Heather Friedman Rivera

President

Heather moved to Hawai`i from California with her husband in 2016 and joined the KBS board in 2024. A retired Registered Nurse, Heather is also an author who writes fiction and non-fiction for adults and books for young readers. When not writing, she enjoys volunteering at the Pana`ewa Rainforest Zoo & Gardens in Hilo and being a mentor for cochlear implant recipients. She keeps active by hiking and cycling. Her latest pursuit is learning Hebrew. 
 

Vic Greenspan

1st Vice President

Vic graduated high school in the San Francisco Bay Area. After two years of college he ended up in Southwest Oregon working as a carpenter and doing some commercial fishing. Vic next headed to Juneau, Alaska where he did commercial fishing and carpentry. In winter 1986 he came to Kona to work on the Hyatt Hotel (previously Hilton) in Waikoloa. Vic got his Hawai`i Contractors License and did a variety of construction projects – specializing in concrete work – from 1990-2014. Now retired, he always provides invaluable support to KBS events and projects. 

 

Stuart Liroff

2nd Vice President

Stuart grew up in the San Fernando Valley in Southern California and was Bar Mitzvah in 1960 at Temple Valley Beth Shalom in Encino. He served two years in the US Army and then moved to the San Francisco Bay Area in 1970, where he graduated with a BA from UC Berkeley and an MBA from Santa Clara University. Working in the hi-tech industry, he was one of the founders of WebMD.com.  Around 2001 he left engineering and moved to recruiting, spending nine years as VP at Academia.edu  and then retiring to Hawai`i with his partner, Marina, and their two cats, Misty and Blue, in 2024. Now, he tends to their flower garden, plays piano, works out at The Club, and loves to snorkel at Kahalu’u, take walks on Wālua, and also just swim at the many local beaches.  We love to watch movies, cook at home and go out to local restaurants.  He has a daughter, Jessie, who lives with her husband in Arlington, VA.
 

Mike Bernstone

Treasurer

Mike owned and managed wholesale distribution companies for more than 25 years, and, after vacationing on the Big Island since the mid 70s, retired to Waikoloa in 1996. Unable to handle an empty schedule, his retirement has included some two decades as a dive guide and scuba instructor while maintaining other sales jobs on the Big Island.  Mike has been a member and officer of Kona Beth Shalom for over 20 years.  Presently he is enjoying being fully retired while bicycling and paddling several days a week.
 

Nella Silverman

Secretary

Nella joined the KBS board in 2015 and has  been secretary since 2016.  She and her husband Alan retired and moved to Kona with their daughter and her family in 2013.  Nella worked for UCLA Hospital Labs for the last 15 years of her employment.  She continues her medical connection as a volunteer at the Kona Community Hospital Auxiliary.  Looking for Jewish outreach, Nella and Alan enjoy the Shabbat services and warm atmosphere of KBS.
 

Rabbi Shari Joy Berman

Past President

Shari and her partner, Alice Bratton, relocated to Kona from Tokyo in 1998. A Chicago native, Shari has spent most of her life with an affiliation to Judaism, a bond strengthened in 2004 when she studied for her adult Bat Mitzvah. A lifelong lover of languages, the melodies to chant the words of the Torah spoke to her. Shari trained a number of KBS b’nei mitzvah students and served as president of Kona Beth Shalom for five years. In 2012, she took a position as Associate Professor at the national university in Hirosaki, a small castle town in Japan. In 2022, she was ordained after completing rabbinic studies. R. Shari’s goal is to create a community atmosphere that engages congregants to participate in, understand and reap the full rewards of Jewish tradition and rituals.
 

Barry Blum

Past President

Born in Brooklyn and moving west throughout his life, Barry is an orthopedic surgeon (professionally) and an (amateur) musician. He and his wife, Gloria, joined KBS shortly after arriving in Kona from Northern California in 1986. Several years later he joined the Board, eventually became president and when the opportunity was offered to rejoin the congregation leadership, Barry accepted. His and Gloria’s main interest is to make KBS more attractive with interesting programs and discussions and to enhance communication between members. For 13 years, until his first retirement as president, Barry led most (but not all) of the Shabbat services and still occasionally fills that role for Shabbats, Simchat Torah and other observances. Meanwhile the couple organized and continue to lead Kona’s Traveling Jewish Wedding Band and also have become dual wedding officiants.
 

