Officers Biographies

Aaron Fleishaker grew up in Eastchester, New York. He attended public school, and his family were members of Genesis Hebrew Center, a small Conservative congregation. Aaron met his wife, Sheryl, at Boston University, where they were both undergraduates in the School of Management. They were married in May 1983 and remained in Boston while Aaron attended Boston University Law School.

In 1985, Sheryl and Aaron moved back to New York and settled in New Rochelle. Once they had children of their own, their families unanimously agreed that Beth El Synagogue is where they belonged.

The Fleishaker children are all graduates of Beth El’s Nursery School, Summer Session, and Hebrew School, and all three celebrated their bar/bat mitzvah at Beth El.

Aaron has been a real estate attorney in the commercial real estate and development business for over twenty years. He is currently Vice President of Real Estate Development and Construction for Fairway Supermarkets.

At Beth El, Aaron is the President and serves on the Board of Trustees. Aaron is grateful to Beth El for all that it has provided to him and his family and looks forward to helping in any way he can!

Sam Berger was raised outside Philadelphia, where his parents were founding members of Temple Israel of Upper Darby and subsequently members of Temple Beth Sholom, in Elkins Park, PA. Sam went to public school through fifth grade, graduated from Akiba Hebrew Academy (recently renamed the Jack M. Barrack Hebrew Academy), received his bachelor of science degree from Drexel University, his law degree from the Temple University Law Center, and his LL.M. from Georgetown University Law School. Sam was also president of the Drexel Hillel Association and a Hebrew school teacher and tutor.

 

Sam worked for the IRS Office of Chief Counsel in Washington, D.C., and became Counsel for Employee Benefits in the Tax Litigation division. In 1985, Sam joined Price Waterhouse’s National Tax Practice. He was a partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers in the New York City Management Consulting Practice until IBM acquired the unit in 2002. Since that time Sam has been an IBM executive in Armonk.

 

In 1994, Trisanne and Sam Berger moved to Scarsdale from New York City. For the Bergers, shul shopping meant finding a synagogue with an inspiring rabbi and cantor, a warm and welcoming environment, and a first-class post-bar mitzvah program. They decided to join Beth El Synagogue.

 

Sam has been on Beth El’s Board of Trustees for many years, has served as a member and then as chair of the Nominating Committee, co-chair of the Personnel Committee, and is a member of the Dinner Dance, Catering, Communications, Derech HaKavod and Kol Nidre Appeal committees. Sam is also on the Advisory Board of Chabad Lubavitch of Westchester County.

---

Sandra Gruenberg: No biography shared

---

Debbie Nutkis Young grew up in New Jersey and attended the Jewish Educational Center, in Elizabeth, from kindergarten through high school. She graduated from Douglass College – Rutgers University with a double major in sociology and Hebraic studies and a certificate in criminology. Debbie is currently a corporate paralegal for Thomson Reuters, in Stamford, Connecticut. She previously worked for the New Rochelle Jewish Coalition.

Debbie and her husband, Steve, a past Beth El president, joined Beth El in 1990, shortly after moving to New Rochelle, from New Jersey. Debbie currently serves on the Ritual Committee; is a past chair of the Membership Committee and Family Fun Day; served on the Youth Activities Committee and the Nominating Committee; was a parent facilitator for Teen Congregation; and is known to a generation of Beth El Religious School students as “Morah Debbie.” She was also active in Westchester UJA (for which she was honored), Hadassah, and the Schechter Westchester PTA. She and Steve chaired a number of JTS learning events in Westchester, were honored by JTS at Beth El in 2003, and were Dinner Dance honorees in 2007.

Steve and Debbie met as teenagers at Camp Massad Bet, and the Jewish camping and living experience made a lasting impression that has guided them ever since. They have three children, all of whom became b’nei mitzvah at Beth El. Gavi and Becky attended the Nursery School and the Day Camp, and both actively participated in Beth El Youth Player productions. All three children attended the Solomon Schechter of Westchester Lower School. Jake, 28, a graduate of Westchester Hebrew High School and The George Washington University, is currently living in Brooklyn, New York, pursuing a career in comedy. Gavi, 24, a member of the pioneer class of the Solomon Schechter of Westchester High School, Ramah Berkshires summer camp, and a graduate of Brandeis University, is about to spend the year in Yerushalayim studying and taking Ulpan, while her new husband, Jason Fenster, is attending his first year at Hebrew Union College’s Rabbinical School. Jason is from Rochester, New York, and also is a graduate of Brandeis, where he and Gavi met. They were married at Beth El on June 3rd. Becky, 20, who was named at Beth El, graduated from the Schechter High School and has just completed her sophomore year at the University of Rochester. She is going back to Ramah this summer as a third-year staff member.

