Beth Shalom, a vibrant community
embracing Jewish life and its diversity.
Like many other small communities, ours is led by a dedicated and diverse group of volunteers. We’re young and old, new and veteran to this thriving congregation, doing whatever we can to help each other build a thriving Jewish space.
We’re led by a volunteer-board who meet monthly to cover governance and management of our synagogue life. We also attend several retreats alongside other synagogue leaders each year to learn leadership skills and dive into specific issues and priorities. If you think you might like to join the board, contact us, via: president@bethshalom.org.nz.
Today our board members are: Michelle Wise, President, Tamara Liebman, Treasurer, Roger Reynolds, Secretary with members at large: Arie Rosen, Trudi Sawyer, Daniel Josephs, Stephanie Richling, Hilary Hemmins, Michael Robinson, and Mika Daniels.
Our Mission is to be a community where our Progressive Jewish values, wisdom and traditions are lived, shared, and celebrated.
Our vision is to:
- Provide life-long Jewish learning opportunities including a healthy growing learning programme for children and youth, and robust Jewish learning experiences for all
- Hold engaging services for Shabbat and Holidays
- Offer diverse opportunities for members to connect and be engaged with religious, social and cultural activities
- Bring a Progressive Jewish perspective to current issues in the Jewish, local and New Zealand communities
- Recognise the centrality of Israel to Jewish life in the diaspora
- Engage in and promote social justice/tzedakah/tikkun olam activities
Rabbi Dean Shapiro
Rabbi Dean was ordained at the Hebrew Union College and first joined Beth Shalom in 2008. After three years he returned to the States and became the Senior Rabbi of Temple Emanuel in Phoenix, Arizona, but rejoined Beth Shalom in 2022: the first ongoing rabbi in our history.
His partner, Haim Ainsworth RN, was born in Taranaki, and works at Starship. Their son is a high school student and became bar mitzvah at Beth Shalom.
Rabbi Dean is a member of the Central Conference of American Rabbis and The Assembly of Rabbis and Cantors of Australia, New Zealand and Asia. He is a graduate of Harvard College. He also has a Master’s and Certificate of Jewish Communal Service from Hebrew Union College.
Michelle Wise
Michelle Wise is the President of the Board. She and her family have been members of Beth Shalom since moving to Whangārei from Canada in 2004. Her children were both bar mitzvah’ed on the Beth Shalom Bimah. Michelle first joined the Ritual Committee in 2021 before eventually joining and leading our Board.
Michelle is an Obstetrician and Gynaecology specialist at Te Toka Tumai Auckland, and an Associate Professor at the Auckland University medical school, where she teaches and researches women’s health.
About Beth Shalom
Beth Shalom began as a small group of families, joined together by shared values. The first members met and celebrated in each other’s homes. Eventually, in 1956 the community found its first premises on Manukau Road and started steadily growing to a community of over 200 families.
It was the vision of those families, now over 60 years ago, to plant the seed that grew into today’s vibrant community. Their foundation gifts and foresight established a spiritual home for their children and their children’s children into the future.
Beth Shalom is the biggest Progressive community in NZ, and the 3rd biggest Burial and Benevolent Society. Numerous Beth Shalom specialist sub-committees who facilitate a range of T’zedakah, Education, Community Care and other services for our community and beyond. We boast a skilled group of lay leaders, a flourishing Jewish Learning Programme for school-age children (Yachad) and the services of wonderful Rabbinic leadership.
Although New Zealand finds us amongst the most remote Jewish communities in terms of geography, we are strongly linked to our sister communities in Australia and beyond, under the auspices of the Australasian Union for Progressive Judaism. We are also strongly linked to KiwiPJ, a network of small Progressive Jewish communities all over Aotearoa New Zealand.
FAQs
What would you like to know?
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Email us with any question big or small: office@bethshalom.org.nz
