Congregation Beth Sholom Board of Directors

President

Michael Rapaport has been a member at CBS for 9 years and is the current president of the Board. Professionally, Michael has spent over 30 years in the consumer and small business credit industry, including 14 years at Fair, Isaac and Company, where he helped develop the FICO credit score. He is currently President and Chief Operating Officer at Accion Opportunity Fund, a non-profit organization that offers small business loans and business advising to underserved populations. Michael is also an active volunteer in the San Francisco Jewish community: he is currently Treasurer and member of the Executive Committee of the Board at the Hebrew Free Loan Association. Michael and his wife, Ruth Katz, live in West Portal with their sons, Julian and Manu. Julian and Manu are both graduates of the Brandeis School of San Francisco and Julian is currently a Junior at Lowell High School while Manu is a freshman at Lick-Wilmerding High School. Both Julian (Feb 2018) and Manu (March 2020) recently celebrated Bnei Mitzvah at Beth Sholom.

Executive Vice President, Governance Committee Chair

Jerilyn spent the majority of her career working as a mediator and hearing officer for the State of California Public Employment Relations Board. After hearing an inspiring High Holiday sermon by Rabbi Lew encouraging congregants to become literacy tutors for under-served children, she became a tutor with the Jewish Coalition for Literacy (a program of the Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC)), and served on its Advisory Council. She joined the JCRC in 2007, where she served as Board President and Governance Committee Co-Chair. She is past Chair the Jewish Public Affairs Committee (JPAC) and continues to represent JCRC on its Board. She also represented JCRC on the Jewish Coalition to End Human Trafficking and the Interfaith Committee of the San Francisco Collaborative Against Human Trafficking. Jerilyn currently chairs the Advisory Board of Shalom Bayit, an organization working to end domestic violence and sexual harassment in the Jewish community. She is a member of the Board of Directors of Catholic Charities, where she serves on executive, finance and public interest committees. She also serves as a Regional Council member of the New Israel Fund. Jerilyn has attended services at CBS for many years.

Treasurer

Mark Gunther has been many things in his life—student, hippie, cook, husband, carpenter, father, dancer, administrator, musician, entrepreneur, cyclist. Now retired, he worked in staff or board roles in small businesses and nonprofit organizations for forty years. In 1999, he and his wife started the Eva Gunther Foundation, giving to girls and girls programs. He remains Managing Director there. Mark, a co-founder, chairs the Board of Alliance for Girls as he has since its inception in 2012. In December of 2015 Mark received an MFA in Creative Writing from USF. He has since been published in several literary journals, and in 2018 published his novel of child loss, Without Jenny. A member of CBS since 1986, Mark chaired the Building Committee throughout the reconstruction of the CBS campus (2000-2008), was a member of the Finance Committee for a number of years, and served one term on the board from 2009-2011.

Board Secretary

Raf grew up Orthodox in Johannesburg, South Africa. He and his wife, Clara Brenner, have lived in the Bay Area since 2011 and were married by Rabbi Glazer in 2017. They were attracted by Beth Sholom’s respect for tradition blended with a progressive determination to make modern Jewish life appealing and meaningful. Raf is currently a Policy Advisor at Google working to make the internet safer and more trustworthy. Prior to Google, he headed expansion for the Bay Area bike share system, Ford GoBike, and is proud to have delivered an affordable, sustainable, and regional mobility option to the Bay Area. He holds an MA from Stanford University and a BA from the University of Pennsylvania. He is particularly excited about nurturing the young-adult segment of the community.

Ritual Committee Chair

David Bayer grew up at Temple B’nai Sholom in Rockville Centre, NY., where he studied under Rabbi Hillel Hyman z”l, a revered Professor of Talmud at JTS. David spent several summers at Camp Ramah, Berkshires; studied at Prozdor/JTS; and danced with the Fred Berk Israeli DanceTroupe. After attending Brandeis and Boston University, during which he focused on Central European History and Social Theory, David worked at Harvard Business School while in his spare time “booking” throughout New England. Emigrating to California 20 years ago, David’s professional trajectory has proceeded through a series of software-related Product and Marketing leadership roles. Vocationally, David’s ongoing interest in the artistic, design and typographic interwar avant-garde movements informs his travel plans and bibliographic collecting activities. Residing on Potrero Hill with his partner Monica, David lives the contradiction created by identifying with the secular Jewish intelligentsia in Central Europe and how they grappled with modernity while honoring and practicing more traditional ritual and practice.

