EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
Jeff Hyman, President
Jeff Hyman and his wife, Hillary Weingast, joined PTBE in 2008 when their daughter enrolled in Ganon. Jeff is General Counsel, Head of HR and Corporate Secretary at Pebble Technology Corp, the Palo Alto-based pioneer of the smart watch industry. Jeff joined Pebble in March 2014 after more than 5 years at Apple Inc, where he lead the legal team responsible for the design, technology development, supply chain and manufacture of Apple’s hardware products. Prior to Apple, Jeff was a senior business attorney at Intel Corp and started his legal career as a business and intellectual property litigation attorney at Cooley Godward.
Jeff was born and raised in San Francisco, earned his law degree at Santa Clara University’s School of Law and graduated with a double major in Economics and Politics from the University of California, Santa Cruz. Jeff, Hillary, Sierra and their dog, Bialy, live in Belmont.
Roger Feigelson, 1st VP
Roger is a Northern California native who grew up in Saratoga. He did not have a religious upbringing, but he decided he wanted to become a bar mitzvah at the age of 13 anyway, and yet got derailed. Nonetheless, he was involved in BBYO in high school, and after graduation from Stanford, became active in the leadership of the Young Adults Division of the Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco, et al., where he met his wife Rebecca Schwartz at Super Sunday. They have two daughters, Alyssa and Liana. Roger is wrapping up his sixth and final year on the board of the Ronald C. Wornick Jewish Day School where he served first as VP of Strategic Planning, then as President, and then finally as Immediate Past President serving on nearly all committees. By day he works for Oracle and offers business consulting for a soundtrack record label based in Oakland, putting his hard-earned MBA from Santa Clara University to work. And he finally did become bar mitzvah at the age of 36.
Julie Firestone Garlikov, 2nd VP
Julie was born and raised in Newport Beach in Southern California. Her parents and extended family worked in and volunteered for local Jewish and Israeli organizations, as well as the Federation, setting a strong example of Jewish involvement. She graduated with a B.A. in Anthropology from UC Berkeley. After college, she stayed in the Bay Area to start her career in sales at Procter & Gamble. During those years, she was active in Chutzpah, a young adult group based at Peninsula Temple Sholom where she made many lifelong friendships, some of which happen to be with friends that are now fellow PTBE families.
Julie moved to New York to earn an MBA at Columbia University, shifting into the marketing and innovation work she does today. Since then, she has held marketing roles at Rodan + Fields, Johnson & Johnson, Allergan, Obagi, and PepsiCo. She and her family relocated to the Bay Area in 2008 from Los Angeles for her role at specialty beverage producer Torani. Julie is the Chief Marketing Officer for Shaklee, a health and wellness pioneer based in Pleasanton.
Julie is married to Andy, a marketer at NetApp. Their two children, Benjamin and Bekah, are in 7th and 5th grade in PTBE’s Religious Education Program. The family enjoys the warmth, services, and music of PTBE, where they have been members since 2012. Just as the PTBE community welcomed the Garlikovs, Julie and her family are always looking to meet other new families and make them feel welcome. She believes passionately in involvement in the local community, and the importance of making a difference close to home. She was a Jewish Big Sister for many years, helped start a havurah that is still going strong after eight years, served for two years on the finance committee of the PJCC, and founded her daughter’s Girl Scout troop, which she still leads. She looks forward to serving and guiding the temple during this exciting time of building and growth.
Debby Horowitz Courtney, Secretary
Debby and her husband Brian joined PTBE in 2006, when their eldest son, Lucas, started kindergarten. As an active member of her childhood synagogues, Temple Emanuel in San Jose, and Temple Beth David in Saratoga, Debby has continued that synagogue activism at PTBE as an early member of the Education Committee under the leadership of Rabbis Karen and Micah Citrin, co-chair of SSH (Sunday Sandwich Hevre) for two years, and the Education Committee Co-Chair for four years. Debby was also on the Search Committee to replace Rabbis Karen and Micah Citrin. Debby is honored to serve on the PTBE Board of Trustees, and she looks forward to helping sustain our unique PTBE spirituality through Torah study, community activism, and rejuvenating musical experiences.
Debby runs corporate events and professional conferences for Silicon Valley high-tech companies. She holds a BS in Journalism from the University of Colorado and started her career in academic publishing before going to work for Guitar Player Magazine in 1993. She met her husband, Brian, at a music event in Nashville, where he was living at the time working as a professional bass player. Brian’s music talents have been passed down to their two children: Lucas, a passionate drummer, and Danielle, a guitar player and passionate singer.
