3405 Gulling Road, Reno, NV 89503
3405 Gulling Road, Reno, NV 89503
Temple Sinai is a vibrant and inclusive Reform Jewish community, proudly affiliated with the Union for Reform Judaism (URJ). Reform Judaism honors Jewish tradition while embracing the realities of modern life. It affirms the core pillars of Jewish belief—God, Torah, and Israel—while promoting justice, diversity, and personal meaning in Jewish practice.
Rooted in the principle of tikkun olam (repairing the world), Reform Judaism combines faith, critical thinking, and action to help create a more compassionate and just society. At Temple Sinai, we welcome all Jews as full members of our community, regardless of race, age, gender, sexual orientation, ability, or economic background. We also warmly welcome non-Jewish partners, interfaith families, and spiritual seekers who wish to connect with Jewish life.
In this place, inclusion isn’t just a value—it’s a practice. Everyone can find a home here.
JULY 2018 TO PRESENT
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Rabbi Sara Zober grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio, but spent her formative Jewish years in Lancaster County, PA. After graduating from Elizabethtown College with a degree in vocal performance and conducting, she converted to Judaism and was offered the position of Cantorial Soloist at Congregation Shaarai Shomayim in Lancaster. She served there for seven years before leaving for her studies at the Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion in Jerusalem. While in rabbinical school, she served both Reform and Conservative synagogues from the Dakotas to the Midwest, and participated in the Rabbis Without Borders’ student retreat and other interdenominational work. Her studies at HUC focused on the subjects of Jewish ethics and spirituality, and she received her Masters’ in Hebrew Letters in 2017. Her rabbinical thesis was entitled “Alei Shur: A Liberal Jewish Commentary on Selections from Rabbi Shlomo Wolbe’s Mussar Treatise,” and she prepared both the first English translation and commentary on that text. She was ordained in Cincinnati in 2018 and awarded the Ferdinand M. Isserman Prize for the greatest contribution towards community relations by the HUC-JIR faculty.
JULY 2018 TO PRESENT
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Rabbi Benjamin Zober grew up in Cleveland, Ohio learning to love winter, doomed sports franchises, and corned beef. After graduating from Brandeis University with a degree in European Cultural Studies and a minor in Near Eastern and Judaic Studies, he returned to Cleveland and earned his J.D. from Cleveland-Marshall College of Law. During his years as a lawyer, he spent time as a public defender, representing death row inmates in capital appeals. Seeking a more proactive approach to helping his community, Rabbi Zober applied to rabbinical school. During his time at Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion, he served communities in Michigan, West Virginia, Florida, and Illinois. Committed to social justice, Rabbi Zober served as a Social Justice Fellow in Cincinnati and attended the Religious Action Center’s Consultation on Conscience. His rabbinical thesis, “A Light Unto the Nation: 3 Jewish-American Responses to the Holocaust” detailed largely unknown efforts to intervene on behalf of Jews during the Shoah. He was ordained in 2018 and was awarded the Cora Kahn Prize for the graduating senior whose sermon delivery and oratory are considered to be the best. In his spare time (or what remains with rabbinical duties and being a proud step-dad to three wonderful kids) he likes to read, run, and make pop-up books.
As a couple, the Rabbis Zober live and work together, make goals together, and care for each other when they fall short. This is what communities at their best do for all of their members. The Rabbis’ hope is to help Temple Sinai nurture a Jewish community in touch with its values, a truly holy community united in its mission and vision for the future.
Rabbi Emerita Myra Soifer served as Temple Sinai’s rabbi for 25 years (from August 1984 through June 2009). Prior to coming to Reno, Rabbi Soifer served as the Assistant Rabbi at Temple Sinai in New Orleans, Louisiana. She was ordained in 1978, by the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Cincinnati, Ohio. Rabbi Soifer’s activities at Temple Sinai in Reno included services of worship and life cycle, teaching, home and hospital visits, community lectures, and private counseling. She is the author of numerous published articles on a variety of Jewish topics.
Retired on June 30, 2009, Rabbi Soifer retains the title “Rabbi Emerita.” She has been granted life-time membership at our Temple.
Rabbi Soifer also came back to Sinai for nine months (September 2012 through June 2013) and provided full rabbinic services during our search for a permanent rabbi. She re-entered retirement on June 30, 2013.
CLICK HERE for bio and past newsletter articles and select sermons.
