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Congregation Beth El
8000 Main Street
Voorhees, NJ 08043

Telephone: 856-675-1166
Fax: 856-489-3280
Email: info@bethelsnj.org

Our Staff

The Professional Staff

Hanina Ruttenberg

Executive Director

Hanina Ruttenberg Hanina is the product of a Jewish Day School and High School education. She earned a Masters Degree in Social Work from the Wurzweiler School of Social Work of Yeshiva University, in 1978, and a Certificate in 1992 from the Institute of Not For Profit Management, a joint program of Columbia University and UJA Federation of NY.

Prior to joining the Beth El family in 1995, Hanina was involved in the human service field for 22 years. Hanina began her career as an Assistant Fund Raiser at UJA Federation of NY and then as the Program Director of Recreation Rooms and Settlement, a member agency of UJA Federation of NY. She then became the Assistant Director of the North American Aliyah Movement, an organization devoted to helping olim in their move to Israel. Thereafter, Hanina served as the Executive Director of B'nai Brith Hillel/Jewish Association of College Youth, a member agency of UJA Federation of NY, working with Jewish college students on campuses throughout the greater NY Metropolitan area, and then went on to become the Executive Director of TRI Center Inc., a privately owned drug and alcohol clinic with offices in Manhattan, Brooklyn and the Bronx. Just before coming to the Beth El family, she worked as the Assistant Director of the JTS Mid Atlantic Region, coordinating specific fundraising efforts.

Hanina moved to Cherry Hill from NY in 1995 when she married Louis Ruttenberg. Hanina and Louis have a son Jacob.

Contact: hruttenberg@bethelsnj.org

Yaffa Fuchs

Educational Director

Yaffa Fuchs has been the Educational Director of Congregation Beth El since 1989. Yaffa received a Bachelors degree in mathematics from Brooklyn College and a Masters in Jewish Education as well as a Principal Certification from the Jewish Theological Seminary. She also holds a New York State certification in mathematics.

As the daughter of a great Rabbinic lineage, Yaffa's Jewish education began early. Born in Israel, Yaffa immigrated with her parents to the United States at the age of ten and lived in New York City, where she attended Jewish Day Schools through High School. Her professional experience which spans more than thirty five years includes teaching mathematics and Hebrew in public schools, Judaic subjects in both Jewish Day Schools and Synagogue schools, and adult education.

Under Yaffa's leadership, Beth El Religious School has grown both qualitatively and quantitatively, becoming a United Synagogue Framework for Excellence School in 2004 and earning the prestigious Solomon Schechter Gold Award from United Synagogue in 2009 for Family Education. Among her successes is the founding of Project Lev, a special needs program for developmentally challenged children, for which Beth El received the Solomon Schechter Gold Award in 2008.

Yaffa Fuchs serves on the national board of Jewish Educators Assembly, a professional Jewish organization committed to the enhancement of Conservative Jewish Education. She enjoys singing, reading Torah and Megillah and playing her flute. She lives in Cherry Hill with her husband, Jack, and has two children and three grandsons.

Contact: yfuchs@bethelsnj.org

Roselee Redelheim

Early Childhood Center Director

Roselee Redelheim, who joined Beth El staff as the director of the Early Childhood Center in July 2002, has a Bachelor of Science degree in Education with a major in Early Childhood from City College of New York. She earned a Master of Arts Degree in Counseling from Villanova University and is certified as a Principal through the Pennsylvania State University Principal's Certification Program.

Roselee has over 30 years of educational experience, all of which are in a Jewish setting. This includes serving as the Director of the Preschool at Har Zion Temple for nine years, and the Principal of Albert Einstein Academy, the only Hebrew Day School in Delaware, as well as the Educational Director at the Politz Day School in Cherry Hill for nine years. She was the founding Director of Adath Emanu-El's Early Childhood Center in Mt. Laurel, and spent three years in Northern New Jersey where she was an Assistant Principal at Yavneh Academy, a Day School of almost 1000 students.

