Dear Congregants:
As the incoming Education Director at Old York Road Temple-Beth Am, I have never been more excited about starting a job than I am right now. That’s quite a statement, to be sure, because I’ve been blessed to hold the jobs of my dreams. I’ve been the Executive Director of state and national civil rights organizations, a Congressional lawyer who worked in both the U.S. House and Senate, and a television producer for Oprah Winfrey and two networks.
What makes Old York Road Temple-Beth Am different is its extraordinary membership, leadership, and educational mission for Jewish youth. Make no mistake: Inspiring Jews to love Judaism, especially for young Jews who hold the future of Judaism in their hands, is central not only to Beth Am’s mission, but also to mine. I’ve wanted to become a rabbi from the time I was 7. Today I’m a student at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College just three miles away from Beth Am. I am equally steeped in the Reform movement, having been a member of a Reform synagogue for many years as well as just completing a year as a rabbi and educator at a Reform synagogue in the Poconos.
More than setting my heart on the rabbinate, I have also set it to educate Jewish youth. Before I moved to Philadelphia, I was the leader of Garden State Equality, New Jersey’s largest civil rights organization, through which I personally taught workshops on character – yes, on menschlekeit, evoking Beth Am’s renowned Mensch Lab – to thousands of young people in schools and congregations across the state. My teaching sites included dozens of synagogues. I developed original curricula and cutting-edge pedagogic techniques that reached even the students deemed toughest to reach. I pursued every out-of-the-box teaching method you can imagine, including through soliciting parental input and adapting to students’ needs constantly. I also honed my pedagogy as a professor at Rutgers.
Out-of-the-box thinking, a hallmark of my career, is why I fell in love with Old York Road Temple-Beth Am throughout the interview process. The passion and creativity of Rabbi Leib, Cantor Zarkh, President Bruce Sham, Education Co-chairs Anita Block and Debbie Gettes Neibauer, and Executive Director Sherrie Turetsky – as well as the devotion of the entire Board of Directors – jumped into my heart. As you’ll see, I am one heck of a passionate leader and educator myself, and when you love what you do, young people know it. By the same token, I have big shoes to fill. Rabbi Tornberg was a spectacular Education Director, and I am determined to build upon what she so joyously and effectively created.
Though I have often been called a change agent, that doesn’t mean I would act on big things without the input of you, the congregation to which I am accountable. A hallmark of my own style is collaboration. During the weeks ahead, I will reach out to the parents of every student in the religious school one-on-one. I’ll want to know how we can individualize the educational experience at Old York Road-Temple Beth Am to meet the unique needs of every child. We all have different paths to finding the joy in Judaism. Working with our amazing Board, clergy, staff, and teachers, I intend to discover and nurture every child’s path.
I thank you for this opportunity of a lifetime.
Kol tuv,
Steven Goldstein
