Members of the Board

Luis Fernandez is President of the Board of Trustees of Beth Israel — The West Temple.

Chuck Levine currently serves as Co-Vice-President, along with his other duties as a Sunday school custodian and a bagel cafe coordinator.  Chuck and his wife, Rivienne (one of our school teachers) arrived from Chicago in 1989 when Chuck accepted a faculty position at Baldwin-Wallace College.  Chuck received his Ph.D. from the University of Illinois.  Chuck and Rivienne have two teenage sons.

Allan Fox serves as Co-Vice-President with Chuck.

Charlotte Feldman currently serves as Co-Secretary.  She and her late husband, Jim, joined Beth Israel in 1976 soon after they moved to Berea.  She has taught in the religious school and has served on the Board of Trustees for a number of years. She specializes in writing musical parodies for temple fundraisers, included the well-received Zion King, My Fair Sadie, and The Music Mensch.  Charlotte has two grown sons – Ben is in a Ph.D. program at Case Western Reserve University and Joel is a computer engineer in Phoenix.

Paula Jacobson serves as Co-Secretary with Charlotte.

Robin Kaufman currently serves as Co-Treasurer as well as the Administrator of the Religious School.  She joined Beth Israel in 1990 and has been an active member ever since.  She taught religious school at Beth Israel for seven years and has been very involved in all aspects of the school and in fund-raising.   Robin is President of Aztec Steel in Elyria.  She is married to Neal Kaufman, and they live in Westlake with their three children.  She is also on the board of directors of the Elyria Rotary Club.  She enjoys tennis and sailing.

Lynn Atzenhoffer serves as Co-Treasurer with Robin.  She and her husband, Mark, have two children.  They have been members since 1999 after moving from Lansing, Michigan.  Prior to that, she lived in San Fernando Valley, California.   Lynn has over 35 years of accounting experience and currently works for American Greetings Intellectual Properties.

Lynn is responsible for the management of all of Beth Israel’s funds.  Her duties include sending out quarterly statements and paying the bills for the Temple’s general and religious school accounts.  She has been very involved in many activities over the years, including teaching Kinderclass and organizing Havdalah picnics, the annual Hanukkah dinner, and Celebrate Shabbat luncheons.  She is known to always be in the kitchen.

Judith Friedman is currently Co-Chairperson of the Adult Education Committee.  She is the immediate past President of the Board and has served as President for four two-year terms.  She and her husband, Roger, along with their children, Matt and Shaina, have been members of Beth Israel since 1988. She has been a member of the Board of Trustees for many years, having also served as First Vice-President and Second Vice-President.  Judy served as Co-Chairperson of the Long Range Planning Committee in the early stages of the Temple’s work on a strategic plan for the future.  She continues to serve on the transition of that committee, which is now the Implementation Committee.

Judy’s volunteerism extends to the community at-large and stems from her strong interest in advocating for diversity education and tolerance.  To that end, she has trained as a facilitator for the Anti-Defamation League and The Diversity Center of Northeast Ohio.  She also serves on the Advisory Council for the Hospice of the Western Reserve,  on The Citizen’s Advisory committee for the Westlake City School district, and on the Editorial Board of the Cleveland Jewish News.

Laura Green Stout serves as Co-Chairperson of the Adult Education Committee with Judy.  Prior to this position, she served as Co-Vice-President of Beth Israel for six years and has been very involved in fund-raising.  She and her husband, David, and their son, Jonathan,  joined Beth Israel in 1992.  She and her family previously lived in University Heights and were members of a mega temple, where it was difficult to get to know people, and so she greatly appreciates her friendships at Beth Israel.   Laura is a clinical psychologist and works in a private practice in Rocky River.

Jeff Janofsky serves as the Co-Chairperson of Building & Grounds Committee.

Matt Barratt serves as the Co-Chairperson of the Building & Grounds Committee with Jeff.  Matt and his family came to Beth Israel — The West Temple because of the Religious School and stayed because they found so many friends there.   He believes that the Beth Israel community brings together people from diverse backgrounds and that it’s a great place to raise kids!  By profession, Matt is an engineer, working primarily with industrial electrical and control systems in Ohio and neighboring states.

Mike Palnik currently serves as Co-Chairperson of the Membership Committee and is also the head usher for the High Holidays.  He and his wife, Beryl, have been members of Beth Israel since 1989.  Beryl is the High Holiday Choir Director and the Junior Youth Advisor.  Together, they have co-chaired the Social Committee and served on other committees as well.  Their son, Mitch, attended religious school from pre-school through high school graduation.  By participating in the many educational and social activities that Beth Israel has to offer, Mike increased his knowledge of Judaism and has made many new friends.  He loves being a member of Beth Israel.

By profession, Mike is the president of Becker Wholesale Plumbing Supply Company.  He likes playing and arranging popular, jazz, and classical music on his keyboard and learning about music.

Sandy Pankiw is Mike’s Co-Chair of Membership.  As well, she serves as art director and Hebrew teacher as needed. She and her family joined Beth Israel 10 years ago when they moved from Chicago for her job.  They appreciate the feeling of extended family and community, especially at important events like Bar and Bar Mitzvahs where everyone pitches in to make the day a success.  Sandy is Global Sourcing Manager at PolyOne.  She lives with her daughters, Rachel and Lauren.  They all enjoy participating in Social Action activities with other members and giving back to the community.

David Bamberger serves as the Chairperson of the Ritual Committee.  He and his family have been members of Beth Israel — The West Temple since the 1970’s.  They especially love the participatory nature of the congregation, and they have had leadership positions in a variety of programs from service leadership to fundraising.  David is the author of several textbooks used nationally (and internationally) by Jewish religious schools.  By profession, he is a theatrical director.  He and his wife, Carola, are the Co-Founders of Cleveland Opera, which they managed for nearly three decades.  David is now Artistic Director of the Opera Program at the Cleveland Institute of Music.

Alan Finkelstein serves as the Chairperson of the Safety Committee.

Laurie Levinson serves as the Co-Chairperson of the Social Action Committee.  She has been a member of Beth Israel for the last 20 years, joining the Board for the first time in 2006 as Social Action Chair.  She and her husband, Mike, live in Bay Village and have three daughters — Sarah, Emily, and Melanie.  Laurie has worked at NASA for the last 25 years as a Computer Engineer, developing software both to operate space experiments and for aeronautics research applications. When not working or planning social action projects, she likes to attend her daughters’ soccer and basketball games, as well as their band, orchestra, and choir concerts, or relax with a good book.

Barbara Feldmar serves as the Co-Chairperson of the Social Action Committee with Laurie.