Shaarei Tefillah Congregation

Rabbi Benjamin Samuels has been Congregation Shaarei Tefillah’s spiritual leader since 1995. In addition he teaches widely in the greater Boston community including serving as a Genesis Scholar at Combined Jewish Philanthropies, a Master Instructor for Maayan: Torah Initiatives for Jewish Women, Curriculum Developer and Instructor for Ikkarim: Jewish Values and the Journey for Jewish Parents, and Instructor of Rabbinics and Medieval Jewish History for Me’ah, a two-year adult Jewish literacy program. Rabbi Samuels has sat on several local Jewish organization boards and is an active member of the Vaad HaRabbonim of Massachusetts and its Beit Din. He received his semikhah as a Wexner fellow from REITS at Yeshiva University, where he also earned a BA in English Literature and a MA in Bible and medieval Jewish history. He is also an alumnus of Yeshivat Har Etzion (Gush) and is currently a doctoral student at Boston University in its Science, Philosophy and Religion program. His interest in science and religion stems from a desire to pursue and achieve greater understanding of ultimate truths. Outside of the synagogue and bet midrash spheres, Rabbi Samuels enjoys ice hockey, jogging, and cycling. Stephanie Samuels has taught Tanakh at Maimonides School for the past 13 years. She has served as the 7^th grade dean, and beginning in the Fall of 2008 will be the Assistant Coordinator of the newly formed Maimonides Middle School. Stephanie pursued advanced Jewish studies at Michlallah and Matan in Jerusalem and at Drishah in New York City. She received her BA in English Literature and a Teaching Certificate from Barnard, as well as a MA in Jewish History from New York University. They are the proud parents of four sons: Amitai, Yedidyah, Aryeh, and Yakir.

Bob Pick was born in “Palestine” and came to the United States at a young age, settling in Jackson Heights, Queens. Following his orthopedic training Bob went on active duty with the US Public Health Service from 1975-78 and later received a Masters degree in public health. He met Roni , who grew up on Long Island, while working at an orthopedic clinic where she was a physical therapist. Roni is now the director of the Norman B. Leventhal Map Center at the Boston Public library. They are the proud parents of four grown children: Ben, who works as an engineer for Mitre in the Washington DC area; Joseph, who is working toward a PhD in neuroscience at NYU; Jennifer, married to Sammy Sultan, (a fourth year medical student) who works as a data analyst for Empire Blue Cross, and Abigail, a fourth year undergraduate at NYU. Bob and Roni have lived in Newton for twenty-seven years. As founding members of Shaarei Tefillah they have fond memories of the early days of the community that included long planning and emergency meetings and constant moves to different homes each weekend. Along with our shul’s growth came celebrations of new babies, new members, new degrees, and new ideas. Shaarei Tefillah provided a strong spiritual home for the Pick family that continues to be filled with warmth, innovation, and an intermingling of generations and backgrounds with great mutual respect. Shaarei Tefillah has been a cornerstone of their lives in Newton and they in turn have contributed greatly to its growth and success over the past twenty-five years.

Sol Kranz was born in Vienna and came to the United States at the age of eight. Sol attended Hebrew school in Brooklyn, and received additional private tutoring in Jewish subjects. After receiving a Bachelor of Civil Engineering degree from City College and an MBA from New York University, Sol served two years in the US Army (1954 – 1956). After ten years in the engineering profession he went into the purchasing field, first with United Brands in New York, and then Marshall’s in Boston, from which he retired in 1995. The move to Boston took place in 1970; the family settled in Brookline initially but soon purchased their home in Newton. Sol became involved with the ritual committee at Cong. Beth El and served as gabbai there during his early years in Newton. Sol served as gabbai at Shaarei Tefillah for a total of seven years and both he and Sandy were instrumental in the early years of our shul’s founding, “hosting” the daily minyan in their basement. Sandy and Sol are the parents of two grown daughters (Phyllis, who lives in Jerusalem, and Joanne, in Teaneck). They have eight grandchildren and one grand son-in-law, and will be celebrating their 50^th wedding anniversary during the coming year.

Michael Wolfe is Chief of the Section of Gastroenterology at Boston Medical Center and Boston University School of Medicine, where he is also Professor of Medicine and Research Professor of Physiology and Biophysics. Born in Akron, Ohio ten months after his parents, survivors of the Holocaust, immigrated to the United States, Michael received most of his formal education in the Akron public school system. He spent two years at the Hebrew Academy of Cleveland, where important foundations for Orthodoxy and Limudei Kodesh were instilled. Michael received his undergraduate and medical degrees at Ohio State University in Columbus, where he met his future wife Barbara Rosenblum. Michael completed a residency in internal medicine at the Medical College of Pennsylvania, where he served as Chief Medical Resident. In 1979, Michael and Barbara moved to Gainesville, Florida, where he received his research and clinical training in gastroenterology. The family moved to the Boston area in 1985 to enable Michael to accept a faculty position at Harvard Medical School, where he became recognized as an expert in the area of gastrointestinal regulatory proteins and acid-related disorders. Parents of Jessica, Matthew and Aliza, the Wolfes have been members of Shaarei Tefillah since 1989. Over the past two decades, Michael has served as Chair of the Rabbinic Search Committee, gabbai (for seven years), and co-president.

Rachel Goldstein was born in Boston and moved to Woodbridge, CT at a young age. She attended New Haven Hebrew Day School, where she developed a strong foundation in Jewish education. While an undergraduate at Yale, her father introduced her to Allan, a pre-med student. After graduation, Rachel worked in investment banking at Lehman Brothers, focusing on initial public offerings of Israeli companies, and later at Fidelity Investments. She received her MBA from Harvard Business School and joined The Boston Consulting Group, focusing on organizational issues in the health care and entertainment industries. Rachel and Allan moved from New York City to Newton in 2002 and soon after joined Shaarei Tefillah. They are the parents of Sarah (entering 3^rd grade), Danya (entering Kindergarten), and Henry (6 months). Rachel currently manages BCG’s e-Learning initiative, and also serves on the Board of Trustees at Solomon Schechter Day School of Greater Boston. She chairs Shaarei Tefillah’s Youth and Family Education Committee, and credits both her parents and-in-laws with instilling in her a strong commitment to the Jewish community and its children.

Pam Scheinman received her undergraduate degree from Brandeis University and her medical degree from Mt Sinai School of Medicine in New York City. She is currently Chief, Medical Dermatology Division and Director of the Contact Dermatitis and Occupational Dermatology Unit at Tufts Medical Center. A nationally recognized expert in the field of contact dermatitis, she serves on the Board of Directors of the American Contact Dermatitis Society. Pam and her husband, Igor, moved to Newton with their three children in August 2001. As chair of the Israel Action committee, Pam has directed its many worthwhile activities, such as the following: sending gift baskets to Israeli soldiers and to the Stelkol family in Haifa whose husband and father, respectively, was killed in a terrorist bus bombing several years ago; ordering roses from a Kibbutz in the Negev; raising funds to purchase warm clothing and non-military equipment for the Orev Golani unit; sending food vouchers to chayalim bodedim (those who are in Israel alone without family) and to residents of Sderot.