What follows are brief sketches about three dozen active members of Congregation Tikvat Israel as well as some staff members. These were prepared originally for the synagogue’s monthly Bulletin over the past decade, but most have been updated in summer 2007.

Mini-Profile: Susan Apter (updated July 2007)

Susan Apter, a Philadelphian by birth, joined Tikvat Israel with husband Alan and children Melissa and Ross in 2000 after relocating from West Hartford, Conn. She has been active in a number of ways, including the TI choir, Sisterhood and its Rosh Chodesh Group, various committes and a nine-family Havurah.

"I have received the most satisfaction out of learning to chant Haftorah and Torah at TI and doing so on a regular basis," she says.

In January 2007, Susan became a vice president and serves as the co-chair of adult education and college outreach committees. She has assigned Shabbat and Holiday Haftorot (when no Mitzvahs are scheduled) since 2004. Other committees she has been involved with include Religious Practices, Strategic Communications and the Religious school.

An active alumna of Drew University, Susan has served for more than 20 years as class secretary compiling the classnotes column quarterly. A 20-year employee of the Department of Defense, she now is an employee of the National Institutes of Health. She and her family live in Rockville.

Mini-Profile: Carol Barsky (updated July 2007)

Multi-tasking is the order of the day, almost every day, for Carol Barsky, who worked as an office assistant at Temple Israel for a decade and has done the same at Tikvat Israel since the merger of the two conservative synagogues in 1997.

Carol has provided all manner of administrative support to the synagogue's clergy and professional staff as one of the assistants to TI Executive Director Susan Newman. "We all truly enjoy each other and work together famously – except when we disagree on the setting of the thermostat!" she jokes.

Currently, Carol's primary responsibilities are to support Sandy Levine, director of education, and her teaching staff.

A Washington, D.C., native who graduated from Montgomery Blair High School in Silver Spring, Carol worked as an administrative secretary at the National Institutes of Health before she moved into full-time rearing of three children, now all married and living in the area. Her family has expanded to include two grandchildren.

Carol was introduced to Beth Tikva back in the mid-1970s when she enrolled her children in the synagogue's nursery school. Her grandson, Nathan, currently attends the ECC.

She and husband Richard reside in Silver Spring.

Mini-Profile: Arlene Berger (January, 2008)

For the past several years, Arlene Berger worked as education director of the Bethesda-Chevy Chase Jewish Community Group, an unaffiliated Sunday school in Rockville, Md. During that time she took part in the Israel Educators Institute, a program designed to train veteran Jewish educators as Israel education curriculum specialists for the congregational schools.

Arlene departed that post after completing her first year of rabbinical school at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College in Wyncote, Pa., a Philadelphia suburb. At RRC, Arlene is pursuing the track to become a congregational rabbi.

While she still considers Tikvat Israel home, she doesn’t get to spend as much time there as she would like. Along with her children, Jennie (17) and Alex (14), she conducts twice-monthly Kabbalat Services at Landow House Assisted Living in Rockville. For the past two years she conducted High Holiday family services for 3rd through 6th graders and their families (about 300 people) at a Reform temple in Simsbury, Conn.

Her most exciting news, though, is that she has her first student pulpit at Havurat Tikvah, a Reconstructionist congregation in Charlotte, N.C.

Arlene and husband Warren live in Rockville, just five minutes from TI. Their children Jennie and Alex both celebrated their b’nai mitzvah with their community at TI. The Bergers joined the synagogue in 1994 after moving to the vicinity from Massachusetts.

Mini-Profile: Lynn Berk (updated July 2007)

When Lynn Berk decided to leave Tifereth Israel after two decades in various jobs, she jokes that Tikvat Israel seemed like a perfect fit for her next position. "After 20 years at a place called TI, it was simpler to go to another TI than learn a new set of initials," she quips.

Berk, a Silver Spring resident, came to Tikvat Israel in 2005 with more than 30 years of experience in youth work and synagogue programming.

She has spent her time at TI revitalizing the youth department and working on family programming. She is responsible for involving young children, teens and families in experiential Jewish learning activities while teaching the entire family a love for synagogue life and the Jewish community. "The synagogue should be a place families look forward to coming to and Judaism should have an important place in their lives," Berk says.

The new Youth and Family Programming Department runs a variety of programs throughout the year — from Sukkah decorating to outings at a Washington Wizards basketball game; from a Christmas Day "Trip to Israel" to an Israel Independence Day celebration. Lynn constantly devises ideas to get participation at TI. This year, she has organized Kaplan SAT prep course, a driver's education course, CPR certification classes, a babysitting course and a college admissions seminar.

Lynn has taught art in local religious schools, has been a preschool teacher for the DC Jewish Community Center and Temple Ohr Kodesh and is an active staff member for Seaboard Region USY and Kadima programs and conventions. During her lengthy tenure at Tifereth Israel in Washington, D.C., she served for four years as deputy director of lifelong learning after earlier filling in as acting executive director and 16 years as youth director.

She has owned and operated Elegant Edibles Caterers, a Kosher firm, since 1985.

Born and raised in Chicago, Berk grew up active in BBYO, although her brother was a USYer. She attended a regional USY encampment with him once and came home as a Kadima adviser. "It just grew from there," says Berk.

She is married to Harvey Berk and has one son, Mitchell.

Mini-Profile: Elyse Bernstein (updated July 2007)

Elyse Bernstein wants TI members who head off to college to know that they're not forgotten. So she's played a significant role in keeping those connections alive for collegians in her role the past several years as co-chair of TI's College Outreach Committee.

