Temple Beth-El Congregation Sons of Israel and David
70 Orchard Avenue Providence, RI 02906 phone 401 331 6070 info@temple-beth-el.org
about us
Leadership | Professional Staff | Support Staff
Leadership : Talent and Inspiration
Temple Beth-El is blessed with extraordinarily talented and inspirational leadership. Individually and collectively, our rabbis and our cantor possess warm sensitivity, spirituality and intellect that cannot be fully described in words, but are best experienced in person. Our clergy complement one another, and each of them brings a love of Judaism and a passion for teaching to our synagogue members. They are loved and well-respected members of our Temple Beth-El family.Leadership : Rabbi Gutterman
Rabbi Leslie Yale Gutterman, lgutterman@temple-beth-el.org, has served Temple Beth-El since 1970, upon his ordination from Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion. In 1974 when Rabbi William G. Braude retired, Rabbi Gutterman became the synagogue’s senior rabbi. A 1964 graduate of the University of Michigan, Rabbi Gutterman has been involved with dozens of civic organizations and has served as a board member of many preeminent institutions including: Butler Hospital, The Rhode Island Telecommunications Commission, The Providence Athenaeum, Hospice Care, Rhode Island Kids Count, Trinity Repertory Theatre, Interfaith Health Care Ministries, Brown University’s Board of Religious Overseers, and Bryant University. Rabbi Gutterman is a past president of the Rhode Island Board of Rabbis, the Jewish Family Service and the national Rabbinic Alumni Association of Reform Judaism as well as the Rhode Island Committee for the Humanities. He has served on the executive board of the Central Conference of American Rabbis and taught at Providence College. For 20 years, Rabbi Gutterman wrote a monthly column for the religion page of The Providence Journal.
He received a public service award from the City of Providence on its 350th anniversary. Rabbi Gutterman was awarded a Doctor of Divinity degree from Hebrew Union College and holds honorary degrees from the University of Rhode Island, Roger Williams University, Johnson & Wales University, and Providence College.
Leadership : Rabbi Mack
Associate Rabbi Sarah Mack, rabbimack@temple-beth-el.org, has served Temple Beth-El since 2003, upon her ordination from the New York campus of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion. Rabbi Mack also spent a year studying at the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem. She graduated from Brandeis University in 1996 with degrees in Near Eastern and Judaic Studies and English. A native of Seattle, Washington, Rabbi Mack served pulpits in Juneau, Alaska; Bainbridge Island; Washington; and New York City as a student before coming to Temple Beth-El. Rabbi Mack serves on the national Women’s Rabbinic Network Board as the New England representative. Leadership : Cantor Seplowin
Cantor Judith Seplowin, jseplowin@temple-beth-el.org, came to Beth-El as our cantor in 2000. She is a 1995 graduate of the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion (HUC-JIR) where she received a Master of Sacred Music, investiture and several awards of distinction. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Spanish Literature from Douglass College/Rutgers University and La Universidad Complutense in Madrid, Spain. Before serving at Temple Beth-El, Cantor Seplowin served The Temple-Congregation Shomer Emunim of Sylvania (Toledo), Ohio for five years and also served congregations in New York City and Doylestown, Pennsylvania. In 1996, HUC-JIR invited Cantor Seplowin to reprise her master’s recital, “Synagogue Art Music of the Eighteenth Century,” for the annual Cantor Walter A. Davidson Concert.She has appeared in concerts in Israel and in many cities throughout the United States. She has performed musical theatre throughout the United States, Europe and in parts of Asia and Russia. As a student at the seminary, Cantor Seplowin performed with the Avodah Dance Ensemble as a singer/dancer. She has served as the cantorial representative of the Northeast Lakes Council Region of the Union of Reform Judaism, taught at the Beloit Kallah, and taught and performed at national and regional biennials of the Reform movement. Cantor Seplowin serves on the Committee on Ethics and Appeals of the American Conference of Cantors (ACC) and on an ACC Task Force on the responsibilities of clergy as mandatory reporters of child abuse.