Rabbi Grossman

Identified by the New York Jewish Week and The Forward as one of the forty five Jewish leaders to watch in the next century and honored as a Woman of the Year by Jewish Woman magazine in 2000, Rabbi Susan Grossman is an accomplished author, lecturer, and storyteller who offers her congregants a rare blend of spiritual energy, joy, intellectual stimulation and pastoral compassion. She currently serves on the prestigious Committee for Jewish Law and Standards of the Conservative Movement. Her responsum (rabbinic decision) on women serving as witnesses in Jewish law and the permissibility of “Partial Birth Abortion” were accepted as one of the official positions of the Conservative Movement. Rabbi Grossman was one of the first women ordained as a rabbi by Jewish Theological Seminary and the first woman to lead her own congregation in both Westchester, New York and Howard County, Maryland. She has written many articles on the role of women in Judaism and co-edited with Orthodox activist Rivka Haut, the anthology Daughters of the King: Women and the Synagogue, published by Jewish Publication Society. Before entering the rabbinate, she directed Holocaust programming for the National Jewish Resource Center (now CLAL) under Rabbi Yitz Greenberg and worked for many years as a journalist and editor. Rabbi Grossman is perhaps best known for her work as one of the editors of the Conservative Movement Humash, Etz Hayim and Torah Commentary for which she worked with Rabbi Harold Kushner on the Derash section and co-edited with Rabbi Elliot Dorff the Halakha L'Maaseh section. She has a Doctorate in Ancient Judaism from Jewish Theological Seminary and has served as spiritual leader of Beth Shalom Congregation in Columbia, Maryland since 1997, where she currently lives with her husband David Boder and their son Yoni.

Cantor Richard Walters

Richard Walters is Beth Shalom’s Cantor. Cantor Walters, a graduate of the Hillel Academy of Pittsburgh and the Pittsburgh College of Jewish Studies, has over 35 years of cantorial experience with Conservative Jewish congregations in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Maryland. Over those years, Cantor Walters has trained and worked extensively with synagogue choirs and has taught Jewish music and prayer to both children and adults. He has also conducted adult education classes in Hebrew Literacy.  At Beth Shalom, Cantor Walters brings zest and enthusiasm and a host of lively melodies to our services on Shabbat and holidays. Aside from his pulpit duties and the other sundry tasks he has assumed, Cantor Walters supervises the Beth Shalom Bar/Bat Mitzvah training program, conducts classes in Torah and Haftorah trop, and has organized an adult choir for special events. Cantor Walters served as Cantor of Temple Israel, Silver Spring, Maryland for five years immediately before assuming his position with Beth Shalom. Cantor Walters, a gifted singer and musician, comes from a musical family. His father, Samuel Walters, was a violinist with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and was a bandleader and synagogue choir director for many years in Pittsburgh. His brother, Cantor Bernard Walters, a pianist and composer, is currently the Cantor of a large Conservative congregation in suburban Philadelphia. Cantor Walters and his wife, Judith, a teacher of English for Speakers of Other Languages in the Montgomery County Public Schools, have two children, Rachel and Joshua.

Dr. Ziva Giliya, Education Director

Dr. Giliya joined the staff at Beth Shalom during the Summer of 2008.  She received a BA in Education from Tel Aviv University, an MA degree in School Administration and Supervision from New York University, and a Doctorate degree in Jewish School Administration and Supervision from Yeshiva University.  Prior to moving to Columbia to serve as the Education Director at Beth Sahlom, she served as the Executive Director and the Education Director for the Jewish Center and Federation of the Twin Tiers, NY.  Her teaching experience was gained through working at Religious Schools and Jewish Day Schools in New York City, and teaching first through higjh school students in Israel.  Dr. Giliya's administrative background was gained as the Education Director of the Religious School in Elira, NY and as a principal of a public school with 1,000 students, grades first through eighth grades in Israel. 

David Schwartz, President, Board of Trustees

Board of Directors - Beth Shalom Officers

Beth Shalom Executive Board
President	David Schwartz
Executive Vice President	Randy Dalnekoff
First Vice President	Opher Ganel
Second Vice President	Gordon Pollokoff
Secretary	Rella Zimmerman
Treasurer	Susan Kuning
Immediate Past-President	Howard Fishbein

Professional Staff

The Beth Shalom main phone number is 410 531-5115.  You may access the staff at the following exentsions:

Rabbi	Susan Grossman (x306)
Education Director	Dr. Ziva Giliya (x304)
Youth Educator & Family Programmer	Becca Roberts (x322)
Tutor/B'nai Mitzvah Sessions Monitoring	Rich Kavalsky (x321)
Rabbi's Assistant	Revital Curtis (x300)
Bookkeeper	Ruthann Klem (x313)
Religious School Secretary	Lana Reshetova (x320)
Office Manager	Anita Green (x301)

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