Clergy and Professional Staff
Rabbi Daniel Stein
Rabbi Daniel Stein is a creative spiritual leader who is committed to building dynamic, spiritually-engaged communities. He has been privileged to serve as the rabbi of Congregation B’nai Shalom since 2016. He has developed a reputation for his warm, nonjudgmental teaching style that seeks to make the richness of the Jewish tradition accessible to all.
Rabbi Stein is committed to religious pluralism and has fostered partnerships both within and beyond the larger Jewish community. He is a proud member of the Northern California Board of Rabbis, the Contra Costa County Interfaith Council, and serves as a rabbinic advisor to Contra Costa Midrasha. His leadership was especially apparent in 2018, when he led the communal response to the Tree of Life attacks in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Rabbi Stein currently serves as the chairperson of the San Francisco Region of the Rabbinical Assembly, the international association of Conservative Rabbis. He is well known within the RA for his advocacy on behalf of interfaith families.
His commitment to social justice work was recognized in 2016, when he was selected as an American Jewish World Service Global Justice Fellow. He has also been a Balfour Brickner Fellow of the Religious Action Center, as well as a fellow of the Chautauqua Institution’s New Clergy Program and Hadar’s J. J. Greenberg Institute for the Advancement of Jewish Life. Rabbi Stein is also currently a doctoral student in Historical and Culture Studies of Religion at the Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley.
Prior to his arrival in California Rabbi Stein served for six years as the rabbi of B’nai Abraham Synagogue in Easton, Pennsylvania, and on the faculty of Lafayette College. He was also an executive board member of ProJeCt of Easton, an interfaith organization focused on literacy development and poverty alleviation.
Rabbi Stein was ordained as a Rabbi at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, where he also completed his master’s degree in Jewish literature with a concentration in Yiddish. As a student, he served as the Legacy Heritage Foundation Rabbinic Fellow at Congregation Shomrei Torah in Tallahassee, Florida and was an assistant Rabbi at Temple Sinai in Middletown, New York. While at JTS, Daniel was awarded prizes in theology and Jewish thought. A native of Toledo, Ohio, Rabbi Stein received his undergraduate degree in Music History from the College-Conservatory of Music at the University of Cincinnati.
Rabbi Stein is married to Dena Stein. They are the proud parents of Miri and Judah, both graduates of Gan B’nai Shalom Preschool currently attending the Contra Costa Jewish Day School.
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Ḥazzan Sandy Bernstein
Hazzan Sandy Bernstein is excited to join and serve Congregation B’nai Shalom (CBS) as she brings her passion for music and a deep commitment to Judaism. Her ability to seamlessly meld the two has been evident since graduating with a BA in Music from California State University, Northridge, and continued as she undertook her Cantorial studies at the Academy for Jewish Religion California (AJRCA) where she was ordained in June 2013.
Prior to coming to CBS, Hazzan Bernstein served Temple Sholom in Greenwich, CT since 2018. Before this, she served Congregation Beth El-Ner Tamid in Broomall, PA, and previously served several congregations in Southern California, including Sinai Temple in Los Angeles, CA, the largest conservative synagogue in LA, and Congregation Tikvat Jacob in Manhattan Beach, CA.
In addition to serving congregations as cantor, Hazzan Bernstein has 30 years of experience teaching in religious schools, pre-schools, and Jewish day schools.
With a vast vocal range, Hazzan Bernstein is proficient in such diverse musical styles as Cantorial, Opera, Rock, Pop, Standards, and Jazz. With more than 25 years of experience performing before audiences in North and South America and Spain, Hazzan Bernstein has performed with the Golden West Opera company, and other musical theatre companies, including the Santa Barbara Civic Light Opera and the Conejo Players, as well as various concerts and recitals. Hazzan Bernstein also performed the role of Orpah in the operetta, “The Ballad of Ruth,” composed and directed by Cantor Stephen Richards. Additionally, she performed at the Kimmel Center for the Philadelphia premiere of Sacred Rights Sacred Song, A Concert of Concern as well as a cantorial concert at Verizon Hall in Philly. She has also participated various times in the “Devotion by the Ocean” Shabbat service on the South Jersey Shore and produced concerts of “Three Sopranos,” of which she is one, including a benefit for the FIDF. Hazzan Bernstein has also co-produced and judged all of the KolEdge Jewish Collegiate A Cappella competitions.
