Scott Harris, President
Scott and Jill have been members of Shaarei Tikvah since 2008. They have four children: Betsy (14), Kate (12), Paige (10) and Jude (4). Scott has been an active member of the Executive Committee and Board of Trustees for many years. Over the past five years since joining the Executive Committee, Scott has served one year as First Vice President, two years as Co-Treasurer and two years as Corresponding Secretary. He has been instrumental in building community at Shaarei Tikvah through his involvement in the Young Families Group. Scott and Jill have organized several events targeting families with young children for our community including young family Havdalahs, six consecutive years of “Vodka and Latkas”, and other fun programs. Scott planned a community-wide “Sushi, Sake in the Sukkah” event that drew many segments of the community during Sukkot. Scott and Jill celebrated many simchas at Shaarei Tikvah including their oldest daughter Betsy’s Bat Mitzvah and youngest son Jude’s bris. They plan to celebrate their daughters Kate and Paige becoming B’not Mitzvah in September 2019. Scott grew up in Hollywood, Florida, and met Jill in her hometown of Tampa at the “Matzo Ball!” Scott and Jill were married in St. Petersburg, Florida, in November 2001. Prior to New York, Jill and Scott were living in Charlotte, North Carolina. Scott’s career has been in municipal bonds and he is currently a municipal bond trader at Mesirow Financial, a Chicago based firm. Scott’s hobbies include family time, listening to podcasts and music, exercising and spending time with friends and talking on the phone.
Rob Glik, 1st Vice President
Rob and his wife Gayle have lived in Scarsdale since 2002 and have been members of Shaarei Tikvah since 2007. Their three beautiful daughters, Amanda (17), Lucy (10), and Serena (10) all have strong ties with Shaarei Tikvah. Amanda attended the Hebrew School for seven years and became a Bat Mitzvah at Shaarei Tikvah. Lucy and Serena were the first two babies to be named in our current building, and they both attend the Hebrew School. Rob was born in Argentina and speaks Spanish fluently, but he grew up in New Jersey. Rob works as a life science strategy consultant at IQVIA, where he is currently a Vice President and Global Head of Pricing and Market Access for Consulting Services. Rob has thoroughly enjoyed his two years as co-treasurer, especially for having forged strong ties while working closely with Audrey Kapner and Scott Harris, with whom he will continue to work closely along with the other members of the Executive Committee.
Judith Spanier, 1st Vice President
Judy and her husband Arthur Glauberman have been members of Shaarei Tikvah since its
inception and have lived in Scarsdale since 1993. Their daughters, Molly and Julia, both attended the Religious School and long ago became B’not Mitzvah at ST. Judy currently serves as Chair of the Ritual Committee and as a member of the ST Board of Trustees, positions she has held for the past several years. Over the past two decades, she has served as editor of the Gateway, co-chair with Arthur on the journal for the Dinner Dance (now known as the Party), as Chair of the Bar/Bat Mitzvah committee with editorial responsibilities for various iterations of the Bar/Bat Mitzvah Handbook, and as the (non-voting) Chair of the Nominating Committee in the fateful year in which Arthur was nominated to serve as ST’s President, a position that he held for four years. As a member of ST, Judy had the privilege of becoming a Bat Mitzvah as part of the Women’s Bat Mitzvah Group, and learning to read Torah. Judy has practiced law for the past 40 years and is starting to get the hang of it. Judy is looking forward to working with Scott and the rest of the Executive Committee.
Elissa Bookner, 2nd Vice President
Elissa and Scott Bookner live in Scarsdale and have been members of Genesis and then Shaarei Tikvah since 1993. They have three children, Ilana, Molly and Harrison. All three attended the Religious School and had their Bar and Bat Mitzvah celebrations at Shaarei Tikvah. The whole family also went on the 2007 Israel trip with Rabbi Fine. Elissa has served on the Board of Trustees since 2011 and has served on the Board’s Nominating Committee for 3 years. Most recently, she has served on the Executive Committee as 2nd Vice President but also served as Recording Secretary and was co-chairperson of the Rabbi’s Installation Committee. Scott was the impetus behind the Shtyx singing group and both Elissa and Scott have sung with the group since its inception. Scott, and now Harrison as well, plays on the ST softball team. Elissa is a full time Emergency Medicine Physician and Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine at the Weiler Hospital of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx. She also chairs the Quality Improvement Committee for the Department of Emergency Medicine at Weiler and is the Pediatric Care Liaison. Elissa is also active in the Scarsdale community and has served a term on the CNC (Citizen’s Nominating Committee), two years on the Procedure Committee and is currently the co-chair of STEP, Scarsdale Transfer Education Plan.
