The people of Temple Beth Am are made up of dedicated individuals and groups that offer a spirited place for worship and for cultured education. While Temple Beth Am addresses and faces the challenges of community reform Judaism on a daily basis, we deliver a menu of warmth and enthusiastic leadership. Our family of adults, young adults and children reciprocate amongst each other a spiritual leadership that we are proud of throughout our community.
Rabbi Michael Baum From September 2008-June 2009 Rabbi Mickey served as our Rabbi when Rabbi Brown was on Sabbatical. In July 2009, Rabbi Mickey was named assistant Rabbi. Since that time, Rabbi Mickey has taught adult education including two very successful Adult Bat Mitzvah classes, led services, given sermons at High Holiday services, officiated Bar/Bat Mitzvahs as well as other life cycle events at Beth Am. In addition, since 2009, Rabbi Mickey has been taking our confirmation classes as well as other congregants who wish to join them every 2 years on a trip to Israel. Rabbi Mickey served once again as our Rabbi from January-June 2014 when Rabbi Brown took another sabbatical. On July 1, 2017, Rabbi Mickey became our Rabbi/Educator upon Rabbi Brown’s retirement.
Rabbi Dr. Ronald N. Brown assumed the spiritual leadership of Temple Beth Am in September 1984. However, his roots in the Temple go back many years. His father, Jack Brown served as Beth Am’s first Cantor. Dr. Brown was ordained and received his PhD from the Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion. He has published numerous scholarly articles in the field of rabbinic literature. In the years that Dr. Brown has been in Merrick, he has initiated several unique programs including “Thanksgiving“ (a joint project between Catholics, Protestants, Muslims and Jews to help the needy) and “by invitation only” (a social gathering for singles). He created the first synagogue network system in New York to help the unemployed. Dr. Brown was also instrumental in starting the first of its kind Merrick Hebrew High School, which is a combination of the Reform, Conservative and Orthodox synagogues in our community. In 1999, Rabbi Brown established the North American Boards of Rabbis (N.A.B.O.R.) which unites boards of rabbis across the country under one umbrella organization. NABOR is the largest organization of its kind which brings Orthodox, Conservative, Reconstructionist and Reform rabbis together to discuss issues of common concern. As a member of the Board of Governors of the New York Board of Rabbis, Dr. Brown has been invited by the governments of Ireland, Israel, and the Czech Republic to represent this rabbinic body on religious and political issues. Dr. Brown taught at the Academy for the Jewish Religion in Manhattan and has authored an historical novel, Sacred Fires. He and his wife, Tsipora, have collaborated on short stories for children. Dr. and Mrs. Brown are the parents of Jack and Jennifer. It was an honor to have Rabbi Brown lead our congregation, we thank him for his years of dedication to our congregation and wish him only the best of health and happiness in his retirement.
Rabbi Paul Kushner was a native of Brooklyn and was raised almost in the shadow of Ebbets Field. He held various academic degrees: Bachelor of Science from Columbia University, Bachelor of Religious Education from the Jewish Theological Seminary, Bachelor of Hebrew Literature, Master of Arts, and Doctor of Divinity from the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion. He pursued post-graduate studies at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. He was ordained by HUC-JIR in 1963. After serving congregations in Florence, South Carolina, Aberdeen, Maryland, Kendall Park, New Jersey, and Brooklyn, New York, Rabbi Kushner became the spiritual leader of Congregation Shaarei Shalom in Bellmore, New York, in 1973. He held this position until he came to Temple Beth Am. He also served as an Auxiliary Chaplain of the U.S. Army at the Aberdeen Proving Grounds, Director of the Rabbinical Advisory Council of the United Jewish Appeal of Greater New York, Associate Director of the Department of Religious Affairs of UJA-Federation, and North American Director of the World Union for Progressive Judaism. While at UJA-Federation, he was secretary of the Federation's Committee on Medical Ethics and was the co-author of Jewish Ethno-Psychiatry: A Training Manual for Psychiatric Residents. In addition, he was an instructor in liturgy and Hebrew language at HUC-JIR. Rabbi Kushner was a visiting lecturer at the Seminary of the Immaculate Conception in Lloyd Harbor, New York and lectured frequently at Molloy College in Rockville Centre. Rabbi Kushner was always active in professional organizations. He served as President of the Brooklyn Association of Reform Rabbis, the Long Island Board of Rabbis and the Alumni Association of the Jewish Theological Seminary. He was one of very few rabbis who enjoyed full membership in both the Central Conference of American Rabbis (reform) and the Rabbinical Assembly (conservative). He also led the Brooklyn Reconstructionist Havurah for several years. He functioned as a commentator on Jewish news for WOR and WABC radio and television. Rabbi Kushner passed away in April 2019. He will be missed by our congregation and all those who knew him.