Education Committee Co-Chair

Jenny is a San Francisco native who has been part of the Beth Sholom community her whole life. She attended Hebrew School, had her bat mitzvah, and was a member of USY at Beth Sholom, and in 2012 married her husband Mark in the CBS sanctuary. She is now currently co-chair of the Education Committee. Jenny earned her bachelor’s degree in Child and Adolescent Development and a Masters degree in Special Education from San Francisco State University. She served as a head teacher for over 8 years at CBS Family Preschool. She is now a kindergarten teacher at The San Francisco School. Jenny has always loved making a difference as a teacher — empowering young children and cultivating their curiosity. Jenny lives in San Francisco with her husband Mark and their son Dylan who is in the 4th grade and attends CBS Shabbat School. Jenny and Mark’s blended family also includes 4 older children in their 20s — Anastasia, Daniel, Alexander, and Emma (all who had b’nai mitzvah at Beth Sholom), and two young grandchildren.

Education Committee Co-Chair

Nzinga began attending Congregation Beth Sholom many years ago while taking the Intro to Judaism class at the synagogue. Inspired by the vibrance of the community, teachings of Rabbi Alan Lew (z”l) and Rabbi Dorothy Richman, and the kindness of community members who welcomed her into their homes for Shabbat and holiday gatherings, she became a CBS member in 2007 after converting. She has since served on the CBS Marketing Committee and is currently on the Education Committee. Nzinga is a Senior Vice President at M+R, where she has spent the last 15 years helping nonprofits like Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, California Academy of Sciences, the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, and Conservation International use digital tools and communications to recruit supporters and raise money. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in both History and Studio Art from Williams College. She lives with her husband, Michael, and their children Noa, 11; Asa, 8; and Eytan, 2, in the Sunnyside neighborhood of San Francisco.

Village Committee Co-Chair

Abigail Levinson Marks is a San Francisco native who grew up at Beth Sholom and attended its religious/Hebrew school from pre-kindergarten through Confirmation (10th grade) and beyond. Abby and her late husband, Milton, were married by Rabbi Lew in 2001, and their three children had B'nei mitzvot at Beth Sholom in 2015 and 2019. Abby is a clinical psychologist with a private practice working with children, adolescents and adults, and specializing in (among other things) family illness and loss. She also co-founded a non-profit family camp serving families where a parent has cancer. Abby chairs the Village Committee, and is excited to deepen engagement and feelings of belonging and connection among congregants at Beth Sholom.

Village Committee Co-Chair

Janet Frost and her husband have been members of Beth Sholom for over 35 years. Their sons Dan and Josh both celebrated their Bar Mitzvahs at the shul with Rabbi Lew. She previously served on the Board as a member and as Secretary from 2003-2011. Janet is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and was the founder of the Student Intervention Team at the San Francisco Unified School District. The program which began in 2001, in conjunction with Bay Area universities, was designed to provide mental health services to SFUSD students and is recognized for providing an outstanding internship training program.

Janet is now almost fully retired and primarily fills her time with being a full time Bubbe to her three granddaughters. She is honored to be considered to serve on the Board again and is interested in helping to renew our volunteer program.

Board Member

Sam Berkowitz grew up in Squirrel Hill in Pittsburgh, PA, where he was deeply involved in his local Conservative congregation (also called Beth Shalom!), including serving as head of religious education for the shul's USY group. After stints in Chicago, Beijing, and DC, he moved to San Francisco in 2015. He and his now-wife, Yuxi, were invited to CBS by friends in 2020 and were immediately drawn in by the shul's history, knowledgeable congregants, egalitarian spirit, and warm intergenerational community. Sam disappeared for a few months in mid-2021 to solo mountain bike 5,500 miles across the country. Upon his return, he and Yuxi were married by Rabbi Russell on Mount Tam, after which they both dove into more active roles at CBS. These days, they are both regular Torah readers and serve as leaders in our young adult community, including creating and hosting the Third Fridays young adult Shabbat dinner series. In his professional life, Sam is a software engineer, though you're equally likely to find him working heads down on a bicycle project, brushing up on his classical Chinese, or playing a bit of music.

