Our Mission. Our Why

Rabbi Andrew Rosenblatt

A native of Baltimore, Maryland, Rabbi Andrew Rosenblatt has been the spiritual leader of Schara Tzedeck since 2003, where he has devoted himself with passion and creativity to his mission of making Torah resonate with the experiences of modern life. He draws strongly on his extensive academic and Torah education, as well as his legacy as the grandson of Rabbi Dr. Samuel Rosenblatt and great-grandson of renowned chazzan and composer Yossele Rosenblatt, to turn this vision into reality.

Rabbi Rosenblatt graduated from Columbia University with a bachelor of arts degree in chemistry and English literature, and a masters of science in bio-organic chemistry. After completing his secular studies, Rabbi Rosenblatt spent two years in Yeshivat Har Etzion in Israel and subsequently received semicha from Yeshiva University in New York. Before taking the helm of Schara Tzedeck, Rabbi Rosenblatt served as the assistant rabbi at Congregation Ahavath Torah in Englewood, New Jersey.

Rabbi Rosenblatt is married to Dr. Cirelle Rosenblatt, a neuropsychologist, and they have five children.

Rabbi Ishay Gottlieb

Rabbi Ishai Gottlieb is an Assistant Rabbi at Congregation Schara Tzedeck.

He comes to our community from Israel, receiving his Rabbinic ordination from Ohr Torah Stone in Efrat Israel.

Rabbi Gottlieb’s specially is in Bible and modernity. His focus is in outreach amongst Jews who are looking for strengthening their Jewish identity and skills. He has volunteered for Tzohar’s Bar Mitzvah program.

Rabbi Gottlieb comes to the Vancouver Jewish community with his five children and wife Einat.

Reverend Joseph Marciano

It is hard to think of Schara Tzedeck without thinking of Joseph Marciano. Originally from Casablanca, Morocco, Joseph has spent more than 30 years as the heart of Schara Tzedeck’s religious services and serving as the link between the synagogue and the Schara Tzedeck Cemetery Board. In addition to general oversight of services and reading Torah, Joseph also acts as the shul’s mashgiach and prepares boys for their bar mitzvah. Over the decades, he has prepared hundreds of bar mitzvah boys for their big day, and is already teaching his second generation of celebrants.

In addition to his roles at the shul, Joseph also serves as funeral director of the Schara Tzedeck Cemetery Board, providing bereavement support and facilitating all aspects of burials for Metro and Greater Vancouver’s Jewish community. Joseph and his wife Simone, who also assists with mashgiach duties, are the proud parents (and in-laws) of four children, and grandparents of eight grandchildren.

Rachael Lewinski

Rachael Lewinski has been a member of the Schara Tzedeck administrative team for the past twelve years.

Born and raised in Vancouver, Rachael completed a bachelor of administration and certificate of management at York University before pursuing a successful career in New York as an event planner at several well-known Jewish organizations, including National Jewish Outreach Program (NJOP), Aish Hatorah, Hillel, and the Young Brooklyn Community Organization.

Rachael’s exuberance and sunny personality make her the ideal fit for her diverse responsibilities at Schara Tzedeck. She plans the shul’s special and signature programming, including the successful Shabbat and holidays In-a-Box programs; LinkYID program, which connects newcomers to Vancouver with Schara Tzedeck mentors and potential employers in the business community and engaging with the shul community in a variety of capacities.

Rachael and her husband, Ariel have three children, Yaakov, Sophie, and Hannah.

Anna Herman

Anna joins us from Israel, with over a decade of administrative and operational management experience.

After serving in Israel Defense Forces, Anna graduated with Architectural Practical Engineering and Interior Design Diploma from Ort Braude and studied Social Sciences – with an emphasis on Management at Open University in Israel.
Prior to her moving to Canada, Anna worked as Executive Director at a private college and as Senior Office Manager at Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd in Israel.

In Canada, Anna graduated with a Professional Bookkeeper Certificate from Langara College.

Working in tandem with our Executive Director, Anna had spent the last 5 years as the administrative backbone for Schara Tzedeck.

Anna and her husband Eitan are the parents of two children, Netanel and Liam.

Gavi Beigel

A non-profit professional, Gavi Beigel brings a diverse background to his role at Schara Tzedeck. Following years of working in fine dining restaurants as a classically trained chef, Gavi, always a fan of the arts and seeing the need for caring and passionate professionals joined the Vancouver Opera as a fundraiser. Within a short time, Gavi discovered a knack for development, marketing, and information system management and was quickly promoted to Ticket Centre operations, where he worked overseeing the box office, working with the marketing and development teams in building promotional and fundraising campaigns.

In 2018, following the tragedy at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, PA, Gavi was moved to put his skills to work within the Jewish community, and started working for the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver (JFGV) as a member of their campaign team. And, in June 2021 Gavi joined Schara Tzedeck’s administrative team. Gavi loves being a part of Schara Tzedeck and admits one of the perks of the position is his short walk to minyan.