Board of Trustees
Larrry Helft, President
| Ann Axelrod, VP Marketing |
JD Friedland |
Jaimee Loewy |
| Helen Berkun |
Esther Goldbas-Tanenbaum |
Jack Mandel, VP Operations |
| Jeremiah Bosgang |
Alyssa Greenberg |
Barry Miller |
| Art Cohen |
Diane Heiman |
Jack Obadia |
| Sandra Cobden |
Nancy Kaplan |
Jodi Okun-Alfano |
| Lisa Davidoff, Financial Secretary |
Renee Karmel |
Becky Schamis |
| Mark Eisenberg, VP Religious Affairs |
Deena Katz, VP Education |
Howard Schiff, Past President |
| Bob Fagen |
Sara Kindler |
Debbie Shlafmitz |
| Adam Finkelstein |
Andy Kramer, Treasurer |
Mara Silverstein, VP Fundraising |
| Adam Flisser |
Steven Kreichman |
Janet Wolf |
| Dorette Forman, Recording Secretary |
Roger Lifson |
Bari Ziegel, VP Member Services |
Lawrence Helft, President
Larry Helft, President of the Board of Trustees since 2009, has been a member of The Community Synagogue for the over twenty years. For the last nine years he has served on the Board, first as Trustee, then as Treasurer and Vice-President before being chosen for his current role.
Larry had a long career in Management, first at large corporations and then at Venture Capital funded start-ups. At present, he is a Management Consultant helping CEOs and COOs wrestle with critical strategic, tactical and organizational issues. His career began as an engineer. However, he quickly changed to finance and then management. He holds a Bachelors Degree in Electrical Engineering from the City University of New York and an MS/MBA from New York University.
Larry is married to Dr. B. Loerinc Helft. She is the Academic Director of the City University of New York’s on-line Bachelors and Masters Degrees in Business. She is also actively involved in synagogue mitzvah projects and as an advocate for Gifted and Talented Education in the local school district. They have three children and four grandchildren.
Andy Kramer, Treasurer
Andrew has been a congregant of The Community Synagogue since 2000. He joined the Board in 2010 and is the newly appointed synagogue Treasurer.
Andrew is President and Chief Portfolio manager of Kramer Capital Management (KCM). Andrew founded KCM in 1995. KCM is a Registered Investment Advisor specializing in absolute return strategies for corporate and high net-worth investors.
Andrew graduated from Colgate University in 1984.Julie, his wife, and two children, Ari and Laila, have lived in Sands Point since 2000.
In addition to his work at Community Synagogue, Andrew is Past President and a current Board Member of Coalition for the Homeless.
Dorette Forman, Recording Secretary
Dorette Forman, a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Elementary Education and has taught in NJ and NYC.
Dorette has been an active member of The Community Synagogue since joining the congregation in 2001 when she and her husband Peter moved to Port Washington with their three young daughters. Dorette and her husband have experienced many of the joys of Community Synagogue membership - the fine nursery school, religious school, Bat Mitzvah, Confirmation program, and so on.
Dorette’s past work includes participation in two Rabbi Search Committees, serving on the Religious School Committee, the New Membership Committee and as Co-chair of the Religious Living Committee. Dorette is now the Recording Secretary for the synagogue.
Lisa Davidoff, Financial Secretary
Lisa J Davidoff has been a member of Community Synagogue since moving with her family to Port Washington in 1995. Her experiences with the Community Synagogue have involved the B’nai Mitzvah’s of her three children, their confirmations and unfortunately the funeral of her dearly beloved husband, Howard. Lisa joined the Board in 2007, in order to give back to the synagogue family that supported her family through so much.
She is currently on the Executive Committee as Financial Secretary, Chairperson of the Youth Group Committee and a member of the Investment and Endowment Committee. She also works closely with our executive director to develop programs to enhance the experience of our congregants and to engage more of them to feel connected to our community.
Lisa has recently opened up her own company, Davidoff Wealth Management, which offers all forms of financial services as well as insurance and estate planning. Her work experience includes ten years at Chase Manhattan Bank in Private Banking and corporate.
