Door to the Future Campaign Team

Introducing Temple Israel’s Door to the Future Campaign Team!

Meet our campaign chairs, team leaders and other volunteers!

Members Gary Viner, Chris Kessler and Margot Montgomery are guiding the fundraising efforts to renovate and restore our spiritual home.

Campaign chairs Gary Viner, Chris Kessler and Margot Montgomery with Rabbi Mikelberg

From Gary, Chris and Margot: “As co-chairs, we are thrilled to see such a high level of engagement and excitement even before the fundraising campaign has begun. The primary purpose of the campaign is of course to raise funds to renovate our building, but it is clear that this effort is already having a significant unifying effect for the whole Temple community.”

Three committees, supported by their enthusiastic teams, will be reaching out to all Temple members throughout the winter. Leaders of these teams are:

Young Families

We know that life is busy, and expensive, with children. Prioritizing what matters most is the key. Everyone’s contribution to this campaign is important because it all goes toward securing a better, safer space for our children and all the children that will come after. As a community with young families, we need to think of the future, just as the generations before us did.

Sarah Berns

Aviva Stewart

Leona Crabb

Aliza Rudner

Newer Members

The wonderful thing about Temple Israel is that on any given Shabbat or High Holy day, you can find congregants who helped establish Temple Israel more than 50 years ago worshipping alongside people who are at Temple for the first time. New members are part of our family and they are the ones who have helped ensure our continuity.

Long-Standing Members

For many members, Temple Israel is the only synagogue they have known in their adult Jewish lives and, in some cases, their entire lives — and the same with their children, and even their children’s children. These long-standing members embody the theme of l’dor v’dor, from generation to generation, which is the foundational principle of the campaign to restore the physical building that houses our community’s history and that will secure our future.

Margo Rosen

Mark Holzman

Volunteer Profiles

These profiles are created with the help of Louise Rachlis, a member of the Marcom committee. Enjoy!

Sarah Berns

Busy Door to the Future volunteer is ‘happy to give back’.

“Paying it forward” is important to Temple member Sarah Berns, who is co-chair with Aviva Stewart of the Young Families Committee of the Door to the Future Campaign.

“I have three kids at the Temple Israel Religious School, ages six, nine and eleven,” says Sarah, “and our involvement in Temple started there.”

Sarah attended the conversion class, followed by “a nice cascade of involvement.”

“I joined the Youth and Education Committee, and then went on the Temple Board of Directors,” she says. “The Young Families Committee has been a really nice fit, and I’m glad to be able to help out.”
Jim Merson

Campaign volunteer Jim Merson: Giving back and paying it forward

Despite his very busy life, it was an easy decision for Temple volunteer Jim Merson to get involved with the Door to the Future campaign.

“Temple Israel, to me, is not just a building,” he says, “it is family!”

“When you have something very special in your life, you want to nurture it, protect it, and take care of it, and, when the opportunity presents itself, to be able to give back, to pay it forward!”

Jim says that Door to the Future offered him just that opportunity: “To help Temple Israel to flourish for decades to come, welcoming more families, accommodating the many devoted members that may, or will, have special needs, to securely partake in the wonders of Temple Israel.”

Jim and his late wife, Leonna, joined Temple Israel in 2000.

There is so much that Jim appreciates about Temple that he can’t even list everything, but he outlines his top five reasons Community, Support, Shabbat Services, our rabbis, and DEI – “At Temple Israel, we don’t just ‘talk the talk’ about Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, we ‘walk’ the talk.’”

Jim believes that the Door to the Future Campaign offers everyone the opportunity to “participate in its growth, to make our community a safer, even more inclusive, home for us to all to worship, to study, to play and enjoy for many decades to come.”
Sarah Caspi

Temple volunteer Sarah Caspi supports “an opportunity to have our building represent our values”.

Temple member Sarah Caspi got involved in the New Members Committee of Door to the Future simply because “I was asked.”

“And actually was glad to be asked!” she adds. “I believe in the project, wanted to be more involved and felt being part of the New Members Committee I would get to know my committee and also the people I canvassed. Ironically, I really feel that even though I joined when we couldn’t go to the Temple building because of COVID-19, it is critical to have a building that represents our community ideals.”

Sarah began attending weekly Friday and Saturday services online during the pandemic. “The virtual format helped me connect to Temple Israel,” she says. “I found the Shabbat ritual so comforting at a time when there was so much was unknown. I became quite attached to Temple and decided to become a member. It has been two years now.”

Executive Director at Jewish Family Services, and a veteran social worker and administrator who has worked in all JFS units, Sarah says that being invited to speak at Temple in her role as Executive Director “made me feel appreciated.”

And she is fond of attending the Temple services. “I appreciate Rabbi Mikelberg and have enjoyed getting to know him; I love our lay leaders and student cantors.”

