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OUR PEOPLE

Suburban Temple – Kol Ami is blessed with a dedicated professional staff and active board of trustees.

Our Rabbi:  

Rabbi Allison B. Vann  has been the spiritual leader of Suburban Temple-Kol Ami since 2011. Suburban Temple-Kol Ami is a more than 70-year-old congregation known for its’ innovative and welcoming approach to membership and learning.

She graduated from the University of Pittsburgh and was ordained by the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in 1999. Rabbi Vann served Temple Beth-El in San Antonio, Texas from 1999 to June of 2011. She is a Past President of the Cleveland Board of Rabbis; served on the Board of Trustees for both the Jewish Family Services Association and the Jewish Education Center of Cleveland. Through the Leadership Cleveland Center, she is proud to be one of Leadership Cleveland’s Class of 2019. She is part of the leadership team of the Religious Action Center (RAC) Ohio, an organizing community bringing Reform Jews from across Ohio together in the pursuit of justice in our state. She is currently serving on the Ethics Committee of the Central Conference of American Rabbis.

She is married to Charlie Vann, and together they are raising their son, Isaac.  They have three rescue dogs, Annie, Mag and Cosmo.

Email Rabbi Vann

Our Education Director:

Rabbi Shoshana Nyer, Director of Lifelong Learning, joined the Suburban Temple – Kol Ami community as Director of Lifelong Learning in July 2012, after serving Temple B'nai Shalom in Fairfax Station, VA for nine years as first Assistant, then Associate Rabbi and Educator. Before arriving in Northern Virginia, Shana earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Jewish Studies at the University of Maryland, and then studied at Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion in New York, where in addition to achieving her ordination in 2003, she earned a Masters of Arts in Hebrew Literature in 2002, and her Masters of Arts in Religious Education in 2016. Rabbi Shana is also the Jewish Educator at Camp Wise is Chardon, OH, returning to her childhood summer home. 

Rabbi Shana loves teaching students of all ages.  She is the creator and director of Our Tent, an acclaimed innovative multigenerational, experiential, choice-based congregational learning program. As a passionate about advocate for the inclusion of all learners, she has published two articles on the subject, “How to Say ‘Yes And…’ to Inclusion” and “Creating Sacred Partnerships: Parents and Educators Working Together to Meet the Needs of All Learners”.  

Rabbi Shana is a gifted storyteller who loves to teach Jewish values through this medium and gets excited when her lessons combine her knowledge of and passion for Judaism and her interest in all things pop culture. When she is not at work, Rabbi Shana enjoys spending time with her friends and family.

Email Rabbi Shana

Our Executive Committee:

Lori Rosenberg, President

Ellyn Ross, Vice-President

Margery Mazoh, Secretary

Michelle Brown, Co-Treasurer

Tracey Messer, Co-Treasurer

Alan Hazzard, At-Large

Dorothea Polster, At-Large

Matt Lehman, Immediate Past President

 

Our Past Presidents:

Jack Alan Bialosky

Dr. Stanley Brown

Zolman Cavitch (z"l)

Dr. Richard L. Cohen

Martin J. Cohn (z"l)

Beth N. Curtiss

David H. Deitz (z"l)

Morton R. Dworken (z"l)

Barbara Feldman

Louis A. Fox (z"l)

Thomas E. Galvin

Robert S. Glick (z"l)

Irwin S. Haiman (z"l)

Donald S. Jacobson (z"l)

Kenneth M. Lapine

David L. Margolius (z"l)

Richard D. Margolius

Stanley M. Proctor (z"l)

Robert T. "Buzz" Rosenfeld 

Kim Rosner

Ronald M. Rubinstein (z"l)

Mina S. Siegel (z"l)

Sara Stashower

Our Board of Trustees:

Dr. Dave Aron

Sandy Buzney

Tessa Gable

Susan Hirsch

Elissa Katz

Irving Katz

Muriel Lederman, Kol Nashim

Susan Long

Len Podis

Svetlana Pundik

Dan Richards

Rich Silver

Andi Wasserman

Ellen Weber

Our Executive Director:                         

Brett Shankman joined Suburban Temple – Kol Ami as Executive Director in April 2014. He has worked in the organized Jewish community for most of his professional career, including the Jewish Federation of Cleveland and the Menorah Park Foundation.

Brett is a native of Memphis, Tennessee. He lives in Shaker Heights with his family.

Email Brett Shankman

Our Music Director:                                        

Annika Balish has recently joined Suburban Temple as our Music Director. She is a graduate of The College of Wooster class of 2022, where she studied voice and music performance.

She brings experience from working as the performing arts supervisor at Camp Wise for two summers, as well as being the head song leader last summer. Annika found her passion for music at a very young age and began studying voice at age 10. Her early-found love of music was in large part due to growing up at a musically oriented congregation in Cincinnati, Ohio. 

She is very excited about her recent move to Cleveland, where she lives with her best furry friend, Plum the cat.

Email Annika Balish

Our Staff:

John Farragher, Maintenance Supervisor

Charles Hickerson, Retired

Rochelle Arian, Administrative Assistant

Smadar Lahav, Administrative Assistant

Jacob Rogers, Technical Assistant

 

Rabbis of Blessed Memory

Rabbi Myron Silverman, D.D. (z"l) - (1949-1976)
Rabbi Michael A. Oppenheimer (z"l) - (1976-2002)
Rabbi Eric Bram (z"l) - (2002-2010)

Tue, March 19 2024 9 Adar II 5784