Rabbi Carolyn Bricklin
Cantor Stuart Binder
Executive Director Joshua Laster
Director of Lifelong Education Anne Berman-Waldorf
Early Childhood Educator Hyla Nusbaum
Eric B. Wisnia was born in Brooklyn, N.Y. and was raised in Levittown, Pennsylvania. He graduated with a B.A. in Religious Thought from the University of Pennsylvania, in Philadelphia in May, 1970.
He was ordained at the Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati, Ohio, May 1974 and served as assistant Rabbi at Congregation Shomer Emunim, Toledo, Ohio from 1974-1977.
Rabbi Wisnia has served on the Institutional Review Board for Medical Ethics of the Medical Center at Princeton. He was chairman of the Board of Directors of the Family Service Agency of Princeton from 1991 to 1995. He currently serves on the Board of The National Brain Tumor Society, and is past President of the New Jersey Association of Reform Rabbis, and is past President of the New Jersey Association of Reform Rabbis and past Chairman of the Committee on Religious Ministries of Princeton Hospital. He also served as the President of the Shore Area Board of Rabbis from 1981 to 1983 and served as the President of the Hightstown Area Ministerium for a term of five years. He also serves the Jewish Committee on Scouting for the Central New Jersey Council Boy Scouts of America.
Rabbi Wisnia was awarded a Doctor of Divinity degree from Hebrew Union College - Jewish Institute of Religion in March of 1999. Rabbi Wisnia has served Congregation Beth Chaim since June of 1977. In April, 1992 he was unanimously voted a continuing contract by the membership of the congregation.
Carolyn J. Bricklin-Small was born and raised in the suburbs of Philadelphia. She graduated with a B.A. in Religious Studies from the University of Virginia, in Charlottesville. After college she worked as the Youth Director of Congregation Beth Israel in Charlottesville VA, running youth programming for children ages
2-18.
During her time as a rabbinical student she worked at a pulpit in East Liverpool, OH, was an intern for the Union for Reform Judaism’s Books and Music Department, and wrote study guides to accompany The Torah: A Women’s Commentary. Cari was ordained by the New York Campus of HUC in May 2009.
Since coming to Beth Chaim, Cari has continued to be a passionate teacher. She enjoys teaching Hebrew to the preschoolers, being asked the hard questions by 8th and 9th graders and studying Jewish texts with adult learners. Rabbi Cari enjoys celebrating Shabbat and the holidays with children and adults, and loves introducing new aspects to the community’s celebrations. She works closely with the Tikkun Olam Committee and the Caring Community. Rabbi Cari has continued her personal learning: studying Jewish texts in traditional chevruta (pair) daily, becoming certified in pre-marital counseling using the Prepare and Enrich Program, and attending seminars on counseling interfaith couples.
Cari was married in October, 2011 to David Marc Bricklin-Small. David was born and raised at Beth Chaim and is thrilled to be back home. They are delighted to be raising their son, Asher Guy, as a second greneration Beth Chaim-ite. They live in Princeton with their dog, Angel, and an Israeli cat (that’s a longer story), Dennis. Her hobbies include knitting, hiking and baking.
Stuart Binder was born in Bethlehem, PA. and grew up on a steady diet of Harry Chapin and The Knack in a suburb of Chicago. He studied songleading at Camp Kutz, and was a youth group songleader through high school and college.
Stuart holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Education from Iowa State University, and a Master of Sacred Music degree from the Hebrew Union College - Jewish Institute of Religion.
Stuart has been with Congregation Beth Chaim since his investiture in 1990. He oversees training of all Bar and Bat Mitzvah students, teaches Religious School and Adult Education classes, and is responsible for the Junior Choir and the GLEEbrews ensemble. He is also the creator of Shabbat Workshop, a comprehensive collection of Shabbat music and liturgy.
Aside from music, Stuart's hobbies include digital recording and photography.
