Beth El Honors
An Inspiring Evening of Community
We invite you to an evening celebrating the generations of our synagogue family and the variety of ways in which we engage in community together.
A highlight of the evening will be a presentation by Yossi Klein HaLevi, noted Israeli journalist, author, and commentator whom we honor for his voice and insight on behalf of the Jewish people and the State of Israel.
Evening details below.
Thursday, May 15, 7:30 PM
Congregation Beth El
Wine, Cheese, & Dessert Reception
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About Our Honorees:

Isaac Lagnado
I am a descendent of a young rabbi who was expelled with his family from Spain during the 1492 Inquisition, ended up in Aleppo, Syria and started a family dynasty , from fathers to sons, of Rabbis, Chief Rabbis, Talmudic Scholars and Judges, for more than four years. Born with that DNA, I grew up in my parental “kosher” home learning with my siblings the fundamental traditions and commandments of Judaism through examples, such as charity, attending Shabbat and High Holy Days Services, honoring father and mother, witnessing the respect shown towards the family Elders when visiting them after Services. I joined my father for daily morning prayers, donning Tallis and Tephilim after my Bar Mitzvah, a routine I maintained as a teenager in Cairo, Egypt, as a college student in Paris, France, as a scientific engineer in Eindhoven, Holland and a family man in the US in Boston, MA since 1958, where I was invited to pursue my career. The demands of a 50+ years of professional life took me from coast to coast, twice, before setting anchor in San Diego, CA in 1970 where we joined, as a family, Congregation Beth El, a few year later. We fully integrated with the community, spending quality time with “haverim”, calling Beth El “home away from home”. I maintained equally my professional endeavors and religious commitments. Retirement came in 2005. I started and completed the family tree to demonstrate principally to my grandchildren the roots which gave them identity, Jewish Identity, to be proud of. The more than five hundred names in the document from the first-in-line Rabbi Samuel L. who arrived in Aleppo, circa 1500 CE, to date, reside in the computer memory of the Museum of the Jewish People, called today, ANU. Anyone connected with the family will be able today and in the future to add his/her family branch to the tree. The second achievement, to the benefit, too, for the grandkids, is my own memoir. Meaningful retirement is incomplete without “long term” study of the Torah, a dormant desire. Attending one day the early morning prayers at Beth El offered me the opportunity to join the “Minyanaires” family. I was hooked. I felt proud and renewed to share with an amazing group of congregants giving their time to allow others to say the “Kaddish” for a loved one who passed away. As a scientist, physicist, engineer, I compare the minyanaires as the atomic core of any element, giving it its characteristics, its identity. The congregants are like the electrons orbiting the core; the closer the electrons are to the core, the stronger the attraction; for the congregant, their true Jewish identity is reflected. I became a Proud Minyanaire. I started to give my comments on the weekly perashat for the study session which followed the morning prayers and the breakfast offered to any one attending the class. I wanted to do more. I volunteered for the kitchen detail under the tutelage of Sam J., who is the kindest and most helpful man who ever walked on this planet Earth. I assisted him, and in time, I became a “sous-chef”. In the meantime, Ran A. approached me with an offer I could not refuse: Torah reading, my cherished desire. Ran became my amazing mentor, and he encouraged me to start reading the Torah on a regular basis for Shabbat. I owe Ran my deepest gratitude. The spiritual reward is phenomenal! Innovate. Keep it simple. I found a way to put a smile on a few faces at Beth El. The solution is a bottle of single malt Glen Livet Scotch to share with like minded congregants and guests at the Kiddush. That is the most successful program I ever initiated. You do not need a Ph.D for that.
Karen Bohrer
I am so thankful and humbled to be part of Beth El’s honoring our community and active participants. Bob and I joined Beth El in 1983 shortly after moving to San Diego and quickly found a home here—after being members and students at synagogues in Cincinnati, Chicago northern suburbs, and Long Island and students at Hillels in Champaign-Urbana and Cambridge. We are grateful that our sons Matthew and Nathaniel were born into the Beth El family where we have held their Bar Mitzvah celebrations as well as mine as an Adult and other lifecycle events. Following in my beloved parents’ examples of volunteerism, since joining I have participated in numerous ways—mentioning many of them here hopefully to encourage others to get involved—serving on the Beth El Board as VP of Education, a member of the Israel, Hesed, Tikkun, Rabbi Search, special event, Shalom Squad, and other Committees; editor or contributor of various publications including our recent quarterly Zmanim Magazine; and more. During COVID I became a daily participant in the Minyanaires services and discussions and continue now everyday having found another inspiring group of dedicated Beth El members. I am now serving at Rabbi Shulman’s request to be our “Captain” for organizing our support of the Mercaz (#17) platform for the World Zionist Congress elections—and I have to add voting ends May 4! I also share how honored I have been to be among those sounding the Shofar, as the first woman to be called up. The last dozen-plus years I have been active in Beth El’s Women’s Connection, as President and VP of Programming, building on our rich tradition of “sisterhood,” with such things as our annual Women’s Connection Shabbat, regular Festival Art Series, and faciliting our Women’s Connection Monthly Rosh Chodesh Gatherings where literally hundreds from our community of dynamic women have had a chance to share their experiences and insights from around the world and celebrate the New Moon, New Friends, and New Spiritual Connections. All of this has been done with our group of dedicated volunteers for, as we all know, it takes a village. Many thanks to the Rabbis, Staff, and members over the years who have welcomed me and my family…and become our family through holidays and lifecycle events. I’ve shared several times my “Wizard of Oz” moment years ago when I realized… “There’s no place like Beth El”!


Taylor & David Israel
Taylor and David love being a part of the Beth El community, and are thrilled to participate in the excellent programs that engage young families, including Young Family Shabbat, VTS, and High Holiday childrens' services. David grew up and was bar mitzvahed at Beth El, and knew it was the right spiritual home for the family. Taylor's first Beth El connection was through the Introduction to Judaism class, and completed her conversion with Rabbi Avi, who also officiated Taylor and David's wedding. Their daughter Orli and son Bekin had their baby naming/bris with the Beth El community, and are now growing up here.
Taylor also serves on the JCC Board, and David sits on the Beth El Board; both are also involved heavily in their childrens' schools.
Yossi Klein HaLevi
American-Israeli author and journalist
Yossi Klein Halevi is a senior fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem. Together with Imam Abdullah Antepli of Duke University, he co-directs the Institute's Muslim Leadership Initiative (MLI), which teaches emerging young Muslim American leaders about Judaism, Jewish identity and Israel.
Halevi’s 2013 book, Like Dreamers, won the Jewish Book Council's Everett Book of the Year Award. His latest book, Letters to My Palestinian Neighbor, is a New York Times bestseller. He writes for leading op-ed pages in the US, including the Times and the Wall Street Journal, and is a former contributing editor to the New Republic.

Learn more about Yossi Klein HaLevi HERE.