Amanda Beitman has been executive director of Beth El Congregation for about two weeks and on day one she “jumped right in.”
Beitman has been a part of the Beth El community for a long time and has been a part of the Jewish communal world for even longer. Her career first started at the Jewish Community Center of Greater Baltimore. Then, she went to work for The Associated: Jewish Federation of Greater Baltimore.
She had been a congregant of Beth El for about seven years before she stumbled upon the opportunity to join the synagogue’s leadership around 2018. Serving Beth El as the director of development and then chief advancement officer, Beitman said she stepped into this new role during “an exciting time in Beth El’s history.”
“She is extremely experienced. Even before she was at Beth El she had extensive experience working in the nonprofit world,” Beth El’s First Vice President Josh Shein said.
“In her position that she was in before coming into the executive director role, she was incredibly successful in fundraising and increasing awareness and strengthening the synagogue’s bottom line, with her fundraising, with her efforts … just an incredible job establishing great relationships and really good interactions with all the members.”
The congregation began its search in the midst of an already transitional time after the previous executive director moved across the country. Starting this summer, Beth El has a new rabbi joining its clergy, Rabbi Zevi Lowenberg and, at the end of May, Rabbi Dana Saroken will be taking over as the senior rabbi.
“It allows us to have fresh eyes, a fresh look with these changes all happening at the same time,” said Shein.
“I think, in this kind of a situation, having essentially a new rabbi, the elevation of Rabbi Saroken to the senior rabbi, and Rabbi Schwartz to emeritus and Amanda as executive director, [the] timing couldn’t be better,” he added. “Everyone’s coming with a fresh excitement and enthusiasm, and I think it’s great to have the executive director hand in hand with clergy who are refreshed, energized, enthusiastic, excited for what we’re going to do. I think it’s going to allow them all to really look at things from top to bottom and make incredibly smart decisions.”
For Shein, Beitman has been a proven asset to the congregation and will bring Saroken’s vision to life for the community.
“She’s just an incredible person, incredible leader, and is going to do a great job for the synagogue,” he added.
Beitman said she is inspired by the Beth El clergy and wants to ensure that everyone at Beth El will have meaningful experiences. “I want to ensure [we are] always looking forward and providing what our community needs and what is best for them.”
For Beitman, becoming executive director felt like a natural step in her career.
“I’ve devoted [my career] to our Jewish community and ensuring that it’s here for many more generations to come. And that falls at a really historical moment right now, when we’re transitioning our senior rabbi, and this is only our fourth-ever senior rabbi,” she added. “To be a part of that time and those changes and experiences was really important to me.”
Beitman added, “It’s been very exciting learning new things every day, but we have an incredible staff here, and everyone really is super supportive, and so are our lay leaders. It’s been a lot of fun already.”
Beth El President Rebecca Fruman described Beitman not only as a strategic planner, but as a visionary.
“I know that that she’ll be able to lead Beth El into our next chapter,” Fruman said. “She knows what our congregation’s needs are, what our goals are, and I really feel like Beth El is a community where people are going to continue to feel connected and engaged in different ways.”
