Staff

While we all walk through the same doorway to Temple Israel, each of us has had different moments that brought us to call this sacred space our home. Rabbi Scott Fox is excited to talk together about what makes Temple Israel near and dear to your heart. He is inspired by moments of connection, by the conversations and experiences that allow us to share the things that are deep in our souls with one another. Rabbi Fox keeps the door to his office open for just that reason. He cannot wait to hear what you love and care about, and what sacred moments have impacted your life.

Before joining Temple Israel, Rabbi Fox served as Associate Rabbi at the Indianapolis Hebrew Congregation and as the Reform Campus Rabbi at Cornell University.  An innovator, community organizer, and practiced leader, Rabbi Fox worked in partnership with congregants, students and community leaders to bring new initiatives and make positive social change with these two large and historied communities.

Born and raised in San Diego, Rabbi Fox graduated from the University of California, Santa Cruz with a BA in Modern Jewish Fiction with Highest Honors.  He received his ordination from the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in New York.

His writings and reflections have been published by the Union for Reform Judaism, Ritualwell, Indianapolis Star and Huffington Post. Titles of his writings include “Reflections on San Bernadino,” “How to Listen to Our Children’s Questions About God,” and “Finding a Seat at the Table.”

Rabbi Fox is also a trained Jazz guitarist, he studied with John Pisano in Los Angeles.

When Rabbi Fox is not creating new and exciting initiatives with members of the community, he can be seen frequenting guitar stores and jazz jams.  He loves to meditate, spend time by the ocean, and go on hikes in and around Long Beach  with his partner Dori and their child Adi.

Kelly Cooper began singing and performing at the age of 13. When she first heard her future mentor, Cantor Perryne Anker, leading services at a temple in Los Angeles, becoming a cantor and lifting people up through song became her dream. She graduated from the University of Southern California with a Bachelor of Music with an emphasis on vocal performance. After graduating, Kelly began her career as a singer performing leading roles in musical theater and opera productions in Los Angeles, New York, and on the high seas. She also sang in the LA Opera chorus. All along the way, Kelly worked at various temples in Los Angeles and New York teaching in their religious schools and working as a soloist in their choirs. She taught Music Together classes for six years in both New York and Long Beach.

Kelly moved back to Long Beach from New York and began working for Temple Israel in 2010. She held various positions including choir soloist, Hebrew teacher, and Tot Shabbat leader. It was during her time as the Tot Shabbat leader that Kelly was inspired to start her long anticipated journey to the cantorate. Kelly received her ordination from the Academy for Jewish Religion, California in May 2022.

Prior to returning to Temple Israel in 2021, Kelly served as the cantorial soloist for Temple Menorah in Redondo Beach for three years. Before that, she was the cantorial soloist for Desert Outreach Synagogue in Rancho Mirage. Kelly has also worked for the Alpert Jewish Community Center in Long Beach as the song leader for Camp Komaroff, Women’s Weekend, and the Senior Shabbat lunch program. Kelly lives with her husband Joel Perler, their two children, Max and Molly, and their dog, Murphy.

Cantor Cooper’s Thesis From Challah to Chazante

Cantor Marvin Finnley grew up in California, and always had a keen sense of pitch as far back as he can remember. He learned to play the accordion at a young age, and loved to sing, and kept it up in school where he sang with the All City Chorus in Santa Barbara, and went on to sing with the Music Academy of the West chorus in several opera productions. At Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, NY, although he majored in Physics, Cantor still kept up singing in the RPI Glee Club. Following graduation, he went to work for NASA at Cape Canaveral (Cape Kennedy at the time), met many of the astronauts, and watched many launches close up. After a while, he returned to California and attended graduate school at Cal State Long Beach. During the summer of 1967, he toured with the Roger Wagner Chorale in Japan and was in Roger’s chorus for the movie, “Paint Your Wagon.” In 1968, he entered military service as a member of the United States Air Force Singing Sergeants, a unit of the US Air Force Band in Washington, DC. They performed at the White House many times, and toured in Europe while he was a member.

Cantor Finnley began to study with the retired Cantor from one of the large Reform Temples in DC, Temple Sinai, and was able to become the cantor of that synagogue in 1971. He became a full time singer in 1979, and was fortunate to perform with the Washington Opera Company and the Wolf Trap Opera Company in subsequent years.

Towards the end of 1982, he was determined to return to California and seek another technical job while trying to find a Temple where he could continue his work as a cantor. He began his tenure at Temple Israel in August 1983. Since his arrival in Long Beach, Cantor married his wife, Hannah, welcomed a wonderful young son, Zev, to their family, and shared many joyful and sad events with our Temple family.

After 31 years of service to Temple Israel, Cantor Finnley retired in 2014. Since then He and Hannah have been blessed with many joyful family events, including the marriage of Zev and Mariko in 2016, and, recently, the birth of their daughter, Madelynn, Cantor and Hannah’s first grandchild!

Temple Israel remains Cantor and Hannah’s spiritual home, and they look forward to greeting the Temple family once again in our sanctuary.