Rabbi Michael Sommer,
Interim Rabbi
Rabbi Michael Sommer was ordained by Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in 2005, and served congregations in Texarkana, Texas and Fayetteville, Georgia. For the last six years he has been the Youth Director at Am Shalom in Glencoe, Illinois, leading children's services, teaching religious and Hebrew school, and coordinating youth group programming for grades 1-12. In addition, he has worked full-time raising his four amazing children, David (age 10), Sam (age 6), Yael (age 5), and Solomon (age 1). He is married to Rabbi Phyllis Sommer, associate rabbi at Am Shalom in Glencoe.
Rabbi Sommer has a diversity of training and experience. He recently earned his certificate as a Divorce Mediator from the Northwestern Continuing Studies Program, and completed a year of Clinical Pastoral Education at Cincinnati Children's Hospital. Rabbi Sommer trained to be a military chaplain in the United States Army and was honorably discharged in the summer of 2003 at the rank of Lieutenant.
For the past two summers, Rabbi Sommer has thoroughly enjoyed working as faculty at Olin-Sang-Ruby Union Institute in Oconomowoc, WI. With the camping unit, Moshavah, he and the staff led groups of 8th and 9th graders on rock climbing trips where they camped and climbed at Devil's Lake in central Wisconsin.
Prior to rabbinical school, Rabbi Sommer earned a Masters Degree in Theatre from the University of Kentucky and a BA in English Literature at the University of Florida. In his previous life, Rabbi Sommer worked for an AHL minor-league hockey team, was an event disc jockey with his own company for ten years and worked as the customer service manager for an automotive repair shop. Rabbi Sommer loves teaching, reading, listening to music, playing video games, watching movies and spending time with friends and family. He looks forward to the opportunity of serving B'nai Torah during this year of transformation and healing.
Rabbi Anne Persin, Interim Education
Director and Associate Rabbi
During the last 14 years, Rabbi Persin has taught every age from toddlers to senior adults. She strongly believes that education should reach multiple intelligences and feels we should strive for experiential education as much as obtaining classical knowledge.
Rabbi Persin was born and raised in Evanston, IL. She is a graduate of the University of Colorado, Boulder where she majored in Women and Judaism in Community Service. She received her Masters and Ordination from Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Cincinnati. As a student, Rabbi Persin served congregations in Billings, MT, Littleton, CO, Clarksdale, MS and Warsaw, Poland. Since rabbinical school, she has served congregations in Joliet, Illinois, Northbrook, Illinois, and Tahoe Vista, California.
“We must recognize that every moment in the classroom reaches us on more than one level,” says Rabbi Persin. And, she believes that “we do not merely learn information, facts and figures; we come out of the classroom with a sense of culture, with emotional overlays both good and bad, and with ideas about who we are based on how we fit into our three thousand year old religion.” Rabbi Persin’s goal is for each and every one of us to find our fit within Judaism.
Cantor Lynda Dersher
Cantor Lynda Hope Dresher, has been an integral part of B’nai Torah for the past nine years. She received her Bachelors of Arts Degree from the University of Illinois and her cantorial degree from the American Conference of Cantors certification program in partnership with Hebrew Union College/School of Sacred Music. She is a graduate of the Florence Melton Adult (2 year) program for Jewish Educators supported by the Board of Jewish Education of Metropolitan Chicago.
Dresher is the current President of the Chicago Milwaukee Association for Synagogue Musicians (CMASM), past President of the Southeast Lake County Clergy Association (SELCCA), member of the ACC (American Conference of Cantors), and member of Reform Cantors of Chicago (RCC). She served on the Teen Safety committee with the Mayors, Police departments and School Districts of Highland Park, Highwood and Deerfield. She served on the URJ Commission on Synagogue Music in New York for three years.
Cantor Dresher has been a professional singer for over 30 years. She has performed in cantorial concerts throughout the United States and Israel. She has especially enjoyed concertizing with Hazzanim Alberto Mizrahi, Jerome Frazes (z"l) and Shlomo Shuster.
Cantor Dresher teaches “mindful meditation” and is currently working on a CD called “Awaken Your Heart”. It will consist of original music, kabbalistic prayer chants, songs of praise, thanksgiving and supplication. Her current CD of original songs “Yom Tov” is available at B’nai Torah and at Spertus Museum in Chicago.
She lives in Highwood with her husband Elliott and their three daughters, Jody, Cheryl and Toni.