Elyse and her family joined TI in 1992 and a year later she joined the Education Committee and later served for four years as co-chair of the Religious School Education Committee. She helped to revamp the Chai program curriculum and co-chaired a fundraiser for new classroom furnishings. Elyse also served as editor of the cookbook "Beth Tikva Temptations" in the mid-1990s as a way to support the education committee. In addition, she has been a havurah coordinator and now serves on the membership committee.

Elyse works at Forest Knolls Elementary School in Silver Spring, where she teaches reading to 3rd, 4th and 5th graders.

A native of Arlington, Va., she and husband Jeff, a TI board member, are parents of three daughters.

Mini-Profile: Jeff Bernstein (updated June 2007)

Jeff Bernstein, a Fairfax County native, ensures the smooth running of Shabbat services as the principal organizer and scheduler of ushers each week. A former chair of the religious practices committee, he currently oversees the scheduling of Torah readers for Shabbat mincha and weekday minyans.

readers. He often leads the Monday morning minyan. He is a vice president of the board of directors, having joined the board in 1999.

"I would like to point out that Beth Tikva/Tikvat Israel has been a place where I and my family have been able to learn and grow, Judaically speaking, and use these skills and knowledge in leadership and volunteer positions," Jeff says. "I am grateful for these opportunities."

Jeff is a pediatrician in Silver Spring, where he has practiced for 19 years.

Outside of work, his primary interests center on three daughters, ages 20 to 15. He and wife Elyse joined Beth Tikva in 1992.

Mini-Profile: Joel Bressler (updated July 2007)

Joel Bressler can measure his life thus far in two somewhat unequal pieces. There's the part that took shape in Jacksonville, Fla., where he spent years as a pharmacist and nutritional researcher and as cantor of the largest Conservative congregation. He also raised a family of three at the time.

Then there's the ongoing part that involves Tikvat Israel. He joined the congregation 10 years ago, after his marriage to Shirley Waxman, and has since filled all manner of roles, including a stint on the board of directors, chairmanship of the religious practices committee and teacher of adult education classes. He's also been called upon as an emergency cantor on a few occasions, and he regularly conducts services at the Hebrew Home.

Joel also has served as High Holidays cantor in Charleston, S.C., Patuxent, Md., and Jacksonville. "I found these to be unique experiences, exploring the personalities of various congregations," he says.

His travels have been extensive, including a variety of stays in eastern Europe, the Ukraine and Mexico. He tries to visit synagogues when he is in foreign countries.

An ardent supporter of good nutrition, Joel delivers presentations to community groups and has written on the subject for the Washington Jewish Week. Joel has written a book on the subject, Nutrition: The Case of Misplaced Emphasis, and his website on ther topic is accessible at joelsnewsletter.com.

A grandfather of seven, Joel resides in Potomac.

Mini-Profile: Brenda Brooks (updated July 2007)

A native of Montgomery County, Brenda Brooks attended school locally. She grew up as a Reform Jew with little knowledge of Hebrew, but has grown in her understanding of the language and the religion through her participation in the synagogue since joining with her family in 1994.

Over the years, her life has been increasingly more focused on the synagogue. She is a long-standing member of the Tikvat Israel Religious School committee and has been a co-chair of the group (with Jonathan Solomon) for the past two years. She also is a member of the Tikvat Israel "Hopeful Talkers" Toastmaster's Club.

In Brenda's professional life, she is a government contracting officer, working on large vaccine projects for the Department of Health and Human Services.

Brenda and husband Keith have three children — Gabrielle, Jeremy, and Michael, ages 11, 16 and 20, respectively. In her spare time, Brenda enjoys exercising, music, museums and shopping.

Mini-Profile: Louise Chatlynne (updated July 2007)

Louise Chatlynne has been a major force for years behind the bereavement committee, now called the Hevra Kadisha. In this volunteer capacity, she serves on the women's Tahara group that prepares the dead for burial. She also gives talks for adult education groups and the confirmation class on Jewish customs and rituals dealing with death and mourning.

Louise also is the coordinator of the TI Bikur Holim (literally "visiting the sick"). TI's group provides meals and rides and runs errands for members temporarily incapacitated due to illness or surgery. "Tikvat Israel is such a compassionate caring congregation that all I have to do is put out the word that people need help and I get a lot of volunteers," she says. "I think the hardest part is to get people to realize there is no shame in asking for help to tide them over a tough patch. That is what community is for."

Just to prove that she is not all work and no play, Louise has contributed dramatic material for the Purim skits for the last five years, and she says she has no problem whatsoever making a fool of herself. She is a member of Hopeful Talkers, TI's Toastmasters group, and participates in the Toastmasters' training course for TI's Bar and Bat Mitzvah students.

Professionally, Louise works for a small biotech company as a virologist, designing assays for researchers testing human pathogens.

A native of Santa Barbara, Calif., Louise spent her formative years in Hempstead, N.Y. She and her husband Chuck joined Beth Tikva in 1984. They have two grown children, Etan and Morit. Morit was married at TI in 2004.

Mini-Profile: Roberta Cohen (updated November 2007)

Roberta Cohen (who prefers to be known as Robbi) spent her formative years in Miami, Fla., where she was president of one of the local Young Judaea chapters. She joined TI, along with her husband Larry and daughter Melissa, about 12 years ago.

Robbi was formerly a member of the Youth Commission and the Education Committee. She is a member of the TI Board of Directors, Tzedekah Chavurah, Bereavement Committee, College Outreach Committee and, along with her husband Larry, co-chair of the Social Action Committee. She is a life member of Hadassah.

A recently retired special educator in the Montgomery County system, Robbi is working in the family dental business and serving as an adjunct professor in the School of Education at Montgomery College.

"Outside of work and synagogue activities," she says, "I enjoy spending time with my family, our dogs Annie and Ari, reading, traveling, and socializing with friends."

