Rabbi Judy Shanks is a graduate of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, studying first in Jerusalem and then in New York City. She earned her Master’s Degree and was ordained as rabbi in 1984. She has served as rabbi at Temple Beth Hillel in Richmond and at Temple Isaiah in Lafayette. Rabbi Shanks has a special interest in the study and teaching of Mussar, Jewish feminist studies, the development of new rituals for life cycle events, liturgical poetry and modern Hebrew literature.

Dr. James Gracer has practiced psychiatry since 1979 and was trained when psychoanalysis was the state of the art. He has run a clinic at the Center to Empower Refugees and Immigrants for 20 years. Married to Rabbi Judy Shanks, he has been a rebbetzin at Temple Isaiah for over a quarter century.