Governing Boards

Laure Garnick, Me'ah`08

Laure Garnick started her career in corporate banking with Scotiabank, CIBC, and Sanwa Bank. She left the banking world to raise her children — and has since then devoted much of her time volunteering in the Boston community.

Laure graduated from McGill University and received an MBA from Concordia University in Montreal.

Laure is currently serving on JFNA’s National Women’s Philanthropy Board. She has served on the Boards of Jewish Big Brother Big Sister, the Weston Community Children’s Association, The Rashi School and CJP. She is past president of CJP’s Women’s Philanthropy. She led a CJP women’s mission to Israel during her tenure as president – and shortly thereafter co-chaired a CJP mission to Cuba with her husband Hal. Laure is the recipient of CJP’s Circle of Excellence Award. She is the founder and Editor in Chief of “From Our Kitchens Cookbook – Stories and Recipes from the Boston Jewish Community”. Some of Laure’s current & past volunteering include JF&CS, the Brookline Food Pantry, 2Life Communities, the ADL, and the MFA Art School.

Laure is a graduate of Hebrew College Me’ah & Ikarim. She has been involved in several learning circles over the past eight years —- and is immensely grateful for the learning and the community building that Hebrew College has provided.

Laure lives in Brookline with her husband Hal. They have three sons who inspire them to continuously learn & grow! Laure enjoys yoga, hiking, traveling, and cooking for family & friends.

Andy Offit, Me’ah`09

Andy Offit spent his career in the investment industry as a portfolio manager at Fidelity Investments and Wellington Management. Andy then attended the Harvard Kennedy School where he earned a Masters in Public Administration degree (2011). He then worked in Somerville as Special Advisor to Mayor Joseph Curtatone. Before becoming Chair of the Board at Hebrew College, Andy was President of Temple Reyim in Newton, MA.

He earned his B.A. at Emory University, M.B.A. at Wharton, and J.D. at Suffolk Law School.

Andy’s Jewish journey has been a reflection of his family. His three sons attended Solomon Schechter and Gann Academy. Andy’s wife, Rabbi Suzanne Offit, is a 2009 graduate of the Rabbinical School.

Susan Schechter

Susan Schechter retired from a distinguished career working with high-tech companies and has been a dedicated and involved volunteer and student at Hebrew College.

Susan has been an Investor Relations Consultant between 1995 and 2000 and prior to that, served as the Director of Investor Relations at Powersoft. For nearly a decade preceding her time at Powersoft, she was the Director of Sales Planning and Director of Investor Relations at Lotus Development Corporation. She served in various sales and sale management positions at IBM between 1967 and 1984.

Susan has been deeply involved with Hebrew College over the years, as longtime student in the Torah Babes class and a Co-Chair of Branching Out, Building Together: A Capital Campaign for Hebrew College. She has been a leader on the College’s Arts Initiative committee as well as involved with the Development Committee.

Susan has served on the Boards of Big Sister, Celebrity Series and Alvin Ailey Summer Dance Camp, Mass College of Art, Mass College of Art Foundation (where she is currently serving in an Emerita capacity), Wang Center, Squashbusters and she was the Co-Chair of Boston Medical Center’s Food for Thought fundraisers between 2000-2006. She currently sits on the Board of the Boston Arts Academy and Foundation Board and is an Overseer at Angell Memorial Hospital.

She received her Bachelor of Arts in History from Queens College, New York.

Michelle Black

Michelle Black currently serves as the Board Chair Emeritus of Gann Academy and is a Trustee of JF&CS and Hebrew College. Within CJP Michelle services on the Commission for Strategic Priorities (CSP) and co-chairs the Teen Engagement taskforce. In addition, she is a co-founder of TribeTalk.org, an organization that aims to prepare high school students for Jewish life on their future college campus, including education on how to navigate and respond to any Jew hatred they may face.

Professionally, Michelle worked as an organization and change management consultant with a focus non-profit management, leadership development, corporate strategy, and organizational design. She now applies her business skills and experience to strengthen the local community serving as a strategic advisor, fundraiser, and community builder within the Jewish community.

