Rabbi Nate Crane has served as Senior Rabbi of Beth Hillel Bnai Emunah since 2019. At the heart of his rabbinate is a belief in the sacred privilege of walking alongside individuals, families, and communities—through moments of celebration and loss, periods of transition and challenge, and the everyday experiences in which relationships are built and Jewish life takes root.
Rabbi Nate Crane has served as Senior Rabbi of Beth Hillel Bnai Emunah since 2019. At the heart of his rabbinate is a belief in the sacred privilege of walking alongside individuals, families, and communities—through moments of celebration and loss, periods of transition and challenge, and the everyday experiences in which relationships are built and Jewish life takes root.
At BHBE, Rabbi Crane is committed to building a community in which people know that their presence matters. His rabbinate emphasizes meaningful relationships, engaging worship, pastoral presence, and the study of Torah as a source of wisdom for contemporary life. Through his preaching and teaching, he seeks to bring Jewish tradition into conversation with the personal, communal, and moral questions people encounter every day.
Since becoming Senior Rabbi, Rabbi Crane has helped guide BHBE through an extraordinary period of communal life, including the COVID-19 pandemic, the aftermath of October 7, rising antisemitism, and significant institutional transition. Throughout these experiences, he has sought to strengthen the relationships among members, lay leaders, professional staff, and the wider Jewish community that enable a congregation to navigate change while remaining grounded in its values and traditions.
Beyond BHBE, Rabbi Crane serves a second term as a member of the Committee on Jewish Law and Standards (CJLS), one of 25 voting rabbis who shape Jewish law and practice for the international Conservative/Masorti movement. In doing so, he continues a distinguished BHBE tradition that includes former rabbis and CJLS members Rabbi Dr. Reuven Hammer, z”l, Rabbi David H. Lincoln, z”l, and Rabbi Dr. Allan D. Kensky.
Rabbi Crane is the author of the unanimously approved CJLS responsum “Adoption,” which addresses the halakhic status of adoption, parental and filial obligations, and ritual for welcoming an adopted child into a Jewish family. He is currently developing a CJLS responsum addressing the status and responsibilities of non-parent caregivers. In 2020, he co-authored the CJLS COVID-19 Guidance for Kol Nidrei with Rabbi Pamela Barmash.
Rabbi Crane was selected as a Rabbi Nehemiah Anton Nobel Scholar at The New Jewish Academy in 2026. He has also served as a Rabbi Samuel T. Lachs Fellow with Clal – The National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership, in partnership with the Herbert D. Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies at the University of Pennsylvania, and as a LEAP Fellow exploring ways to bring contemporary academic Jewish scholarship into wider communal conversation.
His commitment to the broader Jewish community includes service on the Midwest Regional Board of the Anti-Defamation League and the board of the Community Mikvah of the Conservative Movement. He is also the founder of Hagigah, a grant-supported nonprofit created to provide accessible and engaging Jewish holiday celebrations for individuals with disabilities and their families.
Prior to joining BHBE, Rabbi Crane served Congregation Or Tzion in Scottsdale, Arizona, and Congregation B’nai Tikvah in Deerfield, Illinois.
Rabbi Crane received his B.A. in Psychology from American Jewish University and rabbinic ordination and an M.A. in Rabbinic Studies from the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies. He is currently pursuing a Doctor of Hebrew Letters at Spertus Institute for Jewish Learning and Leadership.
Rabbi Crane can be reached by phone at 847.256.1213 or rabbi@bhbe.org.
Cantor Pavel Roytman is a native of Nikolaev, Ukraine. At the age of seven, he was accepted as a piano student to a music school for gifted children. He continued his studies in piano and conducting at the Kaliningrad Music College (Russia) and later at Petrozavodsk State Conservatory.
In 1994, Cantor Roytman immigrated to the United States where he obtained his Bachelor of Music in Voice Performance from DePaul University and Master of Music in Musicology from Northwestern University. He also studied chazzanut with such well-known masters of cantorial art as Hazzan Shlomo Shuster, Hazzan Henry Rosenblum, Hazzan Cory Winter, and Hazzan Alberto Mizrahi.
From 2002-06, Cantor Roytman participated in a cantorial certification program. Upon his completion, he was ordained as a cantor by the American Conference of Cantors.
