CONGREGATION BETH JACOB, INC.
GAINESVILLE, FLORIDA

…in building a vibrant and welcoming community that embraces our shared stories, honors our diversity, and helps us live our common commitment to the Jewish values of Congregation Beth Jacob is a vibrant and welcoming community grounded in Jewish values, practice, and learning. We strive to honor the diversity and individuality of all our members. Located in Redwood City, Calif., our synagogue attracts congregants from a broad swath of the San Francisco Peninsula. We are led with warmth and wisdom by Rabbi Nathaniel Ezray, Ritual Director Bill Futornick, and Cantor Barbara Powell. Our Mission It’s our mission to be the most inclusive synagogue community on the San Francisco Peninsula by providing a range of opportunities to learn, worship, and socialize that meet our members and their families wherever they are educationally, spiritually, and personally. I joined the CBJ board in 2014. I (and my wife Jackie) have lived in the bay area for close to 40 years, having come to California from the UK. We are semi-retired “empty nesters” with three grown up kids, Adam, Elissa and Ben, and one grandchild Léo. I spent most of my career in the electronics industry, first as an engineer, then a marketer and then a Chief Executive. We moved to Menlo Park from the South Bay in 2009, and starting looking for a shul. The amazing sense of community at CBJ, together with the warm welcome we received made the decision very easy. I feel honored to be of service to the Shul, and hope that my contribution helps CBJ become even more of a welcoming presence for Jewish people of all ages in the bay area. My family and I have been members of CBJ since 2014 but have been part of the CBJ community much longer. I am glad to be serving on CBJ’s Board and look forward to helping steward the synagogue during my term. I am a past Board member at the Gideon Hausner Jewish Day School, where I served on the Board for 8 years and on the Executive Committee of the Board for 4 years. While on Hausner’s Board, I chaired the Investment Policy Task Force and the Campus Completion Committee, served on both the Finance Committee and the Governance Committee, and Co-Chaired the successful L’Dor V’Dor Capital Campaign that facilitated the build-out of the campus and the construction of Hausner’s new Troper Center for Arts and Athletics. I currently serve on the National Advisory Board for the Sean N. Parker Center for Allergy and Asthma Research at Stanford University. Professionally, I am an attorney, a former partner at WSGR, and the founding partner of Edgewood Law Partners, specializing in the representation of privately held and publicly-traded growth companies and the executives, investors and advisors affiliated with those companies. I attended the University of Pennsylvania/Wharton School of Business (BA 1990) and Harvard Law School (JD 1993). I am honored to serve on the CBJ Board of Directors. I hope I can contribute by helping CBJ become an even more vibrant and welcoming place to grow and learn as a Jewish community. Our family joined CBJ in 2016 after being so impressed by the community’s warmth and welcoming spirit. Along with my wife, Jen Clayman, I enjoy attending the Power Hour regularly on Shabbat mornings, and occasionally trying the Neshama offerings, especially whenever Jen leads Hebrew chanting. Usually, on Shabbat mornings, our sons, Noah and Isaac, can be found on the playground. This is my first time serving on a board of any kind, and I couldn’t be prouder to support the mission of any organization. I have served on the Menlo Park Planning Commission, the MP Finance and Audit Committee, the Chamber of Commerce, and the Board of the Museum of American Heritage (Technology and Industry) in Palo Alto. I collect vintage technology and fly helicopters. As a Computer Scientist I bridge technology, law and public policy to resolve legal and acquisition issues. I conduct technical due diligence for venture investors as a prelude to funding or acquisition. I educate startups regarding why and how to incorporate an IP perspective into their products. I testify as an expert witness in litigation of Intellectual Property disputes. I cultivate innovation networks in Europe and Israel. My wife, Aimee, and I each came to the Bay Area in the mid-1990’s. In 2012 we moved to San Carlos and joined Congregation Beth Jacob. What drew us most to CBJ was it’s warm and inclusive atmosphere that really made us feel welcome. Our daughter, Hope, also loves CBJ – including making close friendships with other children, starting in CBJ’s preschool. I joined the CBJ Board in 2017, and previously have been involved on Stanford Hillel’s Board, the Young Adult Division of the Federation’s Executive Committee, and leading AIPAC’s San Francisco Leadership Development Program. Professionally, I received my Ph.D. from Stanford in Applied Physics, and subsequently founded and am currently the CTO of Tactus Technology, a company that develops new user interfaces and materials for mobile devices and display systems. I hope that our efforts at CBJ make it an even more inviting and dynamic community. Congregation Beth Jacob Incorporated in 1930, Congregation Beth Jacob was the first Jewish religious institution created between the cities of San Francisco and San Jose. The handful of men who founded our synagogue were almost exclusively Polish and Russian immigrants, including three chicken farmers and a cabinetmaker, among the more than 2 million Jews who had fled Eastern Europe between 1882 and 1910 in search of a brighter future on the far side of the world. Starting in 1995, Rabbi Nathaniel Ezray continued the helm of leadership. In 2002 Bill Futornick took the post of ritual director, in which role he teams with Rabbi Ezray to lead services, text study, and other liturgical functions. In addition, Bill seems to know every single child at Beth Jacob, as he has trained them all for their b’nai mitzvah over the years. In 2008, Beth Jacob changed its name from Temple Beth Jacob, as it had become known over the past several decades, back to the original name Congregation Beth Jacob, to reflect our emphasis on the people.