Our Leadership

Martha Sivertson, Executive Director

Martha Sivertson joined our kehillah in September 2013 after spending eight years creating the volunteer program at the Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage. A New Jersey native, Martha moved to San Francisco for a graduate program in art history, then Boston, Georgia, and Maine before being recruited by the Cleveland Museum of Art. A huge baseball fan (Mets, Giants, Red Sox), she quickly adopted the Tribe but you will often catch her and her husband at minor league and professional games alike throughout the Northeast where they dragged their two beautiful daughters summer after summer. Martha earned her Master in Nonprofit Organizations (MNO) from the Mandel Center at Case Western Reserve University in 2006 and her Certified Volunteer Administrator (CVA) in 2007. martha@shaareytikvah.org

Rabbi Rachel Brown, Director of Congregational Learning

  Rabbi Brown is an adventurer whose route to becoming a rabbi has included   attaining a    degree in architecture from The Bernard Spitzer School of   Architecture at City College of    New York, apprenticing as a carpenter and woodworker, and traveling the Pacific       Northwest by bicycle.  She also holds a motorcycle driver’s license and a private pilot’s   license, and is a certified SCUBA diver.

The driving force of her rabbinate is making Jewish tradition accessible. Rabbi Brown believes that Judaism gives all who have access to it a way to connect to each other and to God, and a language with which to express the inexpressible. She embraces a life of continuing Jewish study and teaching others. Her visionary approach to Jewish life and Jewish education focuses on creating learning and study opportunities for students of all ages across the lifecycle. Rabbi Brown is especially gifted in making traditional customs, texts, and liturgy relevant to a contemporary mindset.

Rabbi Brown was ordained as a Rabbi by the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies at the American Jewish University in Los Angeles. Before joining CST, she served for ten years as Rabbi and Education Director of Congregation B’nai Jacob, in Phoenixville, PA, and for one year as Rabbi-in-Residence at Congregation Beth Israel in Roanoke, VA. Most recently, Rabbi Brown founded a new pluralistic Jewish girls’ empowerment residential summer camp, Camp Timbrel.

Rabbi Brown lives with her husband, Rabbi Michael Ross, and their son, Gabriel, in Beachwood. Rabbi Ross serves as the Senior Jewish Educator at Hillel at Kent State University and the Rabbi at Temple Beth Shalom in Hudson, where Rabbi Brown also serves as the Education Director. rbrown@shaareytikvah.org

Debbie Rosen, Office Manager

Debbie started with Shaarey Tikvah in January 2020 after careers in administration and marketing.    debbie@shaareytikvah.org

Frank George, Maintenance Manger

Frank, a native of McGraws, West Virginia, started with Shaarey Tikvah in August 1998. Frank keeps the lights on and our very busy building operating smoothly. Frank assists with setup and cleanup for synagogue events,  ongoing maintenance and repair of our property, and provides a charming dash of dry humor to the job! Frank may be best known for his t-shirts -- his favorites are: “Official Kosher Taster” and “Don’t Worry” on the front with “Frank’ll do it” on the back. In the summer months, you can find Frank outside on the riding mower and in the winter months, you can find him shoveling our walkways. He is an integral part of our synagogue community and is quick to go the extra mile to help our congregants.

 Dr. Joshua Gordon, Board President

   An extraordinary group of members who bring a wealth of experience in law,     business, education, social services, real estate, management, strategic planning,   fundraising, and Jewish life to their work, the Shaarey Tikvah Board of Trustees   meets monthly to set the overall strategic direction for the organization. Board   members serve a 2-year term, unless they are presidential appointment, in which   case they serve a 1-year term. The Executive Committee also meets monthly; two   past presidents, selected by the Board president each year, are key members of the   Executive Committee to provide organizational history, consistent direction, and   breadth of experience to the Committee.

  cstpresident@shaareytikvah.org