We are pleased to share some exciting staff news in several different CCAR departments.
Office of Rabbinic Career Services: I am so grateful that our colleagues Rabbis Deborah Hirsch and Michael Weinberg were willing to postpone their retirements in order to serve as interims in the office of Rabbinic Career Services for this year. Their incredible commitment to rabbis and congregations, as well as their wisdom and insights, have been invaluable.
This interim year, as well as input from many of you, has enabled me to re-envision this critical part of the support and services that the CCAR offers our members. As the realities of rabbinic life continues to evolve, it is time for a new vision for this department, one which provides excellent guidance to rabbis at all moments along their careers, and that also provides a professional partner for congregations in search.
The gift of an interim year provided the ability to experiment with new ideas which have led to some significant changes in this department, and focused our search for permanent staff members in new directions. The revisioning of this department is an exciting beginning of a new chapter for the CCAR.
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Starting July 1, 2022, we are excited to announce that Rabbi Leora Kaye will join the CCAR in the role of Director of Rabbinic Career Services. Leora will work directly with rabbis as their partner in all aspects of the rabbinic career life cycle, including congregational search, guidance about career development, positions outside congregations, career transitions, retirement, and managing professional crises.
Leora comes to the CCAR from the Union for Reform Judaism, where she has most recently served as Director of Partnerships and Collaboration. Over the course of her six years at the URJ, she has been responsible for creative advancement of the core priorities, having an impact on work in Tikkun Olam, Strengthening Congregations, Audacious Hospitality, Youth, and Israel. Her current role at URJ has focused on both internal affiliates and partners within the Reform Movement, and sustaining and creating new relationships with external organizations. Leora's experience includes education, programming, and filmmaking spanning from Sesame Workshop to congregational work. Leora's love of experiential Judaism comes from the generations before her who wove the wisdom of Judaism into their professional and day-to-day lives. This legacy paved a path to follow. As a rabbi she encourages people to approach their spiritual lives in sophisticated ways, and to find the best way to tell their own story. Leora graduated from the University of Wisconsin and received ordination from HUC-JIR in New York in 2002. She and her husband Doug Gordon, live in Brooklyn with their two children.
We are also delighted to announce that starting July 1, 2022, Rabbi Alan Berlin will join the CCAR in the role of Director of Search Services. Alan will work directly with congregations in search, serving as their partner in facilitating matches between rabbis and communities. Alan will also oversee the interim program for congregations.
Alan has served as Executive Director of Temple Beth-El in San Antonio since 2009. Before coming to Texas, he served for more than a decade at Temple Solel in Paradise Valley, Arizona. Following his ordination at HUC-JIR in 1997, Alan joined the Phoenix area congregation first as Assistant Rabbi, then Associate Rabbi, and was ultimately named Senior Rabbi of that synagogue upon his predecessor’s retirement. Upon moving to San Antonio with his wife, Cantor Julie Berlin, and their three children, Alan decided to explore opportunities outside the full-time congregational rabbinate. At that time, he served Northshore Jewish Congregation in Mandeville, Louisiana on an interim basis. He also served in a fundraising capacity with Texas State Representative Mike Villarreal. Alan earned a BA in Philosophy from the University of Illinois where he also minored in Hebrew. He also studied at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. Alan is an active member of the National Association of Temple Administrators. He has served the CCAR in a variety of volunteer capacities, most recently as co-chair of the Nominating Committee, and on the Budget and Finance Committee. Alan enjoys hiking, swimming, biking, and running. He has competed in dozens of marathons, half-marathons, and triathlons, including three Ironman distance triathlons. He and his wife are the proud parents of three young adults.
Leora and Alan will work closely together, and they will both be involved with ongoing cross-department work that strengthens rabbinic leadership and the ability of Reform rabbis to serve an array of congregations and communities.
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CCAR Press: CCAR Press will also be welcoming a new staff member on July 1, 2022. Rabbi Annie Villarreal-Belford will be joining us as Editor at the Press, working on new book development in collaboration with the Director of CCAR Press. We thank Rabbi Jan Katz who is serving so ably as Editor in this interim year and will be with us through June.
Annie, a native of El Paso, Texas, received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Creative Writing, graduating summa cum laude from the University of Judaism in Los Angeles in 1998, a Masters in Hebrew Letters from HUC-JIR in New York in 2003, and rabbinic ordination from HUC-JIR in 2004. She is currently working on a Doctorate in Psychology in Pastoral Logotherapy from the Graduate Theological Foundation, and is a certified Life Coach. Annie served Congregation Shaare Emeth in St. Louis, Missouri as an assistant and then associate rabbi, and has served Temple Sinai in West Houston, Texas since July 2009 as the first full-time solo woman rabbi in Houston. Her writings can be found in CCAR Press anthologies, URJ Press teacher’s manuals and publications, GTF Foundation Theological Quarterly, CCAR Journal: The Reform Jewish Quarterly, and more. A past intern for the URJ Press, she is thrilled to return to the world of editing and is honored to join the CCAR team. Annie is an avid reader, is obsessed with visiting National and State Parks, enjoys baking, coffee, camping, and watching reruns of Schitt’s Creek (not at the same time!), and loves nothing more than spending time with her wife, three children, and two dogs.
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Development Department: In November 2021, we welcomed Pamela Goldstein into the CCAR as the Director of Advancement. In this role, Pamela oversees the work of Development Department, helping to ensure continuous growth and fundraising effectiveness in order to support the work of CCAR and the services we provide to members and the communities they serve. In the short time Pamela has been with us, she has already proved to be a great new addition to our team.
Pamela earned her Bachelor of Arts from the University of Pennsylvania. Prior to joining the staff at CCAR, she was Director of Development at Central Synagogue in Manhattan, and has extensive experience before that in both the Jewish and secular nonprofit worlds of philanthropy. She lives in Morristown, New Jersey with her husband and is the mother of two young adults.
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Please join me in welcoming these new CCAR staff members. We're thrilled to have them on board, and they look forward to working with you to help support you and your community.
Sincerely,
Hara Person, Chief Executive
Central Conference of American Rabbis
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