Steve Bauman imagined a retirement where he’d do little but play with his grandchildren. The only regular appointments he’d have would be tee times.
The grandchildren part remains true to his vision. But if golf hasn’t totally fallen by the wayside — indeed, he still does manage to play — it has been relegated much farther down his list of priorities.
The 60-year-old Bauman took on two leadership roles this summer: chair of the North American Council of the World Union for Progressive Judaism and president of the board of the Albert L. Schultz Jewish Community Center in Palo Alto.
This wave of activity makes sense, since the Los Altos resident is passionate about building Jewish community, whether it be in the former Soviet Union or in his own back yard.
A New York native, Bauman moved to the Peninsula over 20 years ago for the mix of entrepreneurial challenges, the political environment and the weather.
As one who grew up in a staunchly secular household, Bauman and his wife, Ina, first got involved at Los Altos Hills’ Congregation Beth Am through an interfaith effort to combat hunger.
Over the years, Bauman has become more and more involved in Jewish life, learning Hebrew, immersing himself in Torah study and taking on various roles at the synagogue, until he became its president a few years ago.
“What’s next?” he wondered, when the rabbi suggested he get involved with the WUPJ, which he promptly did. The movement supports progressive Judaism in congregations throughout the world, encompassing movements similar to Reform in other countries.
On a trip a few years ago to the former Soviet Union, he became especially interested in what he saw there.
He was fascinated by the young people with partial Jewish roots, who, despite years of Communist rule and little to no knowledge about Judaism, somehow were finding their way back to the faith.
Among his priorities as chair is getting the message out about the work the WUPJ is doing.
Some 350 delegates from the WUPJ recently attended the largest Jewish conference ever to take place in Moscow, and Bauman said that what went on there was “the best kept secret in the world. A lot of people have no idea what we’re doing, and we’ve got to figure out how to get our word out.”
While Bauman’s position with the WUPJ came as a total surprise (he didn’t expect to be selected), his presidency of the JCC did not. He has been the president-elect for the past nine months.
Brought onto the board to offer his business expertise a few years ago, he has stayed because he recognizes the potential of the new Campus for Jewish Life being built in Palo Alto.
“You see a tremendous number of people who want to feel Jewish and connect, but don’t know how to do it. It became obvious to me that this [campus] is an amazing undertaking that needs to happen … as most Jews don’t have a place to call their own.”
Bauman said that the JCC being forced out of its previous location was the best thing that ever happened to it.
“We were getting complacent, and we didn’t have the best of anything,” he said. “We had OK to good programs, but we weren’t really innovative and didn’t really look at ourselves self-consciously. When we were thrown out we had to reinvent ourselves.”
Bauman is helping the JCC’s CEO Alan Sataloff create partnerships with the area’s synagogues.
Speaking about those he hopes to reach, the “people who know they’re Jewish somewhere in their soul,” Bauman said, “There’s nothing better than having someone come to the JCC’s fitness center or camp or whatever, which then takes the parent into another program, which leads them into more Jewish learning, which gets them to join a synagogue so that person becomes a practicing Jew, rather than a cultural Jew. This partnership is central to everything we’re going to be doing.”