Fred N. Reiner, Senior Rabbi as of July 1, 1985, was elected by a congregation that recognized his commitment to the ideals upon which Temple Sinai was founded, as more fully described on our History page. Rabbi Reiner's 20th anniversary was celebrated in 2005. Rabbi Mindy A. Portnoy joined Temple Sinai in 1986, and Cantor Laura T. Croen has been with us since 1994. Our third rabbi, Jessica L. Oleon, who also leads the youth group, started in 2007.
PRESIDENT
Robert Litt (<-email) is a partner at the law firm of Arnold & Porter LLP, specializing in white collar litigation. He and his wife Deborah, a professor of Education at Trinity University in Washington, live in Chevy Chase and have been members of the Temple since 1985. They have three grown daughters, all of whom attended the Religious School. Bob has been a member of the Board of Trustees and chair of the Ritual Committee.
EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT
Rosann Wisman (<-email) has been a member of Temple Sinai for over 20 years. She serves on the Long Range Planning Committee and was Chair of the Religious School Committee for four years. She and her husband, Michael Lilek, have two sons who each attended Nursery School, Religious School, and became a Bar Mitzvah at Temple Sinai. Rosann was formerly President/CEO of Planned Parenthood of Metropolitan Washington and more recently served in executive positions for international development organizations. She currently works on global health policy issues for the Aspen Institute.
SECRETARY
Andrew Engel (<-email) was married at Temple Sinai. His wife Karen Barr grew up at Temple Sinai. He has been a member, Nursery School Parent and Religious School Parent, as well as co-founder of the “Kesher Kafe.” In his spare time, he delivers babies for Foxhall Ob/Gyn. He is also a Certified Mohel.
Treasurer:Jim Pavle (<-email) has previously been active in interfaith, ARZA, Brotherhood, and dues review activities. Jim oversees dues adjustment for members who require temporary or longer-term relief in their dues commitments. He and his wife, Nancy Wolf, a past board member, have belonged to Temple Sinai since 1983, raising Liz and Ted along the way. Jim is Director of Marketing with Beveridge & Diamond, P.C.
Associate Treasurer:Jonathan Berlowe Binder (<-email) has been a member of Temple Sinai since moving back to town in the early 1990’s. In addition to membership on the Board, he attends most of the meetings held by the Ritual and Religious School Committees. Trained as an environmental lawyer, he works at the EPA to improve environmental compliance on Indian reservations. He and his wife, Andrea Berlowe Binder, another lawyer, have two children. He and a few others started the “Kesher Kafe” to feed the minds and spirits of all who spend Sundays at Temple. He also helped to establish the Simchat Shabbat Saturday morning service.
VICE-PRESIDENTS
Tara Sonenshine (<-email) is a communications consultant and adviser to The U.S. Institute of Peace. She has served in various White House capacities for the Clinton administration and deputy director of communications for the NSC (1994-95). Her career began in broadcast journalism in 1982 at ABC News in New York, and she went on to become editorial producer of ABC News Nightline. Tara has served on the Temple Board, and was co-chair of the Music Committee. She has also been an active participant in many of the major celebrations at the Temple, most recently as the director of the celebration for Rabbi Reiner last fall.
Patrice Hirsch Feinstein (<-email) is a Vice President of Temple Sinai. She currently chairs the Development Committee and spearheaded the dues reform program several years ago. For many years Patrice chaired the Youth Committee. She is on the Board of Overseers of the Hebrew Union College. She is a Principal of Financial Empowerment for Women, an organization that teaches financial literacy for employers in the workplace and to small groups of women in more informal settings.
COMPTROLLER
Comptroller:Steve Messner (<-email) and his family have been members of Temple Sinai for almost 20 years. Steve, an executive in professional services firms, and his wife Liz, a professor at Georgetown University, have two sons, each of whom became bar mitzvah and a confirmand at the Temple.
