Clergy and Staff

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CLERGY

Rabbi Keren Gorban
Email: rabbigorban@tbetacoma.org

Rabbi Keren Gorban joined Temple Beth El in July 2022, after serving as the Associate Rabbi of Temple Sinai in Pittsburgh for seven years. Rabbi Gorban brings more than a decade of experience leading Shabbat and holiday services, officiating at lifecycle events, and educational leadership for both youth and adults. She is deeply committed to ensuring that Jewish communities are inclusive and welcoming, with a particular focus in recent years on LGBTQ+ and disabilities inclusion.

Rabbi Gorban earned her B.A. with High Honors in Health: Science, Society and Policy from Brandeis University, focusing on the intersection between health and religion. She received her M.A. in Hebrew Letters and rabbinic ordination at Hebrew Union College in Los Angeles, and earned an award for Excellence in Bible for her work on Psalm 77. She was also one of the leaders of an annual interfaith retreat for students of six Los Angeles area seminaries. In 2018, she completed an M.A. in Religious Education at Hebrew Union College in New York, focusing on the dynamic tension between love and literacy in Jewish education. That same year, she was invited to participate in Harvard Business School’s Young American Leaders Program as part of Pittsburgh’s inaugural cohort of ten up-and-coming leaders.

Before going to Pittsburgh, Rabbi Gorban served as the Assistant Rabbi at Temple Sinai in Denver. As a student rabbi, she served student pulpits in Montana, British Columbia, and Arizona; taught Jewish History as a teaching assistant at the University of Southern California; and worked as a chaplain in nursing homes in California and at a hospital in Denver.

In addition to her rabbinic and academic interests, Rabbi Gorban enjoys hiking, trying different types of art and crafts (papercutting, jewelry-making, micrography, etc.), doing puzzles of all sorts, and introducing her two-year-old to the little joys of life. While she is an equal-opportunity animal lover (yes, even snakes, mice, and spiders), she has two cats of her own and has fostered almost thirty cats and kittens over the years. She is currently on the board of Associated Ministries.

Read Rabbi Gorban's sermons on the Sermon Page.

Rabbi Emeritus Bruce Kadden

Email: rabbikadden@gmail.com

Bruce Kadden served as rabbi of Temple Beth El from July, 2004 to June, 2020. A native of Oakland, California, he received his B.A. in Religious Studies from Stanford University with honors in Humanities. He was ordained at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1981. After serving as Assistant Rabbi at Mount Zion Temple in St. Paul, Minnesota, he moved back to California where he served as rabbi of Temple Beth El in Salinas for 20 years. He taught interfaith Bible study classes for many years and served as Jewish Chaplain at the Correctional Training Facility in Soledad, California. Rabbi Kadden has been active in community activities, serving on the board of the Fair Housing Center of Washington and on the steering committees of the Puget Sound Interfaith Youth Camp and the Habitat for Humanity interfaith build. He is a member of Tacoma Sunrise Rotary and past president of the Pacific Association of Reform Rabbis.

Rabbi Kadden is an adjunct faculty member of Pacific Lutheran University where he has taught the Judaism class and the introductory class in Holocaust and Genocide Studies.

Rabbi Kadden was married for 40 years to Barbara Binder Kadden, a nationally known Jewish educator, who passed away in 2018. They wrote extensively in the area of Jewish education, including co-authoring three books: Teaching Mitzvot: Concepts, Values and Activities; Teaching Tefilah: Insights and Activities on Prayer; and Teaching Jewish Life Cycle: Traditions and Activities.

Rabbi Kadden has two adult children: Alana Kadden Ballon (Jacob) and Micah, and two grandchildren, Matan and Liav.

Read Rabbi Kadden’s sermons on the Sermon Page.

STAFF

Becca Motola-Barnes
Executive Director | becca@tbetacoma.org

Becca Motola-Barnes (she/her) joined Temple Beth El's staff in September 2023. She is passionate about living Jewish values by maintaining our cultural traditions while looking to the future of Judaism. She especially loves connecting with her Sephardic roots through cooking and textile arts.

Becca first attended Temple Beth El as a middle- and high-schooler after her family moved from Bellingham to Tacoma in 1997. She left Tacoma to attend MIT. After graduating, Becca moved to San Francisco and began her first career managing business and people operations for startups. Over the next decade, she helped companies scale while maintaining their commitment to caring for employees. She then determined she preferred the non-profit world and joined the street safety advocacy movement in San Francisco. She played an instrumental role in the campaign to make JFK Promenade in Golden Gate Park permanently car-free.

When Becca decided it was time to come back to Tacoma to be closer to her parents, she was thrilled to learn that it lined up perfectly with TBE's search for an Executive Director. She is excited to help foster our beloved community's next phase of existence.

Olivia Goodwin
Senior Administrative Support Specialist | olivia@tbetacoma.org

Olivia joined the TBE office staff in October of 2020. She grew up on an island in Wisconsin where she worked as assistant manager of her hometown newspaper office for 10 years. After moving out to Washington in 2015, she switched things up a bit and worked as the sole executive assistant for a hypnotherapist.

Olivia believes in continuing to grow and develop her skills. In her spare time, Olivia enjoys drawing, playing the piano and experimenting with new drink recipes on her home espresso machine.

Wed, November 20 2024
19 Cheshvan 5785