Our clergy team leads Schaarai Zedek in worship, learning, pastoral care, and community life. Together with our professional staff and lay leaders, they work collaboratively to create services that are meaningful, learning that is engaging, and a community where every person is valued.
Get to know the rabbis and cantors who help make Schaarai Zedek a welcoming Jewish home.
Rabbi Joel Simon
(813) 876-2377 ext. 224
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I sat in the synagogue week after week staring at the guitar. It had everything needed to mesmerize a five-year-old, and that guitar not only made me want to return to the synagogue each week but ultimately led me on the path toward becoming a rabbi. I got my first guitar at eight, and when my teacher didn’t know Bar’chu, the song I wanted to learn, I settled for “Row, Row, Row Your Boat,” which I taught to my family that evening, leading everyone in a round. By seventh grade, I was teaching music to the younger grades, and as a song leader in high school, serving on my youth group board, I was voted “most likely to become a rabbi” by my Confirmation class.
My love for Judaism did not develop in a vacuum. My mom taught in a Jewish preschool and was my kindergarten teacher in religious school, with my dad taking over in second grade, also blowing the shofar for the High Holy Days. My older brother was a teacher assistant and active in youth group; he is now the youth director at Kol Ami in Plantation, Florida. The synagogue was always a second home for my family, giving us strength in times of need and purpose in moments of celebration. It inspired us to help others, brought our family closer, and connected us to some of our closest friends. My Confirmation class may have known before I did, but once I realized all the synagogue had done for me, there was no question that it was where I wanted to spend every day of my life.
After falling in love with Schaarai Zedek – and serving as Assistant and Associate Rabbi—it is both humbling and energizing to be named its seventh senior rabbi in its almost 125-year history. Rabbi Birnholz modeled how to connect with and be accessible to congregants of all ages, keeping Judaism relevant and consistently innovating our approach and our program. I aspire to do the same. Schaarai Zedek has a long tradition of being a second home to so many, and I look forward to honoring our rich history while continuing to look ahead to our future.
My children and I are grateful to be part of this community, this k’hillah kedosha, and we look forward to sharing this journey with you.
Cantor Deborrah Buchman
(813) 876-2377 ext. 216
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Cantor Deborrah (Cannizzaro) Buchman received her Cantorial Certification from the Hebrew Union College–Jewish Institute of Religion, Debbie Friedman School of Sacred Music, in June 2009. She has served Congregation Schaarai Zedek since June 2013. Prior to joining CSZ, Cantor Buchman was first a Cantorial Soloist and later Cantor at Isaac M. Wise Temple in Cincinnati, Ohio, from 2003–2013.
With her warm heart and beautiful voice, Cantor Buchman brings her love of Judaism to our Shabbat services each weekend. She leads our children in music during Religious School and T’filot. Under her direction, Koleinu – our adult choir – helps lead worship during the High Holy Days and throughout the year. Her passion for teaching is central to her leadership of our B’nei Mitzvah program, where she supports students throughout their year of preparation alongside our Rabbis.
Cantor Buchman is active both in Tampa and within the broader Jewish community. Nationally, she has facilitated classes at conventions and written for Jewish publications. She is a former Vice President of the Executive Board of the American Conference of Cantors and continues to serve on the Board. In Tampa, she is an officer on the Board of the Bay Area Cantors Association, which promotes Jewish music throughout the community. She is also a member of the Athena Society, sings with The Master Chorale of Tampa Bay, and is a founding member of the Cantorettes, a female vocal trio of area cantors.
Before entering the cantorate, Cantor Buchman was a successful concert recitalist and opera singer, performing with organizations including the Pittsburgh Opera, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Kol Zimrah (the Jewish Community Singers of Chicago), and the Southwest Florida Symphony Orchestra. She lives in South Tampa with her husband, Miles.
Rabbi Preston Neimeiser
Phone: (813) 876-2377 ext. 229
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Rabbi Neimeiser comes to us from Temple Beth-El in Providence, Rhode Island, where he has served as Associate Rabbi since 2021.
Rabbi Neimeiser was ordained at Hebrew Union College Jewish Institute of Religion and is a member of the Central Conference of American Rabbis. A native Floridian, he grew up deeply connected to synagogue life and Jewish music and spent many formative years in the URJ movement, including at Camp Coleman, Kutz Camp, NFTY, and Heller High in Israel. Throughout his career, he has served as a song leader, educator, youth professional, and community organizer in synagogues and Jewish institutions across North America and Israel.
His work has focused on relationship centered community building, meaningful Jewish learning, and helping people of all ages find authentic points of connection to Jewish life. We are confident that Rabbi Neimeiser will be a wonderful addition to our clergy team and to the broader Schaarai Zedek community.
Cantor Beth Schlossberg
(813) 876-2377
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Cantor Beth Schlossberg grew up in Philadelphia and graduated from the University of Michigan in 2001 with a Bachelor of Music. Her performance credits include the Philadelphia Opera Company, the Da Ponte Concert Opera in New York City, Tampa Opera, as well as concerts and private events. When she realized that the cantorate would perfectly combine her love of Judaism and music, she enrolled in the Jewish Theological Seminary’s H.L. Miller Cantorial School.
She has served as Cantor with Beth El Synagogue in Omaha, Nebraska; Congregation Kol Ami in Tampa, Florida; Congregation Shaarey Tikvah in Cleveland, Ohio; and Temple Beth El in Fort Myers, Florida. She has also been a guest cantor at many congregations around the country.
In addition to her cantorial work, Cantor Beth is an educator. She tutors B’nai Mitzvah students and teaches Hebrew, and she has helped create and implement engaging curricula for both religious school and day school programs. She believes education should engage students on many levels—through the classroom, through experience, and through participation.
Cantor Beth and her husband, Michael, love spending time with friends, and you can often find them zipping around Tampa on two wheels (the motorized variety). She is grateful and honored to be part of the Schaarai Zedek family!
Rabbi Richard Birnholz
(813) 876-2377 ext. 205
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Rabbi Birnholz graduated from Hebrew Union College–Jewish Institute of Religion in New York and was ordained in 1971. From 1971 to 1973, he served as Assistant Rabbi of Temple Israel in Memphis, Tennessee. From 1973 to 1986, he was the Rabbi of Beth Israel Congregation in Jackson, Mississippi, where he also served as a Visiting Professor in the Religion Department at Millsaps College. Rabbi Birnholz served as Senior Rabbi of Congregation Schaarai Zedek from 1986 to 2018.
Rabbi Birnholz has received numerous awards for his contributions to Reform Jewish life. In 1977, he won the Samuel Kaminker Memorial Curriculum Award for the outstanding informal education curriculum in the country. In 1983, he served as Alumni-in-Residence at Hebrew Union College in New York. In 1989, he received the United Jewish Appeal National Rabbinic Award. In 1991, the Union of American Hebrew Congregations conferred upon him the professional title of Reform Jewish Educator. In March 1996, he received an Honorary Doctor of Divinity degree from Hebrew Union College–Jewish Institute of Religion in recognition of 25 years of service to the spiritual and intellectual needs of the Jewish community. He served on the Executive Board of the Central Conference of American Rabbis from 1996 to 1998.
Rabbi Birnholz has been published in numerous magazines and lectures extensively on “Jewish Assertiveness Training.” He is also listed in Who’s Who in Religion.
