About Beth Am Israel
located in the heart of the western suburbs (Main Line) of Philadelphia.
Our address is: 1301 Hagys Ford Road, Penn Valley, PA 19072
Our phone number is: 610.667.1651
You can email us at: info@BethAmIsrael.org
Our Mission
We, at Beth Am Israel, seek to integrate Torah (learning and practice), Avodah (prayer or worship) and Gemilut Hasadim (acts of caring) within an engaged, Shabbat-centered community. We strive to support all of our members and to build a connection to Klal Ysrael (the entire Jewish community) through lifelong Jewish learning and action.
Our mission is to develop a community that supports each member’s ability to relate to the world in a way that infuses life with sacred purpose.
Guiding Principles
- Beth Am Israel strives to be a home to Jews who want to create a sacred community, where meaningful Jewish experiences integrate our heritage, teachings, and history.
- Beth Am Israel strives for the active engagement of each member in a spiritual, moral, learning and socially responsible community.
- Shabbat is the center of our community. We come together as an intergenerational community in Tefillah and Jewish learning to incorporate the experience of Shabbat into other aspects of life.
- Beth Am Israel is an intimate community sharing with members in their times of joy and supporting them in their times of sorrow within the rhythms of the Jewish calendar and throughout the life cycle.
- Beth Am Israel blends a pluralistic approach to Jewish thought and practice and an obligation to engage seriously in Judaism together, as part of a single community. Our ritual practices reflect both the Congregation’s commitment to the Conservative Jewish traditions and a focus on renewal and openness to innovation. It is our obligation to continue to engage in self-reflection and renewal through informed dialogues led by our Rabbi and lay leadership.
- As befitting our name, Beth Am Israel strives to deepen our connections to Klal Ysrael, to the unity of the Jewish people, here, in Israel and around the world.
- Beth Am Israel integrates both our devotion to our personal spiritual and social needs with commitment to the problems of the broader Jewish community and our universal obligations as human beings.
| Professional Leadership | |
|---|---|
| Rabbi | |
| Shaliach Tzibur | Harold Messinger [Bio] |
| Executive Director | Grace Gershkoff |
| Educational Director | Robin Kahn [Bio] |
| USY Advisor | Harold Messinger [Bio] |
| Founding Rabbi | Morris S. Goodblatt z"l |
| Officers and Directors | |
| President | Joe Finkelstein |
| Treasurer | Rayman Solomon |
| Financial Secretary | Lisa Schiffman |
| Recording Secretary | Sandy Friedlander |
| Vice Presidents | Shelly Barnathan, Nick Fiekowsky, Linda Heller, Jeff Metz, Marci Wilf |
| Directors | Elisa Abeloff, Sherry Bowen, Noah Charlson, Jeanne DeVine, Ronit Engel, Grace Gershkoff, Andrea Kahn-Kothmann, Phyllis Kosherick, Natalie Landro, Craig Lichtman, Gabrielle Lipkin, Marjorie Marenberg, Barbara Medoff - Cooper, Abbe Miller, Michelle Narin, Jackie Needleman, Carol Orenstein, Tali Perlman, Ed Siebert, Steve Sittenfield, Leslie Solin, Shelley White, Cyndee Wishkovsky |
| Committees and Chairs | |
| Bar/Bat Mitzvah | Suzy Dayanim |
| BAI Chai (Israel Affairs) | Ronit Engle |
| Communications | Sherry Bowen Nick Fiekowsky(Listservs) Marc Slovak(Website) David Soskis (Kol Ha'am) Sandy Friedlander (Kol Ha'am) |
| Community Development & Events | Shelley White, Michelle Narin |
| Compensation | Mitch Wienick |
| Education | Andrea Kahn-Kothmann Phyllis Kosherick |
| Empty Nesters/54+ | Linda Heller, Natalie Landro |
| Environmental Action | Fred Baurer |
| Facilities Rental/Use | Lisa Pliskin |
| Finance | Rayman Solomon |
| Fundraising | Jeanne DeVine |
| G'milut Hasadim | Jackie Needleman |
| House | Jeff Levine |
| IT Committee | Ed Siebert |
| Kehillat Lower Merion | Linda Heller |
| Learning Council | Dana Saewitz, Betty Greene |
| Membership | Gaby Lipkin, Ken Podell |
| Religious Life | Barbara Medoff-Cooper, Shelly Barnathan |
| Rosh Chodesh | TBD |
| Security | Nick Fiekowsky |
| Tikkun Olam (Social Action) | Jackie Needleman |
| Tot Shabbat | Elyssa Kane |
| Ushering | Nick Fiekowsky |
