CLERGY
RABBI DAVID STEINHARDT
Rabbi Steinhardt has been the Senior Rabbi at B’nai Torah Congregation serving the Boca Raton community for more than twenty years. At B’nai Torah Rabbi Steinhardt has lead synagogue growth with the largest conservative membership in Florida, and a Shabbat attendance that rivals almost any congregation in the world. He inspires and champions innovative and meaningful synagogue programming and education for all ages.
Rabbi Steinhardt has chaired the Jewish Community Relations Council and the Israel Overseas Committee of the Jewish Federation of South Palm Beach County. At the Jewish Federation, he served on the Executive Board. He is a founder of the Boca Raton Inter‐Faith Clergy Association and currently serves as co-president. He served as one of three communal leaders on the steering committee of the Shemin Trialogue at Florida Atlantic University, an annual event bringing together Christian, Jewish, and Muslim leaders and scholars. He is actively engaged in a Jewish/Muslim dialogue group.
Rabbi Steinhardt has a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Connecticut, where he studied Psychology, and holds a Master’s Degree in Hebrew Literature from The Jewish Theological Seminary in New York, where he was ordained as a Rabbi. In May 2010, he received an honorary Doctorate of Divinity from The Jewish Theological Seminary.
Rabbi Steinhardt has led an effort for Haitian disaster relief through Mazon and the Lambi Fund. He is an instructor for the International Florence Melton Mini School and a Senior Rabbinic Fellow and Advisory Board Member at the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem. Rabbi Steinhardt is also a national board member of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs Committee (JCPA), and has served on the Chancellor’s Cabinet of The Jewish Theological Seminary. He has served as president of Boards of Rabbis in both Ohio and Palm Beach County.
Rabbi Steinhardt was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut. He is married to Dr. Tobi Richman‐Steinhardt, a physician, and they are the parents of five adult children.
RABBI DAVID ENGLANDER
Ordained by the Jewish Theological Seminary in 1999, where he also received a Master of Arts in Jewish Education and was awarded the Lillian M. Lowenfeld Prize in Practical Theology.
While at the Seminary, Rabbi Englander taught in the Youth House of Temple Israel in Great Neck New York, served as student Rabbi of Congregation Etz Chayim in Huntsville Alabama, and was the rabbinic intern at Town and Village Synagogue in lower Manhattan. He was also senior USY advisor at Temple Beth El of New Rochelle, NY, and worked on the staff of Camp Ramah in the Berkshires for 10 summers as a counselor, division head, and advisor for staff training. Prior to entering the Seminary, Rabbi Englander studied for a year at Yeshivat Hamivtar in Efrat, Israel, and graduated from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor with a B.A. in History. While at the University of Michigan, he served as President of the Conservative Minyan and as vice-chair of IMPAC, the Israel-Michigan Political Action Committee. He taught b’nai mitzvah students through Beth Israel Synagogue, and was an elected representative to the Michigan Student Assembly, serving as chair of its External Relations Committee.
At B’nai Torah, Rabbi Englander conducts Shabbat and holiday services, including the participatory Shabbat morning service known as Havurat Shabbat, and the High Holy Day Family service, attended by over a thousand synagogue members. He directs and teaches in the Lillian and Philip Cooperman Academy for Adult Jewish Learning, and is a principal instructor and coordinator for the Basic Judaism and Conversion program. He is active in pastoral care activities and officiates at all lifecycle events. He also teaches in the high school and middle school programs, and is the rabbinic contact for the Sam Mandelker College Connection program, which keeps B’nai Torah’s college students connected to their home congregation.
Recipient of the Rabbi Simon Greenberg Rabbinic Leadership Award by The Jewish Theological Seminary in December, 2004 and Past President of the Palm Beach County Board of Rabbis. He served as chair of the task force on Jewish Education for the Planning and Allocations Committee of the Jewish Federation of South Palm Beach County, where serves as a trustee and on the Israel Overseas Committee. Rabbi Englander is on the Honorary Board of Hillel of Broward and Palm Beach, and is an active member of the Boca Raton Interfaith Clergy Association. He also sits on the Ethics Committee of Boca Raton Regional Hospital.