Tova McGilvray was “Battle Born” and raised in Reno, Nevada, and is a graduate of UNR’s writing program. Her mom and bonus-dad still live in Reno, and all three are members of a different Reno Jewish congregation. She has worked in Title and Escrow since 2013 and looks forward to a long career helping people make Reno their home. Tova trained most of her life as a dancer and thespian, and cut her teeth at leadership managing, and choreographing theatrical productions. Her experience co-founding the Nada Dada Art Show exposed her to the plight of the residents in Reno’s weekly motels and introduced her to community activism. While always identified as a Northern Nevada Jew, it was not until joining Temple Sinai that she found a home where she could practice community service from a proudly Jewish perspective. A Temple Sinai member since 2017, Tova is a past chair of the Temple Sinai Social Action Committee and has served on the Temple Board since 2017. She is also a Past President of the Rotary Club of Reno Midtown. Tova resides in Carson City with her supportive, affectionate, and not-at-all Jewish husband, Jeremme, and has two grown step-children, Destiny and Presh. Tova hopes to share her joy for Reno’s unique brand of Reform Judaism with everyone and is always game for singing and dancing.
Michael E. Gorden (1st VP, Strategic Planning) — I grew up in Southern California for about 10 years and then moved to Reno in 1986. I grew up in a Reform Jewish Home. As a youth and an adult, I have always ensured to the best of my ability to belong to a Synagogue. I have been happily married (Don’t tell my wife) to my wife Jennifer for over 15 years and we have two rambunctious teenage boys and one equally rambunctious pre-teen girl – Nathaniel 17 years, Shalom 16 years (no he is not peaceful), and that red-headed child who everyone thinks is cute–boy… she has everyone fooled–Sasha is almost 11 years. I am a Social Worker and have been working for the State of Nevada for over 15 years and currently am the manager of three District Offices for Medicaid. I also have been in the bowling business (my hobby) for about 30 years. Currently, I am a supervisor at Coconut Bowl and I am an Association Manager for the Greater Reno-Sparks Bowling Association. My family and I have been members since 2014. I attended services as a teenager and into adulthood, for as long as I have been in the Reno area. I served on the Board for three years as a Member-at-Large and have served for the past several years as the Chair of the Building/Grounds and Security Committee. My family and I are always involved with events and holidays and try our best to volunteer time and labor to help out. We are very dedicated to Temple Sinai. I was very honored to serve as President and then 1st Vice-President of our greater Sinai Community and will be honored to serve again 1st Vice-President. I feel that I bring a positive, analytical, methodological, and Social Work perspective to growing and engaging our community in leading Temple Sinai.
Laura Smith (2nd VP, Membership) — Thank you for considering me for an at-large position on the Temple Sinai Board. Belonging to Temple Sinai has made Reno feel like home since moving here. In this community, I have served on the Board of Trustees as a member-at-large, chaired the Jewish Practice Committee, volunteered as part of our collective effort to staff the overflow shelter tent on Record Street, coordinated biweekly breakfast deliveries to Our Place, led services, tutored students in preparation for their b’nei mitzvah, sang in the High Holiday Choir, and acted in the recent Purim spiels. In my prior affiliation with Congregation Shaarei Shamayim in Madison, Wisconsin, I served on the Ritual Committee and Social Action Committee, volunteered for The Road Home’s Interfaith Hospitality Network’s temporary family shelter program, ran monthly community meals for the Friends of the State Street Family, and had an active role in the Sisterhood of Salaam Shalom, engaging in friendship and solidarity with our Muslim neighbors. I currently teach math at Clayton Middle School and feel particularly invested in our cohort of active young families, as the parent of a toddler.
Michael Cohen (Finance Officer) — I was born in Israel, moved to New Zealand as a child, and then to the US for grad school in 2003. I have now spent over 20 years in the US, spending most of that time in Southern California (for school), and Northern California (for work). My wife Perian is a native Californian, and we moved to Reno in May 2021, during the pandemic, looking for a better work-life balance and more space for our children to enjoy. We found Sinai pretty quickly, and you may have seen us around the place in the last couple of years. My daughter Eliana and son Amiel attend Sinai School. In November 2023, I joined the staff of Sinai School as the 6-7th grade teacher, which has been a wonderful experience, and in July of 2024 I began serving as the Secretary of the Board of Trustees which has been a great opportunity to deepen my engagement with the community and my own Jewish practice.
My father once told me that children can always tell when their parents are being inauthentic, and that therefore the best way to raise Jewish kids is to do Jewish things, so I’m looking forward to taking this next step at Sinai. I’m looking forward to serving you all and learning more about all the joys we share, and the issues we face, as a community.
