Officers

Scott Gensler,  President
Scott identifies and evaluates new business opportunities for Erickson Living, the nation’s leading developer and manager of Continuing Care Retirement Communities. Throughout Scott’s 18-year tenure with Erickson Living, he has served in many leadership positions. He has an impressive knowledge of key aspects of the senior living business, including Development, Acquisitions, Finance, Sales and Marketing, and Operations.

Scott earned a master’s degree in Business Administration from the Sellinger School of Business at Loyola College, and a bachelor’s degree from the School of Hotel Administration at Cornell University. Scott has participated in many leadership programs, such as Baltimore County Leadership, Sulam for Emerging Leaders, and L'Atid. Scott also serves as the Vice Chair of the Fund for Education Excellence, a local education fund working to improve student achievement in Baltimore City Schools.

Scott and his wife Diane were married at Beth Israel. Their three children have grown up at Beth Israel, having graduated from Beth Israel’s Preschool and been students in our Community Learning Lab.

Aliza Rothenberg, Executive Vice President
Having grown up at Beth Israel in the 1960s and 1970s, and then rejoining the congregation with her own family after moving back to Baltimore from Philadelphia in the mid-1990s, Aliza Rothenberg considers Beth Israel her second home. As a child, Aliza's home life centered around Beth Israel with her father having risen to the role of President and her mother teaching in the religious school and then becoming its principal. Aliza's own active involvement in the congregation dates back to her teenage years when she was the first female to have an aliyah and read Torah as the shul embraced egalitarianism in the early 1970s. In the mid-2000s, Aliza led Beth Israel's V'Zot HaTorah congregation-wide Torah-writing project which included a fundraising component that created the shul's largest endowment. In addition to her Board position, most recently, Aliza chaired Beth Israel's strategic planning process to create and implement a plan that would enable the congregation to continue to thrive well into the next decade. Aliza is also actively involved in the congregation's religious life as a frequent Torah and Haftorah reader, gabbai, and weekday minyan leader.

Professionally, Aliza's expertise is in strategy development, business planning, marketplace/competitive analysis, and market research. She retired in 2019 as Vice President of Strategy and Planning for CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield  where she led the development of the $12B company’s corporate and division-level long-term strategies and annual operating plans, and served as the "right hand" to its CEO. 

Aliza's husband, David, served as Beth Israel's executive director for 18 years (1997-2015) and two of their three sons celebrated their b'nai mitzvah at Beth Israel. With two young granddaughters, one of Aliza's favorite activities is "grandparenting."  Aliza also enjoys travel, gardening, reading, and exercising.
 

Jason Taule, Co-Vice President
Jason Taule is an information assurance and cybersecurity professional who has worked in both the intelligence community and commercial sectors. Jason currently serves as HITRUST Vice President of Standards and Chief Information Security Officer (CISO). In this capacity he oversees the ongoing development and evolution of the HITRUST CSF security and privacy controls framework to ensure its relevancy and continued sufficiency.

Having grown up in Randallstown, Jason has been a member of Beth Israel his entire life. He became a bar mitzvah in Randallstown, and was a member of one of the earliest graduating classes of our Hebrew School when the synagogue was in its original home on Liberty Road. Jason completed Beth Israel’s inaugural Sulam for Emerging Leaders class in 2012, has served on our Board of Trustees, and since 2013 has been a member of our Executive Committee, first as Recording Secretary and more recently as Co-Vice President. Jason currently makes his home in Greenspring Valley along with his wife Stacey and their two children Aliyah and Aaron, both of whom attended Beth Israel’s Preschool, the Community Learning Lab, and Ma’alot.

Amy Bober-Schenerman, Co-Vice President
Amy Bober-Schenerman has been a member Beth Israel most of her life.  She attended Beth Israel Preschool, Hebrew School, and USY in our previous Randallstown location.  She and her husband Mark, also a Beth Israel Hebrew school graduate and fellow USYer, chose to send their two children to Beth Israel’s Preschool.  

Amy began volunteering at Beth Israel as a teen.  As an adult, she has worked on many programs such as:  Preschool Truck Day, Day School Chavurah, Beth Israel’s 50th Anniversary, Retirement/Tribute for Education Emeritus, Rachel Glaser, ReJewvenate Shabbat, and numerous fundraisers.  Amy has served on the Board of Trustees and this is her second time chairing Beth Israel’s Fundraising Committee. 