Steve Sarver, Treasurer
Steve grew up in Montville, New Jersey and became bar mitzvah at the Pine Brook Jewish Center. He attended a Jewish summer camp in Pennsylvania and participated in a seven-week Jewish teen leadership program in Israel. The trip included three weeks of living and working on Kibbutz Or HaNer, travelling throughout the country for three more weeks, and finally one week of educational training in Tel Aviv. Steve attended the University of Pennsylvania for his undergraduate degree, worked in lingerie manufacturing in Hong Kong, and then graduated from Harvard Business School before moving to the Bay Area. Steve is an owner of San Francisco Soup Company, which includes Urban Bistro and Ladle & Leaf restaurants. Currently, he is treasurer on the board of the Golden Gate Restaurant Association. You can find his matzoh ball soup at Mollie Stone’s and perhaps QVC one day.
Steve lives with Erica Park, who is a clinical scientist at Genentech, and his four children — Sam, 15, who became bar mitzvah at PTBE in 2016 and attends Burlingame High School; Zachary and Jacob, 13, who became b’nai mitzvah in 2018 and attend Crocker Middle School; and Eliana, 11, who attends North School. Steve enjoys skiing with the kids in the winter, playing tennis with them in the summer and, of course, cooking with/for them all year.
Lawrence Siegel, Immediate Past President
Larry grew up in Shaker Heights, Ohio where his family was active in the Jewish community. He is a graduate of the Harvard-MIT Program in Health Sciences and Technology. He completed post-graduate training at the University of Pennsylvania and at Stanford University where he served on the faculty and headed cardiovascular anesthesiology. In addition to academic medicine, Larry has been an executive for pharmaceutical and medical device companies.
Larry served on the Religious School Board, the Strategic Planning Committee, the Board of Trustees, and the Bonim B'Yachad capital campaign. His wife, Pat, was active in establishing PTBE's role in the Interfaith Hospitality Network (now Home and Hope), helping homeless families in San Mateo County. Their children, Emily and Lillian, became b'not mitzvah at PTBE and Lillian was a member of the North Peninsula Jewish Teen Foundation for four years focusing on water projects and vocational and educational programs to help youth in impoverished communities and Israel.
Bios for Board of Trustees
Marni Gerber
Marni grew up in Florida and earned her undergraduate degree at the University of Florida and then her MBA at the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania. She moved to San Francisco to work at Clorox as a marketing manager. The Gerbers live in San Mateo and can often be seen walking to PTBE.
Marni and her husband, Rich, and their two sons, Aidan and Brian, joined PTBE in 2012. Marni and Rich met on a trip to Israel through the Jewish Community Federation in 1998. The Gerber family celebrated three b’nai mitzvahs at PTBE; Aidan became bar mitzvah and Marni became bat mitzvah in 2016. Marni had the wonderful experience of going through the adult b’nai mitzvah program at PTBE. Brian became bar mitzvah in the spring of 2018. Marni has been an active participant on the board of Beth El Women, the PTBE Education Committee, the PTBE Teen Task Force and the Rishonim SSH program. Marni has really enjoyed getting to know the welcoming clergy and being a part of PTBE’s dynamic community.
Juliette (Julie) Goldman
Julie has been a member of PTBE since 2007 when she and her husband, Jeff, moved back to the Bay Area after living in Durham, NC, and enrolled their daughter in our Ganon Early Childhood Education Center. After joining PTBE, she was asked to join the Ganon Task Force and also served on the planning committee for the Brandon Brier Playground Fundraiser. Julie grew up in Cupertino, where she became involved with BBYO, and then lived in San Francisco, where she became increasingly more involved in the Jewish community and where she held multiple positions on Boards for YAD (Young Adult Division of the Jewish Community Federation) and YABS (Young Adults at Beth Sholom) as well as participating in a Jewish and Civics leadership program, NLP (New Leaders Project) through JCRC. Most recently, she served on the Board of her daughters’ nonprofit school board, in addition to serving as the Vice President and President for the parent association for four years.
Professionally, Juliette is a Senior Customer Success Manager for a startup, GuideSpark. Previously, Julie was a fundraiser for six years as well as a marketer for over ten years. Juliette received her Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Marketing from San Diego State University. Julie and Jeff have two daughters, Emma, 11, and Abby, 7, who both attended Ganon and who currently attend Rishonim. She enjoys running, working out at Orangetheory, enjoying the beautiful outdoors, and planning her next adventure.
