{"@context":"http://iiif.io/api/presentation/3/context.json","id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/iiif/jh3cz3415n/manifest","type":"Manifest","label":{"en":["D'Agostino, Josh"]},"logo":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/organizations/logo_images/000/000/082/original/TheBreman_SecondaryMark_Horizontal_Blue_Black.png?1713640889","metadata":[{"label":{"en":["Date"]},"value":{"en":["2025-03-25 (captured)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Agent"]},"value":{"en":["D'Agostino, Josh (Interviewee)","Rosenberg, Robin (Interviewer)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Format"]},"value":{"en":["Video"]}},{"label":{"en":["Source"]},"value":{"en":["William Breman Jewish Heritage Museum","Esther \u0026amp; Herbert Taylor Jewish Oral History Collection","Shearith Israel's Presidents Program, Lessons in Leadership"]}},{"label":{"en":["Description"]},"value":{"en":["\u003cp\u003eJosh D'Agostino was interviewed by Robin Rosenberg on March 25, 2025, in Atlanta Georgia.\u003c/p\u003e (general)","\u003cp\u003eJosh D’Agostino was born on May 18, 1976. He is the middle child of Robert and Claire Allen D’Agostino. He has an older brother, Joseph, and younger sister, Gaby. Josh grew up in Atlanta, Georgia and attended Riverwood High School. He attended Tufts University and later transferred and graduated from the University of Texas at Austin. Growing up, he and his family attended Temple Sinai in Sandy Springs, Georgia.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eJosh is the President and CEO of Mighty Auto Parts, which is based in Atlanta. He served as President of Congregation Shearith Israel from 2015 to 2017. He also has served on Inman Park Cooperative Preschool Board of Directors, the Advisory Committee for Camp Barney Medintz, and Vice-President of Fundraising for the Midtown High School Parent-Teachers-Student Organization. Josh is married to Annie Grodin D’Agostino, and they have three daughters, Elena, Sari, and Mira.\u003c/p\u003e (bioghist)","\u003cp\u003eJosh begins the interview by sharing how he got involved with the Shearith Israel’s board and eventually became president. He reflects on the turmoil the synagogue was undergoing when he joined the board. He also talks about how things have turned around since that time. He discusses