Amy graduated from Towson University with a degree in Education. She has taught in both public and Hebrew school.  Her other professional experiences include resettling Jewish refuges from the former Soviet Union, and working in development for the National Ovarian Cancer Coalition and the Jewish Federation of Howard County.  
 

Toni Greenberg, Recording Secretary
Toni grew up in New York and moved to Baltimore to attend the University of Maryland School of Social Work.  She worked for over 30 years as a social worker and supervisor for Baltimore County Department of Social Services in child protective services, foster care and adoption.  Now retired, she teaches a social work ethics course and works for an accounting firm during tax season.  Toni was a board member and officer of the JCC and the Jewish Women’s Giving Foundation.  She is a Governing Member of the BSO and involved with Hillel at the University of Michigan.  Toni sews clothing, embroiders and crochets; is a big sports fan (Ravens, Duke basketball and Michigan football); and is too fond of milk chocolate.  She has two wonderful children:  Jake who is the Hazzan at Congregation B’nai Israel in Toms River, NJ; and Miriam who just graduated from the University of Michigan with a B.F.A. in art and design. A member for 23 years, Toni chaired the Cantors’ Concerts in 2017 and 2019, and lives in Reisterstown.

Melissa  Adler, Corresponding Secretary
Melissa Baylin Adler has been a member of Beth Israel for her entire life. Melissa has attended Preschool and religious school, gotten married and celebrated her children’s brit milot and now b’nai mitzvah at Beth Israel. Melissa’s lifelong involvement in our congregation has motivated her to join the Executive Board of the synagogue as Corresponding Secretary, and serve as head of the School Board for our Community Learning Lab.

Melissa graduated from Hofstra University with a degree in Elementary Education and Jewish Studies. She earned her master’s degree in Administration and Supervision from Goucher College. Melissa is currently Assistant Principal of Honeygo Elementary School, and was formerly the professional development teacher for an elementary school in Baltimore County. She lives in Reisterstown with her husband, Brian, and her three boys.

David Hecht, Treasurer
Newly retired, David Hecht has 46 years’ of work experience, including 13 years as a CPA and 30 years as a controller/CFO in the real estate construction field. Most recently, David served for three years as controller of the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore.

David’s lay involvement has been extensive. He is on the Board of Trustees of the Big Brother Big Sister Program. He was previously on the finance committee of Beth Am Synagogue, Treasurer at Chevrei Tzedek Congregation, and on the Board of the Chesapeake Region Autism Society. He is happy to return to Beth Israel’s board as Co-Treasurer. David and his wife Beth live in Owings Mills, and have four children and four grandchildren.

Jeff Blum, Financial Secretary
Jeff is a new business account executive for Johnson Controls, where he helps customers find the right fit for their commercial security needs. A graduate of the University of Pittsburgh, Jeff has lived in the Baltimore area for the past 25-plus years and has extensive experience in sales and account management. Jeff also serves on the boards of The Hearing and Speech Agency as well as the Baltimore County Police Assistance Relief Fund. Jeff and his wife Karen have two children and live in Owings Mills. 

Heidi B. Hoffman, Past President
Heidi B. Hoffman has had a “flavorful” career at McCormick and Company. Through the last 30 years, Heidi has led teams in Production, Materials Management and Marketing, including working on the corporate-wide integration of SAP, an industry-recognized software and enterprise application to streamline business processes. Heidi grew up just outside Chicago, and received her bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Iowa. She has earned Certification in Product and Inventory Management from APICS, the association for supply chain management. She is a certified Project Manager, having received her PMP Certification through the Project Management Institute.

Heidi has been an active member of the Beth Israel community for over 20 years. She has served as President of the Parents’ Association, Corresponding Secretary on the Board of Trustees, and has been seen in several of the congregation’s Purim Spiels. As President, Heidi’s mission is to ensure that Beth Israel is a vibrant community for future generations.  

Heidi lives in Pikesville and has three children who attended and were confirmed through the Beth Israel Community Learning Lab.