Mini-Profile: Elliot Cowan (updated July 2007)

They are the pride of Elliot Cowan, who with wife Bonnie has been a congregation member for 18 years. He's the inspiration and the hard work behind TI's Torah Club, which for the past 15 years has prepared almost 100 boys and girls as young as 7 years of age in the chanting of Torah trope. Elliot offers the instruction on two Shabbats each month.

A native of Philadelphia, he credits a similar venture at Congregation Adath Jeshurun in Elkins Park, Pa., for teaching him to read Torah at age 12. Tikvat Israel's decade-old Torah Club was named in memory of Elliot's father in the late 1990s.

Elliot is a former chair of the religious practices committee and functioned as "rabbi pro-tem" during Rabbi Gorin's sabbatical about 20 years ago. He and his wife had a memorable introduction to the synagogue. "When the rabbi found out that we were getting married just before Rosh Hashanah, he arranged for us to come to then Beth Tikva, as well as meals throughout. It was our introduction to this wonderful community," he recalls.

A graduate of Williams College, Elliot earned a doctorate in immunology from Washington University in St. Louis. He spent 10 years at the National Institutes of Health, working on immunogenetics and later on multiple sclerosis research. Since 1993, he has been at the Food and Drug Administration, responsible for issues related to preventing transmission of HIV infections by blood donors. He currently leads a group responsible for the evaluation of all blood donor screening tests and HIV diagnostics. He's also involved with an international effort to support laboratory testing in developing countries hardest hit by the HIV epidemic.

Elliot has three children, Marnina, Amalia and Micah.

Mini-Profile: Jerry Dunietz (October, 1999)

Jerry Dunietz, a congregant for 15 years, grew up in the shadow of Temple Israel, where he was active in youth activities.

Long involved on various synagogue committees and a member of the synagogue board since 1994, Jerry started a weekly Mishnah Study Group four years ago, which evolved into a Talmud Study Group that is nearing completion of its second tractate of Gemara.

"As another outgrowth, we were able to able at siyyums on the morning of the first Seder in some years, which enabled several first-borns in the synagogue to eat that day!" he says.

His study group direction also led him to start Sunday evening minyans, which he now serves as captain.

Jerry, a native of Vineland, N.J., also has offered his professional know-how as a lawyer. He provided counsel on the drafting of the congregation's new bylaws following the merger.

In recent years, he also has served as a leader of Tikvat Israel's Boy Scout Troop 1948, of which his son Joshua is a member.

Mini-Profile: Dave Gantz (updated July 2007)

Dave Gantz isn't sure how he first got involved in some of the key volunteer roles of synagogue life. They just sort of fell into place, he says.

Today, he co-chairs both the Bereavement Committee and the Tzedakah Committee at Tikvat Israel and serves as Gabai Gadol and a captain for morning and evening minyans. He also served a term on the Beth Tikva board of directors.

On the Tzedakah Committee, Dave is the keeper of the checkbook, a duty he's filled for 10 years. He also is intimately involved in the committee's twice-a-year discussions on how to allocate the funds collected as charity (more than $5,500 in the past year). "We're always discussing the issue of Jewish versus non-Jewish and local versus non-local. ... Hopefully we're striking a good balance."

He adds: "We occasionally have face to face meetings, but we regularly have back and forth discussions by e-mail concerning allocations between group members. We constantly come back to the idea that the congregation has entrusted us to make good allocation decisions and sometimes despite our personal feelings, we allocate as the community would want us to."

Dave is a founding member of the Bereavement Committee, which he estimates is now seven years old. While this committee continues to oversee a half dozen functions following a death in the synagogue community, Dave says the enlarged office staff at the shul has relieved some of the pressure on committee members.

"As chair of the committee, I am the one who receives kudos, but it is the individuals within the group who I am honored to know. While serving our community they insist on as much anonymity as possible and this humbles me."

Dave retired in 2004 from the State of Maryland Assessment Office, where he worked for nearly 30 years as a commercial assessor in Montgomery County. ("Homeowners need not worry," he once joked. "I only pick on the Rockville Pike folks.") He returned to the work force as a property tax manager for Marriott International in Bethesda.

He and his wife Alice live in Rockville. Both daughters, Rachel and Margo, who are now adults, celebrated their bat mitzvah at Beth Tikva, which the family joined in the early 1980s.

Mini-Profile: Sam Gilston (updated July 2007)

Sam Gilston, a New York City native who grew up in Putnam Valley, N.Y., has been a devoted synagogue volunteer since joining Beth Tikva in 1975. He served for 12 years on the synagogue board, including a stint as vice president.

Sam was co-chair of the building committee between 1985 and 1987 that resulted in the addition of the social hall and education wing. He has been captain for Monday morning minyans for the past 16 years and headed a congregation crew for Sukkot in April, a housing restoration project. He has served on numerous synagogue committees, helping with fund raising and publicity.

Sam was honored as Tikvat Israel's Hattan Torah on the occasion of Simchat Torah in 2001, an award for significant contributions to the synagogue's religious, educational and cultural life.

A career journalist, Sam is president of Gilston-Kalin Communications LLC, which publishes two specialty periodicals, Washington Tariff & Trade Letter, a weekly newsletter on U.S. trade policies and negotiations, and The Export Practitioner, a monthly magazine on U.S. export control regulations. He serves as editor and publisher of both publications.

Sam and his wife Tami live in Rockville. They have two grown daughters and three grandchildren. Both daughters received their Jewish education and became B'nai Mitzvah at what was then Beth Tikva.