Elaine Dobinson

Elaine joined the board of KBS in 2012, and served as secretary for 2 years.  In 2016 she led the task of building a new website for KBS and now serves as its co-webmaster. Elaine is most recently from Pasadena, CA, where she worked for NASA at the Jet Propulsion Lab for many years. She and her husband are now retired and live in Holualoa. An avid swimmer and snorkeler, Elaine loves to swim out to the King buoy, where she frequently gets to play with dolphins. She joined KBS to connect with other Jews on the island, and likes the warm, friendly and joyful atmosphere it provides. In addition to serving on the KBS board, Elaine has volunteered at the Waimea headquarters for the Keck telescopes. 
 

Joel Gimpel

Living in Hawai`i since his 1996 retirement from the practice of law, Joel has served on many community boards including those of Kona Beth Shalom, the Aloha Performing Arts Company, Habitat For Humanity, the West Hawaii Regional Hospitals, the Kamuela Philharmonic Orchestra Society, the Pualani Estates Homeowners Association, and the Kona Orchid Society. He has also been a member of the Hawaii County Cost of Government Commission, Board of Ethics, and Board of Appeals.  Joel has continued his musical pursuits, playing with the Kamuela Philharmonic, performing in solo and chamber music recitals and as a member of Kona’s Traveling Jewish Wedding Band. He has also served as Music Director for Aloha Performing Arts Company productions, most recently “Fiddler on the Roof,” “Evita,” “South Pacific,” and “Jesus Christ Superstar.”
 

Serena Sarah Kramer

 
 

Courtney Meiselman

Courtney grew up in the big city of Houston, Texas.
After getting a Bachelors in Fine Art at the Kansas City Art Institute, she migrated to Kona in 2010.
The sunny island and its aloha taught Courtney the importance of community.
She is currently working as a ceramic artist, focusing on sculptures that tell stories.
Courtney finds inspiration in children stories and the natural world. She appreciates when things seem simple but are actually complex.
Courtney was a teacher in a variety of subjects and ages for more than 15 years. In addition she enjoys cooking, gardening, and swimming
 

Arnold Rabin

I was born in Chicago and was raised in a kosher home that celebrated all the Jewish Holidays; attended Hebrew school, and was bar mitzvahed 1n 1960.  

I dropped out of college my senior year to join a radical street theatre troupe that toured the country and even performed at Woodstock. 

I left my Berkeley Street Theatre Company on a journey that found me in Hawaii in 1970. 

Since then, I began my 46 year career as a Real Estate Broker. I am married,  I have 4 children and seven grandchildren.

For fun, I own an organic farm, perform magic shows (many were Chanukah and Purim parties for KBS), create watercolors, and sit on the Board of The Society For Kona Education and Arts (SKEA), of which I am a founding member. Last year I designed and initiated the creation of the Jewish Peace Monument at Paliaku Gardens.

I would like to assist the congregation in finding a permanent home.
 

Craig Silverman

Craig moved to Kailua-Kona in early 2025. He is married to Trish Silverman, and they have two adult sons, Benjamin and Samuel. Craig grew up in Denver, Colorado, where he attended Denver Public Schools, graduated from Colorado College in Colorado Springs with a political science degree, and earned his law degree at the University of Colorado at Boulder.

Craig worked for 16 years at the Denver DA’s Office, where he became a Chief Deputy D.A. He went into private practice in Colorado in 1996 and remains an active lawyer in his home state. Craig also worked in the media, with paid roles as a news columnist, and as a legal analyst and talk show host on television and radio.

Raised by an outstanding attorney father who started Orthodox and a great mother who was Reformed, Craig is a third-generation Denverite and attorney. 

Craig and Trish were married at Beth Joseph Synagogue in Denver, the traditional synagogue where Craig had his Bar Mitzvah. Denver Beth Joseph has since merged with Beth Hamedrash Hagadol, where Alan and Nella Silverman (no relation) were married. Craig likes dogs, golf, and beaches, but he dislikes snow.
 

Alan Silverman

Alan moved to Kona in 2013 with Nella to live close to daughter Rachel’s family, especially granddaughter Ridley. They also have an adult son, Sam, who lives in Southern California. Alan retired after 50+ years in radio broadcasting: anchoring and producing programs, reporting news and covering events from space shuttle launches to backstage at the Oscar ceremonies for local stations in the US, worldwide on Voice of America and internationally to audiences in South Africa, Ireland, Israel and other countries. Since moving to Hawaii, Alan enjoys baking bagels and challah, and being part of the KBS community, WebMaven for the congregation website, and technical support for services and various online activities.