Our Clergy
Rabbi Tzvi Graetz
Rabbi Tzvi Graetz served as the Rabbi of Kehilat Hod Ve-Hadar in Kfar Saba in Israel. He also facilitates and performs bnei mitvah and weddings in Israel in a pluralistic atmosphere. Before becoming Rabbi of Kehilat Hod Ve-Hadar, he served as the Executive Director of Masorti Olami and MERCAZ Olami, which are international organizations of Conservative Judaism. Rabbi Graetz graduated from Hebrew University of Jerusalem with a B.A. in both Talmud and Political Science, and he also earned an M.A. in Nonprofit Administration. He was ordained in 2003 by the Schechter Rabbinical School. He has served as a member of the Executive of the World Zionist Organization and of the board of JNF Israel, advancing the interests of religious pluralism world-wide. Before moving to our part of the world, he lived in Jerusalem, he loves cooking and going to the gym, and is the proud father of Uriah (19), Ayelet (17) and Talya (15).
You can reach Rabbi Graetz via email at RabbiTzvi@nertamid.com.
Cantor Ken Jaffe
Cantor Kenneth Jaffe is a graduate of the Oberlin College Conservatory of Music and the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion. He has served congregations in New York, New Jersey, Florida, and Missouri and in California. Prior to entering the cantorate, Cantor Jaffe sang opera professionally throughout the United States, having performed dozens of roles in several opera companies. Cantor Jaffe’s bibliography, “Solo Vocal Works on Jewish Themes: A Bibliography of Jewish Composers,” is published by Scarecrow Press and is considered the most extensive Jewish music bibliography published in the last 60 years. His songs have been published by Transcontinental Music and are sung in many congregations around the country. He is also a specialist in Jewish educational music and has recorded a CD of original songs for children.
You can reach Cantor Jaffe via email at Kjaffe@nertamid.com.
Rabbi Cantor Emeritus Samuel B. Radwine
Rabbi Cantor Samuel B. Radwine graduated from the University of Illinois with a Bachelor’s Degree in Instrumental Music Education and taught in the Bethany, Illinois Public Schools. He left Illinois for New York City, where he studied at the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion/Debbie Friedman School of Sacred Music and was ordained in 1981. After serving pulpits in Fair Lawn, New Jersey and Danbury, Connecticut, he came to Congregation Ner Tamid of South Bay, in Rancho Palos Verdes, California in 1986, where he served both as Cantor and Director of Education, becoming Cantor Emeritus in 2013. During his time in California, Cantor Radwine also was on the faculty of Hebrew Union College/Los Angeles, and subsequently as a faculty member of both the Rabbinical and Cantorial Schools of the Academy for Jewish Religion/CA. After “retirement,” Cantor Radwine and his husband, Wade Sisco, relocated to Palm Springs, where he became the Cantor for the Sun City Jewish Congregation and Har El Congregation, both in Palm Desert.
In 2017, Sam and his husband, Wade Sisco relocated to Northwest Arkansas. Upon joining the local synagogue, Congregation Etz Chaim of Bentonville, Sam was asked to become its Spiritual Leader. While in this role, Sam decided to pursue rabbinic smicha and became an ordained Rabbi with the class of 2021 of the Academy for Jewish Religion/California (AJRCA) in Los Angeles. In August 2021, Rabbi Cantor Radwine became the Dean of the Cantorial School of the AJRCA.
You can reach Rabbi Cantor Radwine via email at sradwine@gmail.com.