Leadership & Board

Sara Charney

WRJ President

wrjpresident@wrj.org Elected in March 2021, WRJ President Sara Charney is the organization's first Canadian president. She has been actively involved in WRJ since becoming local sisterhood president at Holy Blossom Temple in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. She has held many positions on the District and North American levels. My WRJ leadership...

Rabbi Marla J. Feldman

Executive Director

mfeldman@wrj.org Rabbi Marla J. Feldman, Executive Director of Women of Reform Judaism since 2012, is a Reform rabbi and lawyer. She was previously Director of the Commission on Social Action of Reform Judaism and Director of Development of the Union for Reform Judaism (URJ). Prior to her work with the...

Karen Sim

First Vice President

Karen Sim is the WRJ First Vice President. She is a member of Isaac Mayer Wise Temple in Cincinnati, Ohio. Karen became a member of the WRJ Board in 2003. She has served on the Executive Committee, as Vice President of Districts and Member Services, and as Vice President of...

Lillian Burkenheim Silver

Vice President of Philanthropy

Lillian Burkenheim Silver is the WRJ Vice President of Philanthropy. She grew up in NFTY, engaged in the Reform Movement and pursing tzedek/justice. This laid the groundwork for a passion to empower people to learn, to thrive, and to act. While attending the UCSB/UCLA, Lillian worked for Camp Fire Girls...

Shoshana Dweck

Vice President of Social Justice

Shoshana Dweck is WRJ’s Vice President of Social Justice. A recovering lawyer and engineer, she served as sisterhood president of Temple Shaaray Tefila in Bedford Corners, New York, where she now serves on the Temple Board and on the WRJ then-District 3 Board. She is immediate past-Chair of the New...

Jane Taves

Vice President of Engagement

Jane Taves is the WRJ Vice President of Engagement. She is an active member of Temple Beth El in Madison, Wisconsin, where she serves on the sisterhood Executive Board and the congregation’s Executive Committee. Jane has been a member of the WRJ North American Board since 2013. She also serves...

Judy Wexler

Vice President of Member Services

Judy Wexler serves as Vice President of Member Services. She also currently serves as WRJ Midwest District Vice President of Social Justice and is a past sisterhood president. Judy has been a member of the North American Board of WRJ since 2015. During that time, she co-chaired the 2019 WRJ...

Karen Goldberg

Secretary

Karen Goldberg is the WRJ Secretary. She is a past president of Women of Isaiah in Lafayette, California, where she remains active on the leadership team. She has been a member of the WRJ North American Board since 2015, serving as co-chair of WRJ's inaugural Social Justice Conference in 2019...

Susan Singer

Treasurer

Susan Singer is the WRJ Treasurer and has been on the WRJ Board since 2018. She serves on the Budget Committee, Finance Committee, and Investment Committee. Susan served as Treasurer and West Michigan Area Director for the WRJ Central District and currently holds the position of District Co-Lead Area Director...

Susan C. Bass

Immediate Past President

Susan C. Bass is the immediate past President of WRJ. An Atlanta native, she currently lives in Houston. Through every phase of her life, Susan has been affiliated with institutions of the Reform Jewish Movement. Beginning with her Temple Youth Group, involvement with The Temple in Atlanta in many capacities...

Jennifer Daley

Executive Committee

Jenn Daley is a Member At Large of Women of Reform Judaism’s Executive Committee and a member of the North American Board. She currently serves as the Marketing and Communications Chair. Jenn is the Immediate Past President of WRJ’s Southwest District. Since moving to New Orleans, Louisiana, in 2014, she...

Andrea Gingold

Executive Committee

Andrea Gingold was elected to the WRJ North American Board in 2015 and is now serving her second term as a Member At Large of the Executive Committee. Andrea is the current Budget Committee Chair, recently chaired the YES Fund Grant Allocations Committee and before that the Allocations Task Force...

Shelley Niceley Groff

Executive Committee

Shelley Niceley Groff is a WRJ Executive Committee member. She also serves as a Vice-Chair of the Union for Reform Judaism (URJ), and as URJ Lay Leader for Youth. In that role, she works with the URJ Youth Team on all aspects of youth engagement, including camp, NFTY, and Israel...

