2022 GALA HONOREES

Introducing the Honorees of our 2022 Gala, to be held on June 2, 2022

The Silver Family moved to New Rochelle specifically to join Beth El Synagogue Center after attending the first Family Kallah in 2001. Mark, Candy, and Shira have been active members of the community ever since, enjoying its vibrancy and warmth.

Mark is Beth El’s immediate past President, having served as chair or co-chair of various shul committees, including the Ritual Committee, ICAR (a strategic planning initiative), and the Vision Action Team (charged with implementing the strategic vision that emerged from the Journey process). He is co-author of Beth El’s last three mission statements, spanning a dozen years.

Mark grew up in Philadelphia and continues to root for the Phillies, Eagles, Sixers, and Flyers. He graduated from Akiba Hebrew Academy and attended Camp Ramah in the Poconos. Mark received a B.A. in Mathematics from the University of Pennsylvania and a Ph.D. from Penn’s Wharton School. He has been a professor of Information Systems at UCLA, NYU, and Fordham. He is the author of a book and various articles on Information Technology.

Mark has always played leadership roles in the Jewish community. He served as President of Hillel at Penn and as a member of the National B’nai B’rith Hillel Commission. His activities at the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia included being treasurer of the Jewish Campus Activities Board and co-chair of long-range planning for the Leadership Development Committee. In New York, he served on the METNY Region Board of Directors of the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism and the New Rochelle Executive Committee of UJA-Federation.

A lifelong supporter of Israel, Mark was privileged to participate in the Faculty Fellowship Summer Institute in Israel sponsored by JNF, SPME, and Media Watch International. He values his Israeli academic colleagues and delivered the keynote address at the Annual Conference of the Israel Association for Information Systems. He is also a fan of Israeli music, television, and movies, which give him a chance to improve his Hebrew.

Mark appreciates the support of his family over the years. He and Candy are proud that their daughter, Shira, an alumna of SAR High School and the University of Pennsylvania, is passionate about her Judaism and actively involved in the Jewish community. At Penn, she was President of Hillel, following in her father’s footsteps.

Mark is thrilled to be honored together with Allison and Alan Kellman, who have made such significant contributions to Beth El.

Mark Silver

Allison and Alan met at the University of Pennsylvania Hillel, where they bonded over their mutual love of calculus (yes, really). After a “short” seven-year courtship, they married in 2000, living first in Manhattan and then moving to New Rochelle and joining Beth El shortly before their daughter, Naomi, was born in 2007. Joshua arrived four years later, completing the Kellman crew.

Allison grew up in New Rochelle. Her family belonged to Temple Israel of New Rochelle, where she attended religious school and became a Bat Mitzvah. She attended New Rochelle High School and spent summers at music camp. After graduating from Penn with a major in Biology and a minor in Math (of course), she attended the Yale University School of Medicine, graduating in 2001. Allison did her residency in pediatrics at the NewYork-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital/Columbia, and then worked in pediatric practices in Westchester until Joshua arrived.

Alan grew up on Long Island and attended the Shelter Rock Jewish Center. He attended North Shore Hebrew Academy through eighth grade and the Hebrew Academy of Nassau County (HANC) for high school. Alan graduated from Penn’s School of Engineering with a degree in Systems Engineering in 1996. After earning a law degree from Harvard Law School in 1999, Alan combined his passions for law and technology and joined the patent litigation group at Kirkland & Ellis LLP. In 2010, Alan became a founding partner of the patent trial firm, Desmarais LLP.

Naomi and Joshua are proud graduates of Beth El’s Nursery School and Day Camp, and now attend The Leffell School (formerly Schechter Westchester), where Allison is a Co-President of the Parent-Teacher Organization.

Allison served on the Nursery School Board for several years and participated in the Day Camp Task Force and Camp Board, as well as the Youth Services Committee. More recently, Allison participated in the Vision Action Team, has co-chaired several iterations of the Beth El Kallah retreat (mark your calendars - the Kallah is back June 1719 at Ramah Berkshires), and is currently involved in the Membership Committee. Alan has served as Haftarah coordinator, a member of the Ritual and Clergy-Search committees, a member of the Gabbai working group, chair of the Sanctuary Committee, lead of the High Holiday Task Force, and a member of the livestreaming team. But Alan’s true passion is encouraging active congregant participation in services through Beth El’s Torah Reading Initiative, which offers everyone – from experienced to first-time readers – the opportunity to read from the Torah.

Volunteering at Beth El is a true family affair, as Naomi has taken an active role coordinating teen services and reading Torah, and Joshua has joined the tech team, helping work the cameras for Beth El’s ever-growing Shoresh HaLev musical events.

Allison and Alan are honored to receive the President’s Ne’emanim Service Award, and are thrilled to be recognized alongside their good friend, Mark Silver. Beth El is a second home to the Kellman family, and every staff member, clergy member, and congregant is part of our mishpacha. The entire family is grateful to be a part of this amazing community.

Allison and Alan Kellman