Brotherhood

Buddy Courtenay – Chair

The Brotherhood is the men’s club auxiliary open to members of Temple Shaaray Tefila. We don’t take ourselves too seriously, preferring to reserve that kind of reverence for one another and for our community. In a spirit of fellowship, fraternity and fun, the mission of Brotherhood is to organize and sponsor social programming, to provide support to our Synagogue (including social action events), and to share an environment of fraternal good will and friendship to and among the members of Temple Shaaray Tefila.

Caring Community

Gigi Zeller & Susan Goodman – Chair

The Caring Community’s sole purpose is to answer the call of community with a caring response.  We respond to crisis with calls, meals and assistance.  We are present at times of bereavement, offer support, deliver a yahrzeit candle along with notes of sympathy, connect congregants who share life challenges, help those who may be hospitalized, celebrate simchas, make shabbat calls and deliver a challah as well as  coordinate congregants to share a holiday meal.  We are in need of volunteers.

ECC Parent Association

Kate Klarberg and Rea Klein – Co Chairs

 The ECC is fortunate to have an active Parent Association (PA), a group of parent volunteers who organize the parent-run initiatives of the school and serve as liaisons between the parent body, school administration and the Temple. Its goals are to help foster community, improve the lines of communication and help create a warm, welcoming atmosphere where the parent body, school administration and staff work as partners for our children, our school and our community.

Our Chesed (“Acts of Loving Kindness”) Committee, a sub-committee of the PA, provides meals to ECC families during life cycle events and partners with the Shaaray Tefila Caring Community committee to support our families during challenging times. If you would like to join our Chesed Committee, please email Michaela Freitas at ecc@templest.org.

Facilities Task Force

Rod Feldman – Chair

The Facilities Task Force oversees the building and grounds activities at Temple. We work with the facilities staff at the temple and with the ED to budget , plan, and implement Maintenance and Upgrades to our 3 buildings and 9 acres This committee could use help in bidding and managing special projects around our beautiful but aging campus.

Finance Committee

Lesa Levine – Chair

The Finance Committee provides financial analysis, advice, and oversight of the Temple’s finances to support board decision-making. 

The committee is responsible for ensuring that the temple is operating with the financial resources it needs to provide programs and services, balancing short term needs with the long term sustainability of our community. 

Members of the Finance Committee have the opportunity to learn about the full breadth of temple life and to identify strategies and solutions that enhance our offering to our congregation and the broader community. 

Fundraising

Ondrea Levitt – Chair

The Fundraising Committee creates and implements fundraising plans for our current campaign, “Secure our Future”, that will also help for long term financial sustainability and capital needs. 

This committee is an important component for TST to continue as a leading Jewish organization in the community. We are looking for members with innovative ideas, energy and enthusiasm to join our team. While the work of the committee is serious and important, our committee members take pride and joy from fulfilling this important roll, and we develop lasting friendships with each other, in the process.

Green Team – Sustainability

Karen Sabath – Chair

The mission of the Green Team is to inspire our community to be stewards of the earth, consistent with our collective beliefs and with our commandments. Our focus is on helping reduce our carbon footprint and making our Temple campus a model of environmental stewardship. We plan to do this by focusing on waste (we will be introducing composting to the Temple soon) and also by looking at the ways we get our electricity, lighting, heating and air conditioning to be able to do all of that more efficiently. We hope that what we do here at the Temple will inspire our congregation to adopt these actions in their own lives and homes. (And we’re looking for more people to join us, so don’t hesitate to reach out.)

Holocaust Remembrance

Lori Laub – Chair

The Holocaust Remembrance Committee’s mission at TST is to serve and build our community through quality educational programming and commemoration events.  Educate all who wish to learn about the Holocaust, genocide, and grave human rights violations in order to promote understanding of causes and consequences; thereby enabling foresight necessary to prevent similar recurrences.  Our top priority is to teach & educate the next generation so they may fulfill our mission for generations to come.

Israel Action

Jackie Moskow – Chair

The Israel Action Committee strives to strengthen the bond between the Shaaray Tefila community and Israel. We accomplish this by offering a wide variety of Israeli-themed programming with the goal of connecting. educating, entertaining and engaging. In addition to planning programs, the Israel Action Committee gets together for discussions about current issues impacting Israel.

Jewish Life & Rituals

Dena Kopleff – Chair

The Ritual Committee works with the clergy to create, plan and implement the entire High Holy Day programming. In addition, we are a sounding board for the Rabbi throughout the year to discuss various issues that arise.

Living Judaism – Religious School PA

The Parent Association (PA) at the Living Judaism – Religious School (RS) is made up of parent volunteers that work together to plan and execute programs that enrich the school year for our children and parent community alike. Through events both during and after school hours, our hope is to better connect you to both the RS as well as the greater Temple. Our young families are the future of the synagogue, and we are invested in making sure that they feel as though they are a part of the Temple Shaaray Tefila family.

Membership

Carrie White and Wendi Silverman – Co-Chairs

The Membership Committee’s mission is to help create a warm and welcoming environment for all TST members.  Volunteers serve as TST’s ambassadors and engage new and existing members.  Committee members attend temple programs as our welcomers and connectors. They reach out to specific members to welcome, they become buddies to new members and help find specific members appropriate buddies.