Madelyn Katz

Executive Committee

Dr. Madelyn Katz is a Member At Large of the WRJ Executive Committee. As a “child” of the Reform Movement, Madelyn has spent her entire life involved in the Reform Movement. She chose a career in Jewish education to shape the lives of Reform Jewish children as so many others...

Michelle Scheinkopf

Executive Committee

Michelle Scheinkopf is a Member At Large of the Executive Committee of the North American Board of Women of Reform Judaism. She is a past co-president of Women of North Shore Congregation Israel (WNSCI) in Glencoe, Illinois, and is the Immediate Past President of WRJ Midwest District. She has served...

Andrea Stillman

Executive Committee

Andrea Stillman is a Member At Large on the WRJ Executive Committee. She has served on the WRJ Board since 2018, participating on multiple committees including Budget, Resolutions, and serving as one of the WRJ representatives to the Commission of Social Action. She also currently serves as First Vice President...

Julia Wackenheim

Executive Committee

Julia Wackenheim is a Member At Large of the WRJ Executive Committee. Born in Reno, Nevada and raised in Atlantic City, New Jersey, Julia received her BFA in Acting from Emerson College in Boston. Julia can be seen (pre-pandemic) in live shows in Los Angeles, on TV (Red Band Society...

District Presidents

WRJ Atlantic District
Lori Motis
Congregation Beth Or
Maple Glen, PA

WRJ Central District
Lizabeth McOsker
Isaac M. Wise Temple
Cincinnati, OH

WRJ Mid-Atlantic District
Marilyn Morrison
Temple B'nai Shalom
Fairfax Station, VA

WRJ Midwest District
Zabe Williams
Temple Beth El
South Bend, IN

WRJ Northeast District
Sharon Sobel
Temple B'nai Chaim
Georgetown, CT

WRJ Pacific District
Cher Krichmar
Temple Beth Ohr
La Mirada, CA

WRJ Southeast District
Madelyn Davidson
Congregation Beth Am
Tampa, FL

WRJ Southwest District
Cheryl Barenberg
Temple Emanuel
Beaumont, TX

District First Vice Presidents

WRJ Atlantic District
Jan Shaw
Rodef Shalom
Pittsburgh, PA

WRJ Mid-Atlantic District
Andrea Stillman
Temple Rodef Shalom
Vienna, VA

WRJ Midwest District
Rozan Anderson
Temple Beth El
Madison, WI

WRJ Northeast District
Marilyn Shebshaievitz
Scarsdale Synagogue Temples Tremont and Emanuel
Scarsdale, NY

WRJ Pacific District
Carol Schuster
Temple B'nai Torah
Bellevue, WA

WRJ Southeast District
Faith Alexander
Congregation Schaarai Zedek
Tampa, FL

WRJ Southwest District
Phyllis Strasberg
Temple Israel
Memphis, TN

District Immediate Past Presidents

WRJ Atlantic District
Annice Benamy
Temple Sinai of Bergen County
Tenafly, NJ

WRJ Central District
Alison Auerbach
Rockdale Temple
Cincinnati, OH

WRJ Mid-Atlantic District
Lucretia Levy
Congregation Ner Shalom
Woodbridge, VA

WRJ Midwest District
Michelle Scheinkopf
North Shore Congregation Israel
Glencoe, IL

