Clergy

Rabbi Nathan Kamesar

Rabbi Nathan S. Kamesar (he/him) is honored to serve as the Rabbi of Society Hill Synagogue. Rabbi Kamesar has served the community since 2014, first as Rabbinic Intern while in Rabbinical School, then as Associate Rabbi beginning in 2018, and as Senior Rabbi since 2020.

Rabbi Kamesar is proud of a number of accomplishments the Society Hill Synagogue community has made under his leadership, beginning with the move to an Immersive Shabbat Hebrew School experience, in which Hebrew School takes place on Shabbat mornings, students participate in the Torah discussion, and families stay for the Kiddush lunch. He further celebrates the move to a weekly TGIShabbat experience, in which every Friday evening, from September through May, the community gathers for Shabbat with music and dinner.

Rabbi Kamesar also serves as a member of the Leadership Committee of the Center City Kehillah, a network of communities representing the diversity of Jewish life in urban Philadelphia. He was ordained by, and received an M.A. in Hebrew Letters from, the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College in 2018. While in rabbinical school, Rabbi Kamesar served as President of the Reconstructionist Student Association and was honored with the Tikkun Olam Award for service to the college community. He also earned an M.S. in Nonprofit Leadership at the University of Pennsylvania in 2016 and was selected by his classmates to be the graduation speaker for that program.

Before rabbinical school, Rabbi Kamesar was an attorney at the law firm, Skadden Arps. He earned his J.D. from the University of California, Berkeley, in 2010. Prior to law school, Rabbi Kamesar served two years with AmeriCorps*VISTA in Baltimore and Washington, D.C. He is a proud Oregon Duck, having graduated magna cum laude from the University of Oregon in 2004 with a degree in Economics.

Rabbi Kamesar and his wife, Caroline, both grew up in the Philadelphia area and reside in Society Hill with their daughters, Lila and Nina. He loves reading, basketball, music, and life.

You can click here to read some of Rabbi Kamesar’s Divrei Torah (sermons).

Contact Rabbi Nathan Kamesar

Hazzan Jessi Roemer

Prior to joining our congregation as Cantor, Hazzan Jessi (she/her) had led engaging and interactive children’s and family services at Society Hill Synagogue for many years. Her soulful voice and musical talents have enhanced the spirituality of our services. She has extensive experience in Jewish music education and has performed, taught workshops, and led prayer services throughout the United States and in Israel; her original compositions have been featured in many of these settings.

Hazzan Jessi grew up in the Washington, D.C., area, surrounded by her mother’s Yiddish, Hebrew, and American folk music; cantorial melodies; and the bluegrass-klezmer music of the Fabrangen Fiddlers. Hazzan Jessi’s musical style reflects her roots, studies, and travels, which include having spent the 1990s living in Jerusalem. She served as a cantorial soloist at Congregation Leyv Ha-Ir in Rittenhouse Square and as a prayer leader at Congregation Kol Tzedek in West Philadelphia. Hazzan Jessi received her ordination from the ALEPH Cantorial Program in January 2017.

Hazzan Jessi is also well known in the Philadelphia area as the director of Ezuz, an ensemble of multi-talented musicians who play Jewish world music featuring lyrics in Hebrew, English, Yiddish, Arabic, and Ladino.

Contact Hazzan Jessi Roemer

Rabbi Avi Winokur, Rabbi Emeritus

Rabbi Winokur (he/him) began his career as an attorney and earned his J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center in 1976. After 8 years in practice in California, he decided to fulfill his dream of becoming a rabbi.

A graduate and current Board member of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College (Ordination, 1991), and a member of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association, Rabbi Winokur served as Rabbi at Society Hill Synagogue from 2001 to 2020. Prior to joining our synagogue family, Rabbi Winokur was the Senior Rabbi at West End Synagogue in New York (1992-2001) and Rabbi at Congregation Shirei Shalom in Monroe, Connecticut (1990-1992). He also served as the Director of the Community Relations Committee at the Jewish Federation of Greater New Haven (1991-1992).

With an energetic and engaging style, Rabbi Winokur has taught classes in California at Kehillat Israel in Pacific Palisades, the Orange County Adult Education Series, and the University Synagogue in Irvine. He was also invited to be a Scholar in Residence at the Whittier California Havurah. Rabbi Winokur has also taught in New York City at the 92nd Street Y and at the JCC in Manhattan, and in Philadelphia at the Center City Kehillah’s Tikkun Leil Shavuot, the Jewish Reconstructionist Federation, and the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College.