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Rabbi Barbara Aiello
Congregational Rabbi at Temple Beth El
Rabbi Barbara Aiello is the spiritual leader of Temple Beth El in Bradenton, Florida. She was ordained as a rabbi in 1999 from the Rabbinical Seminary International in New York City and served as student rabbi for Congregation Amchah in Ft. Lauderdale during her final year of rabbinical studies.
Before entering rabbinical studies, Aiello received her undergraduate degree from Indiana University of Pennsylvania, and graduate degrees from The George Washington University in Washington, D.C. She taught in the Washington, D.C. public schools as special needs teacher, as well as at Temple Micah in their religious school.
As spiritual leader of the temple, Aiello has found various ways to encourage mainstreaming of Deaf people at Temple Beth El. "We are a non-affiliated Jewish congregation open and welcoming to Jews of all backgrounds." she explained. "Each year we provide a signed service to the greater Sarasota deaf community. Although I sign and have worked with deaf children, for our Shabbat Service Welcoming Those who are
Hearing Impaired, I hire and work with an RID interpreter."Children in the temple's Sunday School have also learned several Hebrew songs in sign language which they have taught to the entire congregation. "We sing and sign these songs each week," Aiello said. "We work with special materials provided to us by Gallaudet and by an organization that supports Jews who are deaf and make these signing books (of prayers and blessings) available to any Jewish deaf person who contacts us."
Aiello is the inventor of The
Kids on the Block, an educational puppet program. "The puppets represent children with disabilities and differences and help kids accept and appreciate persons with disabilities," she explained. "Our puppet character, 'Mandy,' is our deaf character and I use her with our students to create understanding. The Kids on the Block puppets are a worldwide program. Organizations, schools, churches/synagogues purchase the puppets then learn to work with them and put on the performances. I created the first group of puppets and then created a small business in order to share them around the world. The puppets are used in every state and 35 countries. The "Mandy" character, who is deaf, grew out of my experiences with my students, and each character was modeled after a child I had known or taught."Rabbi Aiello is married to M. Jay Rudnick, a professional photographer and FEMA disaster specialist and they have one daughter, Rosanna. Aiello may be reached at Temple Beth El, 2209 75th Street, West Bradenton, Florida 34209, 941/792-0870 (Voice), 941/794-2083 (Fax), or rabbi@tbeflorida.org (E-mail). The temple's website is http://tbeflorida.org.