Stuart lives in East Windsor, NJ, where he loves spending time with his daughters Hannah and Lillie.
Joshua Laster joined the Congregation Beth Chaim staff in May of 2013. He has been working in the Jewish community since 1999 with a focus on Jewish communal service, youth work, education and programming. Prior to joining Beth Chaim, Josh served as the Executive Director at Ohev Shalom in Wallingford, Pennsylvania for three years. Before beginning his career as a synagogue executive director, Josh worked in IT sales with a focus on communications and software specific applications and as an elementary school teacher. He received his Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education from Shippensburg University in May of 1997.
Josh likes to say that his real love of working within the Jewish community comes from two sources. The first is his father’s role as a Temple Administrator for 14 years. His father was the Executive Director at Temple Sinai in Washington D.C. The second is Josh’s years spent as the Waterfront Director at URJ Camp Harlam. Camp Harlam holds a special place in his heart, because his parents met there in 1967, while his dad was also the Waterfront Director. Josh currently sits on the board of the Camp Harlam Council and returns at the start of each summer to train and certify their incoming Waterfront staff members in American Red Cross Lifeguarding.
Josh was born in Tucson, Arizona, spent nine years in the suburban Washington D.C. area, but spent most of his formative years in Havertown, a suburb of Philadelphia. Josh married his wife, Erica in 2007 and has lived a life of luck and fortune ever since. She is a middle school guidance counselor in the Wallingford Swarthmore School District in Wallingford, Pennsylvania. They have two beautiful daughters, Isabella and Maryn.
Anne Berman-Waldorf has served as Congregation Beth Chaim's first Director of Lifelong Education since July, 1998. In her role, she is responsible for overseeing the Pre-School and the Religious School as well as Adult Education, Family Programming and Youth Activities. She teaches 8th and 9th grade, facilitates adult education programs and conducts many workshops throughout the year. Anne serves on the board of the National Association of Temple Educators and is involved with Camp Harlam, the Reform Movement's camp in the Poconos.
The older daughter of Steve and Marion Berman, Anne grew up in South Windsor, Connecticut, at Temple Beth Hillel and attended both Kutz Camp and the Eisner Camp Institute, where she went through the ranks from camper to Unit Head. She received her Bachelor of Arts with Honors from the University of Pennsylvania in 1987, where she majored in Religious Thought. Anne holds a Masters Degree in Social Work from the University of Maryland and a Masters of Arts Degree in Jewish History from Baltimore Hebrew University. She is a graduate of the Baltimore Institute of Jewish Communal Service.
During her career, Anne has spent time as a Social Worker, working with battered women and their children. She worked in Community Relations at the Baltimore Jewish Council and served for 7 years as the Program Director at Temple Isaiah in Columbia, Maryland. Prior to working at Beth Chaim, Anne was the Director of Family Programming at Beth El Congregation in Baltimore, Maryland, where she was Director of the Berman-Lipovsky Project Mispacha, an alternative family education track within the Religious School.
Anne is married to Joshua Waldorf and they are the parents of two children, Sam and Lily.
Joining Beth Chaim PreSchool as our Early Childhood Educator in January, 2012, Hyla has a strong background in early childhood development and education.
Hyla received a Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education from Ohio State University. She also has a Masters in Education, with a specialty in Early Childhood Development from Loyola University of Chicago.
Early in her career, Hyla served as director of a day care center in the Chicago area and also participated in the publishing of a program journal for a day care center that provided activities for older adults and children.
Moving to the Princeton area in January of 1990, Hyla became a teacher at the JCC Ring Nursery School which utilized space at Congregation Beth Chaim. She continued her career as Co-Director of the Maple Stream Road Preschool at Beth El Synagogue in East Windsor for 13 years and, most recently, worked at Har Sinai Temple (Pennington) as they started their preschool.
Hyla has served on the Mercer County Board of the National Association of Young Children for the past six years. She currently lives in West Windsor, and has three daughters, Jessica, Aliza, and Morgan.