Mark Eisenberg, Vice President Religious Affairs
Mark Eisenberg, his wife Jill and their two children moved to Port Washington in 1996. After visiting several local synagogues they finally found their spiritual home at The Community Synagogue. Mark has been actively involved at TCS, on the temple board since 2000 and currently serves as Vice President of Religious Affairs.
Mark can be found at TCS virtually every Shabbat morning studying with his friends at Adult Torah Study and then praying at the Havurah Service. Several years ago Mark, along with Larry Tarica and Bari Ziegel began an annual tradition of organizing an entirely lay led Shabbat morning service in honor of our clergy which has allowed our clergy to enjoy the sanctity of Shabbat and just concentrate on praying with their friends and fellow congregants.
Mark went to undergraduate school and medical school at the University of Miami, is currently a practicing Neurosurgeon at the North Shore/LIJ Health System and is Chief of Neurosurgery at Long Island Jewish Medical Center.
Deena Katz, Vice President Education
Deena has been actively involved in synagogue life since joining the temple in 1997. Deena was elected to the Board of Trustees in 2006 and to the Executive Committee in 2009. Deena is currently the Vice President of Education working with the ECC, Religious School and Adult Education Directors on enhancing our educational offerings.
Over the years, Deena has been involved with or chaired several important temple committees including the B’Yachad Committee, B’nai Mitzvah Task Force, Facilities Use Committee, Educational Task Force, Associate Rabbi Search Committee and Religious School Co-Chair. Additionally, Deena has helped organize Mitzvah Day and various holiday celebrations over the years.
Professionally, Deena spent 10 years combined in Marketing as a Director at Bristol Myers Squibb and a Brand Manager at Proctor and Gamble managing several key personal care products and over-the-counter brands
Deena is a graduate of The Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania and earned a Bachelor’s of Science in Economics with a major in Marketing.
Deena enjoys exercising and you will often find her running in the neighborhood with her dog Toby.
Bari Ziegel, Vice President Member Services
Bari Ziegel has been a member of The Community Synagogue for over 25 years and more often than not, can be found working on a wide variety of projects, committees and positions of leadership for her beloved synagogue. She has been on the synagogue Board of Trustees for the past eight years. Bari served as the Co-President of the Sisterhood of The Community Synagogue from 2002 - 2006 and served on the Cantorial Search Committee that selected Cantor Claire Franco.
Bari currently serves as the Vice President, Member Services on the Executive Board of the synagogue, as the Fundraising Co-Vice President for Sisterhood, as Co-Chair of the Clergy Committee and also runs The Community Synagogue Judaica Shop and is a member of the College Parents Committee.
Bari graduated from Hofstra University with a B.B.A. in Marketing and currently works for UJA-Federation of New York as a Development Executive. Bari is most proud of her two children, Mikki and Ilan.
Jack Mandel, Vice President Operations
Jack Mandel has been a member of the Community Synagogue for 35 years and has been on the Temple Board for 30 of those years. Jack is currently the Vice President of Operations, having recently served as the Financial Secretary. He also co-chairs the Facilities Use Committee and has participated on several Search Committees.
Jack was married to Joyce (of blessed memory) for over 49 years, and has daughter Alisa and a son-in-law, Michael. Jack is affectionately known as “the bead man,” because of his family business which is now managed by his daughter, the third generation of family management.
Jack graduated from the State University of NY.
Ann Axelrod, Vice President Marketing & Communications
Ann has been active at the Community Synagogue since 1988 when her daughter Caroline attended the Early Childhood Center and Ann served on the board of the ECC. At that time, Ann also established the High Holy Day babysitting services for young children.
Ann also served at Chairperson of the Religious School Committee and worked on many religious, fundraising and social events throughout the years. As the current VP of Marketing & Communications, Ann’s responsibilities are to engage congregants and create a stronger sense of community among temple members via various marketing and social media channels.
Ann’s professional background is in product merchandising and she’s held various positions managing buyers who find gift and home products for catalogs and websites. Ann graduated from Adelphi University and has an MBA from New York University Stern School of Business.
Ann’s entire family is deeply committed to the synagogue and husband Fred and daughter Caroline have also held leadership roles over the years.
Jeremiah Bosgang, Trustee
A second-year Board member, Jeremiah Bosgang currently serves as Co-Chair of the House Committee and is a member of the Facilities Use and Executive Director Search Committees. He is also a Vice President of the synagogue’s Brotherhood.