Michelle lives with her husband, Darren, in Newton and are members of Temple Beth Elohim. Having sent their 4 children to Jewish Day School (Rashi and Gann) they are firm believers in the power and impact a meaningful Jewish education can have on shaping our Jewish future.

Rabbi Sharon Cohen Anisfeld

Rabbi Sharon Cohen Anisfeld was appointed President-Elect of Hebrew College in the fall of 2017 and became President on July 1, 2018. She was Dean of the Rabbinical School from 2006-2017. Prior to assuming these positions, she served as an adjunct faculty member and then dean of students at the school. After graduating from the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College in 1990, Rabbi Anisfeld spent 15 years working in pluralistic settings as a Hillel rabbi at Tufts, Yale and Harvard universities. She served as a summer faculty member for the Bronfman Youth Fellowships in Israel since 1993 and is co-editor of two volumes of women’s writings on Passover, The Women’s Seder Sourcebook: Rituals and Readings for Use at the Passover Seder (Jewish Lights Publishing, 2002) and The Women’s Passover Companion: Women’s Reflections on the Festival of Freedom (Jewish Lights Publishing, 2002). In 2015, Rabbi Anisfeld was named one of the 50 most influential Jews in the world by The Jerusalem Post. From 2011 to 2013, she was named to Newsweek’s list of Top 50 Influential Rabbis in America.

Kenneth Barron

Kenneth S. Barron has a long career spanning global mobility services (a Berkshire Hathaway entity), community development, and nonprofit organizational governance. He currently oversees CARU Associates LLC, a Cambridge, Massachusetts–based real estate firm that has developed and managed properties in the greater Boston area.

His professional background includes significant involvement in the Mount Auburn Hospital network, where he served as a trustee and board chair. His role placed him within the governance of one of Cambridge’s major healthcare institutions, which provides a wide range of medical services and maintains a teaching affiliation with Harvard Medical School.

Ken is currently a Board member at the Cambridge Chamber of Commerce that promotes economic and civic development in the region and serves as Committee Chair of the Barron/CCC Scholarship Foundation. He is also a current Board member at the Anti-Defamation League of New England, a past Board member and chair of the Central Square Business Improvement District, and of the Sandwich Historical Society & Sandwich Glass Museum.

Ken is a graduate of Syracuse University, completing studies at the Whitman School of Management and the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications. Ken and his wife Marian are residents of Weston, MA, have two daughters and a son and are recent grandparents.

Nancy Kaplan Belsky

Nancy Kaplan Belsky has been devoted to Jewish communal service, investing her time, expertise, and philanthropy in numerous compelling community initiatives.

Nancy has served on the CJP Board of Directors. As Chair of the Committee on Services for People with Disabilities and the CJP Housing Implementation Advisory Committee, she helped guide the CJP Disabilities agenda. As chair, she collaborated with CJP’s family of agencies, professional staff, and lay leadership to develop programs and a variety of housing alternatives and services to suit the full range of needs of Jewish people with disabilities. Additional Leadership includes serving as Vice President on the Board of Directors of the Rashi Jewish Day School, Vice President of the Board of Trustees of The Fessenden School, and board membership on The Anti-Defamation League. More recently, Nancy served as Board Chair of The JCC of Greater Boston.

Nancy Kaplan Belsky currently serves as President of the Rita J. and Stanley H. Kaplan Family Foundation. In honor of their founders, the foundation allocates upwards of fifty percent of the annual budget to Jewish organizations that benefit the broader community.

Powered by Jewish values, the foundation embraces entrepreneurship and innovation; believes risk-taking is essential to creating a better society; understands that arts and culture are critical building blocks of vibrant communities and is passionate about advocating on behalf of vulnerable people.

Nancy and Mark Belsky are members of Temple Beth Elohim in Wellesley and Temple Anshe Amunim in Pittsfield. Mark R. Belsky, MD is retired from his medical practice in Hand Surgery at Newton-Wellesley Hospital. They have three children and four grandchildren, their greatest pride and joy. Some of Nancy’s personal interests include hiking, biking, and Jewish study.