In all of Roselee's positions, she has successfully grown enrollment and introduced creative programming. Since returning to Cherry Hill and Beth El, Roselee has added a number of Preschool and Full Day Care classes and a Mommy and Me program to the Early Childhood Center and has increased enrollment to over 200 students. One of her innovative endeavors has been a Hebrew Immersion Program for 3 and 4 year olds, for which she won the 2009 Solomon Schechter Gold Award for Early Childhood Education.

Roselee Redelheim is the mother of two brilliant sons and daughters in law, and the proud grandmother of nine grandchildren.

Contact: rredelheim@bethelsnj.org

Shari Techner Smith

Membership / Member Services

Shari Techner Smith Shari began her career at Beth El in 2004, coming to us from the Jewish Federation of Southern New Jersey where she was responsible for the Men's Campaign along with other aspects of the Federation's Campaign department.

With a background in retail management, Shari worked for various retailers across the country including Bamberger, The Limited, Palais Royal and T.H. Mandy for over 20 years. Serving as both a retail store manager and district manager she was responsible for opening some of the first 'super' stores in malls across the country.

In 1990, Shari, her husband Jonah and their three daughters moved to Southern California where she played an active role in their synagogue, serving several terms as a Vice President on the Executive Board. Returning to the East Coast in 1996, Shari began her non-profit career working at Beth Tfiloh Day School in Baltimore, Maryland in their development office.

Today, in addition to her role as Beth El Membership Coordinator, Shari is the Administrator for the office of Rabbi Aaron Krupnick, and also serves as the Banquet Manager for the synagogue.

Contact: ssmith@bethelsnj.org

Michael Blum

Director of Community Life

Michael Blum A new addition to the Beth El community, Michael joins us after 4 years as Program Director at the University of Delaware Hillel. Michael graduated from the University of Pittsburgh in 2002 with a BA in Religious Studies and went on to earn his MA in Jewish Communal Service from Gratz College.

Michael has been involved with a number of Jewish organizations including AIPAC, The Jewish Federation of Delaware, The Collaborative, and the Alpha Epsilon Pi Fraternity. In his position with Hillel, Michael staffed a number of Israel and Alternative Break trips for his students, grew the nation's largest Jewish freshman orientation program, and helped to run one of the most up and coming Hillel programs in the country.

Michael is excited to begin his time with us at Beth El and looks forward to continuing his Jewish and Professional journey with the Beth El community.

Michael was married in March of 2011. He and wife Rachel are solid Eagles fans, enjoy time with family at the beach, and look forward to an excellent new chapter of life.

Contact: michaelblum@bethelsnj.org

Caryn Weiss

ECC Program Coordinator

Caryn Weiss is a graduate of the Temple University TEAM program where she earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Education. She did her Graduate training in Reading at Beaver College (AcadiaUniversity), in Ambler, PA.

Caryn brings with her over 30 years of teaching experience, starting at the Solomon Schecter Day School, and then The Darby-Colwyn School District where she taught Reading, Kindergarten and First Grade. The bulk of her experience was at Congregation M'kor Shalom, where, for 19½ years she had various tenures as the Parent/Child Coordinator, teaching two and three-year-olds, and for her last nine years, Kindergarten.

Caryn joined the Beth El staff in September, 2010, as the teacher of our Kindergarten Enrichment "The Other Half of the Day" program. This year she has been named the ECC's Program Coordinator for the Pre-School and Day Care and is the head of our Parent/Child program, "You and Me."

Caryn feels if there was ever a position meant for a person and person meant for a position, that teaching is truly her perfect fit. It is her desire to inspire a love of learning and reading in our children's early years that will last a lifetime.

Caryn has been married to Ed for 29 years. They share two sons, Jason and Jonathan.

Amy Kaplan

Librarian

Amy Kaplan has been the librarian for Congregation Beth El since 1988. A Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, she received her MS in Library and Information science from Drexel University, where she was elected to Beta Phi Mu, the national library science honorary society. Amy selects, catalogues, and organizes all books and media in the synagogue library. In addition, she leads the monthly Short Story Discussion Group. She shares her love of books with synagogue members of all ages from Beth El preschoolers to seniors, and also serves as a facilitator for local book clubs.