Jeremiah’s career in television includes positions as a development executive at cable and broadcast networks, studios and production companies (including NBC, Fox, MTV and FX, Fox Sports Net, The Howard Stern Production Company and Sony BMG Music Entertainment). In addition, he has worked as a writer and producer on shows including Saturday Night Live, In Living Color, The Best Damn Sports Show Period and Howard Stern: The High School Years. Jeremiah also wrote, produced and directed the indie film Good Money which won the “Best Feature” award at the 1997 New York Comedy Film Festival.
Jeremiah holds a BA in philosophy from the University of Chicago and a Certificate in General Management from UCLA’s Anderson School of Business.
A native Long Islander, Jeremiah and his wife Wendy Perelman and their two sons -- Aaron and Caleb -- have been members of The Community Synagogue since 2006, when they moved to Port Washington after living in Santa Monica, California for the eight years prior.
Art Cohen, Trustee
This year marks the 50th anniversary that Art and wife Marion have been members of the Community Synagogue. Art was Chair of the Religious School Committee when his children attended the school and he has made several significant contributions over the years to improve synagogue life including developing a transliterated version of the Gates of Prayer for use by congregants who did not read Hebrew.
For over 32 years, Art worked at IBM and headed up the IBM Space Computing Center in charge of all computing and communications in support of the Project Mercury man-in-space effort.
Art has a PhD in Mathematics and Mathematical Statistics. Art is current an Adjunct Professor of Mathematics at Nassau Community College.
Marion and Art have three grown sons and are the proud grandparents of nine.
Adam Finkelstein, Trustee
Adam Finkelstein joined the Community Synagogue in 2002, and joined the Board in 2010. He is active in Brotherhood, and is on the Facilities Use Committee and the new Youth Sports committee. Adam’s wife, Karen, is active in Sisterhood. His sons Jake and Max are in the Religious School and the ECC.
Adam is a partner in a midtown law firm specializing in co-op and condo real estate law.
Adam graduated from SUNY Albany and New York Law School.
JD Friedland, Trustee
Jon David (J.D.) Friedland and his family have been members of The Community Synagogue since 2001. J.D. has been a member of the Board of Trustees since 2008, and also served as a member of a Nominating Committee and the Recession Response Task Force. He also served on the Education Task Force that recommended the adoption of the Family Learning and Mitzvah Education (FLAME) Program.
J.D. is a Senior Managing Director and Founder of Epsilon Securities, providing strategic advice to corporate clients in the healthcare sector. JD received a MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from the University of Southern California.
J.D. and his wife, Deborah, have three children, Joshua, Michael and Samantha, all of whom are active in the Community Synagogue education programs.
Esther Goldbas-Tanenbaum, Trustee
Esther Goldbas Tanenbaum has been on the Community Synagogue Board since 2001. Esther has been very involved with new members, and was Committee Chair and Vice President for several years. She also worked closely with her husband, Daniel, to complete the B’yachad campaign from 2005 to 2009. Esther has been focused on synagogue fundraising as of late.
Esther and Daniel practice law together, he specializing in general litigation and she in employment-related matters. Esther earned BA and JD degrees from Cornell University.
Esther has four teenage children, Noah, Charlotte, Teddy and Miranda. She is proud to call Community Synagogue ‘home’ in so many meaningful ways.
Alyssa Greenberg, Trustee
Alyssa Greenberg has been a member of Community Synagogue since 1996, as long as she and her family have lived in Sands Point. Alyssa joined the Board in 2009. She was very involved with our community-wide Mitzvah Day, and also in planning our Gala event. Alyssa is also on the Leadership Candidates Committee.
Alyssa has three children, and a terrific husband, Cliff. She graduated from Syracuse University, and is also actively involved in a variety of Jewish causes and philanthropies including the UJA.
Sara Kindler, Trustee
Sara Kindler and her family have been members of The Community Synagogue since 1998. Since joining the synagogue, Sara has served as Religious School Co-chair for two years, on various Search committees and on our Education Task Force. She is a member of Sisterhood as well as an active participant in our Community Outreach Dinners. She joined the board of Trustees in 2009.
