Ariella moved with her family to Boynton Beach in 2011 and have been members at CSK since 2017. Ariella is married to Rabbi Eddie Bernstein, who is a chaplain with Boca Regional Hospital and VITAS. She and Eddie have three wonderful children – Sam, who is a student at University of Central Florida, Noam, who is a senior in high school and Esther, who celebrated her bat mitzvah at CSK in January of 2021. Ariella is an attorney and serves as Florida Legal Counsel for The Northern Trust Company. She has never shied away from any home project and enjoys renovations, woodworking and gardening. Ariella and her family have found their religious home at CSK.
Betsy has lived in South Florida for the past 21 years and has been involved with several synagogues here in Florida, as well as in the New York area and in Brookline, MA, where she grew up. Betsy is an independent human resources professional and gives much of her time to board and leadership responsibilities in the community. Betsy has been a member of CSK for the past 8 years and participates in the programming committee, the Vegan Challenge and Mitnadev. She is excited to continue her involvement with our CSK family.
Sharon, Eric and her 3 children have been members of CSK since 2008. Sharon and her husband were eager to join CSK after exploring shuls in the area due to the warm welcome her family received from day one. They are still grateful for the sense of caring and community that still thrives at CSK today! Sharon has formerly served on the Board as a trustee and as secretary and enjoys participating in adult education and community outreach. She has also helped schlep high holiday materials back and forth to our “off site” high holiday location for many years.
Sharon and Eric have been married for over 26 years and they both moved to Florida in 1992. After being a stay-at-home mom and a full time volunteer for over 15 years, Sharon went back to work and is currently a Data Analyst for Zelis, a healthcare data analytics company. Eric has been a software engineer for almost 30 years working for IBM, Constant Contact and now PWC. Emily, their daughter, is 22 and a recent graduate of UF. She is pursuing a career in agriculture/horticulture and was one of Rabbi Baum’s first Bnai Mitzvahs. Alec, their eldest son, is 20 and is a junior at IU studying Audio Engineering & Sound Design. Ethan, their youngest, is 17 and a senior at Boca Raton Community High School who is planning on going to a Florida college. Penny, their fur baby, is a 13 year old Wheaten Terrier who might be their favorite child! Sharon mostly enjoys time spent outdoors – whether yardwork, running or hiking. She also likes sending random mail to people she knows just for fun!
Karen, along with her husband Robert, moved to Florida from Long Island, New York to be near their first granddaughter in 2019. Karen and Robert, after moving, sought out to find a place of worship and Joined CSK in the same year.
Karen is a licensed clinical social worker who has had a varied and extensive career in both medical and mental health settings. She also had been intricately involved in her previous synagogue both as a both board member and in social action and community care committees. Robert, a retired psychiatrist, and Karen enjoy gardening and are in the process of setting up a suburban food forest at their home. Karen has one daughter who lives in Brooklyn NY and Robert has two daughters one of which lives in Parkland with her family and another daughter who lives with her family in Boulder, Colorado.
Gloria relocated from New York to South Florida in 1983, and moved to Palm Beach County in 2006. She has been a member of CSK for the past 16 years. Gloria is returning to the Board of Trustees. She formerly was a Trustee for two years, Program Vice President for five years, and Fundraising Vice President for one year. She is excited to be rejoining the Board, and looks forward to serving again as the Fundraising Vice President.
Janice and her husband Craig relocated to Boca from Rockland County, NY in 2019 and are thrilled to have made CSK their spiritual home. They have two children; Samantha, currently residing in Washington DC, and Eric, currently residing in Fort Lauderdale. Janice has worked in the Judaic world for much of her career and is currently working for the Jewish National Fund for the Southeast Region. She has served on the boards of a variety of Jewish organizations including youth commissions, Sisterhood, Hebrew Day School, PTA and Hadassah. Janice and her family have made Judaism an integral part of their lives and she continues to share her extensive experience with the CSK Board.
Ralph has been a member of CSK since 2014. Ralph’s wife Michelle is a Pediatric Speech Language Pathologist at West Boca Medical Center and in private practice. Michelle and Ralph live in Boca Raton, and have one son Jacob, who is 11 and attends CSK’s Ruth and Lewis Davis Religious School. Ralph is the Administrative Branch Manager for the Palm Beach County Clerk of the Circuit Court and Comptroller and has more than 25 years experience in government budgeting and finance operations. Ralph has been an active member of CSK’s investment committee.
