Posts by Emily Shefer

Lina Pournazarian and her husband Frank have been members of Sinai Temple since 1990. They have three children who were raised and supported by the Sinai Akiba and Sinai Temple community. Lina has been a truly dedicated Sinai Temple community member for many years and the continuity of the Jewish people is very important to her. She has been part of numerous committees, which have helped to strengthen the new generation’s relationship with our community, ensuring a bright future. This includes her time as PTA president (the mind behind the famous Pier Night) and her creation of a Sinai Temple…

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Farshad Rafii is currently the president of Sinai Temple Men’s Club. He has been a member of the temple since 2016 and the VP of Programs at the Men’s Club 2017-2018. He was elected as Men’s Club’s Man of the Year in 2017. He is a graduate of MIT, Cornell University and Harvard Business School and has served on the faculties of Boston University and Babson College focusing on entrepreneurship, creativity training, and management of innovation. Farshad and his wife Farideh currently own and run a real estate investment operation and are blessed with three daughters Tara, Jodie, and Liza.

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Howard Brandes is grateful to his late parents who introduced him as a child to Sinai Temple, where he found his spiritual home and extended family, and where his attended religious school and received his Bar Mitzvah and Confirmation. After college he involved himself with Temple activities, chaired a young adult group and helped create and Chaire the 3rd Floor High Holiday Services, where he first was introduced to a rabbinic student Rabbi David Wolpe.  He became involved as a Board Member and later Co-Chair of the Board of Governors.  Howard is the current Chair of the Investment Committee. Howard received…

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Laura Miller has been a member of Sinai Temple since 2017. Laura first became part of the synagogue community through her involvement with Atid when she moved back to Los Angeles in 2014. Since then she has taken on leadership positions with Atid and joined the Social Action Committee, where she enjoys creating moments of collaboration across the synagogue community. Through her involvement with Sinai Temple, Laura has been blessed to have made lifelong friendships, been given a platform to lead and give back, and to have deepened her Jewish involvement and identity through her relationship with Rabbi Guzik and…

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Rebecca Kekst has been an active member of Sinai Temple since she and her husband, David Kekst, joined the synagogue in 1999.  She was a founding member of Dor Chadash and has held many roles in the synagogue, the Douglas Family Early Childhood Center and Sinai Akiba Academy. She has served as gala co-chair for the Sinai Temple dinner, co-chaired the Shabbaton for 3 years and most recently chaired the Catering Committee.  While a parent in the preschool, Rebecca served as both PTA president and then chaired the board of the preschool.  During her time at Sinai Akiba Academy she…

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Richard and his wife Helen have been members of Sinai Temple since 1988. Their three daughters had their Bat Mitzvah at Sinai and two of them graduated from Sinai Akiba Academy. At various times Richard chaired the Long Range Planning, Membership, Nominating and Bylaws Committees, served as Vice President with various portfolios and as a member of the Budget, Personnel and Executive Committees. He currently serves on Cemetery Management Committee of Sinai Temple’s Mount Sinai Memorial Parks, in addition to chairing the budget committee. Richard graduated from the City College of New York with a bachelor’s degree in finance and…

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Born, raised and educated in Philadelphia, Roz moved to California as a bride, where over the years she has held numerous leadership roles at Sinai Temple, Sinai Temple Sisterhood, Women’s League for Conservative Judaism, The Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies, Jewish Family Service and the Women’s Division of the L.A. Jewish Federation Council. Married to Abner, a past president of Sinai Temple, she is the proud mother of Ethan, the Vice Chair at Ikar and the adoring grandmother of Ilan Aryah.

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Sam Parsi has been a member of Sinai Temple since 1991.  Sam is married to Shirin, a long term member of Sinai Temple and very active parent at Sinai Akiba Academy.  They have two children, Leyla (SAA ’20) and Eli (SAA ’22) each of whom have attended SAA since they were two years old.  Sam has a law degree and was a practicing civil litigator for several years.  He currently works in the real estate industry, specifically, multifamily residential properties.  Sam is currently serving in his second year on the SAA Board. He also serves on the SAA Head of…

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Dr. Sheila Yafai Bolour trained in Internal Medicine and Women’s Health at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center after receiving her undergraduate degree in (Third World) Development Studies from UCLA and her M.D. from the Keck School of Medicine at USC.  She served as the Assistant Director of the Women’s Health Program at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center for 3 years before starting a private practice in the Beverly Hills area.  Dr. Bolour was well respected lecturer on Women’s Health topics during her years at Cedars-Sinai and was involved with research on testosterone replacement therapy for women’s sexual dysfunction. Dr. Bolour has also been a…

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This pandemic has given me a lot of extra time on my hands. Thankfully, I was able to use that extra time to find my silver lining, which has been my reflection on my life and more specifically, on my relationship with G-D and our Jewish religion. I was able to create a deeper connection to G-D, and I believe this relationship has made me a better person. I am excited to share what I have learned in the past couple of months with my students, and I hope that I can help them find their spirituality and connect them…

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