Staff

Senior Rabbi
Rabbi Lewis H. Kamrass

Rabbi Lewis H. Kamrass is the Senior Rabbi of Isaac M. Wise Temple of Cincinnati, Ohio, where he has spent his entire rabbinate of twenty-six years. Appointed to the position of  Wise Temple’s Senior Rabbi at the unusually young age of 29, his tenure has been marked by significant congregational involvement by hundreds of the synagogue's members in a variety of Social Action projects including service in soup kitchens, homeless shelters, educational projects, and other civic activities.

A native of Atlanta, Georgia, Rabbi Kamrass is a Phi Beta Kappa, summa cum laude graduate of the University of Georgia in Sociology and Psychology,
with a Master of Hebrew Letters and Rabbinic Ordination from Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati. He has served for twenty four years as Instructor in
the Theology Department of Xavier University teaching undergraduates,
and as adjunct faculty at Hebrew Union College teaching rabbinical students.  In 2010, Rabbi Kamrass was awarded an honorary doctorate from the Hebrew Union College.

Rabbi Kamrass was a 2007 "Bridges for a Just Community" honoree, having served the larger community in many volunteer positions of leadership. He has served as president of the Cincinnati Board of Rabbis, and as a board member and/or officer of the Jewish Community Relations Council, Jewish Federation of Cincinnati, Jobs for People, American Red Cross-Cincinnati Chapter, Center for Holocaust Education, Cincinnati CAN (Community Action Now) as a member of the Police and Justice Team, Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce Agenda 360 Task Force, Coalition for a Drug-Free Cincinnati, Family Service of Cincinnati, Hospice of Cincinnati, Hebrew Union College President's Rabbinic Council and Rabbinic Board of Alumni Overseers, Free Store/Food Bank, Planned Parenthood Association of Cincinnati as well as founder of its affiliate, Clergy For Reproductive Freedom, and on the Planned Parenthood Federation of America’s Clergy Advisory Board, and International Rabbi for Alpha Epsilon Pi Fraternity.

Rabbi Kamrass has been involved in the Reform Jewish movement and currently serves as a Board Member of the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion   He has also had extensive involvement with the
Central Conference of American Rabbis, the international association of Reform Rabbis, having served on its Board of Trustees and Executive Committee. He has served on the CCAR's Youth Committee, Nominating Committee and Patrilineal Descent Task Force. He was honored to be
selected as one of a dozen rabbis to compose the "Statement of Principles" adopted in 1999 as the Reform rabbinate's platform of beliefs, and to have been selected for the Siddur Committee of the CCAR, charged with preparing the new prayer book for the Reform Movement, published in 2007, and presently on the editorial committee preparing the Reform Movement’s Machzor, or High Holy Day Prayer Book.

Rabbi Kamrass is married to the former Renee Slotin of Atlanta, and finds his greatest joy in being the father of three children.

Associate Rabbi
Rabbi Ilana G. Baden

Rabbi Ilana G. Baden has been with the Isaac M. Wise Temple since 2002. Since that time, she has been active in the congregation and the community at large. She currently serves as the Secretary of the Board of Rabbis, and sits on the board of the Women's Rabbinic Network as the HUC Cincinnati Campus Liaison.

Rabbi Baden grew up in suburban Chicago (Libertyville, IL), where her parents were involved in synagogue life and where she was an active member of her congregational youth group and a camper for many summers at the Reform movement's regional camp there, Olin-Sang-Ruby Union Institute. A 1994 graduate of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, she received a Bachelor of Arts degree in history and in Near Eastern Studies-Modern Hebrew Language, and became an active member of Hillel, serving as its president in Ann Arbor. She then enjoyed an outstanding academic career at Hebrew Union College, first in Jerusalem, and then in Cincinnati, having been ordained in 1999. Rabbi Baden was active in many activities, including serving as president of the rabbinic student association at the Cincinnati Campus of Hebrew Union College. As a rabbinic student, she served student pulpits in Bristol, Tennessee; Quincy, Illinois; and Columbus, Indiana. She also worked as a rabbinic intern in Skokie, Illinois, at the University of Cincinnati Hillel, and at Cincinnati's Jewish Hospital. Upon Rabbinic Ordination in 1999, Rabbi Baden served as Assistant Rabbi at the Indianapolis Hebrew Congregation, and was then named Associate Rabbi.

Despite her deep fulfillment with her involvement with Wise Temple, Rabbi Baden takes the greatest pleasure with her family. She is married to Jeffrey T. Baden and is the proud mother of two children.

Associate Rabbi
Rabbi Michael S. Shulman

Rabbi Michael Shulman joined Isaac M. Wise Temple's clergy staff in 2003. He is a native of Cleveland, Ohio where he developed his love for Judaism early on while attending religious school through confirmation and graduation.