Nancy Spivack has been a member of CSK since 2011 when she and her husband Alan made south Florida their permanent home. During her many years living in the Maryland suburbs of the DC metro area, Nancy led a successful career in Human Resource management and organizational development, including work in hospitality, telecommunications, technology start-ups, biotechnology and nonprofit sectors. A healthcare opportunity brought her to south Florida in 2010; she retired in 2019. Coming from a family that actively embraced conservative synagogue life, Nancy continued that tradition, both as a member and in board leadership. She has also participated on human resource association boards throughout her career. Nancy has served as a trustee on the CSK board and currently, as Executive Vice President.
Nancy and Alan have two children; their daughter, Elana, and her family live in State College, Pa where she is a clinical psychologist working with students at Penn State University. Their son, Brian, and his family reside in Maryland; Brian is the Sr. Director of Operations for Sixth and I Historic Synagogue in DC. They have three beautiful grandchildren.
Nan moved to Boca Raton in 1992. She was a founding member of Beth Tikvah and served as membership VP for 4 years and then became President. She has continued her service with CSK on the Board of Trustees and was the Treasurer for 2020-2022. Nan is a former special education teacher and pre-school teacher. She currently owns First Impressions Realty as its broker.
Nan grew up in Philadelphia. She has two children – Ilene and Steven and a step-daughter, Miriam, who lives in Massachusetts. Nan has 7 grandchildren and 1 great-grandson. Miriam’s daughter, Talia, recently celebrated her Bat Mitzvah with our CSK family.
Ann and her family have been members of CSK for many, many years. Originally from Long Island, New York, Ann has been in South Florida for many years. She is married to Albert and they have three wonderful children, Deena, Aaron, and Naomi. All three were lifers at Donna Klein Jewish Academy. Deena recently married and lives in Roswell, Georgia. Aaron is in his first year of medical school in Miami and Naomi is a junior at University of Florida studying biomedical engineering. Aaron and Naomi celebrated their Bar and Bat Mitzvahs at CSK. Ann is an architect and works for PGAL in the Boca Raton office. She recently worked on the CSK renovation. Ann loves to cook and recently took up Challah baking.
Michelle has been a member of CSK since 2014. Michelle’s husband is Ralph Foreman. Michelle and Ralph live in Boca Raton, and have one son Jacob, who is 11 and attends CSK’s Ruth and Lewis Davis Religious School. Michelle is a Pediatric Speech Language Pathologist at West Boca Medical Center and in private practice. Michelle has served on CSK’s Board of Trustees for the past 2 years, Co-chair for Youth programming, as well as on various committees. Michelle previously served as a youth group advisor for the Boca Chapter of Young Judaea for over 10 years. Her son Jacob attends Camp Judaea in the summer and is a member of CSK’s Chalutzim.
Byrna became a member of CSK in 2015, when her synagogue in Cooper City experienced a merger, necessitating joining another synagogue where she and Larry would feel welcome and comfortable, enjoy praying, as well as creating the opportunity to make new friendships. They moved to Boynton Beach in 2021, making their religious home much closer. Byrna had been an active member of her prior synagogue, becoming Sisterhood President, Executive Vice President and the only female President.
Byrna and Larry share four children and five grandchildren, all of whom reside outside of Florida, in four different states. It is their greatest pleasure to visit with their family as often as possible, as well as to create family vacations twice a year. Byrna looks forward to becoming a CSK board member, continuing to donate her time and energies to our CSK family.
Ron and his wife Margie originally met as teenagers at an orthodox camp, Camp Yavneh, in New Hampshire, along with Hebrew High School in Brookline Massachusetts. Ron and Margie reconnected in Washington DC many years later. At the time Ron was doing three years of training as a dentist in the United States Air Force at Andrews Air Force Base and Margie was an attorney doing contract law at GSA in DC. They moved to Florida in 1980 and started their life journey here. Soon after, Ron started his own dental practice as a general dentist in Boynton Beach and owned it for 35 years until he sold it at the end of 2017. Since then he has been working part time in Boca Raton in a couple of offices. Since 2018 he has worked in the office of Dr. Randy Goldfarb doing general dentistry part time.
