Rabbi Grossman

Identified by the New York Jewish Week and The Forward as one of the forty five Jewish leaders to watch in the next century and honored as a Woman of the Year by Jewish Woman magazine in 2000, Rabbi Susan Grossman is an accomplished author, lecturer, and storyteller who offers her congregants a rare blend of spiritual energy, joy, intellectual stimulation and pastoral compassion. She currently serves on the prestigious Committee for Jewish Law and Standards of the Conservative Movement. Her responsum (rabbinic decision) on women serving as witnesses in Jewish law and the permissibility of “Partial Birth Abortion” were accepted as one of the official positions of the Conservative Movement. Rabbi Grossman was one of the first women ordained as a rabbi by Jewish Theological Seminary and the first woman to lead her own congregation in both Westchester, New York and Howard County, Maryland. She has written many articles on the role of women in Judaism and co-edited with Orthodox activist Rivka Haut, the anthology Daughters of the King: Women and the Synagogue, published by Jewish Publication Society. Before entering the rabbinate, she directed Holocaust programming for the National Jewish Resource Center (now CLAL) under Rabbi Yitz Greenberg and worked for many years as a journalist and editor. Rabbi Grossman is perhaps best known for her work as one of the editors of the Conservative Movement Humash, Etz Hayim and Torah Commentary for which she worked with Rabbi Harold Kushner on the Derash section and co-edited with Rabbi Elliot Dorff the Halakha L=Maaseh section. She is completing her Doctorate in Ancient Judaism from Jewish Theological Seminary and served as spiritual leader of Beth Shalom Congregation in Columbia, Maryland since 1997, where she currently lives with her husband David Boder and their son Yoni.

Cantor Richard Walters

Richard Walters is Beth Shalom’s Cantor. Cantor Walters, a graduate of the Hillel Academy of Pittsburgh and the Pittsburgh College of Jewish Studies, has over 35 years of cantorial experience with Conservative Jewish congregations in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Maryland. Over those years, Cantor Walters has trained and worked extensively with synagogue choirs and has taught Jewish music and prayer to both children and adults. He has also conducted adult education classes in Hebrew Literacy.  At Beth Shalom, Cantor Walters brings zest and enthusiasm and a host of lively melodies to our services on Shabbat and holidays. Aside from his pulpit duties and the other sundry tasks he has assumed, Cantor Walters supervises the Beth Shalom Bar/Bat Mitzvah training program, conducts classes in Torah and Haftorah trop, and has organized an adult choir for special events. Cantor Walters served as Cantor of Temple Israel, Silver Spring, Maryland for five years immediately before assuming his position with Beth Shalom. Cantor Walters, a gifted singer and musician, comes from a musical family. His father, Samuel Walters, was a violinist with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and was a bandleader and synagogue choir director for many years in Pittsburgh. His brother, Cantor Bernard Walters, a pianist and composer, is currently the Cantor of a large Conservative congregation in suburban Philadelphia. Cantor Walters and his wife, Judith, a teacher of English for Speakers of Other Languages in the Montgomery County Public Schools, have two children, Rachel and Joshua.

Martin Schwartz, Executive Director

From The Desk of Marty Schwartz, Executive Director
Shalom! Greetings to the Beth Shalom Family.
I entered my office right after July 4, the beginning of the new fiscal year for Beth Shalom and at the beginning of the High Holiday preparation season. So far I have been busy trying to learn as much as possible about Beth Shalom. I am happy to report that High Holiday plans are in place and all of your wonderful congregation leadership and staff are working to provide a peaceful, spiritual experience for the many congregants expected at services.
I am excited to be your new Executive Director. I have worked in the Jewish Community for the past 25 years. Since moving to this area in 1988, I have had the opportunity to work with several synagogues. I have also worked in the Jewish community in Philadelphia and Tulsa, Oklahoma.
My family and I reside in Rockville. My wife and I have 2 sons, 1 dog and 2 hamsters. In my leisure time I enjoy working in my garden and playing percussion in the Rockville Concert Band.
I look forward to meeting and speaking with many of you during the next few months. Please feel free to contact me to say “hello” or if I can be of any assistance to you.
I want to thank those who have made themselves available during the past few weeks to meet and assist me during this important transition period. I am proud to be a part of the wonderful professional staff team here at Beth Shalom.
B’Shalom,
Marty Schwartz

Lisa Rothstein Goldberg, Family & Youth Educator

 Lisa Rothstein Goldberg, a native of Houston, Texas, arrived at Beth Shalom in late August 2007, following a summer working as a project director for the American Jewish Society for Service. In that capacity, she, along with her husband, supervised a group of high school students from all over the country as they built homes for Hurricane Katrina evacuees in Little Rock, Arkansas. She believes projects such as these are great ways to empower Jewish youth to put their Jewish ideals into action through tikkun olam. In addition to this, Lisa has taught sociology at Villa Julie College in Baltimore County (where she is the founding advisor of the Jewish Student Union), psychology at Yeshivat Rambam and religious school at four synagogues in the Baltimore area. Lisa’s formal education includes a BSW from University of Missouri-Columbia, MSW from University of Maryland-Baltimore and a MA in Jewish Communal Service from Baltimore Hebrew University. At Beth Shalom, Lisa coordinates activities for all four youth groups, teaches in the Hebrew School and coordinates Junior Congregation. Lisa and Matt Goldberg, an attorney, were married in October 2006 and live in Baltimore.

Howard Fishbein, President, Board of Trustees

Board of Directors - Beth Shalom Officers

Beth Shalom Executive Board
President	Howard Fishbein
President-Elect	David Schwartz
First Vice President	Debbie Rubin
Second Vice President	David Cohen
Secretary	Gloria Greene
Treasurer	Susan Kuning
Immediate Past-President	Jeff Cohen

Beth Shalom Board of Directors
Adult Education	Merle Haber & Janet Goldstein
Building Operations	Suzy Wheeler
Communications	Cindi Caplan &       Melissa Kay
Finance & Budget	Jonathan Schultz
Fund Raising	Randy Dalnekoff
Jewish Federation Representative	Jonathan Goldberg
Legal & By-Laws	Lloyd Eisenberg
Long Range Planning	Wade Williams
Membership	Lisa Spitulnik &   Michelle Sapp
Religious	Alan Sperling &            Alan Zeman
Religious School Board	Annette Kuperman
Social Action	Alan Seidman
Social Events	Irene Hechler & Laurie Diener
Youth	Jodi Pluznik
Men’s Club President	Harry Siegel
Sisterhood President	Irene Griff

Professional Staff

Executive Director	Martin Schwartz
Education Director	Richard Kavalsky
Family & Youth Educator	Lisa Rothstein Goldberg
Executive Secretary	Norma Joseph
Accountant Assistant	Ruthann Klem
Administrative Assistant	Anita Green