Clergy | Professional Staff
Professional Staff : Harvey R. Gold, FSA
Harvey R. Gold
joined the staff at Congregation Beth Shalom in July, 1972 as the Youth
Director and the Executive Director. In 1975, he became the full time
Executive Director. Previously he worked as the Youth Director at Niles
Township Jewish Congregation in Skokie and B’nai Zion in Chicago. Harvey
has spent his entire life in the Chicagoland area, gone to Chicago
schools and he received his Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from Roosevelt
University in 1970. He is a member of NAASE (North American Association
of Synagogue Executives), a past Board member of NAASE and a member of
CATA (Chicago Association of Temple Administrators). Harvey is a member
of the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism (USCJ) Midwest Region
Board and Youth Commission. In March, 2003, Harvey was honored as the
guest lecturer of the Erma Lee Ettinger Lecture Series at the NAASE
Convention held in New Orleans. And in March, 2007 he was honored by
the USCJ Midwest Region at their annual concert for his 40 years of
service to the Conservative movement.
Professional Staff : David Barany, Director of Education
David Barany is a
native of Oakland, California, David earned an MAED from the University
of Judaism in Los Angeles. He has BA's in Rabbinic Literature and
Political Science. Before joining Congregation Beth Shalom, David was
the assistant director of the Marshall Jewish Learning Center where he
worked for eight years.
He moved to Chicago from Los Angeles in 1992 to take the position of
Education Director at Anshe Emet in Chicago. He also served B’nai
Jehoshua Beth Elohim in Glenview and Congregation Solel in Highland Park
in that capacity. David has developed curriculum and consulted in a
variety of settings and wrote the “I Have Some Questions about God
Teacher’s Guide” published by Torah Aura. He has served on planning
committees for both the national Conference for Advancement of Jewish
Education and the Midwest CAJE conference.
He is married to Melissa and has two children, Avi and Kyra.
Professional Staff : Barbara Barnett, Ritual Director
Barbara Barnett is
a native of the Chicago area having grown up in Skokie via Albany
Park. She has performed as a singer/guitarist since she was 14, and
served on the staff of the Old Town School of Folk Music in the mid
1970s. After obtaining a B.S. in Biology and M.S. in Political
Science, she worked for many years in the field of Environmental
Public Affairs.
After being exposed to the depth and
spirit of Jewish music and liturgy, and having gone through the process
of Adult Bat Mitzvah here at CBS, Ms. Barnett altered her career path to
fuse her skills in music with her new found passion for Judaism. She
pursued informal and formal studies in Liturgy, Hebrew, Bible and
Hazanut (cantorial skills) and began her new career in synagogue life in
1994. She taught for three years at Congregation Or
Shalom in Vernon Hills, where she co-developed an acclaimed Family
School, which was presented at Jewish Education Conferences throughout
the US. From 1997-1998 she served as Hazzan at Congregation Or Tikvah
in Gurnee during its first year, which saw the congregation grow from 20
families to more than 100.
Barbara
joined the CBS Staff in 1999, and has developed an interactive Shabbat
morning program for young people ages 7-12. She has created innovative
educational tools for bar and bat mitzvah preparation, using new
technology, including customized CDs and the internet. She has been a
presenter three times at Midwest CAJE, a Jewish education conferences.
The Siddur she created for the synagogue's successful parent-tot Shabbat
program won the prestigious Gold Solomon Schechter Award for
Publications in 2002.
Professional Staff : Leann Blue, Dir. of Jewish Life/ Learning
Leann Blue
is a graduate of both Emory University (Bachelor of Arts degree
majoring in religion) and the Benjamin S. Hornstein Program in Jewish
Communal Service of Brandeis University (Master of Arts in Jewish
Communal Service).
After graduation, Leann
put in 3 years with the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism as
Regional Youth Director of Seaboard Region and then Hagalil Region. It
was at International USY Convention in 1988, that Leann was leading a
delegation of teens from New Jersey to Chicago, when she met the CHUSY
Region Fieldworker, Michael Blue, and the rest is history.
Upon moving to the Chicago area in 1989, Leann worked as
Youth Director for North Suburban Synagogue Beth El in Highland Park for
six years. In 1995, Leann joined the staff of Congregation Beth Shalom
as Youth Director, leading the chapter during many award winning years.
In 2001, while still
Youth Director, Leann began focusing on Adult Education and family
programming, and in 2002, she took on her current role of Director of
Jewish Life and Learning at Congregation Beth Shalom. Some of the
programs she has developed are the CBS Shabbaton, Lamazel!, Megillah
Mania, Making Sukkot Simple, Ideas Cafe and CBS University.
A native of Mobile, Alabama, Leann now calls Chicago home with her husband, Michael, and three boys, Adam, Marc and Paul.
Professional Staff : Sara Geboff, Director of Youth Activities
Sara Geboff recently joined the Beth Shalom staff all the way from
Orlando, Florida. She graduated from Indiana University with a degree in
Jewish Studies, where she was active in Israel Awareness on campus and
Hillel. Throughout her summers at IU, she worked at Camp Ramah Darom in
Georgia. After graduation, Sara worked in Orlando as a Middle School
Judaica teacher and an Assistant Youth Director.
As a participant and
staff member in various Conservative Movement programs, Sara has
developed a passion for working with Jewish youth and helping to shape
and inspire them to be leaders in our movement and community. Sara is
thrilled to be making a home in the Windy City and to be a part of the
Beth Shalom community.
Professional Staff : Rabbi Sander J. Mussman, Educational Dir. Emeritus
Rabbi Sander J. Mussman, R.J.E.,
served as Director of Education of Congregation Beth Shalom of
Northbrook, Illinois from 1972 - 2002. During his years of devoted
service, Rabbi Mussman, in addition to being Director of Education,
filled in for a period of 19 months as the spiritual leader of the
synagogue. Prior to his coming to Beth Shalom, he was the Director of
Education of North Shore Congregation Israel, Glencoe, Illinois,
Congregation Bnai Emunah, Skokie, Illinois, Director of Adult Studies,
Houston Jewish Community Center, Houston, Texas and Congregation Bnai
Shalom, Chicago, Illinois as well as a social worker for the Illinois
Department of Welfare, Chicago, Illinois.
Rabbi
Mussman received his education at the Chicago Jewish Academy, College of
Jewish Studies, graduate work at the Hebrew Theological College,
Chicago, Illinois (Rabbinical Seminary), Roosevelt University, Chicago,
Illinois, graduate program at De Paul University, Chicago, Illinois and
the Chicago Teachers’ College. Rabbi Mussman attained his Rabbinical
Ordination in 1959.
Member of