She also supports Temple initiatives for social action and for refugees. “I’m looking forward to getting to know more members. Since I joined during COVID-19 when we were online, I haven’t had the same chance to get to know other members.”

Both in her work at JFS, which she loves, and in her family life, she strives to live the values of Tikkun Olam, repairing the world.

Married, with “two amazing adult sons,” Sarah embraces the outdoors, riding her bike, cross country skiing, camping and “hanging with family and friends.”

With the Door to the Future Campaign, she believes that Temple members “have the opportunity to have our building represent our values. Our congregation is growing, we have many new young families, and so it is essential that our school be accessible and welcoming. We need to work towards being more environmentally sound, and create places to congregate together.”
Cynthia Powell

Helping to ensure Temple’s future

Cynthia Powell is a Door to the Future Campaign volunteer on the Long-standing Members committee.

She joined the committee because she cares about Temple’s future.

“I was talking to someone today who I went to school with in Montreal, and I said ‘I don’t want the Reform movement not to be in Ottawa.’ I know the history of it coming to Ottawa; in the early days, the Reform movement was not allowed to be at the JCC and that upset me a lot…I wouldn’t ever want there not to be a Reform temple and the school not to exist.”

She has now approached everyone on her Long-standing Members list. “It’s a lot of conversation. I’ve been president of the AJA 50+ group and I’m still on their board, but when I was approached by Door to the Future, I thought ‘it’s something different, and with people that I know. We’ll see what happens.’ When I was laid up for over a year, the telephone was it for me. So I don’t mind talking on the telephone.”

Cynthia was the second wife of the late Rabbi David Powell, who served the Temple Israel congregation from the summer of 1967 until June 1972. They married after he had left the congregation.

She was a longtime teacher at Temple Religious School and helped out in other ways. Her parents were Orthodox in Montreal but when she moved here, she learned to read Torah and enjoyed it a lot. She came to Temple almost every week because she was teaching, but actually joined three years ago. Before that she attended Adath Shalom because it was egalitarian and women and girls “could do anything.”

At Temple, she enjoys Rabbi Garten’s Talmud class and now does a lot online.
Owen Purcell-Sutherland and Robin Chernick

Robin Chernick and grandchild

Jessica Sutherland, Owen Purcell-Sutherland and family

Thanks to volunteers, fundraising photo was a ‘special opportunity to see generations of families come together’.

Photographers Robin Chernick and Owen Purcell-Sutherland volunteered in a flash to help out the Temple Israel Door the Future Campaign.

Robin, who also did photography at the campaign launch, and Owen, husband of Jessica Sutherland who is on the Young Families Committee of the Door to the Future campaign, kindly donated their time and expertise for the mini photo shoot fundraiser event.

“I offered to help, but Owen did the bulk of the work,” says Robin. “They just seemed like such a nice group. They called and asked my advice, and I offered my help and my experience. They’re such a lovely young group of people dedicated to making the Temple vibrant. That’s why they’re the ‘door to the future.’”

“The photo shoot fundraising event came to be after many brainstorming sessions from the young family committee,” says Jessica. “Under exemplary leadership from Aviva Stewart and Sarah Berns, the committee decided to move forward with this fundraising idea that was suggested by myself. I have been a part of a similar fundraiser where my family got to take cards and portraits. I thought it was so wonderful to have these pictures professionally done, and to know that our money was going to a good cause. The idea was also to provide our members with an opportunity to take professional pictures on the bimah of Temple Israel, after years of not being able to during family events as a result of Covid.”

While the goal was always to raise funds for the Door to the Future campaign, she says, “it was also an incredibly special opportunity to see generations of families come together for these photos. The Young Family Committee wanted to provide an opportunity to our members that they may not otherwise have had access to easily. It was really nice to hear from participants that they were appreciative of these photos, and that they are excited to see the edited shots!”

A French immersion teacher with the Ottawa Carleton District School Board, and an educator for 10 years, Jessica has taken on a leadership role within her school community, “which has given me experience in organizing a fundraiser to benefit the school where I work.”

Becky Arajs, a member of the Young Families Committee, invited Jessica to join. “We had collaborated together in school fundraisers outside of Temple over the past few years,” Jessica says. “The Young Families Committee has been such a wonderful opportunity to connect with other members and bond in our common goal of raising funds for a building benefiting young families for years to come.”

Owen and Jessica have been Temple members since 2015 when they started their wedding preparations with Temple rabbis and staff. “Since becoming members, we’ve so many simchas with Temple – including baby namings for our daughters Anna, six, and Sophie, four. Anna is currently in Grade 1 at TIRS and absolutely loves it – especially Havdallah with Moreh Larry! We are looking forward to having our daughter Sophie start next year, and she is very much looking forward to joining the TiRS school community.”

Robin and her husband Norm Leckie joined Temple about 20 years ago.

Robin was born in Los Angeles and grew up in California. She studied photography at Brooks Institute, Santa Barbara, California. She married Norman Leckie of Ottawa after meeting at a wedding in Washington, D.C. Maintaining her interest in photography, she at first volunteered in Ottawa with her photography background and then began work as a professional photographer.