Cantor Roytman has made numerous appearances at the Greater Chicago Jewish Folk Arts Festival, Chicago YIVO Society, Illinois Holocaust Museum and Educational Center, Illinois State Fair, Chicago City Winery, Chicago Summer Dance Festival, Annual Kristallnacht Commemoration, Israel’s Independence Day at Ravinia, Sir George Solti Annual Festival, the International Klezmer Gala in Stockholm, and the International Jewish Music Festival in Tsfat, Israel.
In 2004, Cantor Roytman received first prize in Voice/Cantorial Singing at the 2nd Annual Golden Hanukkiah Competition of Jewry Arts, sponsored by the World Congress of Russian Jewry, Berlin, Germany. In 2017, he was awarded a Certificate of Recognition by the Cantor’s Assembly at its annual convention.
Cantor Roytman has appeared on stage — both solo and with a number of distinguished musicians and musical ensembles — including: Chicago Acapella, Renovo Strings, Lincolnwood Chamber Orchestra, members of Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Corky Siegal and Chamber Blues, The Maxwell Street Klezmer Band, B’hai Temple Choir, The Bright Star Church Choir, Kol Zimrah Jewish Community Singers, and the Campanella Children’s Choir.
His voice was featured on three CDs: Journey of The Heart w/Cantor Marina Shemesh, Zing Mein Hartz w/ Klezmer Shpil Orchestra and Koleynu — with TBI Choir.
Cantor Roytman’s creative work includes liturgical and secular compositions for voice and choir. In 2017, Cantor Roytman wrote and produced “The Singing Yid” — a musical show based on his life and experience in Russia and the U.S.
He is a member of the American Conference of Cantors, Chicago-Milwaukee Association of Synagogue Music and Cantor’s Assembly.
As BHBE’s hazzan, Cantor Roytman leads services, conducts congregational Adult and Children’s Choirs, oversees the synagogue’s Bnai Mitzvah program, teaches Hebrew School and Adult Education classes, and shares pastoral and life cycle responsibilities with Rabbi Nate Crane. He also maintains a presence in the larger Jewish community as a recognized BHBE ambassador.
Cantor Roytman created the concept of Beit Musica, which positions BHBE as the premier Jewish musical center among Conservative synagogues in north suburban Chicago.
He resides in the Chicago area with his daughter, Shana.
Click here to view the Cantor’s website and to hear samples of his music.
Click here to read more about Beit Musica
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Cantor Roytman can be reached by phone at 847.256.1213 or cantor@bhbe.org.
Rabbi Allan D. Kensky retired from BHBE’s pulpit in June 2013, following 11 years of devoted and distinguished service. As Rabbi Annie Tucker assumed our pulpit, Rabbi Kensky was named Rabbi Emeritus.
Born and raised in New York City, Allan Kensky received his early Jewish education at the Hebrew Institute of Long Island in Far Rockaway, New York. He earned a BA in political science from Queens College. In 1967, he entered the Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS), where he specialized in the study of rabbinic texts at JTS’ Herbert Lehman Institute of Talmudic Ethics. While at JTS, he also studied political science at New York University, which awarded him a master’s degree in 1971.
Upon his ordination in 1971, Rabbi Kensky assumed the pulpit of Beth Israel Congregation in Ann Arbor, Michigan. While serving as spiritual leader of Beth Israel for 17 years, Rabbi Kensky pursued doctoral studies in midrash at JTS; he was awarded a Ph.D. in 1990. His doctoral dissertation was a critical edition of the Midrash Tanhuma on the Book of Exodus.
In 1988, Rabbi Kensky moved to Philadelphia, and for three years served as scholar-in-residence at Har Zion Temple. About the same time, he began leading a seminar for JTS Rabbinical School students designed to impart strong professional skills to aid them in their spiritual development. He was associate dean of the Seminary’s Rabbinical School from 1991-99 before serving as JTS Dean from 1999-02.
Rabbi Kensky is the father of Meira and Eitan who is married to Jennifer Broxmeyer. The couple has a young son, Simon. His late wife, Dr. Tikva Frymer-Kensky, was professor of Hebrew Bible at the Divinity School of the University of Chicago, until her passing in August 2006. In July 2008, Rabbi Kensky married Dr. Adina Kleiman, a psychologist in private practice, who appreciates being part of the BHBE synagogue community.
Rabbi Kensky can be contacted via email.
