Oak Park Temple Clergy
Please reach out to Oak Park Temple clergy via our contact form.
Max Weiss, Rabbi
Max Weiss and his family came to the Oak Park Temple community in 2009. Ordained at the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in 1997, he has served congregations in Wynnewood, Pennsylvania and Hoffman Estates, Illinois He focuses on fostering a creative and loving community that serves the needs of its members and works to continually bring the world closer to justice. Max currently serves on the board of The Leaders Network, a West Side collaborative that seeks to create flourishing communities with independent leadership, economic justice and equal educational opportunities for all. He is currently working with a task force to establish a credit union on the West Side of Chicago. He has served on the board of his local Community of Congregations and in that organization has been a leader in building bridges and serving as a connector between diverse communities.
He volunteers as rabbinic advisor to the Chicago Jewish Community Relations Council and with OSRUI’s (a Jewish summer camp) advisory committee where he has volunteered for two weeks every summer for the last 19 year.
Max is married to Leslie and they have three children.
Email Rabbi Max Weiss
Cantor Agnes Valdman
Cantor Agnes Valdman was ordained at the Debbie Friedman School of Sacred music at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in New York in 2023. During her time as a student, she served congregations in Jerusalem, Israel, York, PA, and Port Washington, NY. Cantor Valdman is passionate about Jewish music, liturgy, and education and sees the three as a cohesive unit where one’s connection to Judaism can authentically grow and evolve. Email Cantor Valdman
Cantor Valdman is married to Edon, an audio engineer and musician. The Valdmans are thrilled to call Oak Park their new home!
Gary S. Gerson, Rabbi Emeritus
Rabbi Gerson served as Senior Rabbi from 1979 to 2009. Ordained in 1976, he is a Fulbright Scholar holding a doctorate in ministry and advanced degrees in psychology and religion; he has taught at the University of Pennsylvania, Temple University, and Loyola University (Chicago). During his tenure, he was the president of the Chicago Association of Reform Rabbis, a founding member and president of the Oak Park-River Forest Community of Congregations, chairman of the Illinois Religious Coalition for Reproductive choice, and executive board member of the Illinois ACLU. Nationally, he has served on the executive boards of the Central Conference of American Rabbis and the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice. He is especially proud of having facilitated a vibrant congregational program of adult studies that culminated in the building of the Rabbi Gary S. Gerson Adult Learning Center. He continues to serve the congregation through his teaching and as a resource in other areas of congregational life.
He is married to Carol, a surgeon, bioethicist, and mohelet, and the father of Rabbi Jordie Gerson and Jessica Gerson, LCSW.
Julie Yugend-Green, Cantor Emerita
Cantor Julie Yugend-Green was ordained at the Hebrew Union College - Jewish Institute of Religion in 1994, and holds a Doctor of Music, honoris causa. She served as Oak Park Temple’s cantor from 1997-2023. During her tenure countless programs of music and study were established, from Artist in Residence weekends to the forming of Oak Park Temple’s acoustic band Tsimmis; from hundreds of students of all ages learning to chant Torah to congregational tours organized by the Cantor to Israel and Eastern Europe. Upon assuming emerita status, Cantor Yugend-Green continues to serve the community as director of the Chevra Kadisha and as volunteer shomeret (guide) at The Community Mikvah.
From her earliest days at Oak Park Temple, the community became, and continues to be, home to Cantor Emerita Yugend-Green and her family.