Harvey Chasen, Me’ah`16

Harvey Chasen is a founder and original member of the Board of Directors of MetroWest Jewish Day School. He received his B.S. degree from Northeastern University in Mechanical/Industrial Engineering followed by an M.B.A. He is a past officer of Temple Israel and served as chairman of the Disaster Response Committee for the Metrowest Red Cross. He has been a participant with the speaker’s bureau of the Boston Alzheimer Association.

Harvey is a partner with his son, Allan, in their third-generation family business, HD Chasen, which supplies material to build and maintain bridges, power plants and oil refineries worldwide.

Harvey is a 2015 graduate of Me’ah and has continued his studies with Me’ah Select.

Deborah Feinstein, MAJS`07, Me'ah`99

Deborah Feinstein was a Museum Director/educator/curator for over 25 years. With her first graduate degree in Islamic art from Harvard University, Deborah lectured on religious, historical, and cultural connection of the three major religions through the visual arts in numerous universities and museum venues. She was also the Director/Curator of the Holyoke Museum in Holyoke, Mass., as well as an educational consultant for exhibits at the Springfield Museum of Art in Springfield, Massachusetts. Working for an international exhibit design firm, Christopher Chadbourne and Associates, Deborah was project manager and an exhibit writer. For the Vilna Shul, Boston’s Center for Jewish Culture, Deborah designed and wrote the panels for “The Boston Jewish Experience: Reconnect to the Tapestry” exhibit.

After completing the master’s program in Jewish Studies at Hebrew College, Deborah has used the visual image as an interpretative tool in creating Jewish illuminated manuscripts. Her volunteer life has been full … being president of the Board of Directors for the Vilna Shul for 5 years, Chair of the Capital Campaign that raised $4 million for its renovation, co-chair of numerous missions in Europe for USHMM, co-chairperson for the Wings of Memory Society of New England for the USHMM, a Hebrew College overseer and member of the Leadership council, and member of many committees at Temple Beth Elohim in Wellesley, Mass.

Jesse Friedlander

Jesse Friedlander is based in Bethesda, Maryland where he manages Des Voeux Partners USA, a single family office. Mr. Friedlander previously lived in Hong Kong for two decades where he co-founded Des Voeux Partners, an international, multi-family office. He has held roles in equity and credit research with JPMorgan, Merrill Lynch and Susquehanna International Group. He graduated cum laude and with honors in East Asian Studies from Yale College and holds an MBA from Wharton and a MA in International Relations and Economics from Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). He speaks Mandarin, Cantonese, French, Spanish, Portuguese and Indonesian.

Mr. Friedlander serves as an Advisory Board member of Johns Hopkins SAIS and a Director of Asia Frontier Capital.

He is an associate producer of an upcoming documentary film about Jewish refugees who brought classical music to China. He is also writing a book about the Middle East. He co-founded and hosted the ReOrient! Podcast and has been frequently published by the South China Morning Post.

He is passionate about the Abraham Accords and writes on the Middle East and global markets.

Michael Goldberg

Michael Goldberg is Of Counsel at the law firm of Casner & Edwards. He specializes in the areas of business bankruptcy, financial restructuring and business transactions as well as commercial real estate transactions.

Goldberg’s clients look to him for advice on difficult and complex restructuring issues, where he is known for his creative approaches to the solution of financial problems.  In his over 25 years of practice, he has represented a broad spectrum of clients in
insolvency matters, including debtors, creditors’ committees, trustees, assignees, landlords, secured and unsecured creditors, and investors.

His clients cut across a wide range of industry types, including high-tech and biomedical device companies, medical practice groups, and
nonprofit institutions. He has also served as counsel to purchasers and sellers
of industrial, office and multifamily real estate, with a particular expertise in real estate financing.

Goldberg is also a frequent lecturer on bankruptcy topics,
particularly on the impact of bankruptcy issues on real estate transactions.

Rabbi Avi Killip `14

Rabbi Avi Killip is the Executive Vice President at Hadar. A 2014 graduate of Hebrew College Rabbinical School, Avi also holds Bachelors and Masters from Brandeis University. She was a Wexner Graduate Fellow and a Schusterman Fellow. Avi teaches as part of Hadar’s Faculty and is host of Hadar’s podcasts, Responsa Radio and Ta Shma. Avi lives in Riverdale, NY with her husband and three children.