Amy is active in Jewish organizations on the local and national scene. She served two terms as President of the Katz Jewish Community Center. On the national level, she was installed as a member of the board of the national Jewish Community Centers Association in 2008.

Amy and her husband Barnard, an ophthalmologist, have lived in Voorhees since 1979. They are the proud parents of Sarah, an attorney, and Naomi, a student at the University of Pennsylvania.

Contact: akaplan@bethelsnj.org

Chaim Respes

USY Advisor

Chaim Respes is a Human Resources Professional by day. He has been involved in USY since he was in eighth grade tagging along with his older sister to events near and far. Chaim has served as a teacher, preparing kids for their Bar and Bat Mitzvot and classes on Israel. Active in USY as a youth, he was a member of the Seashore chapter. Chaim has lived and studied in Israel, and is an alumnus of the Pilgrimage and Native programs. He graduated from Temple University where he was President of his fraternity Alpha Epsilon Pi. Chaim was instrumental in organizing programming that highlighted the benefits of being a part of Jewish organization on college campus, to USY Seniors and incoming freshman. Chaim hopes to see all of you over the course of the year and wants you to let him know how USY is doing. We are planning events that are fun, educational, and also give you a chance to chill with your friends. Chaim and his wife Tonia want to say Todah Rabah for welcoming them to the Beth El Mishpacha.

Contact: youthbethelsnj@gmail.com

Andrew Schwartz

Kadima Advisor

Andrew "Avi" Schwartz currently works for Aflaaaaaaaaaac. He grew up in Mt. Laurel, but spent most of his time in Cherry Hill, attending both Kellman Academy and Beth El, back when they shared a building on Chapel Ave. For high school, Avi went to Akiba Hebrew Academy. The Delaware Valley could not get rid of him, as he then attended Temple University. During his time on campus, Avi worked for the Philadelphia 76ers, was president of Temple Students for Israel, helped start-up two campus Chabad Houses and the Maimonides Leaders Fellowship Program, and even served as a film screener for the Israeli film festival. Additionally, while at university, Beth El honored him with the Dr. Donald & Harriet Meltzer Scholarship Award. After acquiring his degree in Communications, Avi went on to learn for a year at Darche Noam Yeshivat Shappel's in Jerusalem.

Contact: drewhschwartz@gmail.com

Ronit Boyd

Chaverim Advisor

An active member of our congregation, Ronit joined Beth El after several years of employment at the Jewish Federation of Southern New Jersey, where she worked as the Assistant Director of the Department of Jewish Education, and Director of the Israel Programs Office. Having worked with many community leaders and organizations, Ronit developed contacts that will benefit our Shul. In her previous role as Beth El's Community Life Director, Ronit worked to provide our members with fun and dynamic programs. We are delighted that Ronit has now assumed the role of Chavarim advisor to the 4th and 5th graders, where she is looking forward to planning fun and age appropriate programs to enhance this group's Jewish experience at Beth El.

Ronit has four children, all of which have been schooled in our ECC and now are moving on to our Religious School. Ronit is an alumnus of Rutgers University and moved to our community in 2003. Ronit currently sits on the Board of the Department of Jewish Education, as well as the Partnership 2000 committee. During Ronit's many years at Beth El, she has found working with our youth to be incredibly rewarding. She is delighted to stay on as the Chaverim Advisor for our 4th and 5th graders.

Contact: boydkin@gmail.com

Tracey Rebock

Machar Advisor

Tracey Rebock is in her tenth year as the advisor for our youngest youth group, Shalosh Arbah (K - 3 grade). The youth group gets stronger every year. Finding interesting programs for the kids is her passion. Tracey holds a Master's degree in Education. She has worked as a classroom teacher in both pre-schools and Hebrew schools.

Tracey is currently working as a 4 year old pre-school teacher. She is very active in the community and finds great joy in social action projects. Tracey acknowledges that her happiest moments are those spent with her best friend/husband Jeffrey and her fabulous children Dillon and Alexis. Tracey has been a favorite amongst Beth El kids for years.

Contact: trebock@comcast.net