Officers and Board of Trustees

      Sandy Bernheim was born and raised in Baltimore, in an observant modern-orthodox home. She graduated from the University of Maryland, College Park in 1977 with a B.A. in foreign language education (French/ Spanish). Sandy taught briefly in the City and County public school systems, but left when she was unable to secure a full-time position. In June 1979, Sandy happily became Mrs. Howard Bernheim, and later that year, she became the Aquatics Director of the JCC in Owings Mills. (She had served as Waterfront Director at Camp Milldale from 1976- 79.) She retired from the "J" when her daughter Jessica was born in 1983. Amanda followed in 1985.

In 1987, Sandy earned her real estate license and returned to the workforce as a Realtor. Sales turned out to not be her forte, so in 1990, she became a real estate settlement officer. But she never lost her love of teaching or of foreign languages, so she returned to school in 2001 to refresh her language skills, and she has been happily teaching Spanish at the Beth Tfiloh Dahan Community Schools since 2002.

Through the years, Sandy has been involved in several community organizations such as the Precious Cargo Chapter of the Child Study Association of Maryland, where she served as chapter president. In 1989, she and Howard became active in the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation (JDF), and they co-chaired the 1991 Walk-A-Thon, raising $125,000 for diabetes research. Sandy was also a volunteer liaison for families of newly diagnosed children with diabetes, and she organized a family support group for the Pikesville/Owings Mills area. She currently volunteers on the CHANA Helpline, the Jewish community's response to domestic violence. Synagogue life had always been important while growing up, since her parents were very active at Montefiore-Woodmore Hebrew Congregation.

In fact, her father, Sam Stone, served as President there for over 20 years! Nevertheless, when the Bernheims joined Beth Israel in 1992, they never dreamed how central the shul would become in their lives, as well. Sandy's involvement with Beth Israel began with a simple phone call from Sue Rabin, then co-president of the Religious School PTA, asking her to join the PTA Board. Sandy eventually became PTA co-president, and later became active on the synagogue Board of Trustees, holding several positions such as Board Representative to the Executive Committee, recording secretary, and vice president. In addition, one of her favorite and most satisfying volunteer jobs at Beth Israel is teaching the Adult Beginning Hebrew Reading class, which she has done for over six years. Sandy's husband Howard, besides being a regular at services, has been active in the Brotherhood and in the formation of our endowment.