Clergy & Staff

Rabbi Daniel M. Sherman
Senior Rabbi
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Rabbi Daniel Sherman was raised in Tulsa, Oklahoma and is a lifelong product of the Reform Movement, having grown up in a Reform congregation, attending URJ summer camps, and being involved in NFTY. He received his BA in history from Yale University in 1993, and has a Masters of Arts in Hebrew Letters from HUC-JIR.

Rabbi Sherman was ordained at the Hebrew Union College–Jewish Institute of Religion in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1999. Following ordination, Rabbi Sherman served as the Assistant and Associate Rabbi at Temple Shalom in Naples, Florida until 2006. He was Rabbi of the Tree of Life Congregation in Columbia, South Carolina for nine years, and most recently served as Senior Rabbi at Temple Dor Dorim in Weston, Florida.

Cantor Rebecca Garfein
Cantor
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Cantor Rebecca Garfein, celebrated mezzo-soprano and Cantor, has appeared in numerous concerts, cabarets and recitals throughout the United States, Israel, and Europe. Rebecca made her Carnegie Hall debut in a benefit concert for the Folksbiene Yiddish Theater featuring the acclaimed, Mandy Patinkin. Recently, Rebecca has been playing the role of “Fran Drescher” in Abigail Pogrebin’s musical, Stars of David all over the United States. Rebecca presented the concert and historic CD debut of her album, “Golden Chants in America...Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, New York. Dr. Ruth, who wrote the introduction to the CD, introduced the historic concert. A native of Tallahassee, Florida, where her father was the Rabbi, Rebecca graduated cum laude from Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music in Houston with a degree in vocal performance and opera. In 1993, she received her Master’s Degree in Sacred Music and Cantorial Investiture from the Hebrew Union College- Jewish Institute of Religion (HUC-JIR) and in May 2018, Rebecca received her Honorary Doctorate in Music from HUC-JIR. For 23 years, Rebecca served as Senior Cantor at Congregation Rodeph Sholom, NYC and was their first female Senior Cantor. 

Cantor Joel Colman
Cantor Emeritus
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Cantor Joel Colman has served as the cantor at Temple Sinai since 1999. Previously, he served as the cantor at Temple B’rith Kodesh in Rochester, New York, and as the cantor/educator at Greenwich Reform Synagogue in Greenwich, Connecticut.

Cantor Colman graduated from Eastern Michigan University with a B.A. in Special Education. He then received a Master Degree in Sacred Music from Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, School of Sacred Music, where he was ordained as a cantor in 1995. Cantor Colman’s master thesis on Sidor Belarsky was published by the Journal of Synagogue Music. He is also a past regional director for the B’nai B’rith Youth Organization and taught high school in Texas and Israel.

Cantor Colman has sung in concerts in New Orleans, Rochester, St. Louis, Miami, Detroit, Tulsa, Los Angeles, Atlanta, New York City and Jerusalem, and has been the featured artist at two concerts held at the UN Headquarters in New York. Cantor Colman has also sung with some of the finest male college choirs in the country, such as the Wayne State University Men’s Glee Club and the University of Michigan Men’s Glee Club. Cantor Colman has sung the national anthem at the 2002 Nokia Sugar Bowl, which was heard nationwide on ABC-TV, and for the New Orleans Hornets.

Cantor Colman recently appeared in a feature role in the New Orleans Opera production of Samson & Delilah. He also serves the community as a chaplain with the New Orleans Fire Department, and as an emergency coordinator for Amateur Radio communication within Orleans Parish.

Rabbi Edward P. Cohn
Rabbi, Emeritus, D.MIN., D.D
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Rabbi Cohn received his B.A. with honors from the University of Cincinnati in 1970, his Master of Hebrew Letters degree from Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion in 1974, and his Doctor of Ministry degree from the Saint Paul School of Theology in 1984.

Before coming to New Orleans, Rabbi Cohn worked for congregations in Georgia, Missouri, and Pennsylvania. Rabbi Cohn served as Senior Rabbi at Temple Sinai from 1987 to 2016, and remains active as Rabbi Emeritus.

