Temple Shalom Board of Trustees
Officers
President – Erica Neufeld *
Treasurer - Lynda Schwartz *
Membership Secretary – Ellen Nussbaum*
Corresponding Secretary – Yvonne Baehr-Robertson
Vice-President – Samuel Brenner*
Vice-President – Valerie Pirri*
Vice-President - Sarah Ruderman Wilensky*
Vice-President – Howard Sholkin *
Vice-President – Emily Sienkiewicz *
* Members of the Executive Committee
Trustees
Charlie Brenner
Elizabeth Connolly
Allan Cole
Mitchell Dickerman
John Duberstein
Christine Fisher
Barbara Hecht
Sharon Herrick
Rachel King
Liz Kleinerman
Will Korn
Evan Leventhal
Averi Price
Laura Scharf
Trustees ex-officio
Past President - Carol Berlin*
Past President - Judy Levin-Charns*
Past President - Fred Kraus
Updates from Your Board of Trustees
2023 Annual Congregational Meeting Presidents' Speech
For more information about the Board of Trustees, please contact president@templeshalom.org.
Erica Neufeld
Erica is a Newton native who moved to Washington, DC for undergrad and stayed another 20 years. Erica and her daughter joined Temple Shalom in 2018 not long after moving back to Newton. Professionally, Erica has spent her career in healthcare marketing communications at various hospitals and non-profit organizations and personally, she loves to swim, bike, travel, read, try new restaurants, and spend time with family and friends.
Lynda Schwartz
As treasurer of Temple Shalom, Lynda works with our Finance Committee, clergy, and staff to present an annual budget for approval by the Temple Board. Throughout the fiscal year, Lynda and the Finance Committee work with the temple staff and clergy to oversee our financial operations. Lynda is a CPA and a lecturer in accounting at University of Massachusetts Amherst. Lynda is also a former board chair and treasurer of InterfaithFamily, now known as 18Doors, a national non-profit supporting interfaith families exploring Jewish life. Lynda and her family have been members of Temple Shalom since the early 1990s.
Ellen Nussbaum
Ellen spent her career in technology, with focus on building and running software companies and teams. She is currently a Lecturer in the Finance department at Bentley University, and serves on two non-profit boards in addition to Temple Shalom: GBH (Board of Advisors) and the Boston chapter of Hadassah. Ellen lives in Newton with her husband, two sons and many pets, and is an avid Boston Celtics fan.
Yvonne Baehr-Robertson
Yvonne became a member of Temple Shalom in 1981 when her eldest daughter enrolled in the Nursery School. Now, 35 years later, Yvonne is honored to serve on the Board of Trustees for the third time, having worked alongside several past Board Presidents. She played a key role on the search committee following Rabbi Whiman's departure, which successfully brought Rabbi Gurvis to Temple Shalom, where he led the congregation for 18 years before passing the leadership to Rabbis Abrasley and Berry.
Today, Yvonne’s children are in their 40s, and she continues to enjoy life in Brighton, where she has happily lived for the past 18 years.
Samuel Brenner
Sam and his wife, Claudia Arno, joined Temple Shalom in 2017, after living variously in Providence, RI, Ann Arbor and Lansing, MI, Pasadena, CA, and Lexington and Cambridge, MA. They have two daughters, one of whom is in SHACHARIT, and one of whom is in the Temple Shalom Nursery School, and two dogs, one of whom is a 20-lb Havanese (Maverick) and one of whom is a 100-lb Great Pyrenees (Gavin). Professionally, Sam, who has a Ph.D. in modern U.S. History from Brown and a J.D. from the University of Michigan, has spent his career as an Intellectual Property and Appellate litigator at Ropes & Gray, LLP.
Valerie Pirri
Valerie has been a member of Temple Shalom for over 10 years. During this time, she's been involved in various committees such as Interfaith, Finance, and Families of Young Children. Professionally, Val is an IT Director at Brandeis University and lives in Newton with her husband, two children, and their dog named Finley. She enjoys biking, swimming, skiing, and traveling.
Sarah Ruderman Wilensky
As a member of the Executive Committee and Board of Trustees, Sarah heads our advancement initiatives. In her professional life Sarah is the Director of Organizational Partnerships at PJ Library, part of the Harold Grinspoon Foundation. She loves to cook (and eat), read, spend time at the beach and listen to live music. Sarah lives in Newton with her spouse, 2 children and cat named Brisket.
Howard Sholkin
Howard has several decades of marketing communication experience in technology. He has taught at Boston University and Lasell university teaching communications and media courses, worked at International Data Group (IDG), and been a news producer at WCVB-TV, Boston. He serves on the boards of three non-profits: Newton Community Pride, Boston Entrepreneurs Network (ENET), and Temple Shalom of Newton where he has served in leadership roles since the 1990s.
Emily Sienkiewicz
Emily and her family have been Temple Shalom members for ten years. Both of Emily's children attended the Temple Shalom Nursery School and are now enrolled in SHACHARIT and MINCHA. Professionally, Emily has spent her career in development and fundraising at various non-profit organizations and, personally, she loves to play pickleball, read, eat ice cream, and hang out in her backyard with family and friends.
