Rabbi Michael Meyerstein's career spans more than 30 years of service to the American Jewish community. Prior to coming to Baltimore, he had served Congregation Beth Jacob in Galveston, Texas for four years, and Temple Beth El, in Allentown, Penna. for eight years. From 1986 until 1996, he was the part-time rabbi of Adat Chaim Congregation in Reisterstown, MD.

Rabbi Meyerstein has led numerous congregational and communal overseas missions to Israel, and has served on many community Boards throughout his career. He taught courses in Judaism at Cedar Crest College for Women in Allentown, and currently teaches a course in Major Gifts and Capital Campaigns at Goucher College.

In the course of twenty years, he also served in senior management fundraising positions with the National ZOA, B'nai Brith Foundation, and the Beth Tfiloh Community School and Congregation in Baltimore.

As a professional fundraiser, he has raised over $25 million for organizations through annual appeals, corporate and capital campaigns. Meyerstein has produced special events attended by more than 20,000 guests, that have netted host organizations over $2.5 million.

Rabbi Meyerstein is President of The Aleph Group, Inc., a fundraising consulting firm he founded in 1996. His clients include health-related causes, Jewish day schools, synagogues, community-based groups, and other not-for-profit organizations. He is a past Vice-president of the Maryland chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals, and holds the designation of C.F.R.E.-Certified Fund Raising Executive from that organization, an achievement earned by fewer than 5% of the professionals in the field.

He currently also serves as part-time Executive Director of the Baltimore Board of Rabbis, a position he has held since 2001.

Rabbi Meyerstein's passion is travel to exotic places. He has visited over 30 countries, including Israel (20 times), Russia, China, Morocco, Australia, Croatia, and New Zealand.

He holds Bachelors degrees in sociology and Talmud from Columbia University and the Jewish Theological Seminary, respectively. He received Masters degrees from New York University in educational psychology and the Jewish Theological Seminary in Hebrew literature. He was ordained in 1973 from the Seminary, which also awarded him a Doctor of Divinity (honoris causa) in 1998, in honor of his dedication to the Jewish people and the Conservative movement.

His wife Israela of 37 years is a family therapist in private practice. The couple have three grown children. They include Avi who is a practicing attorney in Washington, D.C., and married to Dana Lande, studying for her MBA at University of Maryland. Avi and Dana just became the proud parents of twin girls. Ariel is a lawyerclerking for a Federal judge in San Diego, CA. Shaanan is a second year medical student at Ben Gurion University in Israel. By choice, the Meyersteins no longer have any family pets.