The Temple Beth El Brotherhood is pleased to welcome you to the Temple Beth El family. The Brotherhood mission is to provide a forum for the men of TBE to make meaningful contributions to the continued vitality of TBE and its wonderful programs, while simultaneously developing long-lasting friendships with their brothers. To that end, the Brotherhood donates a significant amount of time, energy, and money to TBE and its programs. The Brotherhood raises money through a combination of Brotherhood dues and Brotherhood events held throughout the year.
The Brotherhood raises money to help support a variety of worthy causes by sponsoring the following events:
- The Brotherhood Golf Classic
- Stock Market Sweepstakes
- Bagel Breakfast with speakers such as Congressman Robert Wexler and Comedian Carlos Guerra
- Brotherhood softball team
- Brotherhood Film Festival
- Trips to local attractions such as Boca Bowl and the Palm Beach Zoo
- Member gatherings for sporting events
- Member ice skating gathering
The money raised by the Brotherhood is used for the following worthy causes:
- provide gifts for temple youth celebrating a Bar or Bat Mitzvah
- provide gifts for couples that are married at The Temple
- support charities that are important to the Brotherhood, such as the Palm Beach Leukemia and Lymphoma Society
- Support BOFTY (TBE youth group)
- support the TBE Twenties and Thirties group (BETT)
- support Mitzvah Day
- support journey through Judaism trips for our high school juniors and seniors
- support barbecue lunches and dinners at various temple functions
- support the Brotherhood softball team
The Brotherhood routinely volunteers its time to support the following programs:
- ushering during services
- Mitzvah Day
- The Giving Tree
- LatkePalooza
- Purim Festival
- Social Action Events
A large portion of the $38 membership dues goes towards membership in the Men of Reform Judaism (MRJ), which is the national organization of Temple brotherhoods. This organization supports the executive board of our Brotherhood by providing resources and experience upon which your leaders can draw. MRJ also supports the Jewish Chattaqua Society, which strives to promote tolerance and understanding of Jews to non-Jewish religions. The balance of your membership dues goes toward supporting the programs described above. For more information on MRJ please visit its website at
www.menrj.org.
The Brotherhood Executive Board is made up of the following officers:
President – Mike Blackman
Executive Vice President – Steve Bentz
Treasurer- David Pincus
Recording Secretary - Bob Sack
Vice President of Programming – Hank Gracin
Vice President of Membership – Brad Mandel
Vice President at Large – Stan Bass
The Brotherhood Board is made up of the following members and includes the Executive Board members:
Zeke Better
Brad Mandel
Ed Kaplan
David Ostrower
Mark Platt
Maurice Plough Jr.
Federico Rochwerger, past president
Standing Brotherhood Committees (Chair):
Programming Committee – Hank Gracin & David Ostrower
Membership Committee – Steve Bentz and Brad Mandel
Ushering Committee – Federico Rochwerger
Sunshine Committee – Stan Bass
Communications Committee – Bob Sack
Temple Beth El Clergy Liaison:
Rabbi Dan Levin
The Brotherhood is proud of all it has accomplished and looks forward to continuing this meaningful tradition in the future. Brotherhood relies on the support of its members and strongly encourages those who are not currently members to join. The more members we have, the more good things we are able to accomplish. We are here to provide programs and experiences that are meaningful to our membership, the temple and community at large.