About us
Our People
The clergy, staff, musicians and volunteer leaders who make Temple Emanuel the community it is. Reach out any time.
Rabbi Michael Farbman
Rabbi
Born in Vitebsk, Belarus, Rabbi Farbman received his semicha (rabbinic ordination) at Leo Baeck College, the Reform rabbinical seminary in London. He holds a B.A. and M.A. in Hebrew and Jewish Studies and a Master of Sacred Theology from Yale Divinity School.
Since his ordination in 2001 he served the West London Synagogue of British Jews, helped build Sha’arei Shalom Progressive Jewish Community in St. Petersburg, Russia, and was Rabbi-in-Residence at Washington Hebrew Congregation in Washington, DC.
He is an active member of the Orange Interfaith Clergy group, the immediate past President of the New Haven Board of Rabbis and Cantors, and was appointed by Governor Lamont to the Connecticut Hate Crimes Advisory Council.
Leadership and staff
Lindsey Sussman
President
A TE member since 2013 and former Chair of the Membership Committee, Lindsey lives in Woodbridge with her husband, Scott, and their two girls.
Full bio
Lindsey grew up in New Jersey and has lived in Woodbridge since 2011. Since joining TE she has been engaged with the education committee when her daughters were young and more recently as Chair of the Membership Committee.
She has spent her career in health care, starting in growth and retention and shifting to operations, and is the Chief Operating Officer at Rivia Mind, a mental health company.
Olga Markus
Religious School Director
A Jewish educator with more than 20 years of experience in the UK, Russia and the US, Olga leads the TE Religious School.
Full bio
Olga was born and raised in the former Soviet Union and played an active role in the resurgence of Jewish life there in the early 1990s. She holds a Master’s in Russian Language and Literature and an MA in Religious Education from the University of London.
She has worked as Senior Educator at West London Synagogue, Regional Director of Education for the World Union for Progressive Judaism in Russia, Educator in Residence at Washington Hebrew Congregation, and Program Director for Jewish Education and Engagement at the Jewish Federations of North America.
Music
Laurel Shader & Anna Zonderman
High Holy Day Cantorial Soloists
Laurel has been a High Holy Day cantorial soloist since 1996 and leads the TE house band; her daughter Anna has sung at TE since 2004 and leads the children’s High Holy Day services.
Full bio
Laurel Shader, a member of Temple Emanuel since 1985, has been a High Holy Day cantorial soloist at TE since 1996. She has also been the music director and arranger for the Temple Emanuel house band since its debut in the fall of 2009. By day, Laurel is the chair of the Department of Pediatrics at the Fair Haven Community Health Center. She lives in Orange with her husband, Jon Zonderman, and is the mother of two musical young adults, Anna and Jacob Zonderman.
Anna Zonderman has been a cantorial soloist at Temple Emanuel since 2004. She also leads the children’s High Holy Day services at TE. She was a member of the Elm City Girls’ Choir from 1994 to 2006, then a member and section leader of the Clark University Choirs and a founding member and director of FOURtissimo, a women’s a cappella quartet.
Susan Pinsky Bleeks
Cantorial Soloist, B’nei Mitzvah
Education Director of the Religious School for 25 years and soloist at 185 Temple Emanuel simchas.
Full bio
Susan Pinsky Bleeks has spent her entire adult life involved in her twin passions of Jewish education and music. She and her husband Tom joined Temple Emanuel in 1979, and within a few years she started teaching at the Religious School. Two years later she became the school’s Education Director, a role she held for the next 25 years, until June 2009.
In 1996 she was asked to be a cantorial soloist for the High Holy Days and soloist for B’nei Mitzvah services. She retired from singing at the High Holy Days in 2005 but continues singing at “her” children’s special days, and is honored to have been part of 185 Temple Emanuel simchas.
Susan also chairs the Caring Community Committee, has served as Sisterhood President, and founded and chairs Sisterhood’s Book Discussion Group. Susan and Tom live in Bethany.
Board of Directors 2025–26
Officers
Directors
Lewis Shaffer (Immediate Past President) · Max Berkowitz · Doug Fenichel · Jill Gulliford · Morgan Hushion · Howard Koenig · Aron Pinkussohn · Matthew Rothbard · Holli Shanbrom · Ann Teller
Community representatives
Sam Ridky
Youth representative