Board & Staff
The members of the URJ’s Oversight Committee and North American Board partner with our senior leadership team and talented staff across North America and Israel to achieve significant accomplishments.
It is with immense gratitude that the URJ recognizes and acknowledges the members of its Oversight Committee and North American Board of Trustees, so ably led by URJ Chair Daryl Messinger. The leadership’s vision, wisdom, and generosity guide the URJ in fulfilling our strategic priorities and represent a sacred partnership in Reform Judaism’s holy work.
OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE
David Baskin - Holy Blossom Temple, Toronto, ON
Cary Davidson - Congregation Kol Ami, West Hollywood, CA (URJ Associate General Counsel)
Alan Fishman - Brooklyn Heights Synagogue, Brooklyn, NY
Roberta Franco Glick - Temple Chaverim, Plainview, NY
Jay Gellman - Temple Beth Orr, Coral Springs, FL (URJ Vice Chair)
Alec Harris - Chicago Sinai Congregation, Chicago, IL (URJ Vice Chair)
Rabbi Rick Jacobs - Westchester Reform Temple, Scarsdale, NY (President)
Bruce Josephy - Congregation Beth Shalom Rodfe Zedek, Chester, CT
Susan Kalson - Rodef Shalom Congregation, Pittsburgh, PA
Jennifer Kaufman - Congregation B’nai Israel, Sacramento, CA (URJ Vice Chair)
Robin Kosberg - Temple Emanu-El, Dallas, TX
Norman Leopold - Temple Sinai of North Dade, Miami, FL (URJ General Counsel)
Harry Levy IV - Temple Beth El, San Antonio, TX (URJ Treasurer)
Luise Mann - Congregational B'nai Israel, Bridgeport, CT
Blair Marks - Temple Kol Emeth, Marietta, GA
Daryl Messinger - Congregation Beth Am, Los Altos Hills, CA (URJ Chair)
Shelley Niceley Groff - Temple Beth Sholom, Miami Beach, FL
Mark Oster - Larchmont Temple, Larchmont, NY
Elliot Paull - Temple B'nai Torah, Bellevue, WA
Rabbi Jonah Pesner - Temple Israel, Boston, MA (RAC Director and URJ Senior Vice President)
Steve Pruzan - Temple De Hirsch Sinai, Seattle, WA (URJ District Chair—West)
Wendy Rhodes - Congregation Solel, Highland Park, IL (URJ District Chair—Central)
RIchard Rubenstein - Congregation Beth Israel, West Hartford, CT
Stephen Sacks - Temple Sinai, Washington, D.C. (URJ Immediate Past Chair)
Elkan Scheidt - Temple Israel, Memphis, TN
Mark Schwartz - Temple Israel, Boston, MA
Dr. Steven Weitz - Temple Beth-El, Hillsborough, NJ (URJ Vice Chair)
Ann Wenger - Am Shalom, Glencoe, IL
Dr. Jeremy Wolfe - Temple Sinai, Brookline, MA (URJ District Chair—East)
NORTH AMERICAN BOARD
Tom Abelson
Michael Adler
Meryl Alalof
Evan Allen
Rita Appel
David Astrove
Nicole Auerbach
Diane Baer
Eric Bakerman
Julie Bank
Marjorie Baron
David Baskin
Susan Bass
Len Bates
Sharon Benoff
Stephen Berman
Austin Beutel
Bryan Bierman
Ellen Bittner
Sean Blum
Todd Brecher
Joan Brotman
Jadwiga Brown
Sue Brucker
Janice Brumer
Janet Buckstein
Andrea Cannon
James Cherney
Lisa Chinsky
Ronald Cohen
Skylar Cohen
Ronnie Cohn
Ted David
Cary Davidson
Phyllis Denaburg
Steven Derringer
Martin Dodd
Marlene Dodinval
David Donchin
Derek Dorn
Isabel P. "Liz" Dunst
Ruthann Duval
Barry Epstein
Janice Epstein
Ross Erlebacher
Steve Fadem
Howard Fagin
Loree Farrar
Mitchell Faust
Marla Feldman
Susan Feldman
Deborah Fernandez-Turner
Morton Finkelstein
Alan Fishman
Jamie Fleckner
Steven Fox
Ellen Fox-Snider
Sally Frank
Anthony Fratello
Daniel Freelander
