Rabbi Stanton Zamek has been the spiritual leader of the United Jewish Congregation of Hong Kong since 2008. Prior to coming to the UJC, Rabbi Zamek served congregations in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and San Francisco, California. Rabbi Zamek was ordained by the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in 1996, in the same class as his wife, Rabbi Martha Bergadine, the UJC’s director of Education and Programming. Rabbi Zamek and Rabbi Bergadine have two children. Prior to entering the seminary, Rabbi Zamek practiced law in Chicago, Illinois. He has a J.D. from Northwestern University School of Law.
Ordained at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, Rabbi Lee Diamond made aliya to Israel in 1971 and began his unique rabbinate as an Israel Educator for the Diaspora, serving as Israel director of the Alexander Muss High School in Israel, Associate Director of Israel office of the Union for Reform Judaism (URJ) and the North American Federation of Temple Youth (Reform – NFTY) Israel programs, and Rabbi of United Jewish Congregation in Hong Kong. Upon Rabbi Diamond’s return to his home in Israel in 2004, he was appointed Rabbi Emeritus of The UJC. Rabbi Diamond passed away in 2019 but his memory and legacy continue to be a blessing to The UJC.
Rabbi Martha Bergadine has served as the Education and Programming Director of The UJC since 2009. She brings with her an extensive background in Youth and Adult Education having served as the Director of Formal Teen Programs for the Bureau of Jewish Education in San Francisco, as the Rabbi-Educator at Beth Shalom Synagogue in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and as a faculty member of URJ Camp Jacobs. She also taught for several years in Florence Melton Adult Mini-Schools in San Francisco, New Orleans, and Baton Rouge. Before coming to Hong Kong, Rabbi Bergadine was the Executive Director of the Jewish Federation of Greater Baton Rouge. She has also served as the rabbi of Reform congregations in San Francisco and Mandeville, Louisiana.
Rabbi Bergadine was ordained by The Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati in 1996. She is married to Rabbi Stanton Zamek, and they have two children.
Cantor Yvon F. Shore joins the UJC family having served as Director of Liturgical Arts and Music at the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion (HUC-JIR) on the historic Cincinnati Campus from 2004-2024. She proudly served congregations Temple Beth-El in Hillsboro, New Jersey and Temple Beth Sholom in New City, New York. Cantor Shore has served on the executive boards of the American Conference of Cantors, American Reform Zionist Association, and the World Union for Progressive Judaism. She has served on the URJ Commission for Worship and Religious Living. She has maintained an active role as scholar and artist in residence throughout North America, Europe, and Israel.
Cantor Shore earned her undergraduate degree in flute and conducting from the Wells School of Performing Arts, a Masters Degree in Sacred Music from HUC-JIR, and additional graduate studies in ethnomusicology from the Hebrew University and Cincinnati Conservatory of Music. She has sung with Chorus of the Cincinnati Symphony since 2013 under Maestros James Conlon, Robert Porco, Matthew Swanson and many guest conductors and artists. She is looking forward to discovering all the great music Hong Kong and this region has to offer!