Mini-Profile: Shelly Goldin (updated July 2007)

Shelly Goldin has taken many leadership roles in volunteer organizations. She began her service orientation as a teen-ager as regional human relations chair in B'nai B'rith Youth Organization, then moved on to assume a series of top posts — regional president for Women's American ORT in Washington D.C., president of Tikvat Israel Congregation and currently president of Seaboard Region for Women's League of Conservative Judaism.

But her heart is in her shul. A member of Tikvat Israel for 18 years, she has served on many committees such as membership, special events, Israel Quest, education and kiddush coordination. She was Sisterhood treasurer, Torah Fund vice president and then of TI for three years, concluding in December 2005. She developed a reputation for her wonderful story telling from the pulpit during her tenure as synagogue president.

Shelly, a Brooklyn native, works in business development domestically and abroad with a leading professional association in Washington, D.C.

She is married to Bruce Goldin, who is an active member on TI's Social Action Committee. Their two grown children, Sarah and Daniel, are working and attending university in New York and Boston, respectively.

Mini-Profile: Larry Gorban (updated July 2007)

Larry Gorban fills various roles at Tikvat Israel. Currently he serves as one of the vice presidents, having oversight responsibilities for facilities-related issues.

In addition, he chairs the Kitchen Committee, which has responsibility for kitchen operations and kashrut observance within the kitchen and for food preparation and service. (Larry notes that the Kitchen Committee is always looking for additional volunteers.)

Larry also heads the Temple Israel Foundation, a charitable arm of the synagogue. The foundation awards grants to various organizations and causes that further social awareness, Jewish education and practice and support of Israel. The foundation has awarded more than $100,000 in grants since its inception.

He believes his work with the foundation is a natural extension of his work with local service organizations, such as the Silver Spring Interfaith Housing Coalition and the Shepherd's Table. The latter is a multi-service center in downtown Silver Spring serving the homeless and those at risk of homelessness. He has been on the boards of both organizations for several years, serving as treasurer of SSIHC for more than a decade and as past president of Shepherd's Table for two terms.

A Temple Israel member for nearly 30 years, he served as that congregation's president when the decision was made in 1996 to sell the synagogue property and begin the merger process. "I was totally consumed by the future," he says. "The hardest thing was knowing we had to sell to continue our existence."

Mini-Profile: Manny Helzner (April 2003)

He may be better known as the parent of two leading musical talents, but Manny Helzner has a distinguished musical background of his own.

A native of Lynn, Mass., he grew up in a Yiddish-speaking family and attended an afternoon Yiddish school, where he discovered his love for music - a quality that he and his late wife Charlotte passed on to their three children. Daughter Rochelle is Tikvat Israel's cantor. His other daughter Robyn is a professional singer and songwriter.

"I love performing with my children whenever they allow me, and I enjoy even more kvelling when they perform without me," said Manny, who did share the stage with his progeny on several numbers at the annual cantor's concert in November. He also could be found plastering publicity fliers for the event on bulletin boards everywhere.

He added: "Most of the credit probably belongs to their late mother who fostered and nurtured a love for music and who did most of the shlepping to lessons, rehearsals and performances."

Trained as an economist with 30 years of government service, Manny lists as his extracurricular activities his 26 years of singing with Zemer Chai, the Washington-area's Jewish Community Chorus, playing the snare drum and singing with Tikvat Israel's Eine Kleine Tikva band. He took lessons on various instruments as a youngster but claims he mastered none.

Manny previously served as the part-time religious school director for Temple Sinai, Temple Shalom and Congregation Oseh Shalom. He was also the first male appointed chair of Hadassah's Zionist Youth Commission in Washington.

A member of Tikvat Israel for about 16 years, he is married to Roberta Greenberg Helzner.

Mini-Profile: Cantor Rochelle Helzner (updated July 2007)

If you want to know when Rochelle Helzner first went public with her extraordinary musical talent, you need to go back to her days as a 10-year-old, when she and her sister, two years her junior, shared a guitar during a short set at the Hebrew Home.

That performance sometimes returns to the public eye. An oversized print of a newspaper photo of the young singing pair was prominently displayed at the Jewish Community Center as part of the center's 75th anniversary celebration a few years back.

Rochelle joined Beth Tikva as cantor in fall 1984 after years of apprenticeship under several veteran cantors in the Washington area. She was one of only four female cantors in the Conservative movement (because cantorial schools did not accept women at the time). A founding member of the Women Cantors Network, she has provided counsel to a number of women who have followed her into the profession.

She previously worked at Temple Sinai and had led cantorial activities at Adas Israel, Har Shalom, the Jewish Adult Singles' Synagogue and the Fort Belvoir Chapel.

As cantor, she is involved in the liturgical, educational and cultural activities of Tikvat Israel and the local community. She has performed on stages around the country as far away as Honolulu and has appeared as guest cantor at both Jewish and interfaith events.

On rare occasion, she gets to team up with her sister Robin, a Jewish folk singer who performs worldwide.

Rochelle graduated from Douglass College, Rutgers University, with a degree in music, theater and art. Her cantorial training was received through apprenticeships under such notable hazzanim as Jeffrey Nadel, Arnold Saltzman, Max Wohlberg and Robert Kieval.

The cantor and her husband, Robert Agus, live in Chevy Chase and have two children.

Mini-Profile: Annabelle Jaffe (September 2002)

Annabelle Jaffe, a native of Cincinnati, has begun her 48th year as a professional educator, the past 38 as a guidance counselor at Wheaton High School. She also taught Hebrew and Judaic studies to children for 25 years, mostly at Temple Sinai, and continues to serve as an occasional substitute. "I do miss the little ones," she says.

Annabelle has filled several key roles at Tikvat Israel, chairing the Israel Bonds campaign and the Kiddush committee and serving on the first governing board following the merger of Temple Israel and Beth Tikva. At Temple Israel, which her family joined in 1965, Annabelle spent two terms as Sisterhood president.

