Our Staff

Rabbi Joshua Bittan
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Born in Ouezzane, Morocco, Rabbi Joshua Bittan comes from a family well known for its dedication to Torah and the needs of their community. A fluent and personable speaker in four languages, Rabbi Joshua Bittan who was schooled in Morocco, Israel and the US combines a traditional Sephardi viewpoint with a well-versed familiarity with the realities and challenges of modern society.
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Rabbi Bittan has served Em Habanim for decades leading our congregation initially as its president before becoming our spiritual leader. With a contagious enthusiasm and a passion for learning and teaching, Rabbi Bittan takes his students on a discovery of inspiration in traditional texts.
Spiritual Leader

Shimon Sibony
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Born in Rabat, Morocco before emigrating to Dimona at a young age, our Hazzan and Baal Kore enchants our congregation with his melodious voice and great musical talent . Shimon Sibony has served our congregation since 2006. Previous to moving to Valley Village he served as the Hazzan at our Em Habanim branch in Northridge.
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Shimon is credited with leading and teaching our unique Em Habanim Bakashot group that has been meeting regularly the past many years and preserving our traditional Bakashot Liturgy.
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Shimon is also a much sought after Bar Mitzvah teacher who has prepared hundreds of Bar Mitzvah boys for their Parashah and Haftarah readings.
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Aside from his hazzanut interests, Shimon dedicate time daily to Torah study
Hazzan

Hanna Oiknine
Office Manager
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Our office Manager, Hanna Oiknine was born in Marrakech Morocco. She has devotedly and capably served as our office manager since 1999. A most personable and organized administrator, Hanna speaks fluently English, French, Hebrew and Arabic. She manages all office aspects of a synagogue and community Center responsibilities, from accounting to promotion, communication and public relations and more . She is the contact person at our office and is always glad to assist with information, reservations and special requests. She acts also as the administrative assistant to the Board of Directors and our spiritual Leader