Rabbi Van Lanckton `09

Rabbi Van Lanckton is a 2009 graduate of the Rabbinical School. He is Rabbi Emeritus of Temple B’nai Shalom in Braintree, MA, where he served in a student pulpit from 2007 to 2009 and then as Rabbi from 2009 to 2017.

Van is the Executive Vice President of the Hebrew College Clergy Alumni Association, which he created in 2008. He also served as an officer and director of the Rabbis and Cantors Retirement Plan, which he co-created in 2012.

Van practiced law in Massachusetts for 36 years, serving initially as Director of the Community Legal Assistance Office and Teaching Fellow in Law and Clinical Practice at Harvard Law School and then in two positions in the Massachusetts state government. Following his subsequent 25 years in private practice, he retired from law in 2003 to become one of the seventeen founding students of the Rabbinical School. Van graduated cum laude from Yale College in 1964 and Harvard Law School in 1967.

Professor Sara Lee

Professor Sara S. Lee was the Director of the Rhea-Hirsch School of Education at the Los Angeles, CA campus of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion from 1980-2007. She served as Adjunct Professor Emeritus of Jewish Education from 2007-2012 teaching a variety of courses such as Sociology of Jewish Education, Curriculum and Organizational Development. She has served as a consultant to schools and organizations and lectured extensively on Jewish Education, and has written articles for The Jewish Principal’s Handbook, Religious Education, and Jewish Education.

Sara served as a member of the Wexner Foundation Graduate Fellowship Committee and as a vice chair of the URJ Commission on Lifelong Jewish Learning. She served the Project Director for the Hebrew Union College Mandel Fellows Program from 2007-2012 and currently serves as faculty for their Mandel Initiative for Visionary Leadership.

Her research interests include Jewish institutional transformation, interreligious education, approaches to leadership of Jewish religious institutions, and the impact of American religion on Jewish religious life and institutions.

Sara has edited three books: A Congregation of Learners (with Isa Aron and Seymour Rossel); Touching the Future: Mentoring and the Jewish Professional (with Michael Zeldin); and Communities of Learning: A Vision for the Jewish Future.

With Dr. Mary C. Boys of Union Theological Seminary, Sara edited a special issue of Religious Education, “Religious Traditions in Conversation”. She also co-authored Christians and Jews in Dialogue: Learning in the Presence of the Other with Dr. Boys in 2006. The Lilly Endowment awarded Sara and Dr. Boys a grant in 1992 to support a colloquium for Catholic and Jewish educators, and a second grant in 1996 for the study of pluralism and particularism in religious education.

She is a past president of the Association of Professors and Researchers in Religious Education (APRRE), and received the Distinguished Merit Citation from the National Conference of Christians and Jews.

She was awarded the Sara and Samuel Rothberg Prize in Jewish Education by Hebrew University in Jerusalem in 1997, Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa by the Jewish Theological Seminary in 1999, Pras HaNasi, the President’s Award for Distinguished Leadership of Jewish Education in the Diaspora in 2005, and a Doctor of Humane Letters from Hebrew Union College in 2012.

Sara was born in Boston, M.A. She received her B.A. in Social Relations from Radcliffe College, an M.A. in Jewish Education from Hebrew Union College, and an M.S. in Education from University of Southern California.

Rabbi Steven Lewis `11

Steven received rabbinic ordination from Hebrew College Rabbinic School in 2011.  He served as the Rabbi of Temple Ahavat Achim, Gloucester, Massachusetts from 2011 until 2022.  Prior to attending rabbinical school, Steven received his B.S. degree from Brown University and a Master’s Degree in Environmental Planning from UC Berkeley.  He worked as an educator and theater director.  In both of these professions he used the oral histories of local seniors to create performances and curricula that told the story of local changes in landscape and culture.

Diana Loyd

Diana Lloyd is an attorney by training and practiced law for 35 years in New York and Boston. She was a partner at Choate, Hall & Stewart LLP for over 20 years before her retirement in 2024. Earlier in her career, she also served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in Boston, Massachusetts.

