Welcome | About TBE
Lay Leaders
Meet our lay leaders
Neil Silverston
President
Danny Navisky
President-Elect
Danny, his wife Elizabeth, and their sons Asher and Lev have been fixtures at TBE since rejoining Elizabeth’s childhood community many years ago. Each member of the family has made TBE a second home – serving in leadership positions, singing on the bimah, participating in learning opportunities, supporting the congregation’s technology staff, and many other roles. Danny currently co-chairs TBE’s Bonim Shalom Visioning Team and co-chairs TBE’s partnership with Or Hadash, our sister congregation in Haifa. Among other leadership roles, he previously served on TBE’s Board of Trustees as the Vice President of Adult Jewish Living and as the Vice President of T’filah. You can find Danny at TBE most days of the week, whether it’s Friday Night Services, a mid-week meeting with congregants or clergy, Sunday morning Hebrew School drop off, or Saturday morning minyan and Torah study.
Outside of TBE, Danny is the Boston Executive Director of Thrive Scholars, a national education-to-career nonprofit helping high-achieving students of color from economically disadvantaged communities get into and graduate from college equipped to achieve their full career potential. He also serves on the Board of Directors of the Jewish Arts Collaborative. No matter what he’s doing, he’s listening to and learning about music of all kinds, even if he has none of the musical talents of the rest of his family.
Danna Greenberg
Vice President Administration
Danna and her husband, Michael Tobin, have been members of TBE since 1999. The TBE community has been central to their lives and they feel fortunate that their three children, Micaela (23), Jonah (20), and Seth (18) have grown up at TBE, actively participating in and leading youth activities, and forming close connections with peers, educators, and clergy. Danna has served in a variety of leadership roles including co-chair of The Leadership Council, Vice President of Jewish Living, and co-chairing multiple rabbi search committees.
Paula Berg
Vice President Caring Connections
Paula and her daughter Lila (15) live in Wayland and have been members of TBE since 2013. One of Lila’s
first memories is when she was five, she got to walk around the new TBE building wearing a yellow
hardhat. Over the years, Paula has served in various capacities on the Caring Connections team,
packaging deliveries for congregants, delivering honey and visiting homes and hospitals to bring a TBE
connection to those who’ve suffered illness or injury. Paula was on the TBE team to personally call
congregants during the early days of the pandemic.
Professionally, Paula is a family law attorney with a solo practice in Wellesley. Among her other
volunteer activities, Paula has served as a guardian and conservator for the elderly, offers pro bono
representation to victims of domestic violence, is Vice President of the Wayland High School PTO and
serves as a Hotline foster parent for children placed suddenly into the foster care system. Paula is the
Past President of the Massachusetts Association for Guardians ad litem and has served on the Board of
The Second Step and the Women’s Bar Association.
Josef Blumenfeld
Vice President Communications
Josef Blumenfeld is a seasoned strategic communications professional, with more than two decades of experience. Joe is the founder of EdTech180 – a boutique communications consultancy providing a new direction of communications for the EdTech industry, and serving clients in the US and abroad – including in Israel, China, the Persian Gulf, and across Europe. Joe has held senior communications roles at Cengage Learning, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, as well as at two global agencies where he spearheaded major accounts like Walmart and Philips.
In addition to being active at TBE, Joe is involved in a number of organizations including: AIPAC, Jewish Family Services of Metrowest, Combined Jewish Philanthropies, Givat Haviva in Israel, and others. Joe currently serves on the Executive Committee of the New England Board for UNICEF, where he chairs the Media Committee, a pilot program to engage leading journalists in UNICEF’s work to save children.
Joe and his wife, Michelle Paster, live in Natick with their two daughters—Shoshana, a college freshman and graduate of Gann Academy, and Yael, a junior at Natick High School. Both daughters attended the Rashi School K-8.
Debbie Gotbetter
Vice President Development
Debbie, her husband, Wyatt, and their two daughters, Sarah and Amelia, have found tremendous joy, strength, and spiritual connection within TBE for over 18 years. Since joining, Debbie’s energies and time are focused on developing meaningful relationships and intentional communities within TBE through the Caring Community, welcoming of new members, connecting with Reform communities in Haifa, and numerous Tikkun Olam initiatives. Since 2016, she has been actively engaged with Syrian Refugee Resettlement as TBE’s Volunteer Coordinator welcoming several families from Syria to our area.
Professionally, Debbie is a clinical social worker, specializing in geriatrics, grief and chronic illness. Debbie is a board member at Jewish Family Service of Metrowest and an active volunteer with JFS Clothing Closet, Daniel’s Table, and Refugee and Immigrant Services.
Mike Carroll
Vice President Finance
Mike and his wife Jess have been actively involved in TBE since returning to the area in 1999 and rejoining Jess’s childhood community. The Carrolls’ involvement in the TBE community stepped up once the first of their three children (Leah 15, Jonah 13, Jordyn 11) were old enough to attend Gan Elohim…and this has continued to the present day while the kids attend The Rashi School. Jess has been on the Board in several capacities. Mike has been on the Finance Committee for ~10 years. He focused his attention on long range planning and helped drive decisions like restructuring TBE’s balance sheet and targeting break even points to cover mortgage and anticipated building costs. He previously served on the board as a presidential appointee.