Debbie is truly honored to serve as a vice president of Beth El.

Mark Silver and his family moved to New Rochelle specifically to join Beth El after attending the first Family Kallah in 2001. They have been active members of the community ever since. Mark is a member of Beth El’s Board of Trustees, Beth El’s Executive Council, the METNY Region Board of Directors of the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, and the UJA-Federation New Rochelle Executive Committee. He is co-chair of ICAR at Beth El, and participates actively in the Havurah Service and a variety of other shul committees and activities. Mark was a Simchat Torah honoree in 5766 (2006)

Mark grew up in Philadelphia, graduated from Akiba Hebrew Academy, and attended Camp Ramah in the Poconos. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Mathematics, summa cum laude, from the University of Pennsylvania, and a Ph.D. from Penn’s Wharton School. He has been a faculty member at UCLA and NYU, and is currently associate professor of Information Systems at Fordham University. He is the author of a book and various articles on information technology.

Mark has always been active in the Jewish community. He served as president of Hillel at Penn and is a member of the National B’nai Brith Hillel Commission. He played many roles at the Federation of Jewish Agencies, in Philadelphia, including treasurer of the Jewish Campus Activities Board, member of the task force on the family, and co-chair of long-range planning for the FAJA Leadership Development Committee.

Mark met his wife, Candace (a Cornell graduate from Great Neck, New York), at a UJA weekend at Grossinger’s. Prior to moving to New Rochelle, they lived in Los Angeles and Manhattan. Candace has worked in banking and higher education. Their daughter is an alumna of Beth El’s Nursery School and Summer Session. All three Silvers are big fans of Israeli music and dance.

Geralynn Reifer, originally from Staten Island, settled in New Rochelle upon marrying her husband, David, in 1990. Geralynn and David have been members of Beth El ever since. Geralynn graduated from SUNY Albany with a B.S. in Accounting in 1986. She received her CPA soon after and became a tax manager for Raines & Fischer in midtown Manhattan, where she has worked for over twenty years.

The Reifers have two children, who are products of the New Rochelle and Beth El communities. Both children attended Beth El Nursery School and Summer Camp. They also attend the Beth El Religious School.

Geralynn’s work at Beth El keeps her very busy. She serves on Beth El’s Board of Trustees as well as the Executive Council, Audit and Finance Committee, and Personnel Committee. Geralynn has served as the Board’s Recording Secretary, as well as on the Nursery School Board, the new Rabbi Search Committee and various other committees during her time at Beth El. Geralynn and her husband, David, were also honored with the Young Leadership Award by the Jewish Theological Seminary. Geralynn has been Beth El’s treasurer since July 2003. 

Donna Levy and her family have been members of Beth El since 1988, when the Levys moved to New Rochelle. Donna has served as a trustee and as a member of the Executive Council, as well as serving on multiple committees over the years, including the Keruv Committee, the Catering Committee, the Bar/Bat Mitzvah Committee, the High Holiday Seating Committee, and the Nominating Committee. Donna was a Simchat Torah honoree in 1999. In their early years at Beth El, Donna’s husband, Gary, could be found in the kitchen on Saturday mornings, serving on the Kiddush Committee, and was also active in the Men’s Club, serving as the recording secretary.

Donna and Gary are the proud parents of three adult sons, Matthew, Harrison, and Eric, each of whom celebrated his bar mitzvah at Beth El. When Matthew married Jill and Harrison married Sara in 2010, Donna and Gary were delighted to welcome their wives into the Levy family. In 2012, Donna and Gary were thrilled to become grandparents for the first time when Matthew and Jill welcomed daughter Hannah Celia.

Professionally, Donna is a licensed clinical psychologist. She currently serves as the clinical director of the counseling center for cadets at the United States Military Academy at West Point. Donna was born in New York City and attended Yeshivah of Flatbush before attending the University of Rochester, where she met Gary. Donna received a master’s degree from Long Island University and subsequently completed her doctoral degree there.

Donna, Gary, and their expanded family are grateful for all that Beth El has contributed to their lives. Donna is now looking forward to her new role as financial secretary of the synagogue.

Robert Patchen: No biography shared.