Sydney Kapchan
Sydney grew up in Alameda where her parents were active volunteer leaders in the Jewish and civic communities. The combination of small Temple Israel and later, Oakland’s large Temple Sinai, were powerful incubators for religious and civic life that continue to motivate Sydney’s engagement. These continue to deepen within PTBE and the larger Jewish community. Sydney and her husband, Steve Tulkin, joined in 1992; one son became bar mitzvah at PTBE and all three sons were confirmed here. Over the years, Sydney has served on the Beth El Women’s board, on the PTBE Board and Executive Committee, and on various committees and task forces (i.e., Sanctuary Capital Campaign, Caring Committee, Social Action, and Strategic Planning). She is a lifelong learner and participates in Torah Study regularly. Sydney believes that synagogue life is foundational to Judaism and to a vibrant community. She is honored to be invited to serve as a PTBE trustee.
Sydney is a graduate of U.C. Davis (B.A., Rhetoric), of the Coro Fellowship in Public Affairs (post-graduate), and of Occidental College (M.A., Urban Studies). Professionally, she has led communications and marketing, public relations and public affairs organizations and departments as corporate officer, broadcast journalist and as a foundation CEO. She has also served as an international consultant in the areas of leadership, development, and strategic communications. Sydney and Steve, a clinical psychologist, travel frequently and enjoy visiting with their adult children and seven grandchildren.
Sherry Lipson
Sherry grew up in New Jersey. After graduating from SUNY Stony Brook with a BA in Economics, she worked for ten years as a bond broker on Wall Street. Then she happily relocated to the Bay Area after meeting her husband Brian on a Jewish singles ski trip in Big Sky, Montana. Sherry currently works as a Clinical Research Coordinator, conducting Clinical Trials for Allergy and Asthma drugs.
Sherry’s sons, Josh, Adam, and Jonah, became b’nai mitzvah at PTBE. Sherry has been a parent and supporter of the Ronald C. Wornick Jewish Day School for the last 15 years. Among her many leadership roles there, Sherry has served as PTO President, Wornick board member, co-chair of the Feast your Mind speaker event/fundraiser, and most recently, co-chair of Wornick’s 30th Anniversary Gala. Sherry proudly serves on the planning committee of the North Peninsula Yom HaShoah annual commemoration. Passionate about building and nurturing community, Sherry is honored and excited to contribute in a meaningful way to the PTBE board.
David Pelzner
David Pelzner is a Bay Area native with strong ties to the Jewish community and PTBE. David’s uncle was a founding member of PTBE. David and his wife Danielle have been part of the PTBE community for eleven years. Their daughter Ashley, 16, became bat mitzvah in 2016. Their son Justin, 11, is currently active in the middle school and Hebrew programs. Additionally, the Pelzner family was an integral part of the first congregation at Peninsula Temple Sinai.
David has been a volunteer at Provident Credit Union since April of 2003. He spent 2 years as an elected member of the Supervisory Committee. David was then elected to the Board of Directors in April 2005. As a member of the Board of Directors for Provident Credit Union, David serves on the Administrative Committee and currently holds the title of Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors.
In December of 2018 David was elected to the Board of Directors of Notre Dame High School Belmont, an all-girls college preparatory high school in California. In addition to being a member of the Board of Directors for Notre Dame, David currently holds the title of Finance Chairman.
For the last 20 years, David has been a partner with the public accounting firm of Pelzner and Associates, a privately held tax and accounting firm in Burlingame, California. Before Pelzner and Associates, David worked as a Senior Financial Auditor and Consultant at Deloitte and Touche in San Francisco, California. David’s educational background includes graduation from the University of California, Riverside before becoming a Certified Public Accountant in 1999.
Aviv Siegel
Aviv is Israeli-born and raised, and he followed his passion as a high-tech entrepreneur, moving from the Israeli Silicon Vaddi to the Bay Area high tech community in 2000 with his wife, Relli, and twin boys, Omer and Noam. While making the Bay Area and San Mateo their primary home, their family grew with the birth of their daughters, Maya and Shira.
Growing up in Israel was like being "Jewish by default"—surrounded by Jewish people and Jewish public education. As the years went by in the U.S. it became clear to Relli and Aviv that life in the U.S. requires active involvement in a Jewish community to maintain their core Jewish identity, traditions, and heritage for them and their kids. The family has found their Jewish home in the PTBE community since 2012. Together the whole family has become involved in PTBE—Gesher, SMRTY/NFTY, Madrichim for Omer and Noam and vat mitzvah at PTBE for Maya—and in the larger URJ community with active involvement in Camp Newman by the family, including Relli teaching and serving as a camp board member. The family maintains Hebrew as a second primary language and they travel frequently to Israel to strengthen connections with their first language, their larger family, friends, and the Israeli culture.
Joining the lively reform community at PTBE has allowed Aviv a fresh perspective on what it means to be Jewish in a modern dynamic society, very different than how he grew up in the more uniform Israeli-Jewish environment. It reconnected him in a new way to his Jewish heritage and roots. It became an active choice and not something to just live through. Aviv intends on bringing this perspective with him while serving the community further.