Mike and the family spend as much as possible in New Hampshire at Loon Mountain with their TBE friends (lovingly called TBE North). Professionally, Mike is VP of Finance at PTC, a publicly traded software company that empowers industrial innovation.
Juli LeDoux
Vice President Governance
Juli grew up at TBE and is now proud to have her husband Jonah, and two children Maisy (9) and Miles (4) as active members of the community. Juli and her family are engaged with Families with Young Children and BaDerech programming. Juli has been a member of Families with Young Children committees, and Gan Elohim committees, and has recently formed a new group for Moms of Young Children, bringing social and learning events to the community. For the past three years, Juli has been a member of the Nominating Committee. In addition, she is a member of the TBE Choir.
Juli is currently the Director of Marketing at ImmunoGen, bringing education to patients about the ovarian cancer treatment landscape. She just launched the first ovarian cancer treatment in 9 years. Juli is a volunteer member of Lasagna Love and Neighbor Brigade, as well as the Cultural Enrichment Chair at Eliot Elementary School.
Outside of her professional and TBE life, she participates (newly) in musical theater, and spends as much time as she can doing fun activities with her family and making them smile.
Marni Allen
Vice President Adult Jewish Living
Marni grew up at TBE and returned to the community over a decade ago after living in DC. She and her husband, Jonathan have three children, Lucas (13), Olivia (13), and Abby (10), who are active participants in TBE’s youth learning programs. Marni has served in several leadership roles at TBE, most recently as VP Governance. She feels deeply at home every time she walks through the temple’s front doors, whether starting the day meeting with other TBE leaders or ending the week at Shabbat services. She especially values the opportunities to form connections with a wide variety of temple members, beyond her original home base of families with children.
Outside TBE, Marni is the Vice President, Volunteer Mobilization and Leadership at Combined Jewish Philanthropies (CJP), where she helps ensure that the Jewish community’s work is enhanced by the tremendous talent that exists across Greater Boston. She is the head coach of a local Girls on the Run team and serves on the Board of the Mason-Rice AfterSchool Program.
Tamara Gillette
Vice President Youth Jewish Living
Tamara, her husband Marc, daughters Noa (12) and Alexandra (10) joined TBE in 2015 when Noa started attending Hebrew school. She became more involved during this past year attending some of the conversation groups and weekly Shabbat services. Tamara was also part of the Leadership Council this year.
Tamara is Developmental Specialist at Thom Charles River Early Intervention working with special needs and/or at risk 0 to 3 year old children.
During her free time, she enjoys spending time with her family and friends, traveling to Europe to see family and to visit other parts of the world, going for walks and cooking.
Susan Alvares Correa
Vice President K’lal Yisrael
Susan Alvares Correa traces her Jewish roots back to pre-Inquisition Spain and is a 13th generation member of Curaçao’s Sephardic community, the oldest in the Americas. Although she has lived in the United States for over 30 years, TBE is the first American community in which Susan felt at home. An architect by training, she felt an immediate connection to TBE when she first approached the building over 10 years ago. The embrace of the space was echoed by the people she met and thus began a slow widening of her sense of belonging to the Jewish people. Since joining TBE, Susan and her family have become involved on numerous fronts. She is an active mentor through the Partakers Reentry Program, and a member of the Anafim L’Haifa partnership with Or Hadash. Susan has served on the Leadership Council and is a past co-chair of Sisterhood@TBE.
Susan is actively engaged in economic revitalization projects in Curaçao and other Dutch Caribbean islands. She is also a certified life coach working primarily with women in life transitions. Susan and her wife Kate live in Weston with Susan’s two daughters, Sofia (now 20) and Lia (now 16) Silva. Susan loves cooking and has recently caught the pickleball bug.
Ted Nesson
Vice President Member Engagement
Ted Nesson, his wife Susan, and his daughters Alexandra (26), Michaela (24), and Hannah (21) have been TBE members for 20 years. Shortly after the third bat mitzvah, Ted and Susan were invited to participate in TBE’s Atid program. Inspired by the Atid experience, Ted subsequently joined the Leadership Council, helped launch the Civil Discourse initiative, and worked with the Israel Strategy Group, focusing on growing our community’s connection with Israel – and with our sister congregation, Ohev Avraham.
Throughout 2020, Ted worked closely with TBE’s clergy and staff to launch the Community Connections Initiative, helping our members to stay connected during the pandemic. Ted is truly honored to have the opportunity to further serve the TBE community as a member of the board.
In his professional life, Ted is a technology industry executive, currently leading the software architecture efforts at SS&C Eze, a provider of financial software solutions and technology services.
Ted and Susan live in Newton, with their dog Brody. In his free time, Ted can often be found walking Brody in Newton, Needham, or Weston.