She has donated a lot of negatives of her early work at Jewish events to the Ottawa Jewish Archives.

Owen has always worked in the creative field, from graphic design to photography to video production. He started in music going to a performing arts high-school, but went on to study film and broadcasting, after which he worked in freelance videography for many years before becoming a video producer for the Federal Government. He’s always happy to lend his skills and help out, especially when it’s for an initiative his family will be able to enjoy for years to come.

Temple is grateful for the talent in our midst and salutes these generous volunteers!
Jan Jones

Volunteer Jan Jones supports accessibility upgrades of Door to the Future

Jan Jones joined the New Members Committee of the Door to the Future Campaign “as a way to get to know Temple people better.”

“I wanted to be able to participate at Temple in some way,” she says, “and being on the committee helped me do that.”

But even more, she also recognized the importance of supporting the renovation of the Temple building.

“When I saw the plans, I felt it would be a really good addition. I have some mobility issues and appreciated the building being made more accessible. The changes are very necessary.”

Jan joined Temple within the past year, but she’s “known about Temple forever, because I grew up in Ottawa. I knew a lot of the members and the Reform format appealed to me. I went to a couple of services before I joined, and found people warm and welcoming.”

“Happily retired” after working for the Royal Ottawa Hospital for 30 years in administration, one of her hobbies is singing.

Jan belongs to Sunset Singers, “an amazing seniors choir” that performs mainly in retirement homes. “It’s a lot of fun.”
Ruth Middlebrook

Volunteer Ruth Middlebrook appreciates Temple’s ‘welcoming sense of community’

Ruth Middlebrook has been participating in Jewish life at Temple Israel since the summer of 2018.

“My family and I were looking for a way to come out to Temple as we had read about the congregation on the Temple Israel website,” she says, “and its values resonated with ours.”

“The opportunity to attend Temple presented itself when a friend and member of the synagogue invited us to join her family in participating in an event that had activities of interest to the entire family,” she says. “The event had a Curious George theme with a movie screening about the authors and illustrators for adults, arts and crafts activities for the kids, and much more!!”

Ruth remembers with fondness “being greeted on our way in with a smile, and being shown where to go with the kids.”

“I need not have worried about being welcomed.Our family began participating in Temple activities on a regular basis following that, and we appreciated the welcoming sense of community.”

While, she says she likely has Jewish ancestry, “Rabbi Mikelberg was so kind to help guide me.” Under his leadership, she participated in the Insight Into Judaism course in 2019-2020. “My husband completed the course the following year. So, I am a Jew by Choice.”

A communicator with over 15 years of experience working for the Government of Canada, Ruth holds a Masters degree in Communications.

Despite her busy schedule and workload, she generously responded to a call out for volunteers in one of Temple’s weekly emails. “Following that, Margot Montgomery approached me to help out on the Marketing and Communication Committee,” she says. “It was an opportunity I had to accept. Margot is an inspiration to me, being open about being a Jew by Choice herself. She’s made me feel so welcome and really helped me to stay connected over the course of the pandemic.”

Her positive experience volunteering at Temple makes her encourage others to do the same. “When you see an opportunity to get involved and help out at Temple, do it. You can help contribute to the Door to the Future campaign in many ways! You just need to be open to the opportunity.”
Louise and Lorne Rachlis

Louise and Lorne Rachlis
Happy to help Temple be the best it can be

Louise Rachlis and her husband Lorne joined Temple Israel after returning to Ottawa in 1983, after 15 years in Toronto.

Ottawa native Louise and Winnipeg-born-but raised-in-Ottawa, Lorne met at a Hillel Club potluck at Carleton University where she was studying journalism, and he, Chemistry. They married in 1968 and moved to Toronto for Lorne to attend graduate school at U of T.

As well as a 25-year journalism career at the Ottawa Citizen, Louise has written frequently about Temple activities for the Ottawa Jewish Bulletin and Temple Israel publications. She and Ezra Miller edited the Temple bulletin back when articles were written on typewriters.

Former Director of the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board, Lorne is a past President of Temple Israel, and has served on the Temple Israel Board of Directors. He is currently a member of the Finance and Human Resources committees.

Louise’s and Lorne’s three children, Joshua, Diana and Naomi all attended Temple Israel Religious School, also known as TIRS, and had b’nai mitzvot at Temple.

“I’m excited about the Door to the Future renovation plans and pleased to use my writing skills to further campaign goals,” says Louise, who is still a freelance writer for Postmedia.

“In working on the Door to the Future’s Marketing and Communications Committee, and contributing most recently by writing many of the volunteer profiles, I’ve been so impressed by the talent and generosity of our Temple members.”

Christine Kessler, Margot Montgomery and Gary Viner,
Door to the Future Campaign Co-chairs