Celebrating Carla Spector
Posted on 05/08/2026 @ 06:30 AM
Dr. Bella Tendler Krieger, Carla Spector and Rabbi Efrat Zarren-Zohar
On April 22nd, we were honored to celebrate two great milestones— Yom HaAtzma’ut, Israel’s Independence Day (in the Jewish calendar the 5th of Iyar) and Carla Spector, who is retiring after 50 years working for CAJE.
Below are a few reflections on Carla from me and her direct boss, Dr. Bella Tendler Krieger, CAJE’s Director of Adult Learning and Growth, and then some of the remarks Carla shared with the many attendees.
Rabbi Efrat Zarren-Zohar, Executive Director
I’d like to note that this celebration was made possible by a very generous gift from the Ganz family in memory of Charlie Ganz, zichrono livracha, to honor the endlessly curious, deeply thoughtful and delightfully irreverent person that he was…
50 is a pretty famous number in the Torah.
It comes into play in a few more parshiot, in Vayikra / Leviticus chapter 25 where we are told to hallow the 50th year and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all the inhabitants thereof – props to those who recognize that quote from American history.
The 50th year is known as a yovel or in English, a jubilee, when each Israelite was to return to their land and their family and during that year no one was supposed to sow or reap or harvest, but just rest and let the land rest.
Well… i didn’t know that Carla would want to take the Torah so literally! I mean I’ve never seen her so machmir about a mitzvah before. 50 years and boom… that was it. Resting.
Some of you may recall that Carla was hired by the former Executive Director of CAJE, Gene Greenzweig, zichrono livracha, in 1976, to serve as the Akiva leadership coordinator, which was the premier Jewish leadership program in Miami for high school students over many decades.
Gene was the person who gave Carla the opportunity to develop her career and work with students, and who believed in her and helped her grow. And personally, I can say the same about him as well. He is, to this day, deeply missed.
Carla was so good at her position, she was then asked to work in the Hebrew high school at the time where she built the Miami Dade college credit program, working with Rabbi Shimon Azulay and Dr. Sandy Andron, who have both subsequently passed.
After about 30 years of doing that with great expertise, and the look that would bring any high school student back in line, Carla then worked with Roberta Shevin (of blessed memory) in the area of development, helping to put together ‘Parsley, CAJE, Rosemary & Thyme’ events. Remember those?
1994 was a special year because Carla went on her first March of the Living trip and then was asked to return as staff every two years until 2010, even co-leading the 2006 march with Mark Baranek.
But in 2010, the best was yet to be-- Carla came to the Department of Adult Learning, the department that I was directing at the time…. But not until she and I interviewed each other at Mo’s Bagels over lunch… for 4 hours. True.
It was very clear we were both… just a bit… nervous about working with each other.
If you know us, you might have noticed that we have slightly different temperaments.
Hamayvin yavin. Those who know, know…
Needless to say, against all the odds, Carla was the department’s number #2 for the next 15 years and we didn’t kill each other.
In fact, I must say we came to respect each other and appreciate what we each brought to the table. And Carla was key in helping to bring the department to the next level of engagement with her incredible skills.
Dr. Bella Tendler Krieger Director of Adult Learning
Dr. Bella Tendler Krieger:
I’ve only been working with you for two years, but I feel incredibly lucky that I get to be the one celebrating you today.
From the moment I arrived, you welcomed me with such warmth. You taught me the ropes, you taught me this community, and you made me feel supported from the very beginning…
Everybody knows the care you gave to your learners — the hundreds of calls, the hundreds of emails, the follow-up, the reminders, and the way you made every person feel remembered and important. You didn’t just help people sign up for classes. You made them feel like they belonged.
And you gave that same care to our faculty too — editing handouts, solving problems, troubleshooting, and quietly holding so much together behind the scenes. So much of what worked, worked because of you.
And what makes that even more special is that you were never only supporting learning — you were a serious learner yourself. You sat in on more classes than almost anyone, and you brought real curiosity and heart to Jewish learning.
It says so much that the Carla Spector Scholarship Fund has already raised more than $14,000 from over 70 people, along with a donor match, to help make sure others can learn. That feels like such a fitting tribute, because opening doors for others is exactly what you have done for so many years.
Carla, for so many people in Miami, you have been a face of Jewish life and Jewish learning. You have been the person who answered the call, solved the problem, remembered the detail, and made everything feel personal.
Carla Spector Director of Administration for Adult Learning
Fifty years. It’s a number that’s hard for me to fully grasp, even as I stand here today.
Fifty years is a long time to spend anywhere— but in a place devoted to learning, values, and community, it feels less like time passed and more like a life lived with purpose.
When I first walked through these doors on Oct. 16, 1976, I could not have imagined the journey ahead —the people I would meet, the challenges we would face, and the accomplishments we would celebrate together.
I started here with a simple goal: to do my job well and to contribute in whatever way I could. What I found instead was much more than a job— I found a community, a purpose, and a second home. Over the years, this organization has grown and changed, and I’ve been fortunate enough to grow right along with it.
Over the decades, I’ve had the privilege of witnessing generations of students grow— not only in knowledge, but in identity, in confidence, and in their connection to our shared heritage. That has been the greatest reward of all.
Jewish education is not just about books or lessons. It is about questions, tradition, and responsibility—l’dor v’dor, from one generation to the next. To have played even a small role in that chain is something I will always carry with me…
To those I’ve worked with over the years: thank you. Thank you for your support, your patience, your humor, and your dedication. You’ve made even the toughest days worthwhile and the best days unforgettable.
To the leadership— past and present, (and to Gene Greenzweig z”l)— thank you for trusting me, challenging me, and giving me the opportunity to contribute to something bigger than myself.
Your dedication, creativity, and heart have inspired me every single day. Whatever I may have given to this agency, I have received back many times over in friendship, support, and shared purpose.
As I step into retirement, I do so with a full heart, with gratitude and pride— and with confidence that this work will continue to flourish in capable hands. I may be leaving my role, but I will never stop believing in the importance of what we do here. Not just in what I’ve done, but in what we’ve done together…
And a final thank you to my family, the people that I love most in my life. Your support and patience, god only knows, have allowed me to reach this milestone in my life.
And as for me— well, it’s time to see what the next adventure brings.
I look forward to becoming one of you, a learner on the opposite side of where I now stand.
Please don’t be sad because I’m leaving … be happy because I was here!
To thank Carla and wish her well on her next adventure, please email her: CarlaSpector@caje-miami.org and to contribute to the Carla Spector Scholarship Fund in her honor.
