Rabbi Steven D. Burton is the Founding Rabbi of Congregation Shaarei Shalom. For the six+ years he has been in the Riverdale community, Rabbi Burton has become well known for his warm pastoral care, his passionate sermons on topics of ethics and social justice, and his ardent support for the State of Israel. He believes in a fully participatory liturgical style in the context of services infused with music and ruach – spirit. His advocacy for facilitating a greater understanding of our sacred texts and their relevancy to our lives includes an in-depth discussion of the weekly Torah portion at every Shabbat morning worship service. He came to the rabbinate as a second career after having practiced law for more than 25 years. Rabbi Burton is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Lehigh University and was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar at Columbia Law School. In the 1970’s he served as House Counsel to Cesar Chavez and the United Farm Workers and then worked in the administration of Governor Jerry Brown of California serving in the area of environmental protection. In the 1980’s, with the advent of deregulation in the electric power industry, he helped to create an independent power company that developed owned and operated environmentally friendly power plants. The decision to give up the practice of law in order to study for the rabbinate was the return to, and the fulfillment of a childhood dream. Rabbi Burton grew up in Great Neck, Long Island, where he and his family were members of a Reform congregation, Temple Beth El. In more recent years he had been an active member of Central Synagogue in Manhattan serving on their Ritual and Caring committees and leading Adult Education programs. Rabbi Burton spent a total of nine years at the Hebrew Union College—Jewish Institute of Religion (HUC), initially as part time student, then living and studying in Jerusalem for one year, followed by completion of his full time studies at HUC’s New York campus. His Rabbinic thesis was written on the Origins of Christianity and its Separation from Rabbinic Judaism. Rabbi Burton has served the pulpit of three other synagogues prior to becoming the Founding Rabbi of Congregation Shaarei Shalom, the Boro Park Progressive Synagogue, the Queens Habobnim, and Riverdale Temple. He has also taught Ethics and Comparative Religion at Pace University. Rabbi Burton has also become an active and respected member of the larger Riverdale community. His views on local and international issues have regularly made their way onto the Op-Ed pages of the Riverdale Press. Rabbi Burton was also among a group of 23 rabbis arrested while protesting Iran’s continued presence in the United Nations and he has worked with New York State’s and City’s elected representatives to seek the divestiture by New York’s pension funds of companies that do business with Iran. He also served two terms as the president of the Riverdale-Kingsbridge-Spuyten-Duyvil Clergy Conference, an organization devoted to strengthening ties that cross religious and denominational lines. Congregation Shaarei Shalom is proud and honored to have him serve as our Founding Rabbi and spiritual leader. Please take the opportunity to personally meet Rabbi Burton prior to the start of our worship services, during our Oneg Shabbat and Kiddush collations that follow services, or by contacting him to arrange a private appointment.