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I grew up in a “typical” Jewish home in Columbus, Ohio. It was a kosher home, and throughout my childhood we often had Shabbat dinners. I hated Hebrew school. When I left for college and then continued on to law school, Judaism was not a meaningful part of my life. I did “Jewish” stuff only when I visited my family. Funny thing is that despite graduating, with Honors, from Brandeis University and serving as a member of the law review at Yeshiva University’s Cardozo School of Law, I had no experience with Jewish learning, or Jewish living for that matter. The first stage of my Jewish journey occurred from the time I was 35 – 38 years old, immediately after I left my life as a lawyer. Living on Venice Beach, I participated in many a Shabbat dinner; I began reading Martin Buber and Abraham Joshua Heschel; I visited Israel with dear friends; and, with Rabbis David Wolpe and Danny Gordis, I had my first encounter with serious Jewish texts. Doubt in God, challenging authority, asking big questions, demanding that life has meaning, these were some of the critical and transformative moments of my Jewish learning. I remember that in my application to rabbinic school I wrote, “. . . in my Jewish learning my intellect meets my soul.” As a rabbinical student I had many special opportunities. I served for one year as a CLAL [spell out] Intern, with Orthodox, Conservative, Reconstructionist and Reform rabbinical students. I had two Orthodox study partners who I hugely admire and appreciate today. In fall 2001, I started a bi-weekly Friday night minyan called the Park Slope Minyan. We gathered in a church. For seven years, many young folks from Brooklyn created a very special community. And, from 2002-2004, I had the wonderful opportunity to serve as a Marshall T. Meyer Rabbinic Fellow at the Upper West Side’s B’nai Jeshurun (BJ). That was a truly formative experience for me. After leaving BJ and New York, Tara and I served in two separate Associate Rabbi positions at Temple Israel in Memphis, Tennessee, an outstanding 1700 family Reform synagogue. We discovered that there is rich Jewish life beyond the Northeast. We have many dear friends in Memphis and we remain dear friends with our former Senior Rabbi, Micah Greenstein. Needless to say, we are deeply grateful for our time in Memphis. We left Memphis in January 2008 and headed to Israel for an experience of a lifetime. Our kids were in school, like “normal” Israeli kids. The backyard of our apartment was one of the most special gardens in Jerusalem. It’s called Gan Hashoshanim, the Rose Garden. For Tara and me it was very special for our kids to feel so attached and comfortable in that place. Our first meeting, in 1996, was in that garden. Today, our kids feel like it’s home and to hear them speak Hebrew, like real sabras, brings us more joy than we ever could have imagined. I look forward to being a part of the Temple Beth-El family for the next 25 years (at which point Temple Beth-El will no doubt be ready to send us out to pasture). I look forward to countless opportunities to learn, pray, sing, rejoice and cry together. May we all wake up each morning and say, mah yafeh ha’yom – how precious is this day
Senior Rabbi
Tara Feldman My journey into Jewish life and ultimately to the rabbinate was not a straight path but one that began to open to me through rich and unexpected experiences and through contact with incredible teachers, my parents among them. Born to two non-Jewish parents, Judaism entered my life when my mother remarried a Jewish man and converted. Suddenly, at the age of 11, I was thrown into Hebrew school and our beloved Christmas tree ornaments were no more. Yet, this jarring shift in my life’s reality brought with it many gifts. My first Jewish memory is that of Shabbat candles. I drew a picture of them, each flame surrounded by rainbows. I was eleven. My second Jewish memory was a Passover Seder. I watched a man dip greens in salt water, uttering words I did not understand. Then he closed his eyes and ate, chewing slowly and with intense concentration. Without knowing a word of Hebrew, I understood for the first time what it means to make a blessing. My mother and stepfather joined Rabbi Lawrence Kushner’s Congregation Beth El in Sudbury, Massachusetts. It was with Rabbi Kushner that I became a bat mitzvah. I continued my Hebrew school studies through the 11th grade. My father is a philosophy professor who always encouraged me to question. With Rabbi Kushner, I had the opportunity to study philosophers like Martin Buber and Abraham Joshua Heschel. I began to understand that Judaism enabled me to ask the Big Questions of life. I, Tara Elizabeth Campbell, was embraced as a Jew at Congregation Beth El. I knew I was a Jew to my core. After high school I went to Vassar College where I majored in Russian language and literature. Living in Moscow for a semester in 1988 I had powerful interactions with Jewish refuseniks, but for the most part, my Judaism was dormant. After Vassar, I biked across the United States to raise money for the Nature Conservancy and then headed off to Lesley College in Cambridge, Massachusetts, to earn a Masters in Elementary Education. My student teaching was for a Haitian bilingual school. On a trip to Haiti, I encountered the ravaging poverty of children. This was the tipping point, initiating a spiritual quest which ultimately led me to the waters of the mikvah. I wanted to choose Judaism for myself, as an adult. My spiritual search returned me, as well, to Congregation Beth El (the synagogue that had embraced me as a girl) to work as a teacher and youth advisor. One afternoon, I met Rabbi Kushner in the hallway for a moment between teaching Hebrew school classes. “So, do you want to be a rabbi?” he asked. Never once had I considered the idea. His question stopped me in my tracks. This was a Burning Bush moment for me. Five years later, at the age of the 29, I flew out of Logan Airport, guitar in one hand, a bouquet of peonies from my mother’s garden in the other. I was headed for Jerusalem. After