Andrew Gelman

I was born and raised in Salt Lake City, Utah. I attended a reform/conservative synagogue where I was B'nai Mitzvah and confirmed. I attended Tufts University where I earned a BA in Spanish. I have lived in San Francisco, the Philippines and Portland, Maine for the last 20 years. I have been a middle school math and science educator for the last twenty-five years. 

I am married to Rosie Lenehan and we have two children. We became connected to the greater Portland Jewish community when our sons attended the JCA preschool. We selected Bet Ha’am Hebrew school for our children to continue their Jewish education and eventually became members because we felt welcome at Bet Ha'am. We like the Hebrew school’s focus on Tikkun Olam and community involvement. I have enjoyed volunteering in the garden and other Bet Ha’am events and look forward to doing so more. One of my favorite Bet Ha’am experiences is going to Friday shabbat service in the darkness of winter and seeing the light and warmth of the shabbat candles fill the sanctuary. Another favorite is attending shabbat services on a rainy Saturday and watching the rain flow off the roof in a waterfall into the reflection pool. My interest in serving on the Bet Ha’am board is that I want to ensure that Bet Ha’am continues to thrive so that it can continue to serve the community. I bring a background in public education, raising a Jewish family in Maine and a spouse in an interfaith marriage.