Diana has held leadership roles in the Boston legal community, including as President of the Boston Bar Foundation, Member of the Boston Bar Association Council and as a Trustee of the Women’s Bar Foundation. She currently volunteers with the Anti-Defamation League’s national litigation team in its efforts to combat antisemitism.

Diana is also active in the Boston and Stowe, Vermont Jewish communities. She is a current Trustee of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Boston, is a former Trustee of Gann Academy, has been active in Combined Jewish Philanthropies in various leadership roles, and is currently a Vice President of the Jewish Community of Greater Stowe, Vermont.

Diana received a B.A in English and French from St. Lawrence University (Valedictorian, 1984), and M.A. and J.D. degrees from New York University (1989), where she was Editor-in-Chief of the N.Y.U. Law Review. She also completed a Fulbright French Government Teaching Assistantship in France.

Diana lives in the Boston area with her husband Jordan Hershman (also a retired attorney). Diana and Jordy have two adult children, both of whom graduated from South Area Solomon Schechter Day School and Gann Academy.

Rabbi Jessical Lowenthal

Rabbi Lowenthal is a Hebrew College alum (2019).  She was born and raised in Framingham, MA. She attended George Washington University, graduating with a BA in religion and psychology. She spent the next year working as an engagement associate at American University Hillel. She spent a semester at Pardes in Jerusalem before returning to Boston to work for the American Jewish Committee. Rabbi Lowenthal graduated from the MBA/MA program at Hornstein at Brandeis University. She worked for the Anti-Defamation League before studying at Hebrew College. Rabbi Lowenthal was ordained in 2019 and came to Temple Beth Shalom that fall.

Meredith Moss

Meredith Moss brings professional experience from the fintech and financial services sectors and passion for Jewish community. She currently serves as an Operating Partner at Presidio Investors and as Board Chair at Alliant National. Meredith served as the CEO and Co-Founder of Finomial, a fintech software platform. Under her leadership, Finomial was acquired by SEI, where she later became Managing Director. Before her tenure at Finomial and SEI, Meredith held senior roles at Credit Suisse, Lehman Brothers and Reuters, where she led business units and technology and strategy initiatives.

She has an MBA from Harvard Business School and a Bachelor of Arts from Brown University.

She is known for her strategic vision, operational expertise, and ability to drive business transformations. She is passionate about creating equitable opportunities and fostering a collaborative work environment.

Meredith volunteered with the Refugee and Immigration Assistance Center through a partnership with Beth El Temple Center and with the Coro Foundation in the Leadership New York program.

Meredith and her family are members of Temple Beth Zion in Brookline. Meredith lives in Cambridge with her husband, pianist Donald Berman. They have two college-aged children.

Myra Musicant, Me’ah `03

Myra Musicant is a CPA by training. She has devoted herself to raising three children and being an active volunteer in non-profit organizations.

Myra graduated magna cum laude from Smith College with a major in religion.  She studied in the Near Eastern and Judaic Studies Department at Brandeis University for three and a half years. She received a master’s degree from the Simmons Graduate Program in Management.  She obtained her CPA and had seven years’ experience with the firm of Coopers & Lybrand.

Myra was a member of the board of trustees at the Solomon Schechter Day School of Boston, serving as Treasurer and First Vice President.  She also served as President of Temple Beth Zion in Brookline for four years. She is an alumna of the Me’ah program at Hebrew College and currently is a hospice volunteer at Hebrew SeniorLife.

Suzanne Priebatsch

Suzanne G Priebatsch, CLU®, ChFC®, is Senior Vice President, Financial Advisor, and Senior Investment Management Consultant at Morgan Stanley, an American multinational investment bank and financial services company.

Suzanne is a graduate of Smith College and Harvard University. She began her investment management career in 1986. She serves on the boards of our partnering organization, the Jewish Arts Collaborative, and Hadassah – Brandeis Institute, Boston branch of the American Jewish Committee, Boston branch of Anti-Defamation League, and Boston branch of Birthright Israel. She serves also as an Honorary Trustee of the Children’s Museum of Boston.