Deputy Comptroller:Barry Wides (<-email) currently serves as Treasurer of Sinai Assisted Housing Foundation and is Chair of the Temple Sinai Audit Committee. He has been a member of Temple Sinai for over 20 years. Barry also works on affordable housing and community development issues at his “day job” – serving as the Deputy Comptroller of the Currency for Community Affairs at the U.S. Department of the Treasury. He and his wife Gail, a teacher at Temple Sinai, have two children, Sarah and Hannah, both of whom became bat mitzvah at Temple Sinai.
Fred N. Reiner (<-email) has served as Senior Rabbi of Temple Sinai, Washington, DC, since July 1985. In the Washington Jewish community, Rabbi Reiner is the immediate past president of the Washington Board of Rabbis. He has been active with his colleagues, organizing programs for Reform rabbis in the area and establishing an Introduction to Judaism class under the auspices of the Reform Movement. He has served on the faculty of the Howard University Divinity School under the sponsorship of the Jewish Chautauqua Society. He has provided leadership on church-state issues such as school prayer and chaired the Committee on Church and State of the Central Conference of American Rabbis (CCAR). He has an interest in aging concerns and has chaired the Committee on Aging of the CCAR. He has also served on the Committee on Resolutions of the CCAR. Rabbi Reiner also has worked on behalf of maintaining reproductive choice through national and local organizations.
Rabbi Reiner is president of the Mid-Atlantic Region of the Central Conference of American Rabbis, representing Reform Rabbis in the Washington area and from Delaware through North Carolina. He will also serve on the National Board of Trustees of the Central Conference of American Rabbis and ex-officio on the Mid-Atlantic Council of the Union for Reform Judaism.
Rabbi Reiner is researching the life and works of a nineteenth century biblical scholar, Christian David Ginsburg. He has presented papers based on his research at annual meetings of the Society of Biblical Literature/American Academy of Religion and the International Organization for Study of the Old Testament in the areas of Masoretic studies and nineteenth century British Jewish history. He has published articles in the British Library Journal, Masoretic Studies, Biblical Archaeology Review, and the New Dictionary of National Biography.
Rabbi Reiner was born and grew up in Chicago, Illinois. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California at Berkeley. During and following Berkeley’s Free Speech Movement, he was a campus leader in developing new programs for undergraduate education and in student-faculty relations. When he graduated in 1968, he received the annual student leadership award for his efforts in these areas. In 1973, he was ordained and received a Master of Arts in Hebrew Letters degree from the Hebrew Union College - Jewish Institute of Religion in Cincinnati in 1973.
After serving as director of admissions at Hebrew Union College for two years, Rabbi Reiner served Temple Beth Shalom in Topeka, Kansas, 1975-1982, during which time he also was Jewish chaplain at the Menninger Foundation and studied in its Department of Religion and Psychiatry. In 1982, he became rabbi of Temple Chai, near Chicago, where he served for two years.
He is married to Sherry Levy-Reiner, Ph.D., who is director of development at the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism. They have a son, David, who is a rabbinic student at Hebrew Union College - Jewish Institute of Religion, Cincinnati.
Rabbi Portnoy, a 1973 graduate of Yale University, holds a Master of Arts degree in Hebrew literature from Hebrew Union College and spent a year as a graduate fellow in Comparative Religion at the Dropsie University in Philadelphia. She wrote her rabbinic thesis in the area of medieval Jewish polemical literature. She has done additional graduate work at the Catholic University of America, and has taught in the Jewish Studies and Religion Departments at the American University and the Theology Department at Trinity College. For several years, she co-taught a course at the American University with a Presbyterian colleague, entitled History of Jewish-Christian Relations.
At Hebrew Union College, Rabbi Portnoy received numerous academic awards in the areas of homiletics, Jewish history, and religious thought. A cum laude graduate of Yale, she spent her Junior Year Abroad at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. While still a student, Rabbi Portnoy served as Rabbi of Temple Rodef Shalom in Ellenville, NY, Principal of the Brooklyn Heights Synagogue Religious School, Fellow of Sh'ma magazine, and Research Assistant at the Union of American Hebrew Congregations.