Ron’s passion for the last 50 years is golf and he currently works/volunteers at Osprey Golf Course in West Boca. Margie and Ron have three children, Jon, Alyssa, and Robert. Unfortunately, at this time, all are living up north. They have four young granddaughters and one young grandson. Margie and Ron were part of a small group that started the origins of CSK in their home around 18 years ago. They’ve been active members since. Margie has run High Holy Day services for many years and has been instrumental in CSK having services at Spanish River High School since the theater there was built. This is Ron’s first time as a board member.
Lori Rabinowitz calls Florida her home since relocating from New York City in 2002. Initially Lori lived in Boca Raton for 14 years and then relocated to Tampa for 8 years. She’s excited to be back in Palm Beach County as she says “where I belong”. Professionally, Lori has spearheaded marketing departments in professional services organizations predominantly in law firms. She has also been active in the communities in which she lived. She served on the executive board at her synagogue in Tampa and is happy to share that experience at CSK. Lori is passionate about wine and became a Certified Sommelier in 2009. She often presents at wine tastings for associations and charitable events. When she’s drinking wine at home, it’s usually with her beloved dog, Luigi, by her side.
Brandon and his wife Alexandra have been members of CSK for the last 3 years. They became members when they were searching for a Rabbi to marry them and Congregation to grow alongside their family. With Rabbi Baum and the Chaverim of CSK, Brandon and Alexandra found both and never looked back. Brandon holds a finance degree from Florida Atlantic University, law degree from the University of Miami, and advanced legal degree in taxation from the University of Florida.
Brandon is an attorney at the national law firm of Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP where he focuses on helping individuals with their estate planning, tax, and business planning needs. Alexandra is a nurse at the Renfrew Center helping women overcome and conquer eating disorders.
Brandon and Alexandra have always been involved in Jewish organizations. They believe it is their duty to “tikkun olam” and view the robust programming at CSK as the perfect way to give back. When they are not working or spending time with CSK, they can be found at FAU Owls sporting events!
Carol and Je Simon joined CSK in the summer of 2023, joining some of their neighbors in Valencia Cove. Carol has been active in the Conservative Movement since a young teen joining USY in West Palm Beach. Carol and Je have been involved in their synagogues both in Miami and Tampa, serving on the boards in both locations.
Carol began her journey with Sisterhood in Miami, as a sisterhood president and continued her involvement in Florida Region serving as Region president for two terms. Her involvement continued as she became involved on the International board of Women’s League for Conservative Judaism, serving as Convention Chair and in 2014 was installed as International President. And what a journey it has been!
Shayna moved with her husband, Michael Freidson, and her daughter, Maya, from Brooklyn to Boca Raton in 2021 and they have been members of CSK for the past 2 years. Born in Montreal and raised in Toronto and Detroit, Shayna studied for a year at Midreshet Lindenbaum in Jerusalem and has been involved in Jewish communities in Manhattan, Mumbai, Istanbul, Boston, London, UK and Brooklyn, before relocating to Boca Raton during the pandemic.
Shayna has a Ph.D. in English and American Literature and an M.A. in Women’s and Gender Studies from Brandeis University and taught literature and writing at Brandeis, Baruch College and Barnard College. Previously, she worked as a writer and art critic at Time Out New York magazine and as a Jewish educator for the JDC in India and Turkey. In 2014, Shayna shifted careers after completing a yoga training (E-RYT-200) and she has been teaching yoga for ten years with a focus on Forrest Yoga, Chair Yoga, and Trauma-Informed Yoga. Her daughter, Maya, attends Donna Klein Jewish Academy and recently became a Bat Mitzvah at CSK.
Harvey became a snowbird in Delray Beach, Florida in 2012 after retiring from a 37-year career in Human Resources Management. Harvey began “shul shopping” and became a member of Shaarei Kodesh in 2014 due its diversity and welcoming atmosphere. He is a regular at Shabbat and Yom Tov services, attends classes conducted by Rabbi Baum, and recently became the Shaarei Kodesh Men’s Club President. When he is not in Florida, Harvey resides in Alexandria, VA and is a 20-year member of Agudas Achim Congregation where he served as Men’s Club President from 2008 to 2012. Harvey also serves on the committee that coordinates their annual summer cookout, is one of two co-chairs of the Cemetery Committee, and is a member of their Chevra Kaddisha. In his spare time, Harvey enjoys the theater, music, traveling, being a fan of the Washington Nationals baseball team, and just hanging with friends.
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