Rabbi Englander grew up in Spring Valley, NY. He attended the Prozdor Hebrew High School program of JTS for four years, and is a graduate of the Monsey Jewish Center Hebrew School. Rabbi Englander and his wife Stephanie are the proud parents of Yaffa, Zev and Ayal.
CANTOR MAGDA FISHMAN
Our Senior Cantor Magda Fishman is a graduate of the Jewish Theological Seminary’s H.L. Miller Cantorial School in New York. Prior to joining B’nai Torah, she served as the Cantor at Temple Beth El in Stamford, Connecticut. Cantor Fishman brings vibrant experience to Jewish music through a unique blend of traditional and contemporary styles. Over the years, she has built a large and loving following among a wide spectrum of audiences. Her repertoire includes liturgical masterpieces, Israeli songs, jazz, musical theater, as well as her own compositions.
Prior to her investiture in May 2011, Cantor Fishman served in the Israeli Army Orchestra as a vocal soloist and trumpet player. She came to the United States as part of the Tel-Aviv Broadway Musical Theater Project and was the recipient of the prestigious America-Israel Cultural Foundation scholarship.
Cantor Fishman has performed extensively throughout the United States, Israel, Europe, and Canada. She had a lead role in the Prague State Opera, and she performed during the annual America-Israel Cultural Foundation Gala at Jazz at Lincoln Center and at a National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene event honoring Elie Wiesel. She was featured in Folksbiene’s popular Soul to Soul concert at the Central Park Summer Stage and at the Saban Theatre in Los Angeles with Maestro Placido Domingo and Melissa Manchester. She also performs with the cantorial group Divas on the Bima.
PROFESSIONAL LEADERSHIP
HELENE BALLEN
After moving to Boca Raton in 1994, Helene and her family immediately joined B’nai Torah as members and became deeply rooted in all aspects of synagogue life. B’nai Torah quickly became their home away from home.
Helene became Executive Director at B’nai Torah in 2019. She brought with her over 30 years of experience at a Fortune 500 company in a wide variety of leadership, management, operations, and training positions. She managed financial, marketing, quality assurance, and sales initiatives (including vendor management). Helene is thrilled to leverage her business skills and experience to support her beloved synagogue and community. Helene oversees all aspects of the synagogue’s operations, including strategic planning and daily management; and is responsible for budget & finances, membership, security, and fundraising.
Helene received a BA in Sociology from the State University of New York, Albany where she graduated with Magna Cum Laude honors; and holds an MBA in Computer Information Systems from Bernard M. Baruch College, The City University of New York with honors that included National Dean’s List, Baruch Fellowship and Graduate Level Assistantship. Helene continues her quest for knowledge on her Jewish educational journey today at B’nai Torah.
Helene grew up on Long Island, in New York and lived in Israel for three years. She is the proud mother of her son Jeff, and to her daughter and son in law, Dalit and Daniel, and adoring grandmother to their two children.
LAY LEADERSHIP
Rick Schuster
Executive Vice President
Scott Frank
Vice President
Melanie Jacobson*
Vice President
Marc Wigder
Vice President
Margie Browner-Marks
Vice President
Ed Levine
Treasurer
Lori Barbag
Secretary
Michael Vernof
Financial Secretary
Shula Fleischer*
Women’s League President
Seth Schneider
Men’s Club President
Spencer Sax*
Foundation President
Kenneth Lipman, Esq.
Synagogue Counsel
Jerry Budney
Synagogue Counsel
BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Lauren Burack
Steve Garber
Myrna Gross
Lesley Hlatki
E.J. Leizerman
Brian Levy
Ellen Safran
Jerry Budney
Raphael Cohen
Lawrence Korpeck
Robert Okun
Elissa Schosheim*
Suzanne Stier