Rabbi Portnoy was born in New Haven, Connecticut, on December 6, 1951, and is married to Philip Leonard Breen, Special Legal Counsel, Disability Rights Section, Civil Rights Division, U.S. Department of Justice. They reside in Kensington, Maryland, and have two children, Ceala Eloise and Barney Samuel.
CANTOR
Cantor Laura T. Croen (<-email) is a Milwaukee, Wisconsin native. She received her Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Wisconsin at Madison, Master of Music degree from Eastman School of Music (Rochester, New York) and Master of Sacred Music Degree and Investiture from Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion, New York (1988).
She has been featured on "The Artistry of the Cantor", WNPR (Live Radio Concert), performed for two years with Israel Cantorial Mission (Sponsored by the HUC-JIR), and as an artist in "Kol Zimrah" – a concert honoring Roberta Peters (Town Hall-New York). Cantor Croen was a soloist at the Music Center at Strathmore, spring 2005, in the concert entitled "350 Years in Song, A Celebration of Jewish America". She is also one of the featured Cantors on Dr. Jose Bowen’s two CD’s, A Klezmir Shabbat and Jazz Shabbat Service. Cantor Croen currently serves on the American Conference of Cantors (ACC) Ethics Committee.
Cantor Croen became the Cantor of Temple Sinai in 1994. One of her favorite "Washington experiences" was when she went to the White House to lead the lighting of the Chanukah menorah with a group of Temple Sinai Nursery School students and taught President Clinton how to play dreidel. She currently resides in Chevy Chase, Maryland with her husband Mark Erlich and their two children, Shoshana and Reuben.
ASSISTANT RABBI
Jessica L. Oleon (<-email) joins Temple Sinai as our new Assistant Rabbi for Temple Sinai, following ratification at the May 16, 2007 annual meeting, succeeding Rabbi Shena Potter as coordinator of the Youth Group. Ordained in May 2007 from Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Los Angeles, Rabbi Oleon began her rabbinical responsibilities at Temple Sinai over the summer of 2007. A native of the San Francisco Bay Area, she is a graduate of the University of California at Berkeley and studied for a year at Hebrew University of Jerusalem during her undergraduate years.
While in rabbinical school, for the past two years, she served as a rabbinic intern at University Synagogue in Los Angeles. She has also served congregations in Lubbock, Texas, Okinawa, Japan, and Tucson, Arizona. Her involvement with youth activities, as a student participant and in a professional capacity, spans many years and is both broad and deep. While in college, she served as national programming vice-president of NFTYand as president of the Jewish Student Union at the Berkeley Hillel. She has served as Director of Education at Union of Reform Judaism Camp Newman/Swig in Northern California and as director of the Machon Kaplan college student program at the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism here in Washington.
CANTORIAL SOLOIST
Robyn Helzner (<-email) was appointed Cantorial Soloist at Temple Sinai in 2005, having led services for the Temple for more than 20 years. Robyn comes from a Temple Sinai family. Her father, Manny, was the Temple’s first Director of Education, and her mother, Charlotte, taught first grade in the Religious School. A native Washingtonian, Robyn was also confirmed at Temple Sinai. Robyn is a graduate of Northwestern University. She officiated at the first bar mitzvah celebrated in Beijing, China and served, for six years, as the High Holiday cantor for the United Jewish Congregation of Hong Kong.
In addition to her duties at the Temple, Robyn maintains an active schedule performing concerts of World Jewish Music with the Robyn Helzner Trio. Robyn has appeared in history-making concerts in Hong Kong, Beijing, Tokyo, and throughout North America. The moving story of her underground concerts in the former Soviet Union, which led to sold-out performances in Moscow and St. Petersburg, was told on the Public Television special, "Chanukah – A Celebration of Freedom." Robyn has released five recordings:Signs & Wonders, Hearts Awaken andA Fire Burns, feature the Robyn Helzner Trio. Robyn’s Clap Your Hands andI Live In The City recordings are beloved by children worldwide.