Phone: (516) 378-3477, ext. 16 Cantor Daniel M. Rosenfeld ("Cantor Dan") has served as the Cantor of Temple Beth Am since the fall of 2004. As the Cantor of Temple Beth Am, he has overseen a number of interfaith programs and events including the direction of the Temple's adult choir combined with that of the 7th Day Adventist Church of Manhasset, New York. Over the course of his career he has taught in several institutions, both private and public. He served on the faculty of the American Seminary for Contemporary Judaism in Baldwin, New York where he instructed Cantorial and Rabbinic students in music theory and the history of Reform Jewish worship. While serving at more than one congregation in New Jersey, he taught courses on basic Judaism as part of the senior citizens network of Monmouth County. Throughout his career, Cantor Dan has appeared on stages in the New York area such as the Thomas Cultice Summer Opera’s production of Dido and Aeneas performed at Mannes School of Music and in original off-Broadway productions such as Trilogy of Poe, composed by Vittorio Furgeri and performed at the Harry Warren Theater. Cantor Dan has directed musical theater productions, and has also sung in numerous choral ensembles including the former 92nd Street Y Chorale and also as a professional soloist in various choruses. Through his years of vocal experience, Cantor Dan has developed a diverse repertoire including classics of the Yiddish theater, opera, oratorio, the romantic era, and contemporary art song. He has also composed and arranged settings of the prayers sung in Jewish worship. Cantor Rosenfeld received his masters in sacred music from Hebrew Union College in 1996 and his Bachelor’s degree from Hamilton College in 1982. He continues to enjoy serving as an instructor, teacher and Cantor at Temple Beth Am. Michael Krassner (Co-President) Phone: (516) 378-3477 Michael and his wife Betsy have been members of Temple Beth Am since 1998. Their three children, Jake, Erika and Garrett all attended Temple Beth Am Hebrew School through Bnei Mitzvah and the entire family remains active in Jewish life and the Merrick Bellmore community. Michael is a past President of Temple Beth Am Brotherhood, having served from 2000 until 2002, and has remained active as a Brotherhood Vice President since. He has been an active member of the Temple’s Board of Trustees since July 2014. He has taken on various projects during his service on the board including advertising, building safety improvements, insurance, membership, coordinating the implementation of the Pledge from the Heart program, and most recently the implementation of our new outsourced bookkeeping service. He is also Treasurer of the Temple Beth Am Bowling league. Michael graduated from Queens College in 1979 with a degree in Accounting. He has held a number of senior executive leadership roles in the software industry. He has a wealth of knowledge in the areas of enterprise software, data, analytics, predictive modeling, sales strategy, sales team leadership, marketing and product management, business operations, process improvement, customer relationship management (CRM) and sales force automation (SFA). He is also well versed in business intelligence and fraud detection solutions. He led the successful launch of several World-Class software products. His experience also includes go-to-market strategy consulting. Michael enjoys swimming, golf and is also a freelance professional photographer with a keen eye for making creative images.
![]() Phone: (516) 378-3477 Elizabeth and her family have been part of Temple Beth Am since 2006. Elizabeth and her husband, Andrew were married in March 1999. Elizabeth grew up in Merrick and Andrew in Massapequa and they settled down in Bellmore. They have two beautiful girls, Rachel (19) and Marni (17) who attended Temple Beth Am’s Hebrew School. They both had their Bat Mitzvah under the direction of Rabbi Mickey and Cantor Dan. One day after Hebrew School Rachel asked Elizabeth why she never had a Bat Mitzvah. Elizabeth heard that Rabbi Mickey was conducting an adult education Bat Mitzvah class. She immediately joined and had her own Bat Mitzvah on June 19, 2010. Rachel and Marni continued their education as members of the Community Hebrew High School. Rachel still continues to volunteer in the Temple’s Torah for Tots program. Elizabeth has been an active member of Temple Beth Am. She was a member of the board for 6 consecutive years and held several positions in the area of education, serving as a member of the school committee and Vice President of education before accepting the Co-President role. Andrew was the temple attorney for many years as well. Elizabeth graduated from the University of Hartford in 1988 with a special education degree. She completed her masters program at CW Post in 1991 earning an early childhood degree. She is a special education teacher at Barnum Wood elementary school in East Meadow. Elizabeth’s parents were very active in their temple and the congregation. They belonged to sisterhood and brotherhood serving as Presidents. Her mother was active with the Temple’s Bingo program. While her father helped with ushering at services. Watching her parents support their temple is what helped drive her to accept this honor of Co-President. Elizabeth and her family are looking forward to the continued growth of Temple Beth Am. |