Nevei Kodesh Board of Directors

The Board of Directors oversees our practical operations, including our employees, building, and budget. Equally important, it holds our community's vision, and guides us toward our future, helping us develop goals and policies aligned with Jewish Renewal.

Board members serve for two years, and they are elected at the community’s annual meeting in May/June.
 

Email Contact for the Board of Directors: board@neveikodesh.org

 

Deborah Skovron, President

Deb and her family have been members of Nevei Kodesh for over 20 years. She has watched her children make lifetime friends through their religious school and b'nei mitzvah experiences. These events had such a profound experience on her that Deb joined the adult b'nei mitzvah class a few years later and joined other adults in a journey of Jewish learning and self discovery.

Deb has served the Nevei Kodesh community in many different roles over the years including leadership team of the school, Outdoor Beautification and Sacred Arts Committees and a strategic planning advisor. She loves volunteering and bringing arts projects to the Nevei Kodesh Religious School and anything else that seems to need doing, big to small.

Professionally, Deb's career has focused around project innovation in the social engagement realm, training and group process leader.  

In her work and personal life, Deborah believes that we must never underestimate the desire of everyone to connect deeply with each other and become known to others in ways that nourish their relationships and community. 

Glenn Spitz, Treasurer

I discovered Jewish Renewal while living in New York, when I attended some weekend retreats at Elat Chayyim.

Reb Zalman's teaching's resonated with me, and it was a thrill to actually meet him in Boulder in 2006.

Since then, my wife Reb. Patrice (an ordained Rabbinic Pastor) and I, along with our two children, have been members of Nevei Kodesh.

We love the joyful, inclusive atmosphere at all NK services and events, and I am excited to continue to extend that to the larger Boulder community.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Zhenya Gallon, Secretary

I didn’t know I was looking for an egalitarian, inclusive, and enspiriting Jewish congregation until I walked through the doors of Nevei Kodesh (then the Jewish Renewal Community of Boulder), some time in the mid-1990s. As tears filled me eyes, I knew I had found a spiritual home alongside my growing Buddhist meditation practice.

Over the years, I’ve found no conflict between the two. In these challenging times, I value the way our NK community strives to embrace body, heart, mind, and soul, more than ever.

I recently retired as a communications professional in the public information office of NCAR, the National Center for Atmospheric Research. With time to call my own, I am enjoying my involvement with Nevei’s Shomrei Ruach committee, the board, and Tikkun Olam activities in concert with wonderful, dedicated chevra (spiritual friends) committed to the health and vitality of our community and our world.

 

 

 

Robin Youngelman, President Emerita & Board Member

The first time I walked into a service at Nevei Kodesh I knew I had found my Jewish home. In the course of two hours, I met people who would become lifelong friends, I danced, I cried, I sang with joy, I connected with HaShem. I learned some Torah. It was an amazing experience. 

Fast forward 23 years and my commitment to this community and to our Jewish practice remains strong. I  believe that Jewish Renewal and Nevei Kodesh have gifts to offer the world and it is my honor and joy to help Nevei Kodesh be a home for joyous Jewish expression.

 

 

 

 

 

Nancy Hutchinson, Board Member

Following my retirement, I moved to Boulder in 2016 and began attending Nevei Kodesh with my partner, Hollace Westfeldt.

I joined as a member and started studying with Rabbi Diane and Ruth Seagull; in September 2021, I officially became a Jew. 

Nevei Kodesh has brought me such joy and community that I felt it was time to give back by joining the Board of Directors. I look forward to serving.

 

 

 

 

 

 

David Spiro, Board Member

For most of my life I would describe myself as a “gastronomical Jew”: I ate Jewish food, celebrated major holidays (primarily through food) but never had a Jewish identity.

That all changed when my son Max became a Bar Mitzvah. I helped make the siddur for his service and learned, alongside of him, the richness of prayer, how meaningful services could be. Indeed, where once I attended services to support him, I rapidly started attending them because I found them so joyous and moving.

Now being Jewish, and specifically being a Nevei Kodesh congregant is a major part of my identity. I became a Bar Mitzvah at age 52, have been the master of ceremonies for more than 18 years, am one of the creators and producers of the Jewish Broadway fundraiser, and this is my third time serving on the Board. And with all the richness Nevei Kodesh has brought me, I’m delighted to report I still love the food. 

 

Heidi Schoen, Board Member

 

 

Tobias Gale, Board Member

I grew up in a reform congregation, a chavurah, in Westchester, NY. It was a lovely place to experience Jewish community, practice, and Torah. It was filled with music, family, and good food. And it set a warm, lyrical foundation within me that I hadn't quite appreciated until my adult years.

When I attended my first Nevei Kodesh shabbat service in 2017 I felt as though I had returned to that Judaism. It was a beautiful, moving experience. I felt welcome by the community and held by the deep, sacred energy in that space. The intention was to connect to one another and to Hashem, to sing, to dance, to rejoice. I felt at home, and I've been a member ever since. I am grateful for the opportunity to be a part of the board of directors, and help Nevei Kodesh further its goals, vision, and future.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Michael Mittleman, Treasurer Emeritus

I am passionate about Renewal Judaism.  After growing up in Providence, RI a conservative Jew and then raising my kids reform in NYC, I became bored of a religion that I thought was void of joy, spirit, and soul.  I turned to Buddhism thinking this was the answer.  However, I always knew I was a Jew.  The conflict was very difficult to reconcile. 

Then, I discovered Chochmat Halev, a renewal shul in Berkeley, CA when I spent a year in the Bay area.  It opened my eyes to a Judaism that is rich in tradition that captures music, dancing, love, and spirit that I never knew. Congregation Nevei Kodesh was 1 of the 4 reasons I moved to Boulder.  Ask me about the other three.

I joined the Board about 4 years ago, and am proud to be a part of a welcoming community and a Board that really cares about our future.  I'm a career coach and give free job advice to new members!

 

 

 

 

Email Contact for the Board of Directors: board@neveikodesh.org