Our Staff and Leadership

Our Staff and Leadership

Rabbi Lizzie Horne Mozes

Lizzie Horne Mozes, a native of Washington, D.C., is a recent graduate of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College (RRC). While there, she served as rabbinic intern at The Shalom Center in Philadelphia, at Bryn Mawr College and Temple University Hillels and at Beth Israel Congregation of Chester County. She was also the interim director of religious services at Lions Gate Continuing Care Retirement Community and the programs and communications associate at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association.

Lizzie was elected president of the Reconstructionist Student Association and twice received the Ru’akh Akheret Award for contribution to the spiritual well-being of the college community. She joined the Center for Jewish Nonviolence as a trip leader on a delegation to Israel-Palestine and was a protest chaplain in Philadelphia’s Movement Chaplaincy Network.

Prior to rabbinical school, Lizzie served as an American Jewish World Service Fellow in India, working to combat domestic and sexual violence; as director of enrichment at a school in the New York City public school system; and as project manager of Stardust Arts, a nonprofit that sits at the intersection of art and social justice. She graduated from the University of Maryland in 2012 with a B.A. in broadcast journalism and a certificate in African American studies.

Lizzie and her husband, Eric Mozes, and their baby Shai, live in Philadelphia.

Rabbi Gary Gans

Rabbi Gary Gans – Rabbi Emeritus

Gary Gans, Rabbi Emeritus since August 2016, first came to Congregation Beth Tikvah as our full-time rabbi in 1981, when the synagogue was a ranch house surrounded by corn fields in rural Marlton.

Rabbi Gans received a B.A. from Rutgers University and holds a master’s degree in psycho-educational processes from Temple University. A graduate student at Hebrew University in Jerusalem for two years, he also attended Gratz Hebrew College in Philadelphia to obtain certifications and licenses as a teacher and principal.

Committed to life-long study, Rabbi Gans earned a Doctor of Ministry degree in counseling from the Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary and has been awarded an honorary Doctor of Divinity from the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College (RRC), where he was ordained in 1979.

He participated in a post doctorate program in family therapy at Penn Council for Relationships at the University of Pennsylvania. He is board certified as a clinical member of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy and is a Licensed Professional Counselor in the state of New Jersey specializing in family therapy.

He currently serves as a chaplain with the Evesham police department and is a cruise ship rabbi. He is a past president of the Tri-County Board of Rabbis.

Rabbi Gans married Rabbi Ilene Schneider while they were both students at RRC. They are the second longest married rabbinic couple in the U.S. and the third longest married in the world. They have two adult sons, Natan and Ari. Rabbi Schneider has written several rabbinic murder mysteries and is also the former director of Jewish hospice for Samaritan Hospice in Marlton.

Rabbi Gans is an amateur radio operator (kosher HAM!) with the call sign N2EEF. He is also deeply interested in genealogy and has led many seminars on the topic in the U.S. and Israel.

Cantor Joseph Lebovic

Cantor Joseph Lebovic

Since 1986, congregants at Congregation Beth Tikvah have enjoyed the strong and melodious voice of Cantor Joseph Lebovic.

Born in the Czech Republic to Cantor David and Mina Lebovic, CBT’s cantor is the youngest of a three-generation cantorial legacy. His grandfather, Joseph, shared his love of Judaism and music with his son David, who in turn inspired his son, our own Cantor Joseph Lebovic.

He earned a B.S. in psychology from Temple University and studied music theory and voice development at the Settlement Music School in Philadelphia. He graduated from the Pennsylvania College of Optometry and worked in a cantorial position at Beth Jacob-Beth Israel, formerly of Merchantville, before joining Rabbi Gans on the bimah.

Cantor Lebovic participates in local Jewish choirs in South Jersey, including his stint as a guest soloist for the South Jersey Chorus (a secular choir with 60 singers), for Temple Beth Sholom and for the choir of the Board of Cantors of Greater Philadelphia.

Cantor Lebovic married Sophie Klein, who became one of CBT’s most popular Hebrew school teachers until she retired. Together they raised three children: Yael, Miryam and Avi, and they greatly enjoy their beloved grandchildren: Nathan and Raya, Layna and Owen, and Dalia and Jonah.

Michelle Meyer

Michele Meyer – Education Director

Following in the footsteps of her father and grandfather, Morah Meyer is a veteran Jewish educator. Her father, Errol Schlesinger, was the longtime director of education at Congregation Adath Emanuel in Mt. Laurel, and her grandfather was the longtime director of education at Beth Emeth Congregation in Philadelphia.

Before becoming CBT’s education director, Morah Meyer served as a religious school educator, a youth group advisor, and a college professor. She recently became a JECELI (Jewish Early Childhood Education Leadership Institute) fellow, a two-year program through Gratz College.

Morah Meyer grew up in New Jersey, lived in Illinois for 12 years and, upon returning, joined CBT as our education director while also working at the Sari Isdaner Early Childhood Center at the Katz Jewish Community Center as a teacher and Jewish educator.

Marie DeBow – Administrator

Marie DeBow joined the staff at CBT in 2022, taking on the role as administrator. Marie has a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Drexel University and continuing her education.

Prior to joining CBT, she worked as an Office Manager for a synagogue in Delaware County, PA for 5+ years. She organized community events such as blood and food drives. Her responsibilities included Bar/Bat Mitzvah planning, marketing and working with the community to plan fundraising events.

She is a proud mother of 3 and resides in South Jersey. In her spare time, she enjoys yoga and volunteering.

Lynne Weinstein – Office Manager

Lynne Natal Weinstein has been Congregation Beth Tikvah’s office manager for over a decade.

Raised in Camden, she grew up four doors away from Congregation Beth El, a synagogue founded by her grandparents and several other congregants. She attended Beth El from kindergarten through Confirmation and continued her Jewish education in the first class of the community-sponsored junior college, known as Midrashah. She launched her Hebrew teaching career when she was a high school senior.

In addition to her office manager responsibilities at CBT, Lynne teaches the Mechinah class and loves having a relationship with the congregation’s students. Seeing the smiles and looks of achievement on their faces as they share her love of Judaism keeps her going. “CBT is exactly the way Beth El was when I was growing up…a small, caring community that joins together as a family supporting each other through thick and thin.”

Lynne loves the spirit and excitement that one feels upon entering the building and feels privileged to work with the rabbis and staff.

Lynne raised four children and has seven grandchildren, two of whom attend CBT.

Congregation Leadership

President
Donna Snyder

Finance Vice President
Janet Rand

Vice Presidents at Large
Sherri Quintero
Marissa Whitmore
Aaron Pollock

Secretary
Eileen Brandy

Trustees
Valerie Gladfelter
Joel Mosko
Stephen Hawk
Lisa Shank
Tema Steele
Ben Levy

Past Presidents
Norman Levithan (of blessed memory)
Nancy Horowitz
Sylvia Jacobs
Michael Lewis
Allyson Bernstein
Arlene Lewis
Dr. Mark Waltzer
Rachel Kreimer

Committee Chairs
Adult Ed – Roberta Braverman
Comptroller – David Blask
Endowment – Ellen Krivchenia
Finance – Dennis Meyerson
Fundraising – Valerie Gladfelter
Building, Technology & Security – Paul Fau
Library – David Gladfelter
Membership – Vacant
Publicity – Sylvia Jacobs
Ritual – Max Brandy
School – Kara Robin
Social Action – Ken Berlin
Youth –Vacant