Professionally, Sara is a retail analyst and planning manager for Swank, Inc., a men’s accessories company in New York. She and her husband Keith, a high school Spanish teacher, have three children. Each child has attended the ECC, and are in various stages of their religious school experience.
Roger Lifson, Trustee
Roger Lifson joined the Community Synagogue in 1995 and joined the Board in 2010. Roger grew up in town and at the Synagogue and moved back here as an adult with his family.
Roger is active in our Brotherhood and is the Co-Chair of the 92nd Street Y simulcast program.
Roger’s wife, Leslie, and three daughters (Sarah, Rachel and Claudia) have all been engaged with the synagogue as well.
Barry Miller, Trustee
Barry Miller, and his wife Tomm, joined the Community Synagogue in 2008 after moving from New York City. Barry is currently Head of Private Equity for the NYC Retirement System – NYC Office of the Comptroller. Barry and Tomm have three children, two at the John J. Daly Elementary School and one at the Early Childhood Center of the Community Synagogue.
Barry joined the board of the Community Synagogue in 2011 and is also currently on the LP Advisory Council of SEO, a provider of educational and career programs to young people from under-served communities. Barry also serves on the advisory board of 35+ private equity funds.
Barry received his B.A. from Tulane University.
Jodi Okun-Alfano, Trustee
Jodi Okun-Alfano and her husband Michael Alfano and 6 year old son Hunter moved from New York City to Port Washington in September, 2009. They immediately joined Community and Jodi got involved right away with the sisterhood and became co-vp of fundraising.She is continuing with that position this year as well as a trustee on the Synagogue board. She was very honored to have been asked to be on the board.
She has been a volunteer for Hadassah for many years. She was extremely active when she lived in NYC.She has also volunteered for assorted Gift Industry Fundraisers, The Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network, American Bamboo Society, National KidneyFoundation and she has volunteered in Hunter's pre-school and is presently volunteering in Hunter's elementary school.
Jodi received her BA from Farleigh Dickinson University. When she got out of college she worked inthe garment district for many years and then decided to go into her own business. She had a gift and party planning store for 8 years where she lived in New Jersey till she moved to New York City. At that point she gave up the
store and has been doing her business via the web and other technology resources. She also helps her husband with his business, racing technology.
Becky Schamis, Trustee
Becky Schamis is a native Floridian who lived in New York City for 11 years before moving to Port Washington in 2006. She joined Community Synagogue in 2006 and became a Board Member in 2008. Becky is very active in the Early Childhood Center and has co-chaired fundraisers for the preschool. She is also Vice President of Sisterhood, Children’s Activities, planning many family events throughout the year.
As a professional, Becky spent several years in the marketing field. She worked at Random House, Inc. in children’s books marketing and promotion. Following business school, she worked at American Express focusing on credit card marketing.
Becky received her Bachelor’s of Arts from Vanderbilt University and completed her MBA at the Yale School of Management.
Becky and her husband David have three young children.
Debbie Shlafmitz, Trustee
Debbie Shlafmitz and her husband Howard joined the Community Synagogue in 1996 when they moved to Port Washington from New York City. The Community Synagogue has played an integral role in the upbringing of their children, Sarah, Emily and Andrew, all who attended the Early Childhood Center, became B’nai Mitzvah and continue to participate in Hebrew High School and temple youth programs. Sarah is the past President of POWTY and was a teaching assistant in the Madrachim program.
Debbie’s children inspired her to become actively involved in the Community Synagogue. While her children attended the ECC she studied Hebrew and attended Judaic classes, becoming one of the first adult B’not Mitzvah at the synagogue in 2000. Debbie has participated in various committees at the temple including the Educational Task Force, B’Yachad celebration, Facilities Use Committee, B’nai Mitzvah Task Force, and Mitzvah Day. In 2009 she was installed as a member of the Board of Directors.
Debbie graduated from the University of Michigan with a B.S. in Economics and earned an MBA in Marketing from NYU’s Stern School of Business. Her career focused on the beauty industry where she worked in brand management at Clairol and as Vice President of Marketing for Parlux, a manufacturer and distributor of designer and celebrity fragrances and cosmetics.
