President – Leon Barish
Although Leon Barish has been a member of CBI only since approximately 1995, his association with the Temple dates to 1968 when he started coming to Austin for youth group events. He grew up in Houston as a member of Temple Emanu El. Leon has served on numerous committees for the Temple, including Project 2000, the assistant rabbi search committee and the cantor search committee. Leon has a lovely wife, Terry, with whom he was a back-up dancer to Sharon Fass in teaching 8th grade at CBI for two years. Leon has two wonderful and talented daughters. Leah Barish is active in Austin Temple Teens and will be a senior in the theater program at McCallum High School. Rachel Barish will be a sophomore in visual arts and theater at McCallum High School. When not at Temple, Leon works as an attorney. At lunchtime, he's at Deep Eddy Pool so don't bother calling him during the noon hour.
President-Elect – Deliana Garcia
Del was born in El Paso, TX and moved to Austin 1974 to attend the University of Texas at Austin. Although she had every intention of moving on after graduate school, she never left. Her professional career has been in the not for profit sector with agencies ranging from the local Planned Parenthood of Central Texas to the international Migrant Clinicians Network. Futher cementing Del’s life in Austin is her wonderful son, Sebastian who is graduating this year as a theater student from the McCallum High School Fine Arts Academy. Del was introduced to Congregation Beth Israel through Saturday morning torah study and became a member in January, 2002. When time permits, Del enjoys working at the Sisterhood gift shop and participating in the Life-long Learning committee. Del served as CBI Trustee in 2005-2006 and Financial Secretary in 2006-2007.
Vice President: Education – Eloise Potter
Eloise was born and raised in Austin a long time ago and she misses the Austin from back then. She has been a member of CBI since 1995 and has served on the Sisterhood board in various positions and on the Board of Jewish Education. Eloise is a stay-at-home mom, substitute teacher, Brownie Co-Leader, political activist and many other things that take up all her free time. Eloise is married to John and they live in Southwest Austin with their children Logan and Sophia. Eloise’s oldest son Dean is currently attending the Culinary Institute of American in Hyde Park, New York. Eloise received her B.S. in Health Information Management from the then Southwest Texas State University
Vice President: Ritual – Harold Wilensky
Harold was born in Dallas but got to Austin as fast as he could. He came to attend school at UT and just never got around to leaving. He works for IBM managing computer programmers. A CBI member since the early 1990s, he volunteered as a b'nei mitzvah mentor for several years. He served on the Board of Trustees from 2002 to 2005 and chaired or co-chaired the Lifelong Learning Committee for the past 5 years. He also served on the Cantorial Search Committee in 2005 and 2006. His son David served as president and co-president of Austin Temple Teens from 2005 to 2007. Harold's goals as VP of Ritual are to provide more varied opportunities for worship and see more members participate in Temple activities during Shabbat. In his free time, he enjoys non-digital photography.
Vice President – Membership – Lupe Mandujano Garcia
Lupe is the director of the Public Information, Education, and Training Branch of the Immunization Division at the Department of State Health Services. She holds a master’s degree from Texas Tech University in Spanish language. She is a member of the temple’s Life Long Learning Committee. In the fall of 2003 she taught a six-week course on Crypto Jews as part of the Thinking Adults Program at Congregation Agudas Achim. Lupe and her husband, Frank, have two children, Gloria and Mimi. Lupe is very talented and is the creator of many of the wonderful kippot that can been seen on Shabbat. Lupe served as Trustee for CBI 2005-2006 and VP Membership in 2006-2007.
Secretary – Jean Hughes
Jean Hughes Secretary Jean has been a member of Congregation Beth Israel since 1993, She is in the choir, and has served on the Ritual Committee, presently as Secretary and the Life Long Learning Committee. She received a BS in Psychology and Anthropology from SMU and a MA in Psychology from TCU and has done coursework at UT Austin. She works as a records conservator at the Texas Archeological Research Laboratory at The University of Texas at Austin. Jean has lived in Austin on-and-off since 1977 having married Richard Hughes in 1978. They have one daughter, Kate, and a son, Burte, who lives in New York City. Jean served as Secretary at CBI for 2006-2007 and as Assistant Treasurer at CBI for 2005-2006.
Treasurer – David Mintz
David has lived in Austin since 1981. He is an active community volunteer and has served in leadership capacities with several organizations. He is a former trustee for the Jewish Community Association and chaired the Community Relations Council for a number of years. David is Vice President of Government Affairs for the Texas Apartment Association and graduated from the University of Texas. David and his wife, Sherri, have a son, Sam, who is CDC alum. David served as Trustee at CBI 2005-2006 and Treasurer 2006-2007.
Assistant Treasurer – David Freeman
David, his wife Margaret and his two children, Joseph and Melissa joined CBI immediately upon arrival in Austin during the fall of 1993. David is an attorney and a member of the Texas, Florida and Alabama State Bars. His practice areas include a concentration in real estate and estate planning. He is a graduate of Cumberland School of Law of Samford University, Birmingham, Alabama. He earned his undergraduate degree from American University in Washington, D.C. and he attended City College of New York. David was born and raised in the Bronx, New York City. David has various hobbies and interests; he enjoys relaxing with a guitar or a string bass and he is interested in finance, world politics, surfing the internet and tinkering with computers.
Financial Secretary – Gary Solka
Gary Solka has been in Austin since 1993 and also went to UT from 1985-1989. He has been a member of CBI since 1994. Gary is married to Shelley and has a daughter Erin enrolled at the CDC. Both Shelley and Gary have been involved in a variety of CBI activities and positions of leadership. Gary has served as a member of the JCAA board. Gary is a loan officer with Milestone Mortgage providing assistance to individuals looking to purchase or refinance residential property.
Assistant Financial Secretary – Eddy Eichner
Eddy Eichner moved to Austin from McAllen in 1980 and graduated from UT in 1986. He has been a member of CBI since 1994. Eddy is married to Alice and their daughter Erin will be an eighth grader at Murchison Middle School and their son Sam will be a sixth grader at Murchison. Both Erin and Sam are proud alumni of the CDC. Alice is a licensed Interior Designer specializing in residential remodeling/design and has owned her own business for close to 20 years. Eddy is a property manager and also a mortgage loan officer with Amerinet Mortgage.