About Us
Our Clergy
RABBI JUDY CAPLAN GINSBURGH
Rabbi Judy Caplan Ginsburgh grew up at Congregation Gemiluth Chassodim. Her paternal great-grandparents, grandparents and her parents were all members there as well. Rabbi Judy is proud to be from Alexandria and thrilled to be the spiritual leader at her home Temple.
Rabbi Judy graduated from the prestigious Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University with a degree in Vocal Performance and a minor in Theatre. She worked as an Executive Manager/Buyer for Foley’s Department Stores in Houston, Texas and then took a job as the Human Resources Director with Lord and Taylor in Chicago. In 1981, she and her husband, Bob moved to the Washington, DC area where she served as Executive Secretary to a Senior Rabbi and began her career as a professional singer specializing in Jewish music and music for family audiences. Rabbi Judy served as a cantorial soloist and touring musician for over 35 years and has produced over a dozen albums of music, a sign language DVD and written several books and music curriculums. Her music currently sells all over the world and can be heard on all streaming music platforms.
In 2014, Rabbi Judy was ordained by the Jewish Spiritual Leaders Institute in New York. She served as part-time Rabbi at Congregation B’nai Israel in Monroe, LA from 2016-June, 2024 and she served as an independent Rabbi/Cantor leading life-cycle events and worship/holiday services all over the world. In July, 2024, she was hired to be the full-time Rabbi at Congregation Gemiluth Chassodim. Judy has three children and six grandchildren. In her spare times, she loves to knit, read and watch movies.
RABBI Emeritus ARNOLD S. TASK
RABBI Emeritus ARNOLD S. TASK - "Arny" to most everyone - served 22 years as Rabbi of Congregation Gemiluth Chassodim, from 1989 to 2011. On retirement, he was named Rabbi Emeritus. He and his wife Judy remained in the Central Louisiana area for a few years and then retired in Arizona.
Rabbi Task was a Rotarian, and was awarded the Service Above Self Award in 2007. He has served as President of the Central LA Minister's Association, the Family Counseling Agency, Angel Care, and the Louisiana Maneuvers & Military Museum. For almost 40 years, he lectured and taught Judaism and Holocaust studies at the college level. In fact his life's work and his legacy includes the teaching of Holocaust studies to students and adults; and he played a major role in the planning, funding and finally, the realization of a Holocaust Memorial in downtown Alexandria, LA.
RABBI Emeritus MARTIN ISAIAH HINCHIN Z' l
RABBI Emeritus MARTIN ISAIAH HINCHIN Z' l served our Congregation from 1958 to 1988, and our memories are fond ones. Rabbi Hinchin retired to Memphis and passed away at the age of 103. The child of Ukrainian immigrants, Rabbi Hinchin was born and raised in Philadelphia. After his ordination, Hinchin served Jewish congregations in Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and Louisiana, where he served our Congregation as Rabbi for 31 years. “’I fell in love with the people of the South,’ said Hinchin. Along the way he met such historic and beloved Southern figures as a young Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Louisiana’s “singing governor” Jimmie Davis, and Huey Long’s “crazy” brother, former governor Earl K. Long, “He called me ‘Preacher."
One of Hinchin's finest achievements was his book, "Fourscore and Eleven,” History of the Jews of Rapides Parish from 1828 to 1919, which he completed in 1984 in time for the celebration of our Congregation’s 125th Birthday. It is a collection of historical records, legal deeds and documents, generous newspaper accounts of social and life cycle events, and a sign of the times of each of the years covered by the book. If you would like a copy; they are $15 each. Please contact the Temple office.
Our Leadership
GEORGE FINE
President
The business of the Temple is directed by the President and a Board of Directors.
The current leadership is as follows:
OFFICERS
President – GEORGE FINE
Vice President -
Treasurer - LEE RUBIN
Secretary - JULIA DIBENEDETTO
Immediate Past President - NORRINE CAPLAN
DIRECTORS
JACKIE AUERBACH, ANDREW BINDURSKY, DAN COHN, LEE FINE, BRAD KIRZNER, JIM SEGALL
ENDOWNMENT COMMITTEE
EDWIN CAPLAN, GEORGE FINE, LISSO NACHMAN, LEE RUBIN, MICHAEL BINDURSKY