Board of Directors

Rena Cohen
A native Montrealer who started her family in Calgary prior to moving to BC. Rena arrived here in 2000 and was immediately drawn to the warmth and community of Temple Sholom.
Rena is happily married to Rick Parnell with whom she is raising two teenage sons, both of whom attended Temple Sholom Religious School.
Rena has served on Temple's Security committee, co-chaired the Religious School Parents Committee and chaired the Strategic Planning Committee, mapping the Temple’s strategic plan to 2015. Rena is proud to serve this organization, which has provided her family with innumerably rich Jewish experiences.
Rena began her professional life as an award-winning theatre director, teacher and critic before discovering a latent talent and inclination for innovative arts administration. She currently manages the theatre company Realwheels and is a speech and presentations coach to select corporate and individual clients. She practices hot yoga, plays bass, skis, gardens, cycles and enjoys family time.

David Schwartz
David has lived in Vancouver most of his life and has been a member of Temple Sholom since 1980. David has served as, Vice President, Treasurer, Secretary and as a Trustee from 1985 to 1997, and is currently First Vice President, Chair of the Legal and Constitution Committee and the Chair of the Governance Committee. For the past year he was a member of the Strategic Planning Committee. He is a lawyer specializing in Securities Law. He is on the Board of the YMCA of Greater Vancouver, Endowment Fund and since May 2009 has been the Chair of Canadian Jewish Congress Pacific Region. He is happily married to Debby Freiman. They have two children, Michael and Kyla who attended Temple Sholom Religious School and had their Bar and Bat Mitzvahs and Confirmations at Temple Sholom. David enjoys cycling and time away at Bowen Island.

Horatio Kemeny
Horatio Lived in Vancouver most of his life, and has been a member of Temple Sholom since 2000. As well as serving as Temple Sholom's treasurer, Horatio has also served on the Strategic Planning Committee since its inception. He is married with two children, and enjoys skiing and biking.

Jane Stoller
Jane was born in Scotland and immigrated with her family to Vancouver as a baby. She has been married to Jeff Witten for 19 years and they have two terrific children, Hartley and Georgia. Jane’s first priority is her family. For many years, she also enjoyed a career in Early Childhood Education. In 2007, Jane founded “Organized By Jane”, a home-organizing business in which she helps clients get organized.
Jane has always been involved with Jewish community, particularly with National Council of Jewish Women where she serves as Social Action co-Chair and has been running the “Books For Kids” program for 13 years. In 2003, Jane’s family joined Temple and her son began attending Religious School. Since day one, Jane and her family have thoroughly enjoyed the community at Temple.
Jane has long served on the Parent Committee for the Religious School where she enjoys helping to build community. The year 2011 was exciting for Jane’s family: In January, her son Hartley had his Bar Mitzvah, and they also went on the Temple Sholom tour of Israel with Rabbi Bregman. These two events have been highlights in Jane’s life. Jane is pleased to be to serving on the Executive and making a difference for the community at Temple Sholom.

Daniel Feldman
Daniel is originally from Calgary and has lived in Vancouver for over 7 years. His days are filled as an entrepreneur in the business of hot tubs and landscape construction. His family is a strong supporter of both Israel and the Federation. A synagogue has been the back bone of his Jewish existence throughout life. Their story with temple began 5 years ago with a brief visit to Rabbi Bregman with his girlfriend at the time, Sarah. So here we are 5 years later, Sarah (his wife), Benjamin (their son) and their new daughter Lyla - "what can I say we are kvelling". They have celebrated their conversion, wedding, brit, and baby naming with the Temple Sholom family. They look forward to many years of bar and bat mitzvahs, weddings, and maybe even another brit and baby naming in 30 years if they are so lucky. In the past year Daniel was a member on the Strategic Planning Committee and he looks forward to a great year serving the community with the board.

Abbe Chivers
Abbe was born in Vancouver but grew up in Calgary. In 1979, after obtaining her Bachelor of Commerce degree at The University of Calgary, she moved back to Vancouver where she completed her Chartered Accountancy requirements, and where she has been in practice for 27 years. Abbe works mostly with private enterprises, but also deals with a number of Not For Profit societies and foundations. Her knowledge base in both of these areas will enable her to deal with all aspects of the Temple’s financial situation.
Abbe and her husband Simon joined Temple Sholom in 1988. This was the synagogue they knew was right for them. All three of their sons attended Temple Sholom Religious School and had wonderful experiences having their bar-mitzvahs here. She served four years as trustee from 2005 to 2009, two years of which she was also co-chair of the Endowment Committee.
As for other activities, Abbe enjoys running and spending time with her family . . . especially watching all four of her guys on the soccer field.