In-Person

Arielle (she/her) served as a rabbinic intern here at Rodeph Sholom in the summer of 2023 through the Tisch Fellowship. She was ordained in May, 2024 by the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in New York and joined CRS as Assistant Rabbi in July.

Arielle’s Jewish journey started as a child growing up in the Conservative movement before she found her home within the Reform movement. While at HUC-JIR, Arielle served as rabbinic intern at Columbia-Barnard Hillel, Congregation B’nai Shalom in Bristol, TN, and as a rabbinic fellow with the Center for Small Town Jewish Life in Maine. Arielle has taught adults and youth across the world, including with the Union for Reform Judaism, Jewish Learning Collaborative, and as a visiting instructor at Colby College. She is passionate about integrating Judaism and visual art, a topic explored in her rabbinic thesis, an illustrated exploration of the Song of Songs and its medieval commentary. In addition to her rabbinic studies, Arielle also holds a BFA in Studio Art from New York University.

Stefano Iacono (he/him), our new Assistant Cantor, was ordained as Cantor from HUC-JIR’s Debbie Friedman School of Sacred Music in New York City in May 2021. Cantor Iacono (pronounced ya-ko-no) brings his deep sense of Jewish spirituality to the CRS community. His goal, as he puts it: “To enhance prayer and foster learning. To share in celebration and mourning. To connect with one another as we seek connection with God. To make distance feel close.”

For the past four years, Stefano served as Student Cantor of Congregation Gates of Heaven in Schenectady, NY, leading services and teaching in their religious school. An alumnus of the Weitzman-JDC-HUC-JIR Fellowship for Global Jewish Leaders, he traveled to India in 2019 where he found a centuries-long legacy of Jewish community and thought anew about global Jewish peoplehood. Cantor Iacono composes Hebrew texts to various musical genres and traditions, his way of celebrating the diversity of Jewish expression in worship and ritual. A native of San Antonio, Stefano lives in Brooklyn with his husband, Alex and their conure, Gandhi.