Annabelle was named Kallah Bereshit (bride of the Torah) on Simchat Torah in 2002, an honor accorded each year to Tikvat Israel members who have made significant contributions to the religious, educational or cultural life of the synagogue or the greater Jewish community.

She has made more than 20 excursions to Israel, where her husband passed away in 1977 during the couple's third visit there.

Annabelle and her son Barry live in Silver Spring.

Mini-Profile: Naomi and Harvey Kaplan (July 2007)

Harvey and Naomi Kaplan form one of the great tag teams in teaching at Tikvat Israel's Religious School.

For five of the past ten years, they have played off each other's interests and strengths in Hebrew and Judaic studies to share the responsibility of instructing all 5th-grade pupils. More recently, owing to staffing adjustments, Harvey is handling the 5th grade solo, while Naomi teachers the 4th-grade class. Naomi has been teaching at our Religious School since the 1983-84 academic year.

As a working tandem, the Kaplans devised and promoted some popular programming, including original plays, religious services conducted by our youth, art projects, and involving our students in a creative writing contest each year. Over the years we've had many winners! In recent years the 4th and 5th graders have been making a joint field trip to the Ring House on a semiannual basis to entertain the residents with song, music, and dance. This is a wonderful experience for the students as well as the members of their audience.

Though teaching apart now, Naomi and Harvey bring no less gusto to the classroom. Says Harvey: "I suppose the greatest challenge is covering everything within the six hours to which we're limited each week."

Both born and bred in the West Bronx, Harvey and Naomi met as teenagers in religious school and they both attended The City College of New York.

Naomi is a teacher at the Hebrew Day Institute (HDI) in Wheaton, while Harvey, who spent his military career as an officer in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, now serves as a Senior Consultant providing assistance largely focused at senior government and military officers in transition. He also conducts private career coaching on a one-on-one basis.

"We both love to spend time and do interesting things with our family (4 children + 4 grandchildren, all in the DC/Baltimore area), travel in the summer, and do serious walking and take aerobic deep water classes at the Olney Swim Center for exercise," Harvey says. Their son Ira and his family are members of Tikvat Israel and grandson Jacob is enrolled in TI's Early Childhood Center. His big brother Aaron already is a graduate of our ECC.

Mini-Profile: Judy Katz (updated July 2007)

Judy Katz calls herself "Purim's Biggest Fan" because that is the only holiday when she is allowed to express her silly side and perform satirical songs in the annual Purim Spiel at TI. She serves as one of the principal lyricists for the popular annual show in the sanctuary.

At other times during the year, she can be found on the bima reading Torah and Haftorah.

Judy grew up in Wilmington, Del., and she and attended college in Pittsburgh. During the first day of her junior year at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, she met her husband Robert when she intercepted his rolling watermelon on an Egged bus. She lived in Israel for another six years, working for Israel Universities Press and Keter, the publisher of the Encyclopedia Judaica.

When she returned to the United States, Judy taught Hebrew school for several years (to which she attributes the gray in her hair). For the past 30 years she has worked at Hughes Network Systems in Germantown as a proofreader and editor.

When not working overtime, Judy likes to travel to Brooklyn and Cincinnati to visit her beloved children and grandchildren. Otherwise, she can be found with her nose in a book and a nosh in her hand at home in Gaithersburg.

Mini-Profile: Robert Katz (updated July 2007)

In his wife's comical view, Robert Katz's life is wrapped up in fish oil, but to most Tikvat Israel congregants his name is synonymous with adult education and Israel bonds.

Robert coordinated for years a highly motivated group of TI volunteers who taught short-term courses on various topics and organized special programs, such the annual Jack Rosen Memorial Scholar's Weekends and visiting scholar lectures. He taught Hebrew reading and conversational Hebrew to TI members.

For several years, Robert co-chaired the synagogue's Israel Bonds committee, was responsible for the High Holiday campaigns and for the spring recognition dinners for active supporters. He was also active in the Masorti Committee, where he organized a letter writing and fund drive to support Bar Mitzvahs of children with mental challenges in Israel.

Recently he became president of Hopeful Talkers, the Toastmasters Club at Tikvat Israel, and has proudly added his name to Shabbat Torah readers after graduation from TI's Torah reading academy.

A native of Arad, Romania, Robert emigrated to Israel in 1958, where he completed three college degrees at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Robert and family came to the United States in 1971 where he undertook a post-doctoral fellowship in organic/medicinal chemistry at the National Institutes of Health.

Robert worked as grants program director at the NIH but left in 1993 to form his own research institute on nutritional uses of fish oils, also known as Omega-3s. Robert says with a smile: "My wife Judy likes to say, 'Fish oil is my life.'"

Robert and Judy, who joined Beth Tikva in 1992, live in Gaithersburg.

Mini-Profile: Louis Kornhauser (September 2005)

A former board member at Temple Israel, where he served as vice president and chaired the education committee prior to its merger with Beth Tikva, Lou also served on the newly constituted Tikvat Israel board in the late 1990s.

Lou had a distinguished career in public education, spending 31 years with the District of Columbia Public Schools, mostly as a central-office administrator responsible for elementary education and foundation-funded projects that supported disadvantaged students. He also had the distinction as the first white principal named to oversee an all-black school when he assumed the lead of an elementary school in Southwest D.C. in 1957. He retired from the school system in 1972, then spent 10 years as executive assistant to the dean at the George Washington University School of Education.

He has two adult children and four grandchildren.

Mini-Profile: Sandy Levine (updated July 2007)

Sandy Levine has served with distinction as director of the religious school at Tikvat Israel since 1997. In doing so, she was the first full-time principal.

