Jewish Federation of Greater Santa Barbara Welcomes Three New Board Members

Dusty Heist-Levine is from Pennsylvania, and attended the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill. He has a B.A. in Political Science and Jewish Studies. Dusty made Aliyah (became an Israeli citizen) in 2005, and lived on a kibbutz near Haifa. Later, Dusty worked for the Los Angeles Jewish Federation, where he met his wife Rachael. In 2010 Dusty began work for the Jewish Agency for Israel, which gave them the opportunity to return to California and settle in Santa Barbara.

Dr. Keith Massel is from Cincinnati, Ohio, and has been in California since 1982, and in Santa Barbara since 1996. He received his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Georgia State University, with a specialty in Behavior Analysis and Therapy. Keith has been a licensed psychologist since 1989 and a Board Certified Behavior Analyst since 2003. Keith is the founder and director of the Vista Psychological Center and the Vista Center for Behavioral Analysis. He is a member of Congregation B’nai B’rith, and has two children.

Dr. Jeffrey Kupperman is a native of New Orleans, and received his B.S. undergraduate degree from Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut, and his M.D. from Tulane University School of Medicine. He completed his training as an NIH and American Heart Association-awarded Respiratory Physiology and Medicine Fellow at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center. Jeffrey moved to Santa Barbara in 1981 to work at the Santa Barbara Medical Foundation Clinic (now Sansum Medical Clinic). In 1998, Dr. Kupperman opened a private practice of pulmonary and internal medicine. Jeffrey and his wife Nancy, a pediatrician at the Santa Barbara County Clinics, have three children.

The current Jewish Federation Executive Committee includes: Joan Rothenberg, President; Lauren Katz, Immediate Past President and Major Gifts Chair; Laini Millar Melnick, Vice President and Women’s Division Chair; Don Wolfe, Treasurer; Ron Zonen, Secretary; Alan J. Wyner and Michael O’Kelley, Members At-Large.

Continuing on the 2014 Board: Ralph Baxter, David Landecker, Alan Levy, Stephanie Locker, Stacey Matson, Michael Nissenson, Rachelle Pegg, Ken Rotman, Leslie Cane Schneiderman, and Sam Sosa.

The Jewish Federation raises and distributes funds to support the needs of the local and international Jewish community and is devoted to fulfilling a multitude of local needs while providing rescue and relief in Israel and around the world.

The Federation’s Bronfman Family Jewish Community Center, located at 524 Chapala St., offers a variety of classes, activities and programs which provide education, culture, recreation, and community. The JCC houses several programs:

Jewish Family Service, offering counseling and social services for all;

Portraits of Survival and Upstanders: Courage in the Face of Evil, two permanent photographic exhibits of local Holocaust survivors and those who “stood up” for them, as well as educational programs and community resources.

All of the Federation’s programs and activities are open to the public, regardless of cultural, religious or socio-economic background.

For more information on the Jewish Federation of Greater Santa Barbara, go to www.JewishSantaBarbara.org or call 805.957.1115.