Susan Shevitz

Susan is associate professor emerita at Brandeis University where, for over twenty-five years, she taught in and then directed the Hornstein Program in Jewish Communal Service (now Jewish Professional Leadership). She has helped numerous foundations, schools, synagogues and agencies plan, implement and/or evaluate programs such as Hebrew charter schools, family education, and professional development programs for Jewish educators. Susan recently served as faculty on the OnBoard initiative that prepares newly appointed board members of Jewish non-profit organizations for their responsibilities. She has also served on several boards including the Solomon Schechter Day School of Greater Boston, JESNA (Jewish Educational Service of North America), and the Jewish Communal Service Association.

Susan’s research and teaching focus on organizational culture and change, leadership in non-profit organizations, and pluralism in Jewish life. She has published numerous articles and monographs and is finishing a book on pluralism in Jewish education. Susan holds undergraduate degrees from the Jewish Theological Seminary (history) and Columbia University (urban planning) and a doctorate from Harvard University in educational planning and social policy. When not working, Susan especially enjoys art, architecture, gardens, travel, and time with her family – her husband, children, step-children and, especially, her four young grandchildren.

Myra L. Snyder, MAJS’01, Me’ah `97

Myra Snyder has been a long-time supporter of Hebrew College, serving on its Board of Overseers before joining the Board.

Myra is a founder of B’nai Torah in Sudbury, Temple Shir Tikvah in Wayland, MA and MetroWest Jewish Day School in Framingham, MA.

Myra serves on the boards of MetroWest Jewish Day School, B’nai Torah of Sudbury, and BOLLI at Brandeis. She has worked in development for many institutions and Jewish organizations, including Mayyim Hayyim, Boston Jewish Film Festival, Brandeis (BOLLI program), Hebrew College, B’nai Torah in Sudbury, MetroWest Jewish Day School, New England branch of University of Haifa, and Combined Jewish Philanthropies.

Myra graduated from the Forsyth School for Dental Hygienists at Tufts University and worked as a Registered Dental Hygienist, mostly in pediatrics with special needs children. She received her B.S. degree at Northeastern University. She is a 1997 graduate of Hebrew College’s Me’ah program and received her Master’s in Jewish Studies at Hebrew College in 2001.

Steven D. Targum, Me'ah`07

Steven Targum has spent his professional career involved in academics, drug development research, and clinical practice. He is a psychiatrist-psychopharmacologist who has been founder and/or chief medical officer at several small biotech or pharmaceutical companies.

Steve moved to Boston in 2005 with his wife, Carol, in order to live closer to their children. He has been delighted to have three grandchildren come along the way. He has served on the boards of several Jewish charitable organizations including the Institute of Jewish Spirituality in New York and has been committed to his own, evolving Jewish education. He is a proud graduate of the Me’ah program and has continued to take Me’ah Select classes.

Steve received his B.A. in biology from Colgate University and an M.D. from Mount Sinai School of Medicine. He has been Professor of Psychiatry and Vice-Chairman of the Department of Mental Health Sciences at Hahnemann University School of Medicine (Philadelphia) and a consultant in psychiatry at the Massachusetts General Hospital.

Diane Troderman

Diane Troderman sits on the Board of Trustees of the Harold Grinspoon Foundation which she directed from its inception in 1993 to 1998. Currently she helps make strategic decisions as part of her board portfolio serving on their PJ library book selection committee
In addition to Jewish children’s books, Diane’s passions range from Jewish education (having chaired JESNA and PEJE) to women’s issues (as founding chair of the Hadassah-Brandeis Institute and contributing member of The Harvard Divinity School Women’s Studies in Religion program). Diane serves on the boards of The Davidson School at The Jewish Theological Seminary and “Shalom Learning,” a start-up non-profit that partners with synagogues helping to transform their afternoon schools. In addition she is a board member of The Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

In Western Massachusetts, Diane served as chair of her local Federation and the Hillel at University of Mass in Amherst. She was founding chair of Hatikvah — the Holocaust Education and Resource Center now located on the Amherst campus.

Diane was awarded an honorary degree in 2013 from her alma mater, Wheaton College, and in 2016 accepted an honorary degree from Hebrew College.

Diane and her husband, Harold Grinspoon, share 11 beautiful grandchildren.

Rebecca Voorwinde

Bio coming soon