Board Member

Pat Blackburn joined Beth Sholom with her husband Icek Moses (z”l) in 1980 after she had converted to Judaism in the late 70s before they were married. Her son Alex and daughter Jessica were both B’nai

Mitzvah at CBS during Rabbi Lew’s tenure. Throughout the kids’ time in CBS Sunday school/youth group, Pat helped organize fun and festive Purim Carnivals, and more recently she has taken the helm of the delivery side of CBS’s Chicken Soupers program. Pat also volunteers with JFCS assisting in the food pantry, working with elderly/disabled adults and helping out

with luncheons for Holocaust survivors. Additionally, Pat spent many an evening dining at Rhoda Goldman Plaza where her in-laws lived for nearly a decade. Prior to retiring in 2018, Pat had a career for 40+ years at Cardea Services, a small, non-profit firm where she began working after completing her Master in Public Health. The organization specializes in training and consultation focusing primarily on public health and service-delivery to low income, disadvantaged communities. From 1998 through her retirement in 2018, Pat served as the Executive Director leading the 40-person organization located in 3 states.

Board Member

Craig Cohen has been a member at CBS since moving back to San Francisco with his wife Elin in 2003. Craig has connected to our community through being an active preschool and Hebrew school parent, founding member of a chavurah, supporting his two children (Shana and Ari) through their B’nai Mitzvah, and most recently helping our community to safely navigate the COVID-19 pandemic by serving on the CBS “reopening committee.”

Craig’s family has over a 100-year history in San Francisco; in fact, his father had his Bar Mitzvah at CBS in 1946. Craig is a physician and professor of obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive sciences at the University of California San Francisco, and has committed his career to advancing health equity in low-income countries (mostly in Africa) and mentoring the next generation of global health leaders. Craig is eager to join the CBS Board, to help us to navigate our transitions and build a stronger Jewish future for every generation. With his eldest daughter off to college in the fall, he will serve as a bridge to two generations: families with school aged children, and early-phase "empty nesters".

Board Member

Jonathan Crosby, along with his wife Susan Belau and their sons Simon (18) and Daniel (10), has been a member of CBS since 2014. Jonathan grew up in San Diego and attended UC Santa Cruz where he double majored in Filmmaking and Psychology. After college, he moved to San Francisco and began working in film and television with a focus on documentary. For the past 20 years, he has also been teaching documentary filmmaking and is currently teaching film and animation at San Francisco Waldorf High School. At CBS, Jonathan is a leader of the Chessed va Tsedek Committee and a member of the Education Committee.

Board Member

Gene was born in Czernowitz, then Soviet Ukraine, and emigrated at age four to Brooklyn, NY where he grew up. Gene and his spouse, Eyal, joined CBS in 2019 after they and their twin boys started attending Tot-Shabbat, where they were introduced to the warmth and dedication of the congregation and its wonderful educators. Professionally, Gene has spent the last 17 years in marketing in the tech sector, which brought him and his family to San Francisco in 2014. Prior to that, Gene lived in Tel Aviv for 10 years after making Aliyah.

Gene also worked as a Jewish communal professional in the past at UJA-Federation of NY, ARZA/WUPJ, and the Jewish Agency for Israel. Ensuring Jewish literacy for the next generation is another passion of his, leading to his current participation in the Education Committee at CBS.

