Meet Temple Beth Israel's new senior rabbi

Rabbi Jessica Spitalnic Mates held up a picture of a piece of artwork by Nathan Hilu, explaining how the veteran of World War II uniquely captured his own experience interacting with Nazi German leaders as a prison guard during The Nuremberg Trials in the 1940s. 

She showed how his use of color and bold outlines makes his storytelling accessible to even young viewers, but also offers valuable nuance about how people view history.

It's in her nature to teach, especially considering she started her career as a rabbi leading tours of the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem. Now, she is bringing her experience with art and history to the Longboat Key community as Temple Beth Israel's new senior rabbi.

She officially starts on June 1, when she will lead a special Shavuot service with guest speaker Aaron Rose, founder and chair of the Israeli Veterans Club clubhouse. She replaces Rabbi Stephen Sniderman, who joined in 2016.

Mates grew up in New York and attended school at the University of Wisconsin. She later met Rabbi Tony Bayfield, head of the Movement for Reform Judaism.

"He sat me down one day and said, 'You should really think about becoming a rabbi.' I'd never even thought about it before, and I'd never had an adult see something like that in me," she said. "He's very special to me, still."

Only fairly recently did women get the opportunity to be ordained. Sally Priesand became the first in the United States in 1972, according to the Jewish Women's Archive.

Courtesy image

Mates worked in a Jewish community in Chicago for several years before applying to rabbinical school, and she then traveled to Jerusalem for her first year of study.

"I was a tour guide for American youth visiting Israel," she said. "It has shaped my whole rabbinical perspective."

She continued to visit Jerusalem over the summer to lead tours, even after returning to New York to complete her final four years of rabbinical school. She interned at a synagogue on the Upper East Side of Manhattan.

"That was a great first job experience because I saw what could be and what to strive for," she said.

Before coming to Longboat Key, Mates worked as an assistant rabbi in Charlotte, N.C., then at Temple Beth El in Boca Raton.

She didn't know it then, but that move would spark an electric devotion to uncovering and preserving history, especially as it relates to the Holocaust.

While she always appreciated history education, she discovered a new fascination with understanding accounts of what happened, particularly when she saved original documents, which were tucked away, from The Nuremberg Trials in a closet at a university.

"It was around then I realized that to get people to synagogue beyond a funeral or a bar mitzvah or a wedding, I needed to provide good programming," she said.

She went on to develop a friendship with Hilu, a fellow New Yorker. Mates recently shared her expertise for a documentary about his artwork, titled "Nathan-ism." Nancy Spielberg, sister of Steven Spielberg, produced the film directed by Elan Golod.

It started making the film festival circuit in late 2023, and Mates said she looks forward to bringing the film and pieces of his art here early next year as one of her educational offerings to the community.

"That experience changed my life, and at some point I realized I wanted to do more with this," she said.

Courtesy image

Even as she discovered this inspiration to explore the history of the Holocaust, Mates said she didn't believe she had any personal connection to it.

That is, until the early 2020s, during the peak of the COVID pandemic. Mates discovered she did indeed have a familial connection to the historic tragedy.

"A man reached out to several members of my family through Facebook," she said. "My mother's grandfather had been one of seven children. He came to America then died in 1929. All six of his brothers and sisters died in Europe. This man was the grandson of one of those siblings — his father had escaped. He had a picture of my great, great grandfather. So, I found out I had lost family in the Holocaust."

Inspired by history, Mates has begun pursuing a Ph.D in comparative studies through Florida Atlantic University, particularly exploring how "transactive memory" may carry trauma forward through generations.

While she works toward her degree, she will work in Longboat Key at Temple Beth Israel, and she said she can't wait to step up to the bimah.

Even though she's lived in Florida since 2002, Mates said this was the first time she visited the Sarasota area. She immediately fell in love with the community, and she looks forward to fully embracing the organization's commitment to promoting education.