— About Us —
We are a socially, politically, and religiously progressive REFORM congregation in Washington Heights and Inwood and have been a pioneering voice in the Jewish world since 1950. We are LGBTQI and straight folks spanning three generations, practicing a Judaism that's both outside and inside the box.
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Rabbis Emeriti
Dr. Israel R. Margolies, z”l Margaret Moers Wenig
Rabbi Emeritus Rabbi Emerita
1953-1980 1984-2000
Rabbi Heather Shore
Darshan
Rabbi Heather Shore was ordained by HUC-JIR in 2023, and is currently pursuing an additional master’s degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling & Spiritual Integration through Fordham University’s Graduate School of Religion. She is passionate about integrative, creative, and accessible modalities of Jewish spiritual support that foster personal resilience and communal care. Combining pastoral support and her clinical studies, Heather’s recent areas of research include spiritual care for climate-related grief and anxiety.
Heather holds undergraduate degrees in Judaic Studies and Studio Art from Binghamton University, and spent the years leading up to rabbinical school working for a variety of Jewish experiential programs as an educator, program developer, and logistics coordinator. She is a certified Yoga Teacher and avid plant-lover, and wrote her rabbinic thesis on Biblical Botany. When not at work, Heather enjoys tending to her many (many) plant babies and spending time with her very enthusiastic pit mix, Luna.
Cantor Sandy Horowitz
Service Leader
Sandy Horowitz recounts, “When I was first looking for a congregation back in the early 1990s I saw a listing in the phone book (remember phone books?) and thought to myself, ‘the Peoples Temple’ – sounds like my kind of place!” She has been a member of Beth Am The Peoples Temple ever since, and credits Beth Am as her inspiration and initial training ground for becoming a cantor.
She received Cantorial ordination in 2014 from the Academy for Jewish Religion and has a Masters in Jewish Studies from Gratz College. She has worked with several congregations as a Cantorial soloist and Cantor/Educator, is a writer and composer, and was one of the original developers of the Hebrew School of Beth Am/Hebrew Tabernacle.
Cantor Horowitz also enjoys singing Renaissance music along with her husband, musicologist and singer Marty Morell. Their daughter Sara received her doctorate in Political Science from the University of Michigan this year.