NURSERY SCHOOL
Perri Iger-Silversmith (<-email) directs the Temple Sinai Nursery School. TSNS offers an NAEYC-accredited preschool program and age appropriate opportunities for children to grow socially, emotionally, physically, cognitively, and spiritually.
RELIGIOUS SCHOOL
Jill Stepak (<-email) was appointed Temple Sinai’s Religious School Director in June 2007, having formerly served as Upper School and Hebrew Coordinator. She is recently married and living in Washington, DC. Jill received a BA in Jewish Education and Modern Hebrew from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She has worked for Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life, the education department of The Spertus Museum (A Jewish Museum) in Chicago, and for the Jewish Cultural Collective in Madison, Wis. In addition she was a Lainer Intern for the Jewish Education Service of North America (JESNA). Jill has been a songleader in the Reform movement for the past 10 years, working in congregations and camps nationwide.
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Ellen Agler (<-email) assumed the duties of Temple Sinai Executive Director on April 14, 2008. Ellen’s previous experience involves working for Jewish and healthcare organizations in the Washington area. She is looking forward to a challenging new role. “I started out working in a Jewish environment. When I look back on the settings I felt most fulfilled in, it was when I was in Jewish environments,” she says. “The position fits in terms of my values and all the things I think are really important,” she added. As executive director, Agler will have responsibility for the Temple’s administrative activities, ranging from financial matters to coordinating schedules to building maintenance. The appointment was cheered by 2007-09 Temple President, Laura Kumin. “This is a crucial job and one that often goes unrecognized when things go well. We’re delighted that Ellen is joining us and hope that our members will make a special effort to welcome Ellen and her family into our community.”
FRONT OFFICE
Brenda Bergstein serves as our principal receptionist. She’s the one the kids all know as the “candy lady” with her never ending supply of chocolates at the front desk. Hers is usually the first voice you hear when calling the Temple. Another native Washingtonian, Brenda always has a pleasing smile for everyone who enters the Temple.
Linda Katz has been the administrative assistant for Rabbi Portnoy and Cantor Croen since approximately 2004. In addition to these duties, she is actively involved in keeping track of our b’nai mitzvah program, and helps with the choir, the Music Committee, and the Adult Education Committee. She's a native Washingtonian with deep community roots.
Lili Bender is our Finance Manager, and has been on the Temple Staff since March 2005. She makes sure that the Temple finances are properly recorded and reported, and she keeps us on our “Hebrew toes” since she lived for many years in Israel.
BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Debra Berlyn (term expires 2010) and her family (husband Stuart Binstock, daughters Anna and Katie) have been members of the Temple since 1989. Both daughters became a b’not mitzvah and were confirmed at Temple Sinai. This is Debra's second term on the Board of Trustees. She chaired the Evaluation Committee for a former Religious School Director and is currently chairing a task force reviewing governance policies for the synagogue. Professionally, she is President of Consumer Policy Solutions, a consulting firm centered on developing public policies addressing the interests of consumers and the marketplace. The firm’s primary focus is on issues related to telecommunications and energy policy.
Elaine Kotell Binder (term expires 2011) has served as a consultant to non-profit organizations since 1994. Prior to that, she was as association Executive for twenty years, the last nine of which she served as the Executive Director of B’nai B’rith Women (now Jewish Women International). She currently provides strategic planning consulting to small organizations on a pro bono basis. A past president of the Jewish Council for the Aging and of the Montgomery County Commission on Women, she was appointed to the Montgomery Commission on Aging in 2008. Elaine and her husband, Richard, have been Temple members since 1980 and belong to Kallah Chai. They are delighted to be part of a three-generation Temple family.
