Cheryl and Rabbi Stephen Wise.

When Cheryl and Stephen met as counselors at Camp Shalom in Gravenhurst, Ontario in the summer of 1994, they never expected that it would eventually lead to marriage and three children.  And it certainly would have never occurred to them that 15 years later they would be hired once again to work together.  But starting July 1, Cheryl joins the staff of Shaarei-Beth El Congregation of Halton where her husband Stephen is the Rabbi and spiritual leader.

“I love working with my husband, but more importantly, I love working with children and teaching Judaism.  Now I get the chance to do it all together,” said Cheryl during her interview for the position.  When the job opened up, Cheryl was very excited to apply but had reservations seeing that her husband already was the Rabbi.  

But the synagogue community warmed quite quickly to the idea of a husband and wife team leading the educational vision.  Moreover, Stephen and Cheryl are the most qualified people they could possibly hope to attract, especially to small Jewish community here in Oakville.
 Synagogue president Gerald Naglie was ecstatic when he realized the potential of the “Wise Team” as he likes to call it.  

“The goal of our synagogue is to cultivate a life long commitment to Jewish living and values through a strong foundation of Jewish knowledge and experiences,” he said recently, “And this can only be achieved with a strong professional staff dedicated to making our congregation strong, vibrant and forward thinking.  Stephen and Cheryl bring great gifts of dedication and love of Judaism, and we are excited for the future of our school and synagogue for years to come”

Shaarei-Beth El Congregation has a long history of almost 60 years here in Halton.  In the mid 1980’s Oakville and Burlington’s two congregations joined together to create the current synagogue community with 125 member families that has worship services, educational programming and social action events throughout the year.  

With Rabbi Wise’s arrival two years ago the synagogue has experienced a revitalization and has become more active in the wider Halton community, working with the Halton Regional Police Service, the Halton Multicultural Council and the Halton Interfaith Council.  With the addition of Cheryl Wise to the professional staff, the synagogue hopes to do more outreach with youth into the community through volunteer work and social justice projects.  As a family, Cheryl and Stephen have three little ones at home, who come to the shul regularly for services and Sunday morning religious classes.  

“It’s a challenge to be a mom and educator for my kids, but they love the synagogue and have made so many friends here,” said Cheryl.  They were excited to move to Oakville and be a part of this wonderful synagogue community.  Now working together side by side, they are going beyond their marriage vows in the home and in the office, as they celebrate their 10th anniversary this month.  
 
Shaarei-Beth El is located on 186 Morrison Rd. in Oakville, the website is www.sbe.ca and they can be reached at 905-849-6000.  They welcome visitors and new members anytime.