Sandy was honored as TI's Kallah B'reshit on Simchat Torah in fall 2001 when she received a special aliyah to mark her significant contributions to the synagogue's religious, educational and cultural life. She is widely credited with infusing a new spirit into the synagogue's religious school, adding enrichment classes in art and music and overseeing a family education component. She also oversaw the development of an interactive CD of the tefillah curriculum.

Sandy says she feels "honored" to manage Tikvat Israel's religious school. "Our school fosters Jewish values and respects each child's uniqueness," she says. "I am particularly proud that our religious school was named a Commended School by the Convenant Foundation and the Partnership for Jewish Life and Learning."

A native of Detroit, she began her education career in the Teacher Corps program in the cotton fields of Louisiana.

Sandy describes her landing on Baltimore Road as B'shert (meant to be). She was a long-time resident of Shreveport, La., when she visited the shul several years ago to attend a bat mitzvah. While here, she was introduced to congregant Larry Levine. Sandy and Larry celebrated their 10th anniversary in summer 2007. They have four children and two grandchildren.

Mini-Profile: Len Marco (updated July 2007)

A former educator in the Montgomery County Public Schools, Lern Marco was honored on Simchat Torah in 2002 for his dedicated service as a Tikvat Israel volunteer.

Len Marco served as Chattan Torah (groom of the torah). The honor is accorded each year to Tikvat Israel members who have made significant contributions to the religious, educational or cultural life of the synagogue or the greater Jewish community.

Born and bred in Brooklyn, Len spent more than 30 years as a physical education teacher and cross country and track coach in Montgomery County before retiring in 1997.

An active member since 1966 of the Rockville Volunteer Fire Department, with whom he's filled several leadership posts, Len served a four-year term on the Montgomery County Fire Rescue Commission.

He and wife Judy, who live in Rockville, joined Beth Tikva in 1969. Around the High Holidays, Len is particularly busy, serving as a shofar blower, helping with security and polishing the ark and podiums. He also helps to coordinate the synagogue's bicycle collection and donation program.

Since retiring, he has learned to chant Torah and Haftorah and he recently chanted at his father's synagogue on the occasion of his 92nd birthday. "I am continuing my Judaic studies at the Board of Jewish Education and have many interests to keep me very busy from gardening to fishing and hunting," he says.

Of his recent activities, Len is especially proud and joyous of his status as a grandfather to Noah Semel of Charlotte, N.C., and shortly to Noah's sister (yet unnamed). He and Judy travel regularly to the Tar Heel State.

"I'm doing a lot of reading and starting to ride a bicycle for exercise and outdoor enjoyment. Also riding my big bike (Harley Davidson), which I enjoy very much," says Len.

Mini-Profile: Neil Newman (updated July 2007)

Neil Newman's quarter-century of extraordinary volunteer leadership includes two terms as synagogue president and management of two successful fund-raising drives. But what makes him most proud of his synagogue life takes place outside the limelight in front of just a handful of individuals.

"Of all my shul activities, the most enjoyable and rewarding has been serving as a volunteer teacher in past years in the Chai program and now as the facilitator of the synagogue's high school Junior/Senior Seminar," says the Boston native who spent his formative years in Portland, Maine. "Working with our young people is a delight and always a learning experience for student and teacher."

Neil also leads synagogue adult education seminars regarding the Holocaust and Jewish life in the Diaspora.

He served as the congregational president on two separate occasions — a one-year term that stretched into two in the mid-1980s and a three-year stint that concluded in 1999. He is one of only TI members believed to hold that distinction. Neil left both presidencies to assume co-chairmanship of major development campaigns in support of expanded temple facilities.

His leadership log extends much further: various positions on the synagogue governing board, men's club president, chair of religious practices and cantorial concert committees and chairmanship of the synagogue's lawyers committee. Presently, he chairs the Past President Task Force.

Neil has been active in other Jewish community activities. He is a member of the board of directors of the Hebrew Home of Greater Washington serving on the Quality Improvement and Strategic Planning Committees. Additionally, he is a charter member and volunteer tour guide at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum.

A graduate of Bates College and the Boston University School of Law, Neil served professionally as vice president and general counsel for Nuclear Fuel Services for 31 years prior to retiring in March 2005. From 1973 to 1999, he was an adjunct professor at American University and then Johns Hopkins University. He currently provides regulatory consulting services through his company, NJN Associates.

Neil and his wife Susan, who serves as the synagogue's executive director, joined Beth Tikva in 1976.

Mini-Profile: Susan W. Newman (updated July 2007)

Susan Newman, a native Philadelphian, has been connected in some form to what is now Tikvat Israel since 1976 when she and husband Neil joined as members. But she will be best remembered as the hard-working executive director over an 11-year period ending in October 2007.

She is a graduate of Penn State University with a degree in elementary education. With her marriage to Neil, she came to live in Maryland in 1972. For many years Susan taught nursery school at the Silver Spring Jewish Center and at Ohr Kodesh Congregation before becoming the office manager for Consolidated Religious School of Greater Washington from 1985 to 1996. During that time, she also taught Sunday School for CRS.

The Newmans joined Beth Tikva in 1976 where both have served in many volunteer roles. Susan's list includes financial secretary, chair of the youth commission and college outreach committee. In November 1996, she became the administrator for Beth Tikva and subsequently the first executive director of Tikvat Israel, the product of a merger with Temple Israel of Silver Spring.

When asked what she most enjoys about her position at TI, she states the daily contact with the congregants and helping them gain the most possible from being member of the synagogue, especially assisting them through life-cycle events.

