Meet our Service Leaders for the High Holy Days: Rabbi Julie Roth, Talia Lakritz, Sarah Kamenetsy, Rabbi Justus Baird, Karen Kamenetsy, Craig Eichner, and Suzanna Grobman.

Rabbi Julie Roth

Rabbi Julie Roth (she/her) is the rabbi of Congregation Shomrei Emunah. In the three years since she arrived, Shomrei has attracted new members of all ages and launched several community-building initiatives, including Zamru Montclair, a highly spirited and musical Shabbat service, and a new Exploring Judaism program. She is an active member of the Montclair Interfaith Clergy Association.

Before coming to Shomrei, Rabbi Julie served as the Hillel Director and Jewish Chaplain at Princeton University for 17 years. She was ordained at the Jewish Theological Seminary and is an alumna of the Wexner Graduate Program and the Institute for Jewish Spirituality Clergy Leadership Program. She loves being a part of the Shomrei Emunah community with her husband, Justus, and their kids, Ilan, Rafael, and Noa.

Talia Lakritz

Talia Lakritz (she/her) is a New York-based journalist, interfaith officiant, and shlichat tzibbur (prayer leader). Before joining Shomrei Emunah for Selichot and the High Holidays, she led Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur services at Shira Melbourne in Australia and the Fort Tryon Jewish Center in Washington Heights. A graduate of Barnard College and One Spirit Learning Alliance’s interfaith seminary program, she works as a lifestyle correspondent at Business Insider and volunteers as a mikveh guide with ImmerseNYC.

Sarah Kamenetsky

Sarah Kamenetsky (she/her) grew up in Rochester, NY, and Northwest NJ. She has just completed her first year as the Assistant Education Director at Shomrei Emunah. Sarah earned degrees in illustration and graphic design, and an MST in Art Education at RIT, then spent six months studying art in Jerusalem. After moving to Chicago in 2012, she was a Moishe House Resident, JCC preschool teacher, summer camp counselor, and a Religious School teacher at Temple Sholom of Chicago before she completed an MAT in Counseling: Art Therapy at Adler University. She was a Case Manager at The Ark Chicago for eight years, a member of the Anshe Emet Synagogue Religious School faculty, and a B’nai Mitzvah Tutor for multiple Chicago congregations, preparing students to be honored and celebrated on the bimah.

Rabbi Justus Baird

Rabbi Justus Baird (he/him) is a member of the Shomrei Emunah community (husband of Rabbi Julie Roth). He served as Senior Vice President at the Shalom Hartman Institute, a pluralistic Jewish think tank and educational institute, from 2019-2025. Prior to working at Hartman, he was the Dean of Auburn Seminary. Justus was ordained at HUC-JIR.

Karen Kamenetsky

Karen Kamenetsky (she/her) is Sarah’s mom, and will be co-leading family and youth services. She is a retired hospital pharmacist and a member of Adath Shalom Synagogue in Morris Plains. Karen hosts the bimonthly Fig Tree Coffeehouse and is the organizer and co-host of Adath’s eco-focused, musical, vegetarian Tu B’Shevat Seder. She often performs original music at services and special events and occasionally sings in the choir. She is a singer-songwriter who has been performing her original music all over New Jersey, as well as in New York and Rhode Island, for fifteen years. Her Chanukah album, With This Flame, has been playing on Sirius XM radio’s Hanukkah Channel since 2013. This fall, she will be debuting her “Story Songs” program of Jewishly inspired songs at several area synagogues.

Craig Eichner

Craig Eichner (he/him) has been a member of Congregation Shomrei Emunah since the early 1990’s. He served on the JLC Board of Education. He chaired the Ritual Committee for a number of years and in that capacity, was a member of the Board of Trustees. He continues to serve on the Religious Life Committee. For about twenty years, he wrote and directed the annual Purim spiel. He frequently leads services on Shabbat, Yom Tov, and High Holy Days.

Suzanna Grobman

Suzanna Grobman (she/her) has been a member of the Shomrei community for 5 years, along with her husband Travis Weiss, and their now three kids — Rafa (6), Mack (3, Shomrei Preschool), and Frankie (11 months). She is the current PTA Chair for the Shomrei Preschool, and also serves on Shomrei’s Board as the Co-VP of Programming with a large focus on young families. She loves helping to lead Shomrei’s monthly Zamru PM, and the new Zamru AM. Suzanna went to Boston University to study costume design, but wound up graduating with a major in religion, focusing on Jewish Studies