Our wonderful staff, along with community volunteers, facilitate the ongoing needs of Beth Jacob Congregation. Here, we put a name to a face, and share a little of who they are and what they do for us every day.

Rabbi

Rabbi Dardik

Rabbi Judah Dardik and his wife, Naomi, moved from the East Coast to be our community’s spiritual leaders in 2001. They arrived with their one-year-old son and have been blessed since with the birth of three daughters. Our Rabbi had completed his Semicha (Rabbinic Ordination) as well as his Masters degree in Education at Yeshiva University in New York. He has since been honored as the student speaker at the University's quadrennial event and regularly returns to Yeshiva to teach and inspire first and fourth year rabbinical students. He was also one of four Orthodox Union rabbis selected to meet the President of the United States in 2007.

In addition to serving the community from the bimah, he spearheads Beth Jacob's extensive adult education programs, teaches at Oakland Hebrew Day School, and is part of a hockey team.

Rabbi Dardik speaking at a unity event in 2002

“One of the first things that struck me about the Beth Jacob community was how genuine and vibrant the community was,” says Rabbi Dardik. “I am continually impressed by the thoughtfulness, open-mindedness, and interest in personal growth displayed by our members.” That is what brought the Dardiks to Beth Jacob. Rabbi Dardik added, “My predecessor, Rabbi Howard Zack, was incredible. He brought new life to a hundred-year-old community and helped build the infrastructure to offer the best of everything Jewish. The opportunity to share such a rich life with such great people made the decision to come to Oakland very easy.

Asked if he and Naomi are comfortable living in a community of people with such diverse religious backgrounds and practice, Rabbi Dardik says, “I love it. My background and that of my parents and family represents much of the Jewish spectrum, and I prefer to be in the kind of shul where all sorts of Jews feel comfortable. In a synagogue like this, people don’t get involved because they ‘have to,’

Rabbi, Naomi, and Tiferet

but rather because they get up that day and say, “I love this place, I love these people, and I love my Judaism.’ To me, that’s the recipe for an exciting Jewish community.”

The last few years have certainly been exciting. Since arriving, Rabbi Dardik has expanded the adult education program with classes on a wide range of topics with varying levels, which are attended by many throughout the Jewish community. He has focused on youth programming, helping to start up Family Shabbat, Shabbat Morning Groups, Sunday youth activities, and a new teen program. Gan Mah Tov Preschool has flourished during his tenure and there are more children in Beth Jacob than ever before. Social programming for young families as well as seniors has gotten off to a great start, and more and more families are coming to be a part of the Beth Jacob experience. “In a community like this, it’s a joy to be a rabbi,” concludes Rabbi Dardik.

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Associate Rabbi

Rabbi Davies

Joining Beth Jacob in 2008, with his wife Ora, Rabbi Michael Davies became the Synagogue's first Associate Rabbi. Rabbi Davies grew up in New Jersey where he attended yeshiva day school and high school. He spent two years studying in Israel after high school and then went on to receive his Bachelors Degree in accounting from Yeshiva University. Before moving to the West Coast, he completed his studies for ordination at the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary which included an additional two years of study in Israel. As part of his studies, he interned at Ramaz Upper School of Manhattan, East Hill Synagogue in Englewood, NJ and the Riverdale Jewish Center in Bronx, NY.

"I’ve actually always wanted to live out in the Bay Area. I’ve also known of Rabbi Dardik and his reputation for a very long time, and am very excited to be working together with him." And what a team they are! Not only does this dynamic duo get along wonderfully, but every minute that Rabbi Davies spends helping our community helps free up Rabbi Dardik to do the same.

Rabbi Davies has also taken up some of his own projects since arriving at Beth Jacob including upgrading the Mezuzot at the Synagogue as well as overseeing the update of our website. His favorite parts of his time here are the many learning and Torah sharing opportunities he has with members of the community, young and old. He has taken on the Monday night Torah study class and teaches one of the classes for Shabbat University alongside Rabbi Dardik. He also visits the preschool on Fridays to play Shabbat music for them.

We've had the wonderful opportunity to take part in the joy of the arrival of Rabbi and Ora's first son and celebrate his Brit and Pidyon HaBen with them. "We've come to view the congregation as extended family, a sibling here, a parent there. Its really been such a pleasure getting to know and love this community."

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NCSY Teen Director

Rabbi Akiva Naiman

Rabbi Akiva Naiman arrived in our community in the summer of 2011 to run our teen program, NCSY. “I am very happy to have the opportunity to expand our NCSY program. It is great to be in the Bay Area and I am very excited to be here with my wife Chani and our son.”