Over the past 20 years, Susan has enjoyed traveling with Neil to Canada, Europe, the Caribbean Islands, the Middle East, and especially on two occasions to Israel.

Susan's retirement — on Oct. 31, 2007 – will be the start of a new phase in her life. She says she is looking forward to resuming volunteer work for the synagogue and spending more time with her granddaughter, Leora.

Mini-Profile: Joshua Pollock (updated July 2007)

Josh Pollack joined TI in 2001 when he and his wife moved to Rockville from Baltimore, where both had been graduate students. Not long after, Josh was asked to serve as moderator for the TI Israel News listserve through which he kept fellow congregants fully apprized of how Jews were being portrayed in the world's news media.

When he's off-line, the Ann Arbor, Mich., native works as an analyst in Washington, working on defense issues and homeland security since fall 2000. "My areas of specialty are nonproliferation, the Middle East and risk assessment,” Josh says. He published a detailed article several years back about the U.S-Saudi security relationship in the Middle East Review of International Affairs.

A Shabbat regular, Josh served a term on the TI governing board and the board's Security Committee.

He and his wife Dalit Baranoff have two children, Aviva and Elijah. They reside in Silver Spring.

Mini-Profile: Steve Raucher (updated July 2007)

As Steve Raucher has discovered, one good idea can lead to a lifetime of service.

Brooklyn born and bred, Steve had only been a dues-paying member of Beth Tikva for a few weeks in the fall of 1969 when he suggested that the synagogue's burgeoning religious school build portable classrooms, rather than rent space from Meadow Hall Elementary School around the corner, until a major expansion could take place. "For my thoughts, I was made education committee chair," he says.

In the 38 years since then, Steve has served in an array of leadership roles with particular attention to youth affairs and education, his professional field. Wife Helen and he started the synagogue's nursery school in 1972. He helped revise the Hebrew School curriculum and got Beth Tikva to join the Board of Jewish Education. A long-time Tikvat Israel board member, including nearly two years as president, Raucher proudly points to his nomination in 1974 of Phyllis Newman z”l, who shortly became the first elected female synagogue president in the Washington, D.C., Conservative movement.

Steve also is one of Boy Scouting's staunchest promoters. He is the official charter representative for TI's Troop 1948 and he has received the Shofar Award, the highest scout recognition accorded to Jewish adult volunteers. He served as the Washington, D.C., cabinet president for Masorti (Israel's Conservative movement) and is a founding member of Eine Kleina Tikva, the TI Klezmer Band with whom he plays clarinet.

Most meaningful, he says, has been his work with Jewish youth "whether as a counselor to scouts, developing curriculum to improve the Hebrew School, creating the nursery school — it's all about the kids." That perspective is mirrored by his wife, Helen, who spent more than 30 years as the chair of mathematics department at the Melvin J. Berman Hebrew Academy.

Steve retired from the Montgomery County Public Schools after serving in a variety of positions culminating in director of transportation. He now works as the executive director of the 1000-member strong Association of School Business Officials of Maryland and DC.

Steve's principal hobby is restoring antique cars and occasionally on warm days congregants can't help noticing his slick 1936 Chevrolet in the parking lot.

A Rockville resident, he also points proudly to his status as a grandparent of six.

Mini-Profile: Jonathan Solomon (updated July 2007)

Born and raised in the New York City area, Jonathan Solomon moved to upstate New York to get his master's and doctoral degrees in school psychology at Syracuse University. (During his time in the Salt City during the early '80s, he and fellow TI board member Jay Goldman were Explorer Post advisers.)

Thanks to his wife Nancy's active career as a speech science researcher, Jonathan then had the opportunity to live in Tucson, Iowa City, Minneapolis and now Rockville. He has become eagerly involved in life at Tikvat Israel, serving as co-chair of the Purim Shpiel committee and Religious Education committee. He also sits on TI's Youth Commission.

Jonathan was elected one of TI's vice presidents on the board for the 2007-09 term.

Professionally, Jonathan works as a school psychologist in the Howard County Public Schools. In his spare time, his interests include bicycling and photography.

Jonathan has two daughters, Shayna and Rachel, who attend the Religious School and Torah Club. The family joined TI in 2002.

Mini-Profile: Sam Spiegel (September 2000)

Sam Spiegel, a past president of Temple Israel, a member of its board for 25 years and chairperson of its building committee at the time of the merger with Beth Tikva, leads a full life as a key volunteer to sundry Jewish causes.

A native of Kozienice, Poland, and a survivor of Auschwitz, Sam has chaired for almost a decade the "Remember a Child" program for the Jewish Holocaust Survivors and Friends of Greater Washington. He is past president of B'nai Brith Free State Lodge, a board member of the Jewish Community Council of Greater Washington and a volunteer for the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, where he is asked by archivists to translate unearthed documents from Polish and Yiddish to English.

Sam was named one of the TI congregants of the year for his contributions to the cultural, religious and educational life on the occasion of Simchat Torah in October 2000.

On a half dozen occasions, Sam has served as a tour guide for groups of American youth on visits to former concentration camps in Poland through the March of the Living Program, sponsored by B'nai Brith.

Sam retired in 1985 as an owner of a sheet metal roofing company in Prince George's County. He has three married daughters and eight grandchildren. He and his wife Regina live in Silver Spring.

Mini-Profile: Shirley Waxman (updated July 2007)

She may be known as Tikvat Israel's resident artist extraordinaire, but Shirley Waxman spent the first decade of her professional life in the nursing field. A native of Hamilton, Ontario, she was a member of the first graduating class of nurses at Jewish General Hospital in Montreal.

Since she joined the congregation in 1988, Shirley has orchestrated numerous cultural programs for the temple's youth and adults while her artwork, which graces the foyer and sanctuary, has brought ongoing community attention to the synagogue.

