 Rabbi Gary M. Spero was born and raised in the South Bay. He graduated with honors from West Torrance High School and the South Bay Hebrew High School. While a teenager, he competed and placed first in the regional and National Bible Contests, held in Los Angeles and New York City. As part of the 1982 team representing the United States, he placed tenth in the world ranking at the International Bible Contest, where students from dozens of nations competed, in Netanya and Jerusalem, Israel.
Rabbi Gary was offered a full academic scholarship and received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Hebrew literature from Yeshiva University's Los Angeles campus. He pursued a rigorous four year course of study focusing on Talmud, Jewish law and Biblical texts. In 1985 he competed and placed first in the Los Angeles Talmud competition sponsored by the University. He taught and tutored adults and children in Hebrew for many years.
He received his Juris Doctor degree magna cum laude from Whittier College School of Law, having served on their Law Review. As a law student he authored several published law review articles that led to legislative reforms in the California Penal Code. He graduated and passed the California bar exam in 1992. He worked for a year as a criminal prosecutor for several South Bay cities and has been a practicing maritime injury administrative law attorney since 1993.
He completed his studies and received his rabbinic ordination on June 19, 2003 from the Rabbinical Seminary International in New York City. He studied closely and received Smicha from several Rabbis, including Rabbi Joseph H. Gelberman, a 93 year old kabbalist and holocaust survivor well known for his deep spirituality and pioneering interfaith outreach work. Rabbi Gary has been the spiritual leader of Congregation Beth Torah since July, 2003. He infuses our Shabbat and holiday services with joyous Chassidic music, inspirational readings and teachings from the mystical traditions of Judaism. He and his wife Sheryl live in Torrance together with their two children Esther and Robert. They enjoy motorcycling, playing a variety of musical instruments, antique collecting, cooking and reading a wide variety of books.
Contact Rabbi Gary at Rabbi@CongregationBethTorah.com
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