a year at Hebrew Union College in Israel, I continued my rabbinical training at HUC in New York and began working as a rabbi at Congregation Beth Elohim in Park Slope, Brooklyn. During that time, Rabbi Kushner (whose influence seems to have crept into every corner of my life) orchestrated a shiduch (a match) between Meir and me. We were married in 2000, a year before my ordination. When we left Brooklyn in 2004 to become associate rabbis at Temple Israel in Memphis, Tennessee, our son Gavi was two years old. The years since leaving Brooklyn have been adventure-filled. We were enriched by our encounter with Jewish life in the South, by the mentorship of Rabbi Micah Greenstein and of course, by the birth of our daughter. Adina was two years old when we left Memphis one cold January night to begin a15 month stint in Jerusalem. In addition to serving with Meir as a rabbi for the Reform movement’s Eisendrath International Exchange (EIE) high school semester in Israel program, I studied at Hebrew University as a Melton Senior Educators fellow. Now our journey has taken us full circle, back to New York and back to another Beth-El, different from the one in which I grew up—but linked as well. The first time we walked up to the front door of this beautiful synagogue as a family, Gavi (now seven) didn’t notice any of the English words on the building. He saw only the five beautiful Hebrew letters engraved into the side of the building. “Beit El!” he cried out in joy. This is the joy that all four of us feel, Meir, Adina, Gavi and I, in having the blessing and privilege of entering the sacred home which is Temple Beth-El of Great Neck. May we together through our learning and prayer, through our action and questioning, continue to make it truly, a Beit El, a house of God
Assistant Rabbi Devorah Marcus
Devorah graduated from Bradley University, Peoria, IL in 1998 with a degree in Speech Communications and two minors-one in Religious Studies and the other in music. She is an accomplished musician and brings her passion for music to her work as a rabbi. Rabbi Marcus and her husband, Sebastian Eickholt, are newlyweds having just married-the night before her ordination. They are excited to begin their new lives together with us in Great Neck.
Cantor Lisa R. Hest
Rabbi Educator Lisa Rubin
Rabbi Emeritus Jerome K. Davidson, D.D.
Leslie Abrams
Leslie and Franklin Abrams joined Temple Beth-El in 1973. They express great pride and love for their children, Courtney and Jason (who were educated at Beth-El from nursery school through Hebrew high school, including b’nei mitzvah and Confirmation), and new daughter-in-law Ewa, whose marriage to Jason was blessed at Beth-El and performed by Beth-El’s clergy. Courtney is a sociologist, and Jason and Ewa are lawyers. Leslie says, “We have been blessed with a loving family and caring friends, and Temple Beth-El has helped us to appreciate these blessings and has given our lives greater depth and meaning”. Leslie received a B.S. in Psychology from Long Island University and an M.S. in Special Education from Hofstra University. Her professional life has included work as a teacher of disabled children, a legal assistant, and Director of Alumni Affairs at Queens College. Leslie explains the connection between her work with college alumni and her work at Temple as follows: “Aside from event planning and fundraising similarities, both involve inspiring others to work toward a common goal. Here, our goal is to assure a vibrant future for Temple Beth-El, and I intend to do all that I can to bring it to fruition”.
Alan H. Goldsmith Alan
comes to Temple Beth-El with a strong background in his field. He has
served for more than 20 years as an administrator for Jewish organizations
including eight years at Stephen Wise Free Synagogue in Manhattan and 12
years at the Central Queens YM-YWHA. Alan has also held management
positions at social work agencies. He earned his B.A. at Brooklyn College,
M.A. in Early Childhood Education at Long Island University, and M.S.W. and
Jewish Communal Service Certificate at Yeshiva University, Wurzweiler School
of Social work
Vicki Held Perler
Vicki
Perler has been the Director of Early Childhood Education at Temple Beth-El of
Great Neck, New York, since July, 1994. Her background includes positions as the
founding director of the nursery school at Temple Beth-El in Huntington, New
York, Director of Young Child Services at the Jewish Community Center of Greater
Washington, kindergarten teacher in Prince Georges County, Maryland, Music
Director of Gaithersburg Hebrew Congregation Hebrew School in Maryland, and
preschool teacher in the federal Project Growing Together. Vicki holds a
Masters Degree from Adelphi University in Early Childhood and Special Education,
a postgraduate certificate in Educational Leadership and Administration as a
School Administrator Supervisor (SAS) from the New York State Education
Department and Long Island University, and a B.S. in Early Childhood Education
from the University of Maryland. She is the current President of the National
Jewish Early Childhood Network, and serves as an officer on the Executive Board
of the Jewish Early Childhood Association of the Board of Jewish Education of
Greater New York. Vicki is the proud mother of four sons, and resides in
Syosset, New York with her husband, Arthur, where they are active in their
synagogue and in Jewish education on Long Island.
More recently, Eric formed, EBM Direct Marketing Services LLC. Some of his clients include Levitz Furniture and SAAGNY. He brings all the direct and internet marketing expertise from his past, his company provides small to mid size business web hosting/development services, search marketing and direct mail. Eric's connection with Temple Beth El goes back to its origins. Eric has been a member for over 17 years. In 2004, Eric married Nancy Larick Mohr. Nancy's great grandfather, Abram Wolf, was the first Jewish settler in Great Neck. His son, I.G. Wolf, Nancy's grandfather, donated the land on which Temple Beth El is situated as well as being the 2 nd President of Temple Beth El. |