Among the various programs and artistic ventures she has organized and directed are these:

• the first ArtSites exhibit in the synagogue;
• a weekend of Yemenite folklore, music, food and artifacts;
• an evening with Herb Baumel, original violinist in the Broadway production of "Fiddler on the Roof;" and
• a dance performance with a wearable art fashion show.

As an accomplished needlewoman and Judaic folklorist, Shirley creates wearable art and functional ceremonial objects for synagogue and home. Her Judaic collection includes pieced and painted challah covers, wall hangings, kippot (skull caps), tallitot (prayer shawls), chuppot (marriage canopies) and Torah mantles. She is available for lectures and workshops.

Her work has been selected for many shows including in the National Museum of American Jewish History in Philadelphia; and "Fabrics of Faith: Contemporary Liturgical Textiles” at the Washington National Cathedral. Her commissioned pieces include eight Torah mantles, including those in use at TI.

A fiber art specialist, Shirley oversaw the embroidery work (completed by 150 volunteers) on the TI sanctuary's 12-by-8-foot wall hanging ("For Everything There is a Season"), which has attracted wide acclaim — even gracing the front cover of the 1992-1993 United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism's calendar.

In addition, Shirley has made her mark as a choreographer of the synagogue's annual Shavuot pageant, an event for which she also designed the costumes.

"Of all the things I've been involved in, I most enjoy seeing lots of young families participating. That's wonderful to me," she says.

She was the director of the Israeli Folklore and Folkdance Department of the Jewish Community Center of Greater Washington for 13 years. She is the founder and director of ArtSites, the Guild for Judaic Art.

Her philosophy comes from a folklore background – as she puts it: "Teach others and you will learn; express what is meaningful for people and hopefully they will understand and feel joy from your work.”

Mini-Profile: Howard Wilchins (updated July 2007)

Howard Wilchins, born and raised in Paterson, N.J., joined Beth Tikva with his family in 1992.

He served on the Tikvat Israel board for four years and served as chair of the Chai campaign for 10 years.

"I took on the Chai campaign role shortly after the merger with Temple Israel was completed," says Howard, who served as a board vice-president. "Temple Israel had a congregational ethos that permitted recognition for voluntary giving for worthy causes in the synagogue. This coincided nicely with my perception of our programmatic needs, so it was nicely serendipitous."

He also serves on a number of local and national boards that focus on Jewish education. They include the Jewish Education Service of North America, the Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School, the Gesher Jewish Day School and the Partnership for Jewish Life and Learning.

Professionally, Howard is an administrative lawyer, specializing in the areas of energy, communications and transportation.

Howard is a big fan of TI, citing its hamishness and community sensibility as reasons to remain part of the family. He also enjoys kibitzing with a select group of back benchers during Shabbat services.

Howard is a widower who married his current wife, Sue, in 2004 and between them they have five children and one granddaughter.

Mini-Profile: Mark Waldman (updated July 2007)

Mark Waldman carries a unique perspective of synagogue life as a Tikvat Israel congregant.

He serve as director of synagogue initiative for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). As the director of this newly launched program, Mark is responsible for outreach to the rabbinic and synagogue community with the goal of greater participation in pro-Israel activism by synagogue members.

He previously worked as executive director for the Seaboard Region of United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism based in Washington, a resource to 44 Conservative congregations in Maryland, Virginia, the District of Columbia and North Carolina.

Mark and his wife Robin joined Tikvat Israel in fall 2001 after some shul shopping in the Washington area.

Mark previously spent three years directing the Upstate New York region for United Synagogue. Before going to work for USCJ, he held several posts in the Democratic Party, local and state government. Mark has been the finance director for the Erie County Democratic Committee in Buffalo, N.Y., chief of staff to an Erie County legislator and legislative assistant for a New York State assemblyman.

Mark has a B.A. in political science from SUNY Buffalo and a masters in management with a concentration in non-profit management from the University of Maryland. He was born in Rochester, N.Y.

Mini-Profile: Charlotte Zeidman (updated July 2007)

Anyone who has set foot in Tikvat Israel's kitchen during the last 30 years or so can't help but notice the fastidiousness. That's largely the doing of synagogue member Charlotte Zeidman, who calls herself Tikvat Israel's "head mashgiach" — the individual responsible for overseeing the kashruth requirements of the kitchen. Officially, Charlotte serves as co-captain of the synagogue's Kashruth Committee, but she has taken on the role with extra vigor as if it was her own home.

"I enjoy what I do. I really do," she says. "My life has revolved around the synagogue for a long time."

The job isn't without its trying circumstances. The kitchen's limited storage space makes it a challenge to maintain separate sets of utensils and preparation areas for meat and dairy meals, and the addition of several hundred kitchen and dining items from Temple Israel has only exacerbated the problem.

She looks forward to an expanded kitchen facility, which is expected to be part of Phase II of Tikvat Israel's renovations.

Charlotte has had a hand in the synagogue's culinary activities since Beth Tikva's debut in 1960. Because she and her family lived across the street from Wheaton Woods Elementary School, where the fledgling congregation rented space, she was regularly asked to store food for b'nei mitzvah celebrations and other special occasions. "I kept a shelf in my freezer strictly for the synagogue," she says.

Charlotte has served on the synagogue board on and off for nearly 20 years and filled several officer positions. She served as education secretary for 10 years and was Sisterhood president for three years.

She retired from the Sears store at Montgomery Mall after a 24 1/2-year career, much of it in charge of the catalog department.

Charlotte and her husband Solomon live in Rockville. She has nine grandchildren and enjoys visiting them in Richmond, Va., Port Washington, N.Y., and Pittsburgh as often as possible.