Members of the Jewish community celebrate Gindlin’s ordination

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Cantor Marcelo Gindlin of the Malibu Jewish Center ordained as rabbi. Photo courtesy Jennifer Herrguth.

Members of the Malibu Jewish Center and Synagogue gathered in-person Friday night to celebrate Cantor Marcelo Gindlin. The multi-talented and beloved Gindlin will now be known as Rabbi Cantor Marcelo Gindlin.

Gindlin just completed rabbinical training and has been ordained as a rabbi after years of study. For the past 22 years, Gindlin has been serving as cantor, the person who leads singing worship, at MJCS. As Rabbi Cantor Marcelo, Gindlin will now serve as senior clergy at MJCS, leading services and lifecycle events. 

Originally from Argentina, Gindlin arrived in Malibu barely speaking English. He has since been honored multiple times by the community, receiving a Dolphin Award, a Malibu Times Citizen of the Year Award, Malibu Music Festival Educator of the Year Award and was a Face of Malibu.

He is one of the founders of Hand in Hand, an inclusion program that connects people of all abilities in socially integrated gatherings. Longtime Malibu resident Lori Lerner Gray called the new rabbi “a gift to our community.”

Sixty MJCS members celebrated in-person while nearly 50 others tuned in online. Gindlin said he is looking forward to his next chapter in service to Malibu.