Our Staff
Click on the links below to learn more about our staff.
Ilene Cohen, Director of Youth Education and Engagement
Melissa Reilley-Grecco, Director of The Preschool Place and Kindergarten
Dan Selsberg, Rabbi
Dan Selsberg, Rabbi
Rabbi Dan is known for engaging and serious classes, relevant and humorous divrei Torah, and an ability to connect with people across the synagogue community, with children and adults, and from long-time shul-goers to blended families searching for their place in the Jewish community. He works closely with the lay and professional leadership of the synagogue to maximize the positive effect Jewish knowledge and practice can have in the life of the community, inside and outside the walls of the shul building, from preschool age kids to people approaching their hundredth year.
Rabbi Dan is a past president of the Rabbinical Assembly of Ontario, and the president of the New Jersey Rabbinical Assembly. He is a co-chair of the advisory committee Somerset County Faith-Based Subcommittee, through the County Office of Youth Services, and does chaplaincy work through the New Jersey Department of Corrections.
Ordained by the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies at the American Jewish University in Los Angeles, California, Rabbi Selsberg is also a graduate of the School of Education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. A Wisconsin native, Rabbi Selsberg is a part-owner of the Green Bay Packers football team, though he is inexplicably never consulted about personnel decisions.
He is married to Karen, a New Jersey native, who likes to remind him that his ownership stake is so small as to be insignificant. Rabbi Dan and Karen have three sons, Asher, Sammy, and Aitan.
Rabbi Dan can be reached at rabbidan@temple-sholom.net.
You can read some of Rabbi Selsberg’s writings at: ww.rabbiselsberg.blogspot.com, or watch him at https://www.youtube.com/user/MitzvahTube.
Temple Sholom Welcomes Shana Onigman, Cantor
Cantor Shana can be reached at cantorshana@temple-sholom.net
Shana Onigman, Cantor
Cantor Shana loves to learn, sing, and teach. She encourages congregants to participate in Shabbat and holy day services, singing, and reading Torah and Haftarah. She loves passing on lifelong ritual skills to her students and watching them develop those skills to use in real life. Cantor Shana loves putting on Purim Shpiels and Hanukkah plays, and giving students every opportunity to creatively explore Jewish experiences and texts in new ways. She studied for the cantorate, has a master’s degree in Jewish education, and a certificate in special education from Hebrew College in Boston. She is currently continuing her education at the Academy for Jewish Religion, an entirely virtual program, pursuing ordination as a rabbi. Cantor Shana most recently served as cantor and educator at the Morristown Jewish Center Beit Yisrael. Her husband, Matthew, is a piano technician and tuner, as well as an accomplished choral conductor, who conducts a choir of singers to accompany Cantor Shana on High Holy Days. Their older child, Lux, is a full-time music educator at Temple Ner Tamid in Bloomfield, and their younger child, Ilan, is a student at Emerson College in Boston. The Onigman family loves sailing, biking, traveling, and singing together.
Ron Isaacs, Rabbi Emeritus
Rabbi Ron Isaacs, Rabbi Emeritus of Temple Sholom, was Temple Sholom’s rabbi from 1975-2015. Since 2015, he has served as rabbi of historic Beth Judah Temple in Wildwood, New Jersey. He received his doctorate in instructional technology from Columbia University’s Teacher’s College. He is the author of more than 155 books including 30 books for children. His most recent publications include Seder in the Desert and Let’s Make a Deal. For ten years, both he and his wife Leora designed and coordinated the adult learning summer experience called Shabbat Plus at Camp Ramah in the Poconos. Rabbi Isaacs has previously served on the Faculty of the Graduate Rabbinical School of the Jewish Theological Seminary, teaching a course entitled “Rabbi and Hazzan as Educator.” He has also taught a course in Judaism at Drew Theological School in Madison, New Jersey.
Ron Isaacs, Rabbi Emeritus
Contact Rabbi Ron Isaacs at isaacsrl@optonline.net.
Ilene Cohen, Director of Youth Education and Engagement
Ilene Cohen, Director of Youth Education and Engagement
Ilene B. Cohen is our Director of Youth Education & Engagement.
Ilene earned an M.A. in Jewish Education from the William Davidson School at the Jewish Theological Seminary as a Bob Berman fellow. Ilene has worked at Stephen Wise Free Synagogue as the Assistant Director of Education in New York City and served as a Community Educator at Temple Israel Center in White Plains, New York before joining our community in 2016.
During Ilene’s tenure at Temple Sholom, Ilene has strengthened our education department and community by creating engaging and meaningful experiential programming for community holiday celebrations, developed project-based learning curriculum within Nitzanim, and inspired new and engaging family education programs for our families to grow together. Ilene continually looks for new and innovative ways to educate our youth while emphasizing the importance of social emotional skills within Nitzanim, Hebrew High, and youth groups.
Originally from Wilmington, Delaware, she earned a B.A. from the University of Delaware in Interpersonal Communication. Between undergrad and graduate school, Ilene spent a year volunteering in Israel on Otzma, and tries to get back to Israel as often as possible. Ilene currently lives in West Orange, New Jersey with her husband Eran, and her daughters, Yael and Liat.
Ilene is a member of the Jewish Educators Assembly and a lifetime member of Hadassah. She brings her love, creativity, and passion for Judaism to Temple Sholom, by engaging our youth and families in making Judaism exciting and relevant to their daily lives.
You can reach Ilene at Ilenecohen@temple-sholom.net.
Melissa Reilley-Grecco, Director of The Preschool Place and Kindergarten
Melissa Reilley-Grecco, Director of The Preschool Place and Kindergarten
Melissa Reilley-Grecco is passionately committed to the field of early childhood education. While studying at William Paterson University, she had the privilege of working in early education as an infant, toddler and preschool teacher. After graduating, she spent 18 years as a kindergarten teacher, curriculum coordinator and education coach.
In the role of director, she brings her years of experience, knowledge and passion to the children, families and staff, together building a foundation on which to foster a lifelong love of learning. In her free time she enjoys playing softball, hiking, biking, kayaking and relaxing at the beach. She and her husband also spend a great deal of time tending to their chickens, ducks and dogs on their hobby farm in Hunterdon County.
You can reach Melissa at mgrecco@preschoolplace.com.