WRJ Northeast District
Trina Novak
Temple Beth Shalom
Needham, MA

WRJ Pacific District
Dana Adler
Congregation Or Chadash
Tucson, AZ

WRJ Southeast District
Cheryl Raskind-Hood
Temple Kol Emeth
Marietta, GA

WRJ Southwest District
Jennifer Daley
Congregation Gates of Prayer
Metairie, LA

WRJ Past Presidents

Lynn Magid Lazar
Temple Sinai
Pittsburgh, PA

Blair C. Marks
Temple Kol Emeth
Marietta, GA

Judith O. Rosenkranz
Congregation Shaarai Zedek
Tampa, FL

Rosanne M. Selfon
Congregation Shaarai Shomayim
Lancaster, PA

Judith Silverman
Cape Cod Synagogue
Hyannis, MA

Helene H. Waranch
Baltimore Hebrew Congregation
Baltimore, MD

Dolores Wilkenfeld
Congregation Emanu El
Houston, TX

WRJ Members

Carol Berger
B'nai Jehoshua Beth Elohim
Deerfield, IL

Yvette Bergman
The Community Synagogue
Port Washington, NY

Ruth Bohm
Shirat Miriam
São Paulo, Brazil

Leslie Brier
Main Line Reform Temple Beth Elohim
Wynnewood, PA

Shari Carruthers
Peninsula Temple Sholom
Burlingame, CA

Rachelle Weiss Crane
Temple Emanu-El
Dallas, TX

Linda Ferguson
Congregation Beth Ahabah
Richmond, VA

Sherri Feuer
Temple Israel
Minneapolis, MN

Allison Fine
Sleepy Hollow, NY

Sandi Firsel
Temple Chai
Long Grove, IL

Laurel Fisher
Temple Shalom
Dallas, TX

Sally Frank
Temple B'nai Jeshurun
Des Moines, IA

Joanne B. Fried
Congregation Gates of Prayer
Metairie, LA

Abby F. Gilbert
Congregation Beth Or
Maple Glen, PA

Elizabeth Goertzel
Temple De Hirsch Sinai
Seattle/Bellevue, WA

Debra Goetz
Temple Emanuel
McAllen, TX

Rabbi Linda Henry Goodman
Garden City Jewish Center
Garden City, NY

Josie Hertz-Ackerman
Temple Rodef Shalom
Falls Church, VA

Betsey Hurwitz-Schwab
Cumberland, MD

Dr. Patricia Joseph
Isaac M. Wise Temple
Cincinnati, OH

Jane Karlin
Temple Israel of the City of New York
New York, NY

Alyse Kirshen
Temple Beth Tikvah
Fullerton, CA

Wendy Kohlenberg
Temple Israel
West Bloomfield, MI

Linda Kramer
Congregation Beth Am
Los Altos Hills, CA

Robin Krieger
Temple Shalom of Newton
Newton, MA

Deborah Lelchuk
Temple Beth David
Westminster, CA

Beth Levin
Congregation Schaarai Zedek
Tampa, FL

Hon. Carole Levy
Westchester Reform Temple
Scarsdale, NY

Estelle "Giddy" Lief
Bet Menorah
Pretoria, South Africa

Robin Lilien
Temple Israel of Long Beach
Long Beach, CA

Shelley Lindauer
Temple Shaaray Tefila
New York, NY

HarrietAnn Litwin
Congregation Beth Emeth
Wilmington, DE

Diana Mann
Congregation Gates of Prayer
Metairie, LA

Cheryl Marks Young
Temple Emanu-El
Westfield, NJ

Ellen Miller
Washington Hebrew Congregation
Washington, D.C.

Sabrina Miller
Temple Israel of the City of New York
New York, New York

Sharon Miller
Temple Beth-El
San Antonio, TX

Marsha Moller
Temple Beth Shalom
Needham, MA

Genia Neuhaus
Temple Beth Am
Pinecrest, FL

Luisa Narins
River Vale, NJ

Maryali Osiason
Congregation Schaarai Zedek
Tampa, FL

Eve Panush
Congregation B'nai Israel
Sacramento, CA

Sandi Pelly
Thornhill, ON, Canada

Holly Plotnick
Temple B'nai Shalom
Fairfax Station, VA

Marina Polinovsky
Shiryat HaYam
Haifa, Israel

Bernice Porrazzo
Temple Rodef Shalom
Falls Church, VA

Michelle Rosen
B'nai Israel
Southbury, CT

Ellen Y. Rosenberg
Riverdale Temple
Bronx, NY

Rachel Roth
Temple Chai
Long Grove, IL

Dr. Lisa B. Schwartz
Yardley, PA

Nayda Schwartz
Temple Israel
West Bloomfield, MI

Jacquie Schwitzer
Temple Emanu-El
Temple Shalom
Dallas, TX

Lauren Shapiro-Milana
Temple Adat Shalom
Poway, CA

Micaela Sheinhait
Waltham, MA

Robin Sobol
Congregation Beth Emeth
Albany, NY

Dana Spiel
Temple Emanuel of Tempe
Tempe, AZ

Gail Spivack
Isaac M. Wise Temple
Cincinnati, OH

Lisa Wise-Wolk
Congregation Emanu El
Redlands, CA

Lori Wise
Washington Hebrew Congregation
Washington, D.C.

Tina Wolfe
Temple Mount Sinai
El Paso, TX

Sharon Zydney
Temple Emanu-El
Westfield, NJ