Rabbi Suzanne Singer served Temple Beth El in Riverside, CA for 15 years before retiring in 2023. In her retirement, she has served Congregation Havurim in Temecula, Temple Isaiah in Palm Springs, taught Introduction to Judaism for the Union for Reform Judaism (URJ) and the Jewish Collaborative of Orange County, and was involved in expanding trauma treatment through Animal Assisted Psychotherapy (AAP) in Israel.
As the daughter of a Holocaust survivor, she is keenly aware of the need to make our world a better place. She served as a member of the Reform movement’s Commission on Social Action, as President of PARR (Pacific Area Reform Rabbis), as a member of the City of Riverside’s Task Force on Police Reform, and as a commissioner for the City of Riverside’s Human Relations Commission. She was named a Riverside “Champion of Justice” in 2010 and a Riverside “Woman of Distinction” in 2015. In addition to an OpEd in The New York Times re. Rikers Island, her essays have been published in The Torah: A Women’s Commentary, the CCAR Journal: The Reform Jewish Quarterly, and in several CCAR Press collections.
Before being ordained as a rabbi, Rabbi Singer spent twenty years as a television producer and programming executive, primarily for national public television (PBS) and primarily in news and public affairs. As executive producer of a national documentary series, POV, she won two national Emmy awards. She also co-created and produced a national preschool series, The Puzzle Place, designed to help children respect and appreciate diversity.
Speaker: Take Heart Now Series
Presenter: Judaism 101 and In the Beginning