Michael Freidman
Barry Friedfertig
Vivian Gealer
Jay Gellman
Matthew Gewirtz
Tricia Ginis
Roberta Glick
Elizabeth Goertzel
Richard Goldberg
Abigail Goldberg Spiegel
Katherine Goldgeier
Allan Goldman
Jill Goodman
Judi Goozh
Robert Gordon
Ilene Greene
Lila Greene
Dan Grossman
Mark Halperin
Alec Harris
Kareen Hartwig
Richard Heinrich
Honey Heller
Robert Heller
Jane Herman
Jodi Hessel
Arthur Heyman
David Hill
Allan Hirsh
Sue Hochberg
Jonathan Howard
Alan Iselin
Eugene Jacobs
Rick Jacobs
Elliott Jacobson
Daniel Jeydel
Bruce Josephy
Susan Kalson
David Kasakove
Jennifer Kaufman
Alyse Kirschen
Michael Klau
Charles Koplik
Robin Kosberg
Lori Kowit
Kenneth Kramer
Susan Kramer
Marshall Krolick
Judy Kule
Marc Landis
Robert Langsfeld
Michael Laufer
Lynn Lazar
Kerry Leaf
Donald Leibowitz
Norman Leopold
Paul Leszner
Jay Levine
Stuart Leviton
Norma Levitt
Anndee Levy
Harry Levy
Marjorie Levy
Mark Levy
Michael Liepman
Amy Lipeles
Janet Liss
Stanley Loeb
Luise Mann
Jan Marion
Richard Markowitz
Blair Marks
Lenore Mass
Jacqueline Mates-Muchin
Philip Meltzer
Nick Melvoin
Paul Mengert
Daryl Messinger
Gregory Miller
Cynthia Mirsky
Geraldine Mund
Marc Newman
Shelley Niceley Groff
William Norman
Lois Nyren
Beth Orlansky
Eric Orlin
Mark Oster
Elliot Paull
Miriam Pearlman
Jonah Pesner
Steven Portnoy
Michael Price
Steve Pruzan
Lauren Racoosin
Wendy Rhodes
Lynn Ritvo
Karen Rivo
Scott Roseman
Simon Rosenblatt
John Rosove
Michael Ross
Rachel Roth
Charles Rothschild
Marilynn Rothstein
Hank Rouda
Richard Rubenstein
Lois Rubin
Susan Rudolph
Steve Sacks
Scott Sager
Connell Saltzman
David Sampliner
Mark Sass
Jodi Schechtman
Rudi Scheidt
Stan Schickler
L. Tadd Schwab
Mark Schwartz
Frank Schwarz
Myron Schwitzer
Heidi Segal
Scott Seigel
Andy Shafran
Barton Shallat
Diane Shattls
Stephen Sherman
Evely Shlensky
Richard Shugarman
Benjamin Sillins
Russell Silverman
Carl Silverman
Karen Sim
Donald Simon
Pekka Sinervo
Ralph Sinsheimer
Laurie Sobelman
Michael Solka
Jerome Somers
John Sorkin
Michael Starr
Carole Sterling
David Stern
Deborah Sternberg
Amy Stone
David Strauss
Lin Sunshine
Eliot Swartz
Michelle Tandowsky
B.J. Tanenbaum
Jane Taves
G. Leonard Teitelbaum
Carmen Tesser
Lennard Thal
Iris Vanek
Paul Vanek
Ari Vared
Geraldine Voit
Anne Waldorf
Julie Waltzer
Marcia Waxman
Michael Waxman
Peter Weidhorn
Gayle Weil
Nordin Weinberger
Steven Weiss
Mark Weitz
Steve Weitz
Ann Wenger
Thomas Wiener
Dolores Wilkenfeld
Peter Winik
Jane Wishner
Jeremy Wolfe
Marilynn Yentis
Eric Yoffie
2018 STAFF LEADERSHIP
Rabbi Rick Jacobs, President
Amy Asin, Vice President, Strengthening Congregations
April Baskin, Vice President, Audacious Hospitality
Miriam Chilton, Vice President, Youth
Julie Lerner, Executive Vice President
Yonatan Meir, Chief Information Officer
Mark J. Pelavin, Chief Program Officer
Rabbi Jonah Pesner, Senior Vice President; Director, Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism
Emily Sachs, Chief Financial Officer
Emma Silver, Executive Assistant to the President
Riva Silverman, Vice President of Philanthropy
Rabbi Joshua Weinberg, Vice President, Israel and Reform Zionism
Rabbi Eric H. Yoffie, President Emeritus
Rabbi David Saperstein, Senior Advisor for Policy and Strategy
Jo-Ann Mort, Special Advisor to the President
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