Clergy and Staff
Rabbi Elizabeth W. Goldstein PhD (she, her) is thrilled to be joining Congregation Shir Tikvah as the new rabbi. Rabbi Elizabeth’s approach to Jewish communal life is one of inclusiveness and mutual respect. Raised in Northern New Jersey, her family found a home in a liberal, non-denominational synagogue. Simultaneously, however, she attended a Modern Orthodox Jewish Day School. Between the two radically different approaches to Jewish life, Rabbi Elizabeth grew to love serious Torah learning, and the daily practice of davennen, and the power of music in prayer, all of this in service to uplifting others through acts of loving kindness.
Over the course of her lifetime, Rabbi Elizabeth has come to appreciate the diverse gifts of the different American denominations. Coming out as LGBT in the 1990’s, Rabbi Elizabeth could not complete the rabbinical program at the Jewish Theological Seminary; instead, she received her rabbinical ordination requirement at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in NY in 2001. She is also a teacher in the Aleph Ordination Program and an active member of Ohalah, the Renewal Clergy organization. Rabbi Elizabeth has worked as a hospital chaplain, served small, rural congregations in Northern Idaho and Eastern WA, and developed a robust Jewish campus program for a small undergraduate community at Gonzaga University in Spokane, WA.
Pursuing her love of Biblical Studies, she completed her PhD at UC San Diego in 2010 and joined the faculty of the Religious Studies Department at Gonzaga University where she has taught for the last 15 years in several areas related to Jewish Studies. She has published Impurity and Gender in the Hebrew Bible (Lexington, 2016), a revision of her doctoral work, co-edited, Music: Carrier of Intention in 49 Jewish Prayers with her beloved spouse, Kimberly Burnham. In the coming year, she hopes to see the publication of Women in the Jewish Traditions with Bloomsbury. Other writings can be found in the Women’s Torah Commentary (URJ Press), edited volumes and journals. Her most recent reflection on the creation of musical Torah compositions as a campus rabbi in 2023-2024 can be found in the CCAR Journal (Spring, 2025). You can always see and listen to her music at RABBI ELIZABETH W. GOLDSTEIN - Torah Music.
(Emeritus) Rabbi Ariel Stone has been Shir Tikvah’s spiritual leader since the congregation’s founding in 2003; she is the first female rabbi to be the head of a congregation in the state of Oregon. Within the congregational family and beyond, she delights in sharing scholarship in Torah, mysticism, and ethics in support of building meaningful community. She received the 2018 City of Portland Human Rights Award for Lifetime Achievement and the 2023 Compassion & Choices Dr Paul Smith National Award for her advocacy in Death with Dignity rights work.
Rabbi Stone is also currently the chair of Hesed Shel Emet (the Oregon Jewish Indigent Burial Society), Rabbinic mentor for TischPDX and Convener of Portland Interfaith Clergy Resistance. She has served as adjunct faculty with the Judaic Studies department at Portland State University and Willamette University of Salem, and advises younger rabbis in the Clergy Leadership Incubator.
In 1993 she became the Rabbi of Congregation HaTikvah of Kyiv, Ukraine, and was instrumental in seeding multiple Jewish spiritual communities throughout the former Soviet Union which still exist today. In addition to her rabbinic ordination Rabbi Stone is a Jerusalem Fellow of the Mandel Educational Institute and has a doctoral degree from Spertus Institute of Chicago. She has published two books: Because All Is One, on the relevance of the doctrine of the sefirot in Jewish mysticism, and The Alef Bet of Death: Dying As A Jew.
Recent public offerings include:
- Kol Nidre drash 5785
- Rabbi’s Rosh HaShanah 5785 message
- Taking Charge When You’re Dying, an interview with Rabbi Ariel on KMUZ radio
- She maintains a sporadic blog: Times Of Israel
For more on Rabbi Ariel, see this story by Oregon Jewish Life.
For a look at Rabbi Ariel’s work as a street activist for justice in Portland, see this story by JewTh!nk
STAFF
JoAnn Bezodis, Executive Administrator
JoAnn provides the day-to-day management of Shir Tikvah's fiscal, physical, security, and administrative affairs. If you have any questions or need more information regarding membership, programming, education and beyond, please feel free to get in touch.
Dov Meir, Office Admin
Dov Meir answers your phone calls, emails and questions about everything from membership to meetings, and the small details in between. He is a former member of Shir Tikvah’s Board of Directors, and tries to never miss a Shabbat at the shul.
Heather Laffitte, Youth Program Lead
Heather is Shir Tikvah's Youth Program Lead. Please contact her for information regarding Nashira Project, B'rit Mitzvah planning, and any other questions about youth programs and events.
Rabbi Rivkah Coburn, B'rit Mitzvah Coordinator
Rabbi Rivkah serves as Shir Tikvah’s Brit Mitzvah Coordinator, meeting with families to guide them in the brit mitzvah process and to schedule the b'rit mitzvah date. She assesses a student's need regarding tutoring and oversees their education. Please contact Rabbi Rivkah with questions or for more information.
Marisa Debowsky, Gabbai
Marisa serves as Shir Tikvah's Gabbai: coordinating logistics, developing our minhag, and supporting the many volunteers who leyn torah, chant haftarah, and serve as shlichei tsibur (prayer leaders) for our Shabbat and holiday services. Please contact Marisa if you're interested in volunteering and/or would like help learning a new trope or nusach.