President's Blog

Greetings Temple Beth-El!

I would like to again extend a heartfelt thank you to Faith Kallman for her tireless contributions to Beth-El the last four years. As some know, she was instrumental in my decision to accept the role as President, and I have tremendously enjoyed working with her. While Faith and her family will remain in the community (so this isn’t really farewell), her daily presence will be missed in our front office!

If you would like to be included in a community Thank You memory book for Faith, you can do any (or all) of the following by Monday, July 6:

Leave a comment for Faith (this works ONLY on a desktop or laptop, NOT on a mobile phone):  Click here   

Send a photo (or photos) of Faith:  Reply to this email

Make a donation in Faith's honor:  Click here 

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I am happy to report that after an extensive search, we have selected a highly qualified candidate, Tess Goldblatt, to carry on the good work that Faith has been performing.

Tess comes to us from Newport News, where she previously served as Administrator [Executive Director] at Rodef Sholom Temple. Indicative of Tess’ skills, talents, and dedication is the fact that she started as a religious school teacher at RST. She rose to become the congregation’s Education Director and eventually, its Administrator. Our search committee was very impressed with Tess’ accomplishments in her 7 years as RST’s Administrator which included extensive teamwork to construct their new temple building.

Tess began her career as an Army paratrooper which may contribute to her strong sense of ownership, mission-driven focus on execution, detailed planning, and an immensely personable approach that I am sure we will all enjoy. Tess and her husband Rick raised two children, Annie and Josh, both now grown. Annie and her husband recently completed their graduate studies, and the newlyweds find themselves in a covidly-interrupted transition. Josh is a paramedic firefighter in Williamsburg. 

Tess will start her transition on a limited basis as of Monday, June 29. Faith’s last day is July 31st, at which time Tess will assume her duties as Executive Director. If you haven’t already, I expect you will see her soon at various Beth-El functions on Zoom.

Thank you to Benita Felmus, GD Rothenberg, and Marjie Patterson for their help screening candidates and conducting interviews. Additionally, thank you to Rabbi, Cantor, Ramona, Norma, and Hannah for their assistance welcoming and interviewing our finalist candidates.

The Board, clergy, staff and I all look forward to working closely with Tess and urge you to show her a warm Beth-El welcome!

L’shalom,

Michael J. Doniger
President