Janet Wolf, Trustee
Janet Wolf has been a member of the Community Synagogue since 1997. She joined the Board in 2010. Janet recently participated on the Recession Response Team, and on the Search Committees for a new Executive Director and a new Associate Rabbi. Janet also serves on the Leadership Candidates Committee and the Website Committee.
Janet is Group Account Director at Boombox Inc., a digital ad agency. Janet has an MBA from The University of Chicago and an undergraduate degree from Brown University. Janet lives in Port Washington with her husband, Neil Seiden, and their two sons, both of whom became bar mitzvah and confirmed at The Community Synagogue.
Howard Schiff, Immediate Past President
Dr. Howard Schiff is the Immediate Past President of The Community Synagogue. He and his wife Debbie have been members of the synagogue for over 30 years. Howard has been on the board for more than twenty years and has previously served as a Vice President for eight years, Financial Secretary for three years, and a board member for five years. During his four years as President, he oversaw our $9 million dollar capital construction project which was recently completed.
Dr. Schiff is a practicing, board certified Urologist with his oldest son Jonathan, who is our Brotherhood President. He graduated from the West Virginia University School of Medicine in 1975 and has been on the faculties of The Mount Sinai School of Medicine and The Weill-Cornell School of Medicine in New York City. He teaches first year students medical ethics and physical diagnosis at Mount Sinai. He has been honored by being included in The Best Doctors in New York, New York Magazine, The Best Doctors in America, The New York Times Super Docs, and Who’s Who in the World.
Howard and Debbie are blessed to have five children, and ten grandchildren. The older four children are married and live in our community. The oldest three are synagogue members and are co-chairs of our Membership Committee. One has been our first youth group President and later its adult, youth director for two years. Their youngest, an undergraduate at Columbia University, was also a Co- President of our youth group. Debbie has been a Sisterhood VP. Synagogue leadership appears to run in the family.
Helen Berkun, Sisterhood Co-President
Helen Berkun joined Community Synagogue in 1976. Over the years, she has served at various times on the Board and the Executive Committee. Helen has rejoined the Board as Sisterhood Co-President. In the past, Helen had been the Bulletin editor and also the Recording Secretary for the Board, and Treasurer of the Sisterhood.
Helen is married to Ed, and has two daughters who went through the Religious School, Bat Mitzvah and Confirmation at Community Synagogue. Helen now has five grandchildren.
Helen was an Economics Professor at Queensborough Community College for 30 years and is now happily retired. Her undergraduate degree is from Barnard College and her graduate work was at Columbia University.
Jack Obadia, Brotherhood President
Jack Obadia is the current president of the Brotherhood of Community Synagogue. Jack and his wife, Larissa, (former president of Sisterhood) moved to Port Washington in 1992 and joined Community Synagogue in 1999.
Jack joined the Brotherhood in 2000 and was appointed Blood Drive Chairman. In 2005, the Brotherhood began sponsoring two blood drives a year and now hosts the most successful drive among synagogues on Long Island. Jack has been on the Executive Board of the Brotherhood since 2006, and began service on the temple board this year.
Jack is an insurance broker specializing in Life Insurance and Employee benefits including health insurance, dental insurance and disability insurance. Jack is a graduate of Tufts University
Jack and Larissa Obadia have two sons, Jonathan and Seth, both of whom were B’nai Mitzvah at Community Synagogue.
Nancy Kaplan, Sisterhood Immediate Past Co-President
Nancy Kaplan joined the Community Synagogue in 1979 and joined the Board in 2006. Nancy has served on many committees, including By-Laws, Religious Living, Facilities Use and Social Action. She was the Sisterhood Secretary and is Immediate Past President of Sisterhood.
Nancy’s husband is Steve, son is Jay and daughter-in-law Antonia, grandchildren Jackson and Skylar; other son Brian and daughter-in-law Beth.
Nancy is a Claims Specialist Professional Liability for the New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation. Nancy holds a BA from Adelphi and an MA from CW Post.
Renee Karmel, Sisterhood Immediate Past Co-President
Renee Himmel Karmel joined the Community Synagogue in 2001 and joined the Board in 2006. Renee is the immediate past Co-President of the Sisterhood and is on the newly formed Youth Sports Task Force.
Renee is an attorney and graduated from Stony Brook University and St. John’s University School of Law.