Our Clergy

Temple Beth-El is blessed with wonderful spiritual leadership. Each of our Rabbis and our Cantor possess a warm sensitivity, spirituality and intellect which cannot be described here; they must be experienced. Simply put, we have a beautiful balance in our clergy. They are loved and respected members of our family.

Leslie Y. Gutterman
Senior Rabbi

Leslie Yale Gutterman has served Temple Beth-El since 1970 upon his ordination from Hebrew Union College. A 1964 graduate of the University of Michigan, Rabbi Gutterman has been involved in a variety of civic organizations and has served on such Boards of Trustees as Butler Hospital, the R.I. Telecommunications Commission, the Children's Museum, the Providence Athaneum, Hospice Care, Kids Count, Trinity Repertory Theatre, Interfaith Health Care Ministries and the Brown University Board of Religious Overseers.

Rabbi Gutterman is a past president of both the Jewish Family Service and the R.I. Committee for the Humanities. He has been a Special Lecturer in the Department of Religious Studies at Providence College. The Rabbi writes a column for the Face of Religion Page of the Providence Journal and received the Public Service Award from the City of Providence on its 350th anniversary. Rabbi Gutterman was awarded a Doctor of Divinity from Hebrew Union College and holds honorary degrees from the University of Rhode Island, Roger Williams University and Providence College.

Sarah Mack
Associate Rabbi

A graduate of Brandeis University with a degree in English and Near Eastern and Judaic Studies, Sarah grew up in Seattle, Washington. She received her rabbinical ordination in May 2003 from Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in New York. Although Sarah finished her rabbinic degree in New York, she spent her first two years on the Los Angeles campus and spent an additional year in Israel studying at Pardes Institute in Jerusalem.

During her rabbinical training, Sarah served student pulpits in Juneau, Alaska and Bainbridge Island, Washington as well as serving as rabbinic intern at Temple B’nai Torah in Bellevue, Washington and Temple Shaaray Tefila in New York City.

An avid reader, Sarah also enjoys outdoor activities of all kinds, particularly running. Sarah particularly loves to study Mishna and Talmud and enjoys teaching all ages. She is excited to serve Temple Beth-El and eagerly anticipates many new opportunities for Jewish growth that her position will bring.

Cantor Judith Seplowin is a 1995 graduate of the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion where she received a Master of Sacred Music, investiture and several awards of distinction. She holds a BA in Spanish Literature from Douglass College/Rutgers University and La Universidad Complutense in Madrid, Spain. Prior to her arrival at Temple Beth-El in 2000, Cantor Seplowin served The Temple-Congregation Shomer Emunim of Sylvania (Toledo), Ohio for five years and has also served congregations in New York City and Doylestown, Pennsylvania. In 1996, HUC-JIR invited Cantor Seplowin to reprise her Masters Recital, “Synagogue Art Music of the Eighteenth Century,” for the annual Cantor Walter A. Davidson Concert. She has appeared in concerts in New York, Israel, Detroit, Atlanta and Toledo and has performed musical theatre throughout the United States, Europe and parts of Asia and Russia. While a student at the seminary, Cantor Seplowin performed with the Avodah Dance Ensemble as singer/dancer. She has served as the cantorial representative of the Northeast Lakes council Region of the UAHC, has taught at the Beloit Kallah and has taught and performed at National and Regional Biennials of the Reform Movement. Cantor Seplowin serves on the ACC Committee on Ethics and Appeals.