Akiva grew up in Baltimore, MD and later moved to Israel. He attended Yeshivat Kerem B’Yavneh as a Hesder student while he was a medic in the Israeli army. Akiva received his ordination from Yeshivat Aish Hatorah and a Bachelors Degree in Education from Moreshet Yaakov College. Akiva has run a number of programs for youth and teens in Israel. He was the head counselor of Camp

Landau day camp for six years. He also founded the teen programs "Al HaAish" and project Teenwork. He has taught Talmud and topics in Jewish thought in Yeshivot such as Neve Tzion and Lev Aryeh.

Akiva is thrilled to be working with the teens of Beth Jacob. “People keep asking me, ‘Why did you decide to move to Oakland to do NCSY? Why not somewhere else?’ I keep telling them the same answer; the kids. The kids of Oakland are some of the best, open, and honest kids I have ever met. On top of that, they’re fun to be around. I am looking forward to creating lasting connections with the teens and the entire community.”

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Youth Program Coordinator

Chani Naiman

Chani Naiman moved to Israel form Baltimore in 2006. She studied in Michlala Seminary and received her Bachelors Degree in Social Sciences from Bar Ilan University. She moved from Israel in the summer of 2011 with her husband Akiva, our NCSY/Teen Director, and their adorable son.

At Beth Jacob, Chani is our Youth Director. She runs the Youth Programming for kindergarten through fifth grade including Shabbat morning groups as well as exciting and educational monthly events.

“It is a real pleasure to run Shabbat groups with the BJC kids. To start off a Shabbat morning with so many elementary school kids all praying together is not an experience everyone gets to have.”

Chani is also the assistant teacher for the 4th grade class at OHDS (Oakland Hebrew Day School) and enjoys spending time with the youth of Beth Jacob inside and outside the classroom.

Chani has worked with youth world wide, including Camp Bravo in Baltimore, MD, Camp Ezra in Wales, and two years of staffing at Meor Hatorah

Seminary in Jerusalem, Israel. However, despite the many places she has been, Chani places Oakland high up on her list.

“This is the best place we could live outside of Israel,” says Chani. “The community is so welcoming. They treat everyone like family.”

In fact, this is not Chani’s first time in the Bay Area. Ever since she visited 10 years ago, it has been a dream of hers to live here. “What I didn’t realize is that as beautiful as the weather and scenery are, the people are even nicer.”

 

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Gan Mah Tov Preschool Director

Cheryl Schwarz

Cheryl has over 28 years experience as a professional educator working in a variety of educational settings and age levels. For the past 17 years Cheryl has dedicated herself to early childhood education. She is passionate about child development and giving children opportunities to enjoy imaginative play, tell their stories, and laugh. Cheryl loves the simple things that bring joy to young children, and so has made early childhood education her professional focus.

Since 2002, Cheryl has been the Director of Gan Mah Tov preschool in Oakland, California. In this capacity Cheryl oversees and guides all aspects of preschool operations including staff hiring and supervision, curriculum review and development, parental outreach, and school budgeting and finance. In addition to these management activities, Cheryl also enjoys regularly teaching in the classroom. Under Cheryl’s tenure, Gan enrollment has steadily increased and is now more than twice as large as when she began. Cheryl has worked closely with her staff and parent community to develop separate aged classrooms, a highly desired Pre-K program, and creative afternoon enrichment classes.

Cheryl was born and raised in Cape Town South Africa. She attended the University of Cape Town and graduated with a BA in English, Drama, & Psychology. Following her BA, she earned a Graduate Degree in Education from the University of Cape Town, specializing in Child Psychology, English and Guidance counseling. Cheryl taught High School English and Drama in Cape Town. Upon leaving Cape Town, Cheryl worked as an English Second Language (ESL) instructor at The Open University of Israel, Tel Aviv. While in Israel Cheryl also worked at the ABC School of English in Rehovot teaching English to a variety of ages. After immigrating to the United States, Cheryl continued her studies in Early Childhood Development and Psychology at UCLA. While in Los Angeles, Cheryl worked as an early childhood teacher for eight years at the Maimonides Academy and Temple Emmanuel preschools.

Cheryl is a credentialed early childhood instructor by the State of California, and is a registered and licensed early childhood preschool administrator with Alameda County, CA. Cheryl lives in Piedmont, CA with her husband Ken and their three children.

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