Rabbi Gary A. Glickstein
ragbab@aol.com
Rabbi Glickstein has been the spiritual leader of Temple Beth Sholom since 1985.
EDUCATION: College and Degrees Year Degree Institution 1969 B.A. University of California, L.A. 1971 B.H.L. HUC-JIR, L.A. 1974 M.A.H.L. HUC-JIR, Cincinnati. Ordained at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, Cinn., 1974 ABD: Working on dissertation for Ph.D. in Rabbinics at HUC-JIR, Cincinnati campus.
RABBINIC EXPERIENCE: 1974-77 Asst. Rabbi, Congregation Bene Israel/Rockdale Temple, Cincinnati, Ohio 1977-85 Temple Sinai, Worcester, Massachusetts. 1985-Present Temple Beth Sholom, Miami Beach, Florida.
COMMUNAL ACTIVITIES: National Jewish Organizations Chairman, Executive Committee, UJA National Rabbinic Cabinet. Officer, UJA National Board. Associate Chairman, National Rabbinic Cabinet, Israel Bonds. Board Member, Hebrew Union College, Jewish Institute of Religion, Alumni Advisory Board. Member, UAHC National Committee on Synagogue Affiliation. Member, CCAR Convention Committee. Member, CJF Committee on Religious Pluralism. Miami Jewish Organizations Co-Chair Synagogue/Federation Relations Committee G.M.J.F. Chairman and President, Joseph H. Waldhorn Foundation, Inc. Board Member, Greater Miami Jewish Federation. Board Member, Foundation for Jewish Philanthropies. Board Member and Steering Committee Member, Commission on Jewish Continuity of Greater Miami. Board Member and Advisory Board Member, Golden Care Foundation. President, Greater Miami Chapter Board of American Friends of the Hebrew University. Past President, Rabbinical Association of Greater Miami.
Rabbi Robert A. Davis, D.Min.
rarad@tbsmb.org
Rabbi Davis has been immersed in the Jewish Community his entire life including: attending Jewish summer camp; active involvement in youth group; and traveling and living in Israel. Before seeking rabbinic ordination, Rabbi Davis worked in retail management, fell in love with Natalie and got married, directed the Maurice B. Shwayder Camp of Congregation Emanuel of Denver, and earned his Bachelor of Arts in Management and Camp Administration at Loretto Heights College in Denver.
Inspired by his many years in Jewish camping, Rabbi Davis began his rabbinic studies at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in 1987. As a student, he served congregations in Sacramento, California; Merced, California; and Everett, Washington. He earned his Master of Arts in Hebrew Letters degree in 1990 and received his rabbinic ordination in 1992. The title of his rabbinic thesis is Addiction and the Torah.
Following ordination Rabbi Davis returned to Denver to serve Congregation Emanuel as Rabbi and Director of Camping and Youth Programs. After completing his twenty-fifth summer at camp, Rabbi Davis decided to change the focus of his rabbinate and came to Temple Beth Sholom in January of 1995. He is involved in all aspects of synagogue life and the Jewish community. Rabbi Davis deeply loves his temple community. During his thirteen years at Beth Sholom he has created and implemented myriad programs; multi-tasked as both rabbi and executive director; and continues to help congregants in their personal growth and spiritual journeys. Recently Rabbi Davis completed his doctoral studies at the Florida Center for Theological Studies. His dissertation, Beyond the Erroneous Assumption, explores the nature of the soul from a Jewish perspective and the role of the rabbi in healing the soul.
Rabbi Davis has served as the vice-president of the Rocky Mountain Rabbinic Association, as president of the Rabbinical Association of Greater Miami, and is a founding board member of Kavod, an international tzedakah collective. Rabbi Davis eclectic interests include: jewelry design, architecture, carpentry, stonework, graphic arts, basketball, and hiking. He loves to spend time with Natalie and their two wonderful children, Joshua and Naomi.
Rabbi Gayle Pomerantz, Program Director
rabbipomerantz@tbsmb.org
Born in Miami, Rabbi Gayle Pomerantz grew up as a member of Temple Beth Am in Kendall. She spent nine summers as a camper and then counselor at the URJ Camp Coleman in Georgia. She also participated in the High School in Israel Program in 1978.
As a high school senior, Gayle served as a Congressional Page in Washington for six months before attending Brandeis University in Massachusetts.Gayle spent her junior year studying at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem. It was there that she met her future husband, Adam Snitzer. She earned her BA degree in Near Eastern & Judaic Studies (magna cum laude) in 1983. "I had actually applied to law school and deferred my admission," she explains, "when I returned to Israel to do volunteer work." After attending a rabbinical class with a friend, she "knew immediately" that she wanted to become a rabbi. "I have never looked back," she says.
Gayle earned her Master of Arts in Hebrew Letters in 1987 and her Rabbinic Ordination from New York's Hebrew Union College in 1989. She spent the next three years as Assistant Rabbi of Congregation Emanu-El in San Francisco, California, where she revitalized the prestigious synagogue's youth programs and founded and coordinated a Women's Study Group, Singles for Tzedakah and a Conversion Support Group. Rabbi Pomerantz returned to South Florida in 1992 to become Assistant Director of the Southeast Council of Union for Reform Judaism (URJ).
In 1994, she was named Program Director for Temple Beth Sholom. During her tenure, Rabbi Pomerantz has coordinated numerous programs, including Family Education, Mitzvah Day, Volunteer and Chavurah groups, Women's B'not Mitzvah, Rosh Chodesh and Women's Passover Seders. In 1998/99, Rabbi Pomerantz became the first woman to be named President of the Rabbinic Association of Greater Miami.
Professionally, Rabbi Pomerantz is most proud of her Adult B'not Mitzvah classes and of Temple Beth Sholom's Mitzvah Day, because the programs exemplify her ultimate goal of helping to bring Jews closer to Torah. Empowering Jews to do Jewish things and to live Jewishly, she explains, "leads to tikkun olam - to repairing the world." Personally, Gayle's most important accomplishment is being a mother. She and Adam are the proud parents of three beautiful daughters, Hannah, 13, Danielle, 9, and Noa, 4. "My greatest challenge is to balance and integrate being a rabbi and a mom," she says. By the looks of things, Rabbi Gayle Pomerantz is doing a wonderful job.
Cantor Steven Haas
cantorhaas@tbsmb.org
Cantor Steven Haas has been the Cantor at Temple Beth Sholom since 1989.
He is living proof that you can come home again.
History: After serving as the cantor at Temple Beth El V'Shalom in Charlotte, North Carolina Steven Haas returned to his roots in Miami Beach.
Cantor Haas grew up at Temple Beth Sholom. He attended religious school from age 6, celebrated Bar Mitzvah and sang in the children's choir under the direction of Cantor David Conviser. During High School he served as Cantorial Soloist at Temple Beth Am in South Miami.
While at the University of Cincinnati he had the honor of performing the High Holy Days overflow services at Temple Israel in Detroit for three years.
During his professional operatic career he performed the High Holy Days in Europe and Australia until his return to the United States. Steven Haas credits Cantor David Conviser and Cantor Harold Orbach with inspiring, encouraging and giving him the opportunities to express himself and serve others through the beauty of Jewish musical tradition.