Joel Weinberg, 2nd Vice President
Joel and his wife, Barbara, both grew up in Mamaroneck, NY, and currently live in Larchmont. Long term friends who were Shaarei Tikvah members invited them to come to the annual BBQ in 2015 after which Joel and Barbara attended services and subsequently joined ST. Joel is the co-chair of the Lifelong Learning Committee, a member of the Ritual Committee, and a current trustee. Joel and Barbara have three grown children, Ben, Meredith, and Michael, and are fortunate to have them all living and working in the NYC area. Joel worked for more than 20 years in marketing, sales, and product development for a consumer products company, eventually serving as its CEO. He subsequently became a vice president at Christie’s for which he built and managed an art storage and services business in NYC as General Manager. Joel currently sells products and services to hospitals and museums on behalf of a number of companies. When not working, Joel enjoys playing tennis and clarinet, nurturing a vegetable garden, and being with family and friends.
Audrey Kapner, Treasurer
Audrey and her husband, Jeff, joined Shaarei Tikvah in 2010 when they were looking for a religious school for their daughter, Natalyn. Since then, Natalyn became a Bat Mitzvah in January 2017 and now they are planning their son, Charlie’s Bar Mitzvah for June 2019. Audrey never imagined that this decision would lead her down a path of such wonderful involvement with the Jewish community, especially since she did not grow up in a Jewish household and converted to Judaism prior to marrying Jeff, whom she met when they were in high school. Since joining, Audrey has been very involved in the ST Religious School PTA including as co-chair of the Religious School PTA and continues to serve on the School Board. She has also been on the Board of Trustees for the past six years. She is honored to continue to serve on the Executive Committee as Co-Treasurer this year.
David Feuerstein, Recording Secretary
Dave and his wife Dara grew up in Westchester and met as counselors at Beth-El Day Camp (the “Shul with the Pool”), where both of their families were long time members. After college and graduate school, Dave and Dara moved back to Westchester and have lived in Scarsdale since 2002. When it came time to choose a synagogue, Dave and Dara—with the help of some of their current friends on the Executive Board—decided to join Shaarei Tikvah and have been grateful ever since. Dave and Dara are the proud parents of their three terrific children (Jake (14), Abby (11) and Danny (9), all of whom attend (or have attended) ST’s religious school.
Heather Zeitz, Corresponding Secretary
Heather and her husband, Dan, have been members of Shaarei Tikvah for the past eight years and feel truly comfortable and “at home” among our synagogue community. Since joining, she has been involved with both the PTA and school board, and in helping to run the annual Party auction. More recently, Heather helped organize our synagogue trip to Israel with Rabbi Baldachin. The Zeitz family had a truly meaningful experience connecting with Israel, Rabbi Adam, and fellow Shaarei Tikvah members on the trip. Heather has worked in healthcare for nearly 20 years and currently works full time for Onduo, a digital health company dedicated to improving the lives of people living with diabetes. She is looking forward to finding ways to bring our wonderful cross-generational community together through events and learning. Dan is manager of our “STickball” softball team, served on our Rabbi search committee, and serves on our finance committee. Heather and Dan are proud parents of Emily (14) and Matthew (11) who both attend, or have attended, our religious school.
Board of Trustees:
David Alben, Stephanie Balkin, Maxine Bellus, Kate Eichel, Rachel Glotzer, Nicole Goluboff, Melanie Kayam, Jonathan Koevary, David Lampert, Jonathan Lesser, Alyssa Levy, Elyse Marks, Jamie Raboy, Netta Reichenberg, Alan Sacks, Lisa Schneider, Caren Silver, Zachary Smith, Robin Sneider, Abbe Stein, Lauren Tanen, Joel Wollman
Past Presidents:
Randy Borkenstein, Myron Bush, Jeff Elliott, Gloria Fields, Arthur Glauberman, Michael Kane, Alan Lazarus, Paul Lempel, Carol Mermey, Jamie Raboy, Ron Schulman, Abbe Stein