Rabbi Cohn is an active leader in the Jewish and larger communities of the New Orleans metropolitan region. He served as the founding chairman of the New Orleans Human Relations Commission, and is a past president of the Southwest Association of Reform Rabbis and the Rabbinical Council of Greater New Orleans. In 1997 Rabbi Cohn was appointed by Marc Morial, the mayor of New Orleans at the time, to chair the New Orleans Holocaust Memorial Project. From 2005 to 2007, the rabbi served as an ethics consultant for MSNBC and appeared on “The Ethical Edge.” In 2013 he was appointed to the Civil Service Commission by the New Orleans City Council. Rabbi Cohn has also served on the New Orleans Ethics Review Board. Rabbi Cohn currently serves on the Presidential Advisory Board of Xavier University.

In 2014, Rabbi Cohn was honored with the National Urban League’s Living Legend Award, as well as with the Weiss Award from the New Orleans Council for Community and Justice. He was also the guest of honor at Temple Sinai’s 2016 Spring Gala, and received a New Orleans Legend Award from Mayor Mitch Landrieu in 2017.

Under Rabbi Cohn’s leadership, Temple Sinai has become a home for interfaith families, LGBTQ Jews, Alcoholics Anonymous, and Overeaters Anonymous.

Rabbi Cohn and his wife Andrea have two daughters, Jennifer and Debra, two grandsons, Maxwell Cohn Kesselheim and Leo Kesselheim, and two granddaughters, Ryann Eliza Kraar and Sydney Paige Kesselheim.

Jennifer Daley
Executive Director
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Jenn Daley was raised in Hollywood, Florida and attended Temple University in Philadelphia, graduating with a B.A. in Radio-TV-Film and completing all coursework for their master’s program in Sports Administration, with an emphasis on public relations and marketing.

For 23 years until the pandemic, Jenn Daley owned and operated JD Sports Mobile, providing preschool sports instruction to more than 800 students at 140 child-care centers in Dallas/Ft. Worth and Greater New Orleans, managing a staff of 12 instructors.

During this time, Jenn began her leadership journey with Women of Reform Judaism (WRJ) and followed her passion and dedication to Reform Judaism. She is known as a relationship-builder and creative thinker within her volunteer organizations, having served as Sisterhood President at Congregation Gates of Prayer in Metairie and at Congregation Beth Shalom in Arlington, TX and most recently as President of WRJ Southwest District (encompassing nine states, 38 sisterhoods and 3,500+ members). Jenn is a designated public speaker and governing board member of WRJ North America (WRJ NA), an Executive Committee member of WRJ NA, where she serves as the Marketing & Communications Chair. For the past nine years, she has been a WRJ NA workshop presenter on Innovative Programming, Multi-Generational Programming, Engaging Members and Creative Fundraising.

Shea McCoy
Communications Manager
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Mississippi native, Louisiana raised; Shea has been a part of the Temple Sinai team since 2019. Prior to Sinai, she acquired diverse experience by serving her community as both an Associate and Circulation Manager for Parish Libraries, and was then able to use those experiences to start and maintain all digital and print media for several restaurants in the New Orleans Metro area. She curently lives Uptown with her dog, Delko, and enjoys live music, cooking, horror movies and finding ways to serve and support her community. 

Rachel Chamness
Finance & Office Administrator
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Like most “Navy brats”, Rachel grew up in a dozen different places - though she’ll always be a Florida girl at heart. She graduated from Florida State University in 2013 with a B.A. in History, focusing on the Jews of Germany. In both her adopted home of Florida and her current state of Louisiana, Rachel has worked and volunteered for Jewish, LGBTQ, and HIV/AIDS awareness causes. Temple Sinai has been her spiritual home since 2017, shortly after moving to New Orleans from Tallahassee, Florida. Whenever she’s lucky enough to find some free time, Rachel enjoys board games, cooking Israeli food, snuggling her cat, and watching old Godzilla movies with her husband Silas.