RABBI JENNIFER WEINER, INTERIM
We are honored to welcome Rabbi Jennifer Weiner as our Interim Rabbi beginning July 1, 2025. With warmth, wisdom, and a deep commitment to community, Rabbi Weiner brings over two decades of experience guiding congregations through times of growth, healing, and transition.
Ordained in 1996 by Hebrew Union College–Jewish Institute of Religion (HUC-JIR), Rabbi Weiner also holds a Master’s in Jewish Educational Leadership and was awarded a Doctor of Divinity (honoris causa) in recognition of 25 years of service to the Jewish people. She is a proud graduate of Barnard College of Columbia University.
Most recently, Rabbi Weiner has served as an Intentional Interim Rabbi through the Central Conference of American Rabbis (CCAR), specializing in supporting congregations during times of change. In Baltimore, she led the historic merger of Har Sinai and Oheb Shalom congregations, helping them transition successfully to new settled clergy. She then served Temple Emanu-El in Honolulu, Hawai’i—at the time, the only URJ congregation in the islands—where she bridged the congregation’s past and future with care and vision.
Rabbi Weiner’s rabbinate is deeply rooted in Jewish learning, social justice, and spiritual presence. A lifelong activist, she served as a rabbinic legislative assistant at the Religious Action Center for Reform Judaism in Washington, D.C., and continues to advocate for human rights, interfaith dialogue, and community partnership. She is a founding member of the Women’s Interfaith Ministerial group of Prince William County and has received multiple awards for her service, including the Prince William County Human Rights Award and ARZA’s Prize in Educational Programming about Israel.
In addition to congregational leadership, Rabbi Weiner has proudly served our country in the U.S. Navy Chaplain Candidate Corps and as a police chaplain in Northern Virginia. She is known for her calm presence, thoughtful systems leadership, and ability to help organizations find clarity, stability, and renewed purpose.
Rabbi Weiner is joined by her husband, Jeffrey Sachs, their two children, Aaron and Micah, and two beloved dogs, Ruby and Oliver. She is excited to get to know the Beth El community—sharing in life’s sacred moments, exploring Jewish learning together, and helping guide our congregation with compassion and care during this season of transition.
Cantor Jason Kaufman
Cantor Jason Kaufman received cantorial ordination from the Debbie Friedman School of Sacred Music at Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion in New York City, where he also received a Master’s in Sacred Music in 2010. A native of Monsey, New York, Cantor Kaufman holds a Bachelor’s of Arts degree from the State University of New York, University at Fredonia, where he majored in voice and minored in Jewish Studies.
Cantor Kaufman’s love of the cantorate and the Jewish community has taken him to congregations and Jewish communities across the country, including New Orleans, Chicago, and now Alexandria, Virginia, where he has served as cantor at Beth El Hebrew Congregation since 2013.
In addition to his post graduate work, Cantor Kaufman is proud to have served as a cantorial intern at Congregation Beit Simchat Torah, the world’s largest LGBTQ+ congregation in New York City and with the Progressive Jewish community in Melbourne, Australia as a cantorial student.
Cantor Kaufman loves music of all styles that are sincere, joyful, and speak to the soul. His annual concerts have raised funds for important causes, such as the URJ Racial Justice Campaign, HIAS (formerly known as the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society), and Beth El’s own Civic Engagement Campaign.
Cantor Kaufman serves the Jewish community with leadership roles throughout the Union of Reform Judaism (URJ). He is the vice president elect of Organizational Relationships for the American Conference of Cantors, the vice chair of the URJ Commission on Social Action, a global justice fellow for the American Jewish World Services, and sits on the J Street Rabbinical and Cantorial Cabinet.
In recognition of his work, Cantor Kaufman has received the American Conference of Cantors President’s Award for Volunteerism and the American Conference of Cantors Ba’al Chazon award for Social Justice.
In his personal capacity, Cantor Kaufman has volunteered with numerous national, statewide, and local political campaigns and was a media volunteer for the 2016 and 2024 Democratic National Conventions.
In his spare time, Cantor Kaufman loves to travel, spend time in his garden, and watch the latest MCU or Star Wars movie. He also is an avid runner. Cantor Kaufman has run 14 marathons, including the Chicago Marathon, the Marine Corps Marathon, and the Walt Disney World Marathon. He also holds the distinction of being a six-time Dopey Challenge Finisher at Walt Disney World, which entails completing a 5K, 10K, half marathon, and full marathon over the course of 4 days.
He lives in Alexandria, Virginia with his husband, Alexandria City Councilman Kirk McPike, and their adorable beagle, Punky.
Rabbi Emeritus Brett Isserow
Rabbi Dr. Jacob Rader Marcus once told me, "If you don't like Jews, don't become a Rabbi!" As the years pass, those words take on an ever greater significance and I have found that it is indeed my deep love of the Jewish people and Judaism which sustains my life as a Rabbi.
My decision to become a Rabbi began as a desire to explore my own Jewish heritage and learn more about Judaism's many facets. It has been, and continues to be, a fascinating journey, one that enriches and fulfills each new day.
I was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, and was raised in a family which, although very aware of its Jewishness, was not particularly observant. We "did" all the holidays and celebrated Pesach seders with lots of family and friends but rarely attended Shabbat services. Under my mother's "shul or school" rule, I spent most of the festivals sitting in the sun on the stairs in front of our local Orthodox synagogue.
Post-Bar Mitzvah my formal Jewish education came grinding to a halt. Thereafter, college and building a career as a Chartered Accountant further intervened.
Over a decade and a half later, I became re-engaged in a Reform congregation and soon found myself on the Board, Executive Committee, and serving as Treasurer. It occurred to me that I really knew very little about Judaism and so I began a journey of exploration and learning that continues to this day.
In the mid-1980s I applied to Hebrew Union College and spent the first year of the course in Israel. Studying at HUC in Cincinnati was a true gift even for someone rapidly approaching middle age! After all, my teachers were the ones who wrote the books! And besides, I met my wife, Jinny, while we were both at HUC.
Eleven years as an Assistant/Associate Rabbi at The Temple in Atlanta honed my rabbinic skills. Our children, Anna and Jesse, enlarged our family circle and, yes, radically changed our lives!
Late in 2001, it was time to look for a Congregation at which I could find a home as Senior Rabbi and, hopefully, serve in for many years. Beth El Hebrew Congregation has become that home. The challenges are many, but the rewards are great. I count myself most fortunate to be surrounded by good and decent people who truly want to make this a kehila kedosha, a holy community, for whom Jewish values take on real meaning. One only has to walk into the building to get a sense of its warmth and depth.
Beth El has afforded me the opportunity to get involved in the wider community—as a Board Member of the JCCNV, as a member of the Ethics Committee of Inova Alexandria Hospital, as a vice president of both the Washington Board of Rabbis and the mid-Atlantic CCAR Board, and in a number of other interfaith and Jewish organizations.
At the moment of ordination I was asked, "Are you ready to serve the Jewish people?" Nearly 20 years after ordination, my answer to the question is still a resounding "Yes!" You see, I love being a Rabbi and that, for me, makes a world of difference! --Rabbi Brett Isserow