Jill L. Maderer (she/her)
Senior Rabbi
clergyoffice@rodephshalom.org
215-627-6747
Jill L. Maderer has served Congregation Rodeph Shalom since her ordination from Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion, NY in 2001. In 2017, Rabbi Maderer became our senior rabbi. In partnership with our senior staff, professional team, Board of Directors, Board of Advisors, and many involved congregants, she works passionately to build community, to connect Jewish wisdom to all that we do, and to pursue our vision: immersed in Jewish time, guided by enduring values, compelled to moral action, we create profound connections.
Our connections exist both within and beyond the walls of the synagogue. The one stipulation Jewish law provides for the building of a sanctuary is the presence of windows to the outside. With that relationship to the world around us, the words of our prayers are influenced by the life of our city and our experience of prayer inspires us to go forth into the world empowered by Jewish values. The photographs of our professional team offer a view from our synagogue of our neighborhood and the city we love and to which we feel responsible.
Rabbi Maderer currently serves on the Board of the Interfaith Philadelphia; in the past she has served as: president of the Board of Rabbis of Greater Philadelphia, chairperson of the Center City Kehillah, a member of the Religious Leaders Council (multi-faith) of Greater Philadelphia, as a Mussar Institute instructor training Reform rabbis, as faculty at URJ Camp Harlam, and she has served on the Central Conference of American Rabbis' Task Force for Experience of Women in the Rabbinate.
Rabbi Maderer published the chapters "'Nothing Will Be Out of Their Reach:' Sexual Harassment, Sexual Assault, and Gender Power Imbalance" in Moral Resistance and Spiritual Authority: Our Jewish Obligation to Social Justice and "If Not Now, Why: Celebrating the Festivals at Their Fixed Times" in Seven Days, Many Voices: Insights into the Biblical Story of Creation.
Rabbi Maderer's early life was shaped by her involvement in the Reform youth movement and in her hometown Reform congregation in Westfield, New Jersey. She graduated from Brandeis University with a major in Near Eastern and Judaic Studies and minors in Women's Studies and Peace and Conflict Studies.
Rabbi Maderer, her husband Len Lipkin and their two children reside in Philadelphia, not far from Rodeph Shalom.
Eli C. Freedman (he/him)
Rabbi
clergyoffice@rodephshalom.org
215-627-6747
Eli Freedman was ordained at Hebrew Union College–Jewish Institute of Religion in May 2010 after receiving his undergraduate degree from Brandeis University. Prior to joining the clergy team at Rodeph Shalom, Rabbi Freedman served as Rabbinic Intern at the NYU Hillel, spent three years of rabbinical school in London and ran the outreach and engagement program at Columbia/Barnard Hillel.
Rabbi Freedman’s major areas of work at Rodeph Shalom our RiSe Up! (Social Justice) Initiative, Families with Young Children, and young adult work which included our Young Friends group and Next Dor. He also is engaged in all other rabbinic duties, including life cycle events, leading services, preaching, counseling, and adult education. Rabbi Freedman, his wife, Laurel, and their daughters, Josephine and Nora, live in Kensington, where they enjoy dining out, live music, and home-brewing!
Bradley Hyman (he/him)
Cantor
clergyoffice@rodephshalom.org
215-627-6747
Cantor Hyman served Temple Chaverim in Long Island for 16 years. Originally from Michigan, Cantor Hyman is a graduate of Michigan State University and Hebrew Union College. While a student, he gained cantorial experience in Mobile, AL, Charlottesville, VA, and at New York City’s historic Central Synagogue. Cantor Hyman is a product of the North American Federation of Temple Youth (NFTY). He has served as a national song leader for three URJ summer camps. Cantor Hyman is happily married to Vicki and the proud father of Liora and Hannah.
Alan D. Fuchs (he/him)
Rabbi Emeritus
rabADF@gmail.com
802-249-2250
Alan D. Fuchs holds a BA degree from Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut. He was ordained by the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in 1963. Rabbi Fuchs led Congregation Rodeph Shalom as Senior Rabbi from 1988 to 1998. Prior to that, Rabbi Fuchs served as Senior Rabbi of the Isaac M. Wise Temple in Cincinnati, Ohio. He was also rabbi at Temple Sinai in Pittsburgh, Congregation Keneseth Israel in Elkins Park, and Temple Beth El in Somerville, New Jersey, and served as a Chaplain in the US Army at Fort Knox, Kentucky, and Verdun, France. In July of 2001, Rabbi Fuchs served as interim Rabbi at Temple Beth El in Chappaqua, New York, while the congregation searched for a senior rabbi. Rabbi Fuchs and his wife, Carol, have two sons and five grandchildren.
William I. Kuhn (he/him)
Rabbi Emeritus
William I. Kuhn became Rabbi Emeritus of Congregation Rodeph Shalom on June 1, 2017, after serving as Senior Rabbi of the congregation since 1998. Rabbi Kuhn was ordained in 1994 by the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, and became the senior rabbi of Congregation Rodeph Shalom in 1998 after having served as assistant and associate rabbi since 1994. He brings broad and distinctive life experience to the congregation's historic pulpit. Throughout his tenure, Rabbi Kuhn initiated and oversaw Rodeph Shalom's ambitious and wide-ranging efforts to create a Jewish community of profound connections through transformative study, prayer, and urban engagement.
Nationally, Rabbi Kuhn served as the Vice President of Financial Affairs for the Central Conference of American Rabbis, and he is active in the Union for Reform Judaism. In Philadelphia, Rabbi Kuhn was a active member of the boards of Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia, Jewish Family and Children's Services and the National Conference for Community and Justice. He has served on Mayor Street's Transition Committee as co-chairman of the Volunteer and Faith-Based Organizations Sub-committee and has served as a Commissioner on the Human Relations Commission for the City of Philadelphia.
A native and longtime resident of Nashville, Tennessee, Rabbi Kuhn's great love for Judaism was nurtured at Congregation Ohabai Sholom and within his family, which had founded the synagogue in the 1860's. He continued the Kuhn family tradition of leadership as a board member and officer of that congregation, particularly while chair of the Social Action Committee, when he was instrumental in establishing a homeless shelter based in the Temple.
Rabbi Kuhn is a graduate of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. After leaving Penn, he served as vice-president of Kuhn's Big K Stores Corporation, a family-owned retail business, and later established and was president of General Property Investor's Corporation, a real-estate investment firm. Throughout this period, he was active in Nashville's Jewish and general community.
Rabbi Kuhn and his wife, Emily, have two children, Michael and Sarah, and are blessed with three grandchildren.
