It is my great honor to join the Bet Knesset Bamidbar family as Spiritual Leader. My wife, Melanie, and I bought our home in Sun City Summerlin in 2010, moving here full time in 2012. This is a wonderful community, with myriads of things to do and a vibrant Jewish community. BKB has always been the anchor of the Jewish activity here, and today is the only Jewish house of worship in SCS.
I was born and raised in a small town in Missouri, where my father (a businessman) served as the lay Cantor for 300 Jewish families. We had no Rabbi, so my father, who had an amazing cantorial voice and a great Jewish training in Poland before being smuggled out to come to America, was the primary source of prayer services and all life cycle events for 50 years. I was raised in the shul, and after high school, I went to the Bet Hamedresh L’Torah Yeshiva in Skokie, Illinois, where I trained for almost 10 years. At the same time, I earned my BA, at Roosevelt University and my MA, at Loyola University.
Armed with my degree in Administration and Supervision, I went on to start the first non-public school for children with severe disabilities, become known as an innovator for special education programs, and over the next 40 years became the Executive Director/CEO of a large regional system of programs for persons with disabilities from birth to their 90’s.
For many years, I taught Hebrew School, trained hundreds of children for Bar/Bat Mitzvah, and was very active in Jewish communal activities.
Melanie had a successful career in school book publishing and is an accomplished singer/songwriter, performing often in Illinois, and she continued making appearances when we retired and moved to SCS. We love it here and are intensely involved in many aspects of community life here. I am proudest of being able to create a SCS Men’s Club here and oversee its growth into one of the largest official clubs in Sun City.
Melanie and I are so pleased to be part of the BKB family. As Spiritual Leader, I have the opportunity to provide Torah education, spiritual guidance and support, prayer services and special events, and leadership in the development of our Jewish community here. Melanie is providing musical renditions of many of our prayers and some special inspirational features. BKB is well known for its outstanding Choir which is a very special part of all our services. Our membership comes from SCS and nearby communities and is well known for its outstanding friendships and innovative religious experiences.
I am most grateful for this opportunity to become part of BKB’s long and notable history. We offer you the opportunity to become involved with our vibrant, active, enjoyable, and reasonable Jewish experience. Please join us for one of our services or special events… you will find a real connection to Judaism in a setting of sincere friendships, where we live our values and focus on what really matters in life.
Timothy Cooper has been renowned throughout the Las Vegas music scene for more than 40 years, having performed as a keyboardist, composer, and conductor for numerous shows from The Strip to Spring Mountain Ranch. He has created and produced the original scores for The Aladdin’s Abracadabra, The Luxor’s Winds of the Gods and the Excalibur’s King Arthur’s Tournament, where his music has been enjoyed by over twenty million people.
Mr. Cooper received his Bachelor’s Degree from the State University of New York and University of Pisa, Italy, and his Master’s Degree in Concert Organ Performance from the University of Colorado. He enjoys performing as a concert organist within our local community of churches and was selected to compose the Roman Catholic Mass for the installation of The Diocese of Las Vegas. In addition to serving as Music Director for Bet Knesset Bamidbar, Tim also enjoys performing as accompanist for P’Nai Tikvah and the Sun City Silvertones.
Though he keeps a busy production schedule in his recording studio, Tim still finds time to enjoy foreign travel, astronomy and four-wheeling throughout the Sierras, the Mojave Desert and Nevada’s Great Basin.
Cantor Goldberg is currently the cantor for Beit Knesset Bamidbar and Congregation P’nai Tikvah. She received her Masters of Sacred Music from Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion – School of Sacred Music in 2005, and was ordained in 2006. Her love of Judaism and Jewish music began when she first began to sing. Growing up she participated in Temple youth choirs, was a song leader for her youth group and at the URJ Reginal Camp Swig, and has taught music at Temple B’nai Torah, in Bellevue, Washington, where she also frequently substituted for the cantor prior to attending HUC.
She is filled with spirituality, creativity, energy, and philosophical compatibility. She is eager to help foster the growth of our community and to expand our musical knowledge.
Cantor Goldberg has had student pulpits in New Jersey, New York (the Bronx) and St. Thomas, USVI. After ordination, Cantor Goldberg worked at Temple Beth-El in St. Petersburg, Florida, Congregation Bet Emet in Sun City Summerlin, and Temple Sinai in Las Vegas. Her list of awards and scholarships is considerably long and incredibly impressive. They include The Forcheimer Scholarship, The Cantor Walter Davidson Prize, The Morris W. Smith Prize, The Rabbi Stephen S. Pearce Prize, The Palm Beach Liturgical Prize, second place division 6 Southern Nevada award from the Nation Association of Teachers of Singing, and was chosen as a “Woman of Valor” from the Woman’s Philanthropy of the Jewish Federation of Las Vegas.