Eric Hochberg
Vice President T’filah
Eric and his family joined TBE in 2012 after relocating to the area. After initially engaging primarily through regular attendance at Tot Shabbat with his daughter, Eric grew to find meaning and a deeper sense of connection through committee participation, serving as a ritual subcommittee co-chair on the Yaldeinu committee; as a member of the T’filah committee; as a member, and 2021-2023 co-chair, of the No’ar committee; and as part of the Bonim Shalom Visioning Team.
A former elementary school teacher, Eric is a senior researcher at TERC, a Cambridge-based non-profit organization dedicated to improving math and science education, where he works in research, development, and evaluation of STEM education programs and initiatives. Eric lives in Natick with his wife and two daughters.
Jessica Lasser
Vice President Tikkun Olam
Jessica and her family have been members of TBE since 2012, when they first moved to Boston. She, her husband Ethan, and 3 children, Levi (10), Hattie (7) and Goldie (4), have all formed close friendships and found deep meaning at the synagogue through involvement in service and committees, worship, learning opportunities, Limud and Gan Elohim.
Since becoming a member at TBE, Jessica has been active with the Yaldeinu committee, Caring Community, Bereavement Committee, and Family Social Action. She was also part of the core group of volunteers to welcome and acclimate a new Syrian family to the United States, with The Syrian Refugee Resettlement team. She recently co-chaired the Assistant/Associate rabbi search, and is currently on the Leadership Council.
Outside of TBE, Jessica is an attorney with The Second Step, representing victims of domestic violence, with a specialization in immigration law. Born and raised in Louisville, Kentucky, with stops in Chicago, New York and Wisconsin along the way, she now happily resides in Newton.
Wilton C. Levine
Presidential Appointee
Dr. Levine is an anesthesiologist at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, where he serves as the Medical Director for Perioperative and Procedural Services. Dr. Levine is a national leader in anesthesiology, patient safety, and organizational management.
Dr. Levine is an Associate Professor of Anesthesia at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Levine has numerous patents, peer reviewed publications, and book chapters related to medical device innovation, leadership, process improvement, and operating room management. Dr. Levine has received local and national awards for his innovative patient safety work.
Wilton is also a member of TBE re-entry committee.
He is the proud father of Joshua (15), Benjy (13), and Samantha (9), and husband of Lisa.
Seth Bloom
Presidential Appointee & Leadership Council Co-Chair
Seth has spent a great deal of his life at Temple Beth Elohim. He grew up in the congregation and TBE has been the backdrop for nearly all of his lifecycle events. He and his wife Elizabeth—who also grew up at TBE and was the first person Seth asked to dance at his bar mitzvah reception—have been raising their three children with the help of a steady diet of TBE enrichment from Gan Elohim to Havayah and beyond.
Seth has been an active member of the TBE Leadership Council for a number of years and is proud to co-chair the group with Lara Cohen. He currently serves on the TBE board as a Presidential Appointee.
In his professional life, Seth is a partner at the communications firm FleishmanHillard where he helps lead the agency’s global technology practice.
Monique Burns Thompson
Presidential Appointee
Monique and her family (Dr. Michael Thompson and daughter’s Mikaela (26) and Isabelle (16)) became members seven years ago when their youngest Isabelle started her bat mitzvah journey at TBE. Isabelle was an active member of the B’Yachad, and then in Havayah as a Challah Back Girl and Madrichim (teacher in training) before leaving for boarding school. Monique has been an active member of the adult learning community, the Sisterhood@TBE and has served on the Bonim Shalom Visioning Committee. In addition to working closely with the rabbinical team while planning (and replaning) the last bat mitzvah before the pandemic, she has also been touched by the thoughtful and skilled support of the entire TBE staff during the illness and death of her co-parent Michael.
Professionally, Monique has spent 25 years as a social entrepreneur in the K-12 education industry. She was co-founder of two national non-profits: New Leaders and TeachPlus. For the last six years she has been a full-time faculty member at Harvard Business School. She also serves on the Board of Directors for Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston and Board of Advisors of RevOps Health. Monique and Isabelle live in Wellesley and Mikaela is in medical school at Northwestern University Feinberg School in Chicago.
Bob Schechter
Past President
Bob and his wife Susan, happily, have been TBE members for 20 years. Before assuming his current position, Bob served on the Board as a Presidential Appointee and co-chaired the Leadership Council. Bob served on the committee that worked on modernizing TBE’s governance structure and has been a member of the Finance and Endowment Committees.
Outside of TBE, Bob is a mostly retired technology industry executive who continues to dabble in the industry serving on several boards and advising entrepreneurs. He worked in the software industry at the dawn of the personal computing era and later in the telecom industry as it became part of the internet and transitioned to the mobile era. Over the years, Susan and Bob have been involved in a number of non-profit endeavors and Bob is a past board chair of the Boston Children’s Museum. Susan and Bob, with their pack of poodles, live in Weston and in Barnstable on Cape Cod. They have two grown children Michael and Brian, both in NYC, and enjoy traveling, hanging out with friends, and counting their blessings.
