- December 13, 2025
Rabbis Stanton Zamek and Martha Bergadine spent 17 years leading a congregation in Hong Kong. They loved it.
But, it was a long way from the place they still considered to be home — the United States. Feeling the call to be closer to family, the husband-and-wife duo started looking for a new congregation. Aug. 1 marked their first day at Temple Beth-El in Ormond Beach.
With a membership of just over 200 families, Zamek said Temple Beth-El is a multigenerational congregation with a long history.
"Temple Beth-El has been an active and important component of this community long before I got here," Zamek said. "We're just trying to be good stewards of that legacy."
Zamek, who led United Jewish Congregation of Hong Kong since 2008, was ordained in 1996 by the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion. He and Bergadine, the congregation's director of youth and family services, graduated from the same class. They previously served in congregations in San Francisco, California and Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
Bergadine is helping with curriculum at Temple Beth El's Shalom School. She also leads a monthly family service.
Becoming rabbis was a career change for both Zamek and Bergadine. Zamek previously worked as an attorney. Bergadine had worked in advertising.
"I have worked mostly in education, both for kids and adults," she said. "But I do get the real privilege and honor of also being with people at important points in their lives."
Like, leading part of Temple Beth El's High Holy Days in late September and early October.
It was the first time Bergadine and Zamek have been able to lead those services together.
As rabbis for almost 30 years, they have participated in recovery work following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in Louisiana, worked with their previous Hong Kong congregation for a new Torah scroll, and been part of numerous baby namings, bat mitzvahs and bar mitzvahs.
Bergadine said that during their time with the congregation in Hong Kong, children that went through the religious education program would often come back from college to visit, sometimes coming to their house for Shabbat dinner. Other times, they would hear from the parents that their child had become president of their college Hillel chapter.
"It's a really a gift," Bergadine said. "Those moments when you see that you've had an influence or made an impact on someone's life like that."
Zamek said both he and Bergadine met the "right kind of teachers at the right time" to set them on their journey. They were both inspired by the late Rabbi Mark Shapiro, the longtime rabbi of Congregation B'nai Jehoshua Beth Elohim in the Chicago area.
During the High Holy Days, Avinu Malkeinu, a Jewish prayer, is often recited. The prayer translates to "Our God, Our King," and Zamek said it packs an emotional punch during the High Holy Days.
Shapiro had a way of reading it, Zamek said, that has stuck with him over the years.
"I hear his voice in my head when I do that," he said. "That's who I'm thinking about when I do that."
Moving from Hong Kong was not easy. Zamek and Bergadine came on a ship with all of their boxes.
The congregation has embraced them, rushing to help them when their new home experienced an emergency roof leak.
"The spirit of this place, the kindness of these people is incredible," Zamek said.
The vision for the congregation's future is one they all need to come up with together — one that blends longtime traditions and new ideas, he said. One thing he has implemented so far is his "One Congregation, One Book" initiative, where he invites as many people as possible to read the same Jewish book over the course of a year, with regular get-togethers to discuss it. This year's book is "The Story of the Jews" by Simon Shama.
"I came here at a good time because the congregation is at a time of revival," Zamek said. "We're just part of it, but it was already in process. More people joining, new younger families coming in — a new sense of vibrancy. Getting a new rabbi is part of that path."
