Directly Responsible
Congregation executive directors fill a special role.
JILL DAVIDSON SKLAR
and DIANA LIEBERMAN
hen lightning
strikes, Helen
Forman is the
kind of person
you want to have around to
pick up the pieces.
The 48 hours after last year's
pre-Rosh HaShana lightning
storm were the busiest time in
her 15 years as executive direc-
tor of the Birmingham Temple,
Forman said. The storm hit
two days before the holiday,
knocking out the sound system
and half the phones. Water
flooded through the sanctuary
ceiling and seeped in under the
wallpaper. Photographs of the
temple's past presidents fell
from the walls, smashing the
glass and cracking the frames.
Despite the mayhem, two
days later, services took place
as planned.
"We all pitched in. It was
like the pulling together of a
team," Forman said. "We did
the most crucial things first —
patching together the sound
system, getting a roofing corn-
pany in to patch the roof, so it
was safe for people to sit under.
It seems almost funny now
but it wasn't funny at the
time," Forman said.
Although the storm generat-
ed more anxiety than a typical
day at the Birmingham
Temple, the day-to-day activi-
Clockwise, from top: Helen Forman, executive director of the Birmingham Temple;
ties of a synagogue executive
Elliott Burns, executive director of Congregation Beth Abraham Hillel Moses; and
director or temple administra-
Temple Emanu-El Executive DirectOr Don Cohen.
tor are never dull.
Ten Detroit congregations
tion in early April, after membership
candidates for these jobs are hard to
employ executive directors or temple
levels did not rise as expected. The
find. Communities across America
administrators to coordinate and aug-
responsibilities were divided among
are struggling to fill a multitude of
ment the activities of rabbis, staff
staff
and volunteers.
vacant positions.
members, lay leaders and volunteers.
The other local executive directors or
Currently, executive director posi-
Congregation officials say good
temple administrators are Alan Yost at
tions are unfilled locally at
Adat
Shalom Synagogue, Elliott Burns
Congregation
Beth
Shalom,
Jill Davidson Sklar is a freelance writer
at Congregation Beth Abraham Hillel
Congregation
B'nai
Moshe
and
in Huntington Woods.
Moses, Tom Jablonski at Temple Beth
Congregation Shaarey Zedek. Temple
El,
Don Cohen at Temple Emanu-El
Shir Shalom is seeking to hire its first.
Staff Writer Diana Lieberman
and
David Tisdale at Temple Israel, as
Temple Kol Ami, which had
can be reached at (248) 354-6060,
.well as Forman at the Birmingham
employed
an
executive
director
for
the
ext. 247, or by e-mail at
Temple.
past three years, eliminated the posi-
dlieberm@thejewishnews.com
7/23
1999
10 Detroit Jewish News
Affiliated Jews, especially
congregation board members
and officers, rely heavily on
26- these individuals to maintain
8
their congregations' facilities,
plan and execute fund-raising
initiatives, retain current
members, attract new ones
from a relatively stable popu-
lation of Jews, handle invest-
ments and endowments, hire
and train congregational
employees and direct volun-
teer efforts.
Elliott Burns, executive
director at Beth Abraham
Hillel Moses for two years,
sees his primary role as
extending and enriching the
synagogue family.
"I love meeting the new
members at our Friday-night
family dinners," Dr. Burns
said. "It gives me a great deal
of satisfaction to fix them up
with buddies in the congrega-
tion and then see them par-
ticipate in activities, whether
they are communal, religious
or educational."
He also enjoys helping
N
people plan special events,
such as weddings and baby
namings, and finds satisfac-
tion in reaching out to peo-
ple who have had recent
bereavements.
At Adat Shalom, the
executive director functions
as a combination of facilita-
tor and quarterback, accord-
ing to Alan Yost, who has
held the position for 19
years. Most recently, he led
the effort to coordinate the
integration into the Adat
Shalom family of about 300 former
members of Congregation Beth
Achim, which formally closed last
summer.
In all, about 900 Reform and
Conservative congregations in
America have executive directors.
New positions open up as congrega-
tions grow larger and as existing
directors leave their positions to
retire or to enter another profession,
burned out by the stress of the ever-
changing job.