Welcome To Temple Beth El!
Rabbi Ben Goldstein joined the Temple Beth El clergy in summer of 2025. A native of Rochester, Rabbi Ben Goldstein has been working in the Jewish community for over twenty years. He served as the Interim Rabbi for both Pasadena Jewish Temple & Center and Congregation B’nai Israel in Tustin, CA. Before that he was the Senior Rabbi of Beit T’Shuvah, a Jewish recovery center in Los Angeles. He has also worked as a rabbi at Temple Aliyah in Los Angeles, and as the spiritual leader of Temple Beth El Mekor Chayim, in Cranford, New Jersey. Rabbi Goldstein enjoys sports, meditation, theater, and golf.
Rabbi Josh Klein is above everything else a continuous learner and is excited to bring his passion for engaging, meaningful Jewish learning to Temple Beth El. He was the Director of Lifelong Learning at Agudas Achim in Columbus, OH, where he started new K-7 and teen learning programs and taught regular adult education classes.
Originally from South Florida, Josh has a degree in engineering from GWU and worked in healthcare software in Wisconsin before beginning his journey to the rabbinate which brought him to NYC and Jerusalem. Josh has interned with synagogues in the US and Israel and with the Nativ Gap Year Program and Ramah’s high school in Israel program.
He was a community educator at Brandeis’s teen summer program Genesis and worked as a chaplain intern at NewYork-Presbyterian Queens. While in New York, Josh was also involved in Jewish climate activism. In his spare time, he enjoys spending time with his wife, Shira, and children, Eitan and Yonah, as well as cooking, reading, writing, and wandering in museums.
Josh is no stranger to Temple Beth El. He and Shira were married at TBE, and Josh wrote the D’var Torah for our trifold last year. Also, Josh has worked with the 20s/30s group, and taught during Passover and other holidays.
Jklein@tberochester.org
Rabbi Leonardo Bitran is one of the few leaders of the Conservative Movement whose experience includes serving synagogues across the continent, inspiring nearly a dozen of his former students to become rabbis, and mentoring rabbinical students serving Latin American congregations.
Rabbi Bitran earned a Bachelor’s and a Master’s degree in Economics from the University of Chile. He was ordained at The Jewish Theological Seminary of America in New York with a Master’s degree in Hebrew Letters with a major in Talmud and Rabbinics.
Rabbi Bitran grew up at the Sephardic Synagogue in Santiago, Chile. Influenced by his parents and religious leaders he began leading religious services on Shabbat and High Holy Days at Bar Mitzvah age. He attended the school of Economics at the University of Chile, the Seminario Rabinico Latino Americano in Buenos Aires and The Jewish Theological Seminary of America in New York.
Rabbi Bitran served at Congregation Shaarey Zedek in Southfield, Michigan, where he led its vibrant satellite congregation, B’nai Israel, for eleven years. Most recently and for ten years he served Congregation Agudas Achim in San Antonio, Texas, enabling it to achieve excellence in Jewish education. At Temple Beth El, Rabbi Bitran aspires to lead and inspire our Temple to be a model and center for Conservative Judaism. Rabbi Bitran is committed to building strong relationships and a caring community, dedicated to worship, study of sacred texts and the creation of a kind environment for its members.
Events 
Account 
Visit 
Give 
Stream