Our Professional Staff

Sue Huntting, Director of Youth Education

Sue Huntting is our Religious School Director. Sue has worked in the field of Jewish Education for over 25 years. She began her career in youth work and Jewish camping for the Pennsylvania Council of the Union of Reform Judaism (then the UAHC). She moved into synagogue work when she became Program Director at Valley Beth Shalom in Encino, CA. After she and Rabbi Geoff Huntting were married and had young children, she worked as a synagogue consultant in the Los Angeles area.

Since moving to Sarasota, Sue has taught in Temple Sinai's Religious School and has been involved at URJ Camp Coleman as co-chair of the Judaic Advisory Committee and faculty coordinator. Sue has taught in the local Florence Melton Adult Mini-School. She is on the staff of the nationally recognized project, the Experiment in Congregational Education, which guides synagogue leadership through a process of articulating an institutional educational vision. She also is the Managing Editor of the Journal of Jewish Education.

Sue holds a Masters in Arts in both Jewish Education and Jewish Communal Service from Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, which also awarded her an honorary doctorate in 2005 for her professional accomplishments.

Bethany S. Leinweber, MS Ed, Director of Early Childhood Education

Bethany Leinweber holds a B.S. in Education, a B.A. in Judaic Studies, and an M.S. Ed from the University of Miami, with a specialization in reading and learning disabilities. Bethany, a native of Baltimore, Maryland, first moved to Sarasota with her family while she was in high school. She now lives in Sarasota with her husband, Joshua, and their three children, Noah, Sage and Alix.

Andrea Eiffert, Youth Director

Andrea Eiffert was born and raised in Rochester, New York, where she attended an Orthodox synagogue, spent summers a JCC overnight camp, and participated in NCSY and BBYO.  After receiving a B.A. in Psychology from SUNY Cortland, she married her husband, Eric and had two children Haley and Alex.  Andrea's professional career has ranged from providing case management for individuals with Developmental Disabilities, to owning several small businesses, to joining Temple Sinai as our Youth Director.