Rabbi Shulman received a degree in history at Georgetown University in Washington, DC. While in college, he also studied such diverse subjects as Arabic and Hebrew, Middle Eastern studies and biology. Rabbi Shulman also taught religious school for four years at Temple Rodef Shalom in Falls Church, Virginia.

After graduation, Rabbi Shulman moved back to Cleveland where he became the rabbinic intern at his home congregation, Anshe Chesed Fairmount Temple. There he worked with the rabbis and the educators to get a better taste of congregational life. He taught in grades 3 through high school, planned and facilitated retreats, worked with bar/bat mitzvah students, and served as a youth group director. Working closely with the clergy there helped him decide to apply to the rabbinical program at HUC-JIR.

After a year in Israel and then a year in back in Washington teaching religious school, Rabbi Shulman moved to Cincinnati to continue his rabbinic studies at HUC. While in Cincinnati, he served two years as a student rabbi at Temple Israel in Marion, Ohio and as a counseling intern at the University of Cincinnati Psychological Counseling Services. He was active at HUC serving for four years on the Student Ministries Committee and as vice-president of the Rabbinical Student Association. He also served two years as rabbinic intern at Wise Temple before joining the staff full time.

Rabbi Shulman also earned a Master's in Education from Xavier University. He is a member of two Jewish education organizations, NATE and CAJE. Blending his rabbinical and educational studies, he wrote his rabbinical thesis on the subject of Tzedakah in the classroom.

Executive Director
Betti R. Greenstein

Betti R. Greenstein is the Executive Director at Isaac M. Wise Temple. She joined the Temple's senior staff in June 2005 and has brought a wealth of experience.

Betti is a native Californian, having grown up in Los Angeles. Her connection to Judaism developed over several years as a camper and counselor at Camp Hess Kramer, a Jewish summer camp in Malibu, California. Betti spent many years of her professional career at Wilshire Boulevard Temple in Los Angeles as the Assistant Executive Director. She then moved on to Kehillat Israel in Pacific Palisades, a suburb of Los Angeles, as the Executive Director. Most recently, Betti was also the Executive Director of Temple Beth El in Boca Raton, a 1500 family congregation.

Betti has extensive experience in budgeting, human resources, facility management, membership and public relations. She provides staff leadership to a number of different committees and serves on the Executive Committee and the Board of Trustees. Betti serves as a Senior Member of the National Association of Temple Administrators (NATA) and also on the NATA Board of Directors.

Director of Education and Lifelong Learning
Barbara L. Dragul

Barbara L. Dragul has served as the Director of Education and Lifelong Learning at Wise Temple for the past nine years. Barbara grew up in Cincinnati, and after completing a B.A. in education at The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington, Barbara and her husband Steve moved back to the city. She then turned her passion for education to the Jewish community. Barbara has worked in the field of Jewish Education for twenty-one years and brings a range of teaching and leadership experiences in various settings to her role at Wise Temple.

Barbara is responsible for lifelong learning at Wise Temple, from our Open Room program for our youngest students through religious school to our vibrant adult education opportunities. Barbara understands the importance of building a strong Jewish family and of the vital role our Temple plays in supporting its members. Barbara enjoys working with our Temple families, offering them pathways to Jewish learning while building a strong Jewish community. She initiated the popular Gesher program where parents and students learn together. The Madrichim program, which she started, has become a national model for engaging teens in Jewish education.

Barbara is a member of the National Association of Temple Educators and serves on their conference committee. She also serves on the national Congregational Schools Committee of the Union for Reform Judaism. With her leadership, in 2003, Wise Temple became one of the first congregations to be given the Congregation of Learners Award from the Union for Reform Judaism. In 2007 Barbara received the prestigious Grinspoon Steinhart Award for Excellence in Jewish Education.

Barbara, and her husband Steve, have found their greatest joy and fulfillment in raising their two children.

Additional Staff

Deborrah Cannizzaro, Cantor
Michael Fleischman, Custodian
William Fleischman, Facilities Superintendent
Luana Heinemeyer, Rabbinic Administrative Assistant
Judy Jennings, Program Director
Rachel Kasten, Assistant Director of Education and Youth Programs
Aaron Meyer, Rabbinic Intern
Thom Miles, Music Director
Mel Morehouse, Custodian
Anne Powers, Administrative Assistant
Chris Poulin, Custodian
Andrea Rapp, Librarian
Terri Snavely, Education Administrative Assistant
Laura Souders, Bookkeeper
Heather Spegal, Administrative Assistant
George Triggs, Custodian
Cynthia Waldo, Assistant to the Executive Director

8329 Ridge Road | Cincinnati, OH 45236 | 513.793.2556 | welcome@wisetemple.org