Alexa Foley (Treasurer) — Alexa’s roots are in Miami with loving but crazy Jewish and Cuban families. After a 15-year pitstop in the Minneapolis area, Reno became her beloved home shortly after the turn of the century. Later, she became Mrs. Foley after meeting Jay Foley at a Reno coffee shop. Today, they are raising their two sons Quinten and Jameson. Before becoming Co-Conspirator and Chief Transportation Executive of the Foley Family, she proudly achieved a double major plus minor (Urban Affairs and Communications with a Cross-Cultural Relations emphasis; Human Resources) at St. Cloud State University while working as many hours as she could to pay for it. Her professional past included teamwork and leadership roles with various national and regional professional affiliations. Most of her career was positioned as COO of small to midsize companies. While she enjoyed the success and recognition that she earned in the Midwest, her favorite job title is that of Big Mama Foley.
She stays busy with family/friends and hobbies and is most grateful for the wonderful people she gets to walk through this life with. Temple Sinai holds a special place in her heart as it is where she chose to become a Bat Mitzvah as an adult and where she can raise her boys in our small, but enriched Jewish community. Her faith and religion are very important to her, and Alexa is thankful for this opportunity to better serve Temple Sinai.
Tommy Seidel (Secretary) — I moved to Reno in 2020, and quickly started missing being part of a Jewish community. In 2022, along with my wife Katherine (a Reno native), we dove headfirst into Temple Sinai! We have both felt exceedingly welcome, and have enjoyed becoming more involved. I has been my pleasure to serve the Board as a member-at-large and is my honor to have been asked to join the board as secretary, and am passionate about both maintaining what we love about Temple Sinai, along with figuring out what we can improve on in order to better serve our community.
I am originally from the Bay Area, but have bounced across the US a few times. I have lived in Michigan (for school) and Boston (for work). I am a software engineer with particular interest in robotics and computer vision. In my spare time, I enjoy hiking, 3d printing, and spending time with my wife, two cats, and dog. I enjoy talking to pretty much anyone about pretty much anything, so I hope to have many opportunities to continue meeting and learning about the members of our community!
See 1st Vice-President
Jeremy Cohen (Member-at-Large) — Jeremy is thrilled to serve as a Member-at-Large on the Temple Sinai Board of Directors. A lifelong believer in the power of community (and a good nosh), he brings a background in political organizing and communications, along with a deep love for Jewish life. Jeremy lives in South Reno with his amazing wife, Tara, and their energetic toddler, Jesse, who keeps them on their toes and their hearts full. When he’s not working or parenting, you’ll likely find him in the kitchen, watching a ballgame, or getting lost in a good book.
Alan Deutschman (Member-at-Large) — My family, on both sides, emigrated from Eastern Europe to New York City between 1920 and 1930, and I grew up in a Reform congregation in suburban New Jersey in the ‘60s and ‘70s. After working as a magazine journalist and book author in New York and San Francisco for two decades, I moved to Reno in 2011 to become a professor of journalism at UNR. I’ve become more involved in the temple community since my daughter began attending Sinai School and preparing for her bat mitzvah.
Jill Flanzraich (Member-at-Large) — A native New Yorker, Jill moved to Las Vegas in 1994 and later relocated to Reno in 2012. She joined Temple Sinai in 2015 and successfully advocated for establishing the Library Committee, serving as its Chair for nine years. During her tenure, she oversaw several projects, including converting a storage classroom into the Youth Library, creating the Faces of Sinai photo wall in the small social hall, and organizing a program on antisemitism that attracted a diverse audience from Northern Nevada to the synagogue. Additionally, she chaired the Social Action Committee from 2016 to 2018 and developed the annual Mitzvah Day. In 2024, she became the synagogue’s volunteer Events Coordinator, assisting with, and launching, events such as the ‘Who Nu?’ series while promoting community interfaith programming, including the annual Interfaith Sukkot Potluck.
Jill has an extensive background in promotion, marketing, and special event planning, supported by a forty-year career that includes executive roles in retail and non-profit organizations, as well as owning two businesses. She is fortunate to live near her daughter and son-in-law, both graduates of the University of Nevada, Reno, and their schnauzer. As a strong advocate for the importance of Tikkun Olam, she is passionate about civic engagement. Her interests include creating piano compositions, exploring various music genres, reading, and watching classic films.
John Luis Gomez (Member-at-Large) — John Luis Gomez retired from Corporate Banking in San Francisco in 2020 and is happily settled in the beautiful southern hills of Reno, with Donald, his spouse of 34 years. During the last five years, John Luis has focused his time on returning to Judaism, studying Hebrew, attending Torah studies, and being an active member of both Temple Sinai (a member for the last three years) and the greater Northern Nevada Jewish community. He’s a member of Temple Sinai’s Jewish Practice Committee and tutored his first B’nai Mitzvah student this last year. He writes fiction and poetry and has four manuscripts being polished to “shop” around, which he finds is a long process! He walks five miles a day and reads anything from history to science fiction and fantasy. He also enjoys traveling with his spouse and friends and immersing himself within local cultures and museums. He loves his family, friends, community and life!