Board Member

Sam Gaynor grew up in Newton, MA, attending a reform synagogue, Temple Shalom, where he had a basketball-themed bar mitzvah. Sam and his wife Caitlin joined the CBS community in 2021 as they were preparing to get married and raise their children in a Jewish household. They are looking forward to deepening their connection with the synagogue and the Young(ish) group. After starting his career in corporate strategy at The Boston Consulting Group, Sam is currently a Partner and Managing Director at Altamont Capital Partners, a private equity firm in Palo Alto, where he has worked since 2011 and oversees their investing activities across all areas of financial services. In his role at Altamont, Sam has served on the board of directors of 12 different companies and is passionate about bringing his corporate governance and growth experience to the non-profit sector. Sam is also on the board of Nuestra Casa, an organization focused on a variety of initiatives supporting the East Palo Alto population, where he has helped to spearhead a business incubator program for women in the local community.

Board Member

Adam Hertz and his wife, Joan Gelfand, have been members of Congregation Beth Sholom since 1999. Adam and Joan were early and still active members of Makor Or, the Jewish meditation group founded by Rabbi Alan Lew (z”l) and Zoketsu Norman Fischer. Rabbi Lew married Adam and Joan in 2002. Adam was a member of the CBS Board of Directors for 10 years, during which time he served as Secretary, Religious Committee chair and Co-president. He is a frequent lay service leader and Torah reader on Shabbat, High Holidays and daily minyan.

Joan and Adam have three children and two grandchildren. Their kids and grandkids live in San Francisco, Denver and Berlin. In his professional life, Adam is an Engineering and Product executive, with over thirty years of experience in the software, consumer electronics and internet industries. He is currently Senior Director of Engineering at YouTube, where he works on YouTube’s music services.

Board Member

Caroline Landau grew up in New York City and moved to San Francisco in 2010. She and her husband, Alex Goldberg, found an

instant and warm community at Beth Sholom in 2019 with Rabbi Russell, just before COVID-19 hit. When live events shut down, CBS’ perseverance in holding virtual events, especially Young(ish) programming for young adults, solidified just how special CBS is. Now that services are live again, they especially enjoy Tot Shabbat with their son, Zach (2), and are looking forward to being preschool parents this fall. Caroline has served on CBS’ Chesed

v’Tzedek (social justice) committee, and is committed to getting the word out about all of the great events happening at CBS. Caroline’s career is in biopharma, where she currently serves as Director of Marketing at Arcus Biosciences. She holds a BA in Brazilian history from Brown University and an MBA from the University of Michigan Ross School of Business.

Board Member

Seth, his wife Jamie, and their three children (Kenny, Miles, and Tilly) have been Beth Sholom members since moving to San Francisco nearly 10 years ago. Kenny had his Bar Mitzvah at Beth Sholom this past fall and all three are current students at the Brandeis School. As a teen, Seth was a youth leader at his Reform congregation in Providence, Rhode Island; he gravitated toward the Conservative movement after spending time in Israel and at the Conservative minyan in college. Seth looks forward to the opportunity to give back to this warm and vibrant community.

Professionally, Seth has been in the consumer marketing world for more than 20 years and is excited to bring this perspective to the Beth Sholom board. He ran marketing at a number of companies large and small before starting a marketing consulting firm for early-stage consumer health businesses. Seth has a BA from the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

Board Member

Liz Noteware joined Congregation Beth Sholom in 2009 with her partner Angie (a former CBS board member) and her son Ari (an alum of the preschool and current Brandeis middle schooler). Raised as a Methodist in Texas, Liz now lives Jewishly with her family. An attorney by training, Liz currently works as the Director of Courtroom Operations for the federal trial court in San Francisco. In her free time, Liz enjoys running, knitting, cooking, and Zumba.re

Board Member

Joseph Ratner and his wife, Julie, moved to San Francisco in 2011 to be closer to family, and were pleased to learn that Joe’s great-grandparents had been CBS members. Joe and Julie are both enjoying an early retirement while also trying to keep up with their three daughters, Zehavah, starting her senior year in high school, Ellie, starting first grade at Brandeis, and Adinah, who is entering PreK in the CBS Family Preschool. Joe left a career in retail management, buying, and product development with RadioShack and Walmart, and Julie had been in medical ethics and patient advocacy at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. Joe had been a synagogue Board member for over 15 years before coming to CBS, including two terms as president, and is dedicated to ensuring a vibrant and inspiring future for his spiritual home.