Robert Hazan (term expires 2010), his wife Jill, and their two daughters, who both attend Religious School, joined Temple Sinai in 2005. He has been on the Ritual and Religious School Committees. Professionally, he is an engineer and has worked in management consulting and telecommunications, and currently leads Program Management at BroadSoft, Inc. He enjoys playing ice hockey, soccer, ultimate frisbee, and coaching his daughters’ sports teams.
Richard Levie (Past President 1996-1998) (term expires 2010) is returning to the Board for another term, having previously served on the Board and also being a past president of Temple Sinai. He was co-chair of two rabbinic search committees (Rabbis Potter & Oleon) and the Cantorial Soloist search committee. Richard and his wife, Sally, have been members of Temple Sinai since 1980. Professionally, Richard is a mediator and arbitrator and serves as a Senior Judge at D.C. Superior Court.
Nancy Liebermann (term expires 2011), her husband, Joe Godles, and daughters Lauren and Nina, have been members of Temple Sinai since 1994. Nancy chairs the Youth Committee. Both of their daughters were Presidents of Sinaites, Temple Sinai's high school youth group, and Nina now serves on the regional NFTY (National Federation of Temple Youth) board. Nina recently returned from a semester in Israel on NFTY's EIE program. Lauren recently completed a "gap" year in Israel and is now starting college at Tufts University. In 2006-2007, Lauren was President of NFTY-MAR. Each of the Liebermann/Godles family members became a Bar or Bat Mitzvah and celebrated Confirmation. Nancy's parents, Marianne and Frank Liebermann, are also members of Temple Sinai. Professionally, Nancy and her husband are both attorneys. Nancy is President of Cornerstone, a DC non-profit organization that finances very low income housing for people with mental illness. Joe's law firm specializes in communication law.
Howard Moskof (term expires 2010), a Temple Sinai member since 1975, is currently a member of the ARZA and Building Committees. He and his wife Pat served as co-chairs of the ARZA Committee from 1999-2005. Howard started his professional career as an attorney in New Haven, Connecticut and served briefly as Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut before moving to Washington, D.C. to become Deputy Director and General Counsel of the D.C. Redevelopment Agency. In 1967 Howard was appointed to serve as Executive Director of President Johnson Committee on Urban Housing and helped organize the National Corporation for Housing Partnerships, serving as the company’s first Vice President for Development. Howard joined Hogan & Hartson in 1971, specializing in federal urban development matters, real estate transactions, and eminent domain and transportation. Howard retired from the practice of law to join Oxford Development Corporation serving as the President of two subsidiaries responsible for the acquisition, syndication and management of apartment and commercial real estate. From 1993 to 1999 Howard was a real estate consultant involved in the development of multi-use projects. He was also adjunct professor at Yale’s Urban Studies Program and Georgetown Law School.
Dr. Nancy Sanders (term expires 2011) graduated from Stanford University undergrad and received her MD in Obstetrics and Gynecology. She moved to Washington DC in 1989 with her husband, Jeff Sandman, where she has been in private practice since that time. Nancy is a Fellow of the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology, a member of the DC Medical Society and the Jacobi Medical Society, and was selected as one of the TOP DOCS by the Washingtonian Magazine. She and her husband Jeff have two sons, Henry and Jordan Sandman. She enjoys traveling, running and watching baseball, both her sons and the Nationals.
Lafe Solomon (term expires 2011) is the Director of the Office of Representation Appeals of the National Labor Relations Board. He and his wife, Catherine (Cam) Crockett, a divorce mediator and couples therapist, have been members of Temple Sinai since 1996. They have two children: Catherine, a social worker in Boston, and Will, a recent college graduate. Lafe was the lone male in the 2006 Adult B'not/Bar Mitzvah class and is a current member of the Thursday night Adult Hebrew class. He has served on the Adult Education, Budget, and Administration Committees, and is currently the chair of the Ritual Committee.
