Leadership Coordinating Council

The Leadership Coordinating Council (LCC) was created in 2020 under revised Temple Bylaws. It is composed of representatives of Brotherhood, Beth El Women, and all committees and task forces from across the Temple community. Below is a list of current representatives. LCC meets 3-4 times each year, joined by a clergy representative, the executive director, and one or more Board officers. The Council forms an important conduit for dialogue, information, and exchange of best practices to ensure that our policies, investments, and activities best align with our needs. For additional information, reach out to Laurie Hepler, Chair of the Council.

Mission Statement:

To advance the shared Jewish values and goals of the Peninsula Temple Beth El community through coordinated activity and transparent communication among the Affinity Groups, committees, task forces, lay leadership, clergy, and staff.

Vision:

The members of the Leadership Coordinating Council will build on the existing strengths of the PTBE community by engaging in open, constructive interaction.

• We will create opportunities for Participants to educate, inform and support each other regarding activities and matters of common interest.

• We will respect the distinctive functions of the LCC members, and while the LCC is neither a policy making body nor does it have oversight responsibility over the any of the respective Participants, we will make a constructive contribution to the policy making process in our congregation.

• We will promote and encourage meaningful collaboration among the LCC members.

• We will engage in thoughtful and respectful communications and messaging among each other and with the congregation.

Our work will result in a more active and engaged community.

Current Membership:

Laurie joined PTBE with her daughter Marina in 2012, through connections made at Wornick Jewish Day School. From 2016 to 2022, she led PTBE’s Sunday Sandwich Hevre (SSH), making it more environmentally friendly, continuing offsite throughout PTBE’s 2019 remodel, and developing a successful “At Home” edition during the pandemic with the help of incredibly committed volunteers. She served on the 2021-22 Search Committee for our newest Rabbis; the Interim Senior Rabbi Transition Task Force in 2021; and the Leadership Coordinating Council since its inception. She joined the temple Board in July 2022.

Laurie moved from Maryland to California to attend UCLA School of Law in 1989, and made the Bay Area her home in 1992. She handles civil appeals in state and federal courts, advising clients throughout the U.S. on west-coast appellate litigation. She serves as 2023-24 President of the California Academy of Appellate Lawyers, and as the Contributing Editor for the leading treatise in her field.

Judy joined PTBE with her husband Brian soon after their infant son began attending Ganon. Their children, Jeremy and Jessica, grew up at PTBE in the education program, later becoming B’nai Mitzvot and then Madrichim during their High School years. Judy served on the Education Committee and has held various BEW leadership positions including President. She believes that her involvement in various volunteer roles has enriched her experiences and connections within the PTBE community.

Judy is currently co-chair of the North Peninsula Yom HaShoah Commemoration Planning Committee. Professionally, she worked in the Jewish Community for over 18 years. She is currently in a finance role at Peninsula School in Menlo Park.

Judy looks forward to working alongside the newly emerging BEW Leadership Team to engage PTBE women in a variety of programs and to foster meaningful connections with one other.
Website: https://www.ptbe.org/community-beth-el-women

Marc is excited to lead Brotherhood with in-person social events and involvement in a variety of temple activities.

He joined PTBE in 2011, along with his wife, Amy, and children (Elana and Noah).  He is a real estate attorney on the Peninsula, and has been the chairman of several sections of the San Mateo County Bar Association.

Marc met Amy on a Jewish ski trip at Cal Berkeley.  He grew up in Los Angeles and became a Bar Mitzvah at Temple Sinai on Wilshire Blvd.

He lives in Foster City and is an avid cyclist.
Website:  https://www.ptbe.org/community-brotherhood

Hillary joined PTBE in 2015 with her husband (Pete) and two children (Shayna and Noah). Hillary became involved with Sunday Sandwich Hevre (SSH) during Covid. She enjoyed making meals at home with her family and loved how SSH offered a meaningful way to stay connected and give back. Hillary started co-leading SSH with Deena Bertolina in January 2023 and is passionate about making meals with our awesome PTBE community and feeding our neighbors in need.

Hillary is a Southern California native and has called the Bay Area home since 2000. She studied at UC Santa Cruz and after graduating spent a year teaching and providing community service in Israel on Project Otzma. Hillary leaned into her Jewish identity in Israel and worked for Hillel at UC Santa Cruz upon her return. Hillary's professional focus has been environmental education. Hillary was the Director of Volunteers for Environmental Volunteers, a nonprofit based in Palo Alto providing natural science education and field trips to schools in San Mateo and Santa Clara counties. In 2008, Hillary founded Wonderbug Adventures and began offering hands-on natural science exploration to toddlers and their families in San Francisco and Burlingame. During Covid, Hillary stopped teaching and now spends her time volunteering, hiking with her dog, learning with her Rosh Chodesh group and playing pickleball.

