Get to Know Us: Our Clergy

Rabbi Michael S. Beals, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. has been with Beth Shalom for seven years. He is a 1997 graduate of the Jewish Theological Seminary. Rabbi Beals is also a graduate of the University of Judaism in Los Angeles (MA Hebrew Letters), The American University in Washington DC (MA International Relations), and University of California at Berkeley (BA Political Science). He received the Raoul Wallenberg Fellowship at Hebrew University in Jerusalem. Beyond his accomplished education, Rabbi Beals has also worked in a variety of roles from serving as a management analyst developing multi-cultural training programs to working with young and old in programs of music therapy, Shabbat programming, and providing pastoral counseling and support to the sick and elderly and to the families that support them.

During Rabbi Beals tenure our Hebrew School has grown to over 100 students, we've established a nationally recognized Keruv Initiative - to welcome and support interfaith families, and re-established an active and involved Sisterhood and Men's Club. Also during his tenure, we have transformed our 1950s spiritual home to a modern, accessible, spiritual center.

Rabbi Beals is proudly accompanied by his wife, Elissa, a trained house-call veterinarian and his children, Ariella and Shira. They are avid cat and dog lovers.

Cantor Ruth L. Ross, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Jewish music has been a part of This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. life since she was a child growing up at Temple Emunah in Lexington, Massachusetts. Cantor Ross graduated cum laude with a bachelor's degree in music from Boston University in 1984. She began serving as a Hazzan in various capacities almost immediately and before the Cantors Assembly began placing women in cantorial roles in Conservative congregations.Cantor Ross became a member of the New England Board of Cantors (then the Jewish Ministers and Cantors Association) in 1984 and was commissioned as a Hazzan by the Cantors Assembly in 2000. From 1995 to 1999, Cantor Ross served as the Cantor at Temple Shalom in Milton. From 1999 to 2007, she served as the Cantor at Temple Beth El in Portland, Maine.

With more than 25 years of experience as a Hazzan, Cantor Ross strives to enable each congregant to find a personal connection to the shul. She brings confidence and a breadth of experience to the pulpit, as well as a sensitive and accessible voice. Cantor Ross has written numerous compositions and choral arrangements for congregational, interfaith and choral groups. Some of Cantor Ross compositions may be heard on her recently published CD, Mostly Psalms.

Cantor Ross and her husband, David, have four children: Sam, Mierka, Nathan, and Abraham.