Rabbi Barry Block has been our rabbi since 2013. A Houston native, Rabbi Block received his undergraduate education at Amherst College in Massachusetts, where he graduated magna cum laude and phi beta kappa. He was ordained in 1991 at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, from which he received an honorary doctorate in 2016.
Rabbi Block has served Reform Judaism nationally and regionally as a Vice President and Trustee of the Central Conference of American Rabbis and Chair of its Resolutions and Nominating Committees, and as President of the Southwest Association of Reform Rabbis. He is Dean of the faculty at Union for Reform Judaism’s Henry S. Jacobs Camp, a role he held for 21 years at the Union’s Greene Family Camp in Texas, while serving at Temple Beth-El in San Antonio. He is a member of the President’s Rabbinic Alumni Council of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion.
Rabbi Block is the editor of The Mussar Torah Commentary and The Social Justice Torah Commentary, both from CCAR Press. His writing appears in chapters and articles in several CCAR Press anthologies and other publications. He blogs at the CCAR’s Ravblog.
A board member of Our House in Little Rock, Rabbi Block is Past Board Chair of Planned Parenthood of South Texas. In 2013, he completed long service to Methodist Healthcare Ministries, the largest non-governmental provider of indigent health care in south Texas, and Methodist Healthcare System, the largest hospital group and second largest private employer in San Antonio. His service there included several terms as Chair of the Healthcare System’s Ethics and Compliance Committee. In 2012, Human Rights Campaign bestowed its Equality Award upon Rabbi Block at its annual gala in San Antonio.
Rabbi Block is the proud father of Robert and Daniel.
Eileen Hamilton
Director of Administration, Education, and Youth Engagement
ehamilton@bnai-israel.us
Eileen Hamilton was born and raised in Allentown, PA and attended Congregation Keneseth Israel where she became Bat Mitzvah and later Confirmed. She attended SUNY – The College of New Paltz where she earned a BA in Political Science and a minor in Jewish Studies. After college and moving to Washington, DC, Eileen began a program at The College of Jewish Studies and George Washington University for a graduate degree in Education with a concentration in Jewish Education. All through this time of study and working, she worked at assorted congregations (New Paltz, Washington, DC, and Northern Virginia) teaching religious school and mid-week Hebrew school. She always had a passion for teaching and sharing her love of Jewish learning to children of all ages.
In 1993, after joining ARJE (formally NATE), Eileen moved to New Orleans, LA to serve as the Director of Education at Touro Synagogue for over 21 years. Her work experience included religious school, youth group, camp, and many other facets of congregational life. For one year in 2015, Eileen served as the Coordinator of Jewish Life at the Jewish Community Day School of New Orleans. She has been at Congregation B’nai Israel in Little Rock for over 7 years as the Director of Administration, Education and Youth Engagement.
Eileen and husband, Larry, have two grown sons, Todd and PJ.
Cantor Aleksandra Dubov
E. Lee Ronnel Student Cantor
aleksandra.dubov@huc.edu
Cantorial student Aleksandra Dubov studies at the Debbie Friedman School of Sacred Music of HUC-JIR in New York. Previously, she studied at the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Jerusalem. She previously served as High Holy Day Cantorial Soloist at Temple Beth El in Boca Raton, Florida, at Stephen Wise Free Synagogue in New York City, and for Wilderness Torah. During the height of the pandemic, she co-created outdoor High Holy Day experiences in both Canada and the San Francisco Bay Area.
A 2007 graduate of the Indiana University School of Music who earlier studied voice and theatre at Interlochen Arts Academy, Student Cantor Dubov’s interests and areas of expertise are broad. She is a Kundalini Yoga Instructor, a photographer, a vocal coach, a Theta Healing Practitioner, a dancer, and an improvisational actor.
We may all be grateful to the generosity of E. Lee Ronnel, of blessed memory, whose extraordinary bequest to our congregation enables this wonderful expansion of our congregation’s ability to inspire our members and guests.
Lane Boyd
Administrative Assistant and Facility Manager
templesecretary@bnai-israel.us
Born and raised in the Little Rock Area, Lane Boyd is a proud graduate of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, where he earned a degree in Computer Science. With a passion for facilitating Jewish learning and fostering a strong sense of community, Lane serves as the Administrative Assistant and Facility Manager. He is dedicated to ensuring that our synagogue operates smoothly and efficiently, while also contributing to the vibrant life of our congregation.