Sherry grew up in New Jersey. After graduating from SUNY Stony Brook with a BA in Economics, she worked for ten years as a bond broker on Wall Street. Then she happily relocated to the Bay Area after meeting her husband Brian on a Jewish singles ski trip in Big Sky, Montana. Sherry currently works as a Clinical Research Coordinator, conducting Clinical Trials for Allergy and Asthma drugs.

Sherry’s sons, Josh, Adam, and Jonah, all became bar mitzvah at PTBE. Sherry has been a parent and supporter of the Ronald C. Wornick Jewish Day School, as well as a previous board member at PTBE. Sherry is also a proud co-chair on the planning committee of the North Peninsula Yom HaShoah annual commemoration. Passionate about building and nurturing community, Sherry is honored and excited to co-chair the Engagement Committee with Jessica Rosenberg.

Michelle is a New York transplant who has spent the majority of her adult life in California, including the last 12 years in San Carlos.  Michelle and her family joined PTBE six years ago and have enjoyed PTBE’s warm and welcoming community and inspirational services.  She has two children, an 8th grader and a 5th grader, who have both attended PTBE education programs from a young age. Her oldest son had his Bar Mitzvah this past spring and her daughter just received her date for spring 2025!  Michelle recently served on the synagogue’s search committee to hire our new assistant rabbis. She is excited to expand her leadership role at PTBE by chairing the Education Committee.

Professionally, Michelle has been committed to improving public schools for the last two decades. She began her career as a high school English teacher; she helped to start a charter school from scratch; and since receiving a Phd in Education Policy in 2010, she’s worked with school districts nationwide to understand how to successfully implement new policies and programs, as well as to shift administrator and teacher practices to support all learners. In her last role, she led a research collaborative between Stanford University and nine San Mateo County school districts to develop and execute research projects that were rooted in region-specific problems of practice. In addition to her professional roles, Michelle served for 4 years on the San Carlos School District Board of Trustees, including a year as Board President. She holds a B.A. from Columbia University, a single-subject teaching credential from Cal State, Northridge, and a Ph.D. in Education Policy from the University of Southern California.

The PTBE (Peninsula Temple Beth El Interfaith Friendship Committee (IFC) is a committed group of temple members who work to establish partnerships with other faith houses on the Peninsula. As Jews, we can never have too many friends. Our goal is to learn about each other's faiths, embrace our commonality and celebrate our uniqueness. We have participated in interfaith discussions, and worked together at Second Harvest, making sandwiches at SSH, a number of interfaith services and the Freedom Seder.  Website:  https://www.ptbe.org/community-interfaith-friendship

We are also heavily involved in the Peninsula Multifaith Coalition (a larger group comprised of multiple faith houses

Anita Siu grew up in Hong Kong and came to the United States in her twenties to further her education in Chinese art history and pursue a career in museum curatorship. She received a master’s degree from Princeton University and served as a curatorial assistant in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, from 1993 to 1997. By the time she moved to California in 2000, her career interest had turned to humanitarian relief and human services. She has served continuously in the position of BE Mitzvah coordinator at PTBE since 2002 and enjoys her work every day. In 2013 she completed a certificate program in graphic design at the College of San Mateo. Her interests are too numerous to itemize, but reading, writing, and all kinds of handwork top the list. Her husband, Dar Bahatt, is an optics engineer from Israel, and her children are Udi, Eden, and Talia.

Steve grew up in Montville, New Jersey and became bar mitzvah at the Pine Brook Jewish Center. He attended a Jewish summer camp in Pennsylvania and participated in a seven-week Jewish teen leadership program in Israel. The trip included three weeks of living and working on Kibbutz Or HaNer, travelling throughout the country for three more weeks, and finally one week of educational training in Tel Aviv. Steve attended the University of Pennsylvania for his undergraduate degree, worked in lingerie manufacturing in Hong Kong, and then graduated from Harvard Business School before moving to the Bay Area. Steve is an owner of San Francisco Soup Company and Ladle & Leaf restaurants. Currently, he is also on the board of the Golden Gate Restaurant Association and the California Restaurant Association. You can find his matzoh ball soup at Mollie Stone’s and Piazza’s.

Steve is married to Erica Park, who is a clinical scientist at Genentech, and has four children — Sam, 21, who became bar mitzvah at PTBE in 2016 and attends Rice University; Zachary and Jacob, 19, who became b’nai mitzvah in 2018 and attend Rice University and Brandeis respectively; and Eliana, 17, who became bat mitzvah in 2020 and attends Design Tech High School. Steve enjoys skiing with the kids in the winter, playing tennis with them in the summer and, of course, cooking with/for them all year.

The PTBE Rodfei Tzedek (Pursuing Justice) team believes that together we can become an increasingly powerful force to implement the values of Tikkun Olam and social justice in our congregation, our local community and in our country. As a result of a temple-wide listening campaign, our top priority issue is Climate Justice. Our leadership team is composed of Marla Becker, Nancy Bott, Jessica Rosenberg, Nancy Schneider, and Rebecca Schwartz. This is not just a committee, this is a PTBE-wide movement. Come join us! Website: https://www.ptbe.org/rodfei-tzedek