Elspeth Olson (Member-at-Large) — Elspeth moved to Reno in 2019 for a job in the main library at UNR. She previously lived on the San Francisco peninsula and has master’s degrees in history and library and information science. Back home, her family is a part of Congregation Etz Chayim in Palo Alto. Elspeth did not grow up in a synagogue community, as the local options at the time were unwilling to welcome an interfaith family that intended to remain interfaith. Instead, her family attended High Holy Day services through Hillel at Stanford University with Rabbi Ari Cartun, and she attended the Palo Alto School for Jewish Education on Sunday mornings until the end of eighth grade. Elspeth and her brother had their bat/bar mitzvot in the back garden of their family home, with the assistance of private tutoring and the retired Hillel rabbi, Charles Familant. Coming from a mixed-faith immediate family and multiracial extended family, Elspeth strongly believes in the power of communities that welcome, celebrate, and value different perspectives, identities, and experiences.
The Building, Grounds, and Security Committee maintains the Temple facility to keep it in good working order and oversees security issues as needed.
The Chesed Committee reaches out to members in times of difficulty or sadness due to physical and/or emotional issues and in times of great celebration. With the rabbi, it develops programs including visits to home-bound people and to assisted living facilities, making anniversary and birthday phone calls, sending condolence and get-well cards, and providing illness and bereavement support, including meals or soup delivery.
The Jewish Practice Committee (JPC) works in partnership with the rabbi in all areas of Jewish practice and worship. The JPC ensures all ritual items are maintained in good repair. The JPC reviews, updates, and coordinates all holiday services and ritual practices/community minhag.
The Temple Sinai Library Committee strives to provide meaningful programming, relevant collections, and a comfortable, accessible space where members of all ages can engage in Jewish learning and appreciation.
Our committee meets monthly, or as needed and oversees the operations of the Main and Youth Libraries. Responsibilities include programming, outreach, library administration and maintenance, collection development, and overseeing library projects related to Tikkun Olam.
The Membership Committee develops, implements, and directs all activities relating to maintaining and increasing membership in Temple Sinai. The goal of the committee is to help strengthen relationships among members.
The Temple Sinai Social Action Committee (TSSAC) addresses critical human needs. Jewish ethics and values compel us to practice Tikkun Olam – to work toward a better world in the here and now. We demonstrate Jewish ethics and values to the broader Reno community by being a visible resource for facilitating strategic, constructive, collaborative societal improvements.
Temple Sinai Committees generally meet every fourth Wednesday. Meeting times and locations vary. Please contact each committee chair for exact time and location details.
Have questions or want to learn more about Temple Sinai? Need to reach our leadership, committees, or the Temple office? We’re here to help!
At Temple Sinai, we try to walk-the-walk more than just talk about being an inclusive community.
Temple Sinai is a community that learns, cares for one another, and promotes Jewish practice, culture, and tikkun olam (healing the world).
Temple Sinai is an inclusive Jewish community that encourages members to fulfill their unique purpose in the world.
Join us for monthly Tot Shabbat services, usually, the First Friday of every month, for families with small children (although everyone is welcome). It is a shorter service with a story for children. There is an email reminder sent out before each meeting. To add your name to the email list and receive regularly updated reminders, click here to send an email and put “Add to Tot Shabbat List” in the message field.
Torah for Tots is Temple Sinai’s program for very young children. It provides a beginning Jewish education for youngsters ages 2 to 5, as a prelude to the Temple’s Sinai School. The class meets monthly from October through June and explores Shabbat, Jewish holidays, and Bible stories through simple prayers, songs, stories, games, art projects, and food.
The class is open to Temple members as well as non-members and there is no fee. Siblings are also welcome. Please contact the Torah for Tots teacher for the class schedule and to enroll. Check the calendar HERE.
A community-wide Jewish youth group in Reno! Please fill out this form if you are interested in participating and/or receiving more information about it.
Feel free to send this link to other Jewish teens you know in Reno as well!
The Youth Library offers books, educational toys, and even a multi-media center, plus lots of fun, comfortable seating. Click the button below to learn more about our libraries.
At Sinai School, kids in Pre-K through 6th grade explore Jewish life, holidays, Hebrew, and traditions through songs, stories, and hands-on fun. Classes meet on Sunday mornings during the school year.
Ready to learn more or sign up?
At Temple Sinai, holidays are joyful, hands-on, and made for families. From meaningful services to festive meals and playful celebrations, there’s something for everyone—kids and adults alike. Here are just a few of the special moments we share throughout the year:
