Jill Granek Suffel: Owings Mills Resident Works Hard for Beth El’s Community

Jill Suffel has lived in the Baltimore area for her entire life. It’s a connection that goes back several generations, and Suffel has no plans to leave Owings Mills for anywhere else.

She spent most of her professional life working in education, first as a teacher in Baltimore County Public Schools, and eventually ended up working in the preschool at her synagogue, Beth El Congregation.

Then, three-and-a-half years ago, Suffel made a complete career change and became the first director of membership and programming at the synagogue, in what she called “the best professional decision I’ve ever made.”

What was the path that led you to working at Beth El?

I started at community college and then went to Towson and thought I would be a sports reporter. I realized very quickly that sports reporting was probably not the path that I was going to wind up on.

I went home to my parents and I said, “I think I want to be a teacher.” My grandfather was a high school principal, so it was kind of always intrinsic that I would be a teacher. I taught in Baltimore County Public Schools for seven really amazing years.

Then when my [twin] boys were about a year old, my husband and I started to think about where we wanted to Jewishly raise our family. The second we walked into Beth El, we were sold. We felt at home. [Several years later] there was an opening in the preschool at Beth El where I worked alongside the director.

How did the director of membership and programming position begin?

Three years into the preschool job, we got a new executive director here at Beth El. And the first time I met him, I said, “I have this idea. I’d like to change careers.” And we started talking, and this idea of a membership and programming director type job came up. We created this job together. I ran with it and made it my own. It’s the best. I’ve never been happier in my entire career.

Tell me about your job as director of membership and programming.

When new people come, I welcome them, and I tell them about Beth El and I give them tours, and then I meet them on Shabbat. I’m part of a lot of different aspects of the congregation. If our current members have issues, I’m like a member advocate, almost.

People also come to me with good things for their simchas, when there’s sadness, when they have a question about a bill, or they want to reserve a room here, or just anything having to do with membership and any program that’s in the building.

I try really hard to make everyone who walks in the building feel like this is their home. This is your spiritual home, not just to pray, but also for programs and to feel you have a place here. I want everyone to feel like this is the place that they choose to spend their Jewish lives.

What is it about your job that you love so much?

When I walk into this building, it feels like it’s just a special place, whether it’s our clergy or the front desk people or the maintenance staff or my colleagues or the kitchen staff, everyone here makes this place feel like a place you want to be.

There’s never a time that I’m in this building that I don’t feel joy. It’s a unique space and I think that the feeling of warmth and comfort comes from not just the people that work here but also from the members.

What has your Jewish journey been like over the years?

My whole life, I was raised in a Jewish home, with Friday night dinners at my grandparents, Wednesday night dinners with my other grandparents. Judaism was always something that was really important to both sides of my family.

Going to Israel in college changed [everything]. … [My Jewish identity] became this intrinsic feeling of pride inside of me. I’ve never hidden my religion. I’ve never shied away from telling people I was Jewish.

And since college, my husband and I worked really hard to keep a Jewish home for our sons, and to make sure that they knew how important Judaism was to our family. … The older I get, the more the more spiritual I get, and the more devoted to my religion I get.

My Jewish growth has been significant over the last 20-some years, but specifically more over the last three years since I started in this role [at Beth El].

What’s something people might not know about you?

My husband and my sons are the best part of me. I am a diehard Orioles fan, Ravens, Caps, Terps, but the Orioles are literally everything [to me]. Another thing is I’m a certified Zentangle teacher. Zentangle is like a meditative art practice. I became certified about two years ago, and I teach regularly through the Soul Center, which is under the auspices of Beth El and the Carroll County Public Library.

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