Meet Our Clergy
Get to know our Rabbis and Cantor
Rabbi Janine Jankovitz
Rabbi Janine Jankovitz is honored to serve Congregation Beth El-Ner Tamid as their rabbi. She was ordained by the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College in 2020. She has worked for over a decade in congregational life both as a student rabbi and prior to rabbinical school as an Education Director.
Rabbi Jankovitz is committed to building a warm and inviting Jewish community. She believes in klal yisrael and the value of embracing all identities, genders, races, ethnicities, ages, and abilities. She believes that Torah and its teachings can lead us to build a more just and righteous world.
Rabbi Jankovitz is a Philadelphia native and a graduate of Temple University. She is a writer who has been published in several online and print publications. She and her husband, Steven, live in Mt. Airy.
Contact Rabbi Jankovitz at [email protected]
Rabbi Barry Blum
Rabbi Barry Blum, a native Philadelphian, was raised in Overbrook Park. He served in the CBENT community for 31 years; his community work includes serving as past president of the Marple Newtown Clergy Association and Chaplain for several local nursing homes through Jewish Children and Family Services. In the past, Rabbi Blum served as the Camp Rabbi each summer at the B’nai B’rith in Starlight, Pennsylvania, where he served as a Judaism Specialist.
Rabbi Blum shares a passion for Israel, having visited there eleven times on missions and family milestones. Rabbi & Amy Blum were honored by JNF and the congregation. A woodland was established in their honor in the Lahav Forrest in Israel.
Rabbi Blum and his family remain involved in our CBENT community. His work continues to involve food insecurity and social action. The Rabbi Barry and Amy Blum Social Action Fund has been established in their honor to fund this cause.
Cantor Steven Friedrich
Cantor Steven Friedrich has nearly 4 decades of experience as a cantor and in synagogue administration, as well as a half-century experience as a B’nai Mitzvot tutor and religious school teacher.
A graduate of Muhlenberg College, Cantor Steve studied the cantorial arts as a student of Cantors Seymour Schwartzman and Moshe Burger, as well as in the Masters in Jewish Music program at Gratz College under the tutelage of Professor Sholom Altman, z”l and Dr. Irving Cohen, z”l. As a strong baritone, Cantor Friedrich leads prayer in musical ranges that are comfortable for most people and in a style that encourages all congregants to join in with great spirit.
He is also an accomplished teacher of Jewish music and Judaica, training children as they work towards becoming Bnai Mitzvah and encouraging all congregants to grow in their knowledge of Judaism through a variety of classes in Nusach (prayer modes), cantillation, Jewish music, Tanach (Bible), Jewish history and Jewish literature.
Cantor Steved resided for over 20 years in Broomall, raising 3 sons with his wife. He and Ann now live nearby in Hershey’s Mill.