan Nathan
In her New York Times article on Monday, November 26, Joan Nathan highlights OVS Sisterhood's long-standing tradition of Bureka Tuesdays. Join us this upcoming Sunday for our annual Hanukkah Bazaar and try a Bureka for yourself.
Thoughts from OVS Leadership
Rabbi's Kassorla's D'vrei Torah
Messages from Michael Bouhadana
OVS Founders Map Project
We are happy to announce that the 
OVS History Committee has concluded its two-year project of identifying, on an Atlanta city map, early OVS members’ residences and businesses located on Atlanta’s Southside. To learn more and find out how to purchase a copy of the map, click here.
You are invited to examine the map reproduced on glossy photographic paper and the accompanying booklet.
Wed, February 26 2020
1 Adar 5780
My Preferences for Contact
Navigating Our Site
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Upcoming Programming
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Congregational Shabbat Dinner with Rabbi Candidate Daniel Askenazi
Friday, Feb 28th 6:45p to 9:30p
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Purim 5780 at Or VeShalom
Monday, Mar 9th 5:30p to 7:30p
OVS Feature Video
Engage with OVS