Our congregation is currently under lay leadership with Elliott McCarthy serving as Spiritual Leader and Dr. Mark Packer serving as President. We thank them for their hard work and efforts!
Mark Packer – President
I was raised in a conservative Jewish family in New York. Having been born in the 1950s, I grew up knowing a number of Holocaust survivors who had immigrated to New York after the war. This included the cantor who taught me to chant my Haftarah. And as Israel was still very young at the time, my entire world was strongly Zionist, which instilled in me a lifelong love for the Jewish state.
I came of age during the 1960s, which was a period of profound cultural change. This inspired my keen interest in examining the moral and political values of the age, and which soon led to my decision at age 16 to study philosophy.
With the loving support of my family, I endured the rigors of graduate school and received my doctorate in philosophy from Northwestern University. I have since held faculty appointments at a number of schools, including Vanderbilt University, Dartmouth College and most recently, The University of South Carolina Upstate, from which I retired in 2023.
I joined Temple B’nai Israel in 1995, where I found a very warm welcome. The strong sense of community and spiritual energy of the congregation inspired me to renew my commitment to Jewish religious and cultural practices. I am very proud and honored to be serving as President of the synagogue, especially during a time of significant change as we grow our membership and experiment with lay leadership and self-governance. I believe that the synagogue is now undergoing a joyous renaissance, which fills me with optimism for the future of Jewish life in here in Spartanburg.
Elliott McCarthy – Spiritual Leader
I am honored and thrilled to serve as the Spiritual Leader for this beautiful congregation. Although I never thought that life would take me to place where I am leading a congregation, I am thrilled beyond measure to step up and provide religious leadership to our small congregation.
I have never been a particularly observant Jew, but Judaism and Jewish culture have been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. Lighting candles, celebrating Passover, and eating special foods has always kept me grounded to my family’s faith.
I began attending Sunday School at Temple Beth Sholom in Miami Beach when I was 11 to hang out with my friends. This was a notably late start for Jewish Education, but I quickly caught up, became a Bar Mitzvah, and then became active in the Jewish youth movement known as NFTY. This allowed me my first access to song-leading as well as leading religious services.
When I went to college at Tufts University, I continued leading services and started working for local congregations in the Boston area. When we moved to Philadelphia, I worked for synagogues there as well.
Upon moving to Spartanburg, I took a little break to focus on career and family, but was asked to come lead services at B’nai Israel after the retirement of Rabbi Leibowitz.
I am honored to be here, and would love to hear from you! Please send me requests, questions, or feedback!