Hazzan Bernstein has been active in the Cantor’s Assembly and has served as regional chair of the Connecticut region (CACT). Previously, Hazzan Bernstein served as an officer of the Delaware Valley region of the Cantors Assembly (CADV) and has co-chaired and performed at CACT and CADV concerts as well as other cantorial concerts across the country. In addition to her regional service, Hazzan Bernstein also served the Cantors Assembly on committees and internationally, as a member of the Executive Council and as a co-chair of the 74th Annual International Cantors Assembly Convention.
Proficient in Spanish and Hebrew, Hazzan Bernstein can sing in both of those languages as well as in Yiddish, Ladino, Italian, German, French, and Latin. She enjoys drawing, painting, and crafting as well as dancing and healthy kosher cooking.
She lives with her husband, Gaston (a well-known Jewish/Latin percussionist/singer, who often accompanies her) and their youngest daughter, Naomi, while their older daughter, Gabi is studying at Temple University in Philadelphia, PA and their sons, Daniel and Matthew are grown and living in the Santa Cruz area.
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Executive Director Stuart Kirsch
Stuart Kirsch joined the B’nai Shalom team in December 2021 as Executive Director. He brings more than three decades of experience as a business consultant managing projects, teams, people, finances, ideas, technology, and innovation. He is a synagogue and a men’s club past president and board member and has had numerous leadership roles in all facets of synagogue life.
A graduate of Harvard University with a degree in sociology, the Boston native, along with his wife Deb, and their children Jason, Rina, and Brian have lived in Clayton since 2015. Among his passions are Boston sports, Torah and text study, genealogy, and trivia.
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Director of Education Pam McGill
Pam Ganz-McGill is a seasoned Jewish communal professional with over 25 years of dedicated service in education, youth engagement, executive administration, and operations management.
As Director of Education, Pam is responsible for planning, coordinating, and overseeing the Religious School and our new youth group - Club Yalla!. She works collaboratively with staff, volunteers, and community partners to create programs that foster social, emotional, and spiritual growth, ensuring a fun and inclusive environment for the synagogue’s youth.
Pam’s passion for Jewish education and community service is deeply rooted in her upbringing in Silicon Valley, where she was inspired by her third and seventh grade
religious school teachers - Betty Rinsler z”l and Bonnie Slavitt-Moore - as well as her fifth grade teacher, Barbara Conant; all three women collectively shaped her approach
to teaching and community engagement. Pam’s early career as a religious school teacher across various synagogues in the greater LA area and the Bay Area laid the foundation for her lifelong commitment to Jewish education. Her innovative programs for students in grades K-8 have had a lasting impact on the community, fostering a love of learning and being Jewish.
Married to Chris, who has served in the Air Force for nearly thirty years, Pam is a proud mother to Gabriel and Elijah. Pam holds an Associate of Arts from De Anza College as well as a certificate in Human Resources from IAP Career College.
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Hazzan Emeritus Marc Dinkin
Hazzan Marc Dinkin served as B’nai Shalom’s cantor from 1991 through his retirement in 2014 and currently serves as our Hazzan Emeritus.
Hazzan Dinkin was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where he attended the College of Jewish Studies. Hazzan Dinkin received his Bachelor of Music Degree from Indiana University in Bloomington and a graduate degree in Sacred Music from the Cantor’s Institute of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America (JTS) in New York. Prior to joining B’nai Shalom, Hazzan Dinkin served congregations in Arizona and Oregon. In 2009, he was honored by JTS with an honorary Doctorate of Music.
Rabbi Emeritus Gordon Freeman
Rabbi Emeritus Gordon Freeman was the driving force behind the synagogue’s foundation and the vigorous spirit leading to the growth of B’nai Shalom from 1968 until his retirement in 2006. Born in San Francisco, he received his rabbinical training at the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York, where he was ordained in 1966.
Rabbi Freeman’s education, studies and interests have taken him from the University of California, Berkeley, where he received his Ph.D. in Political Science with an emphasis in Jewish political thought, to New York and Israel. His early service as an Air Force Chaplain included tours of duty in Mississippi and in Ankara, Turkey.
In addition, he is an author, an active community leader, and an accomplished calligraphic artist whose works have been on gallery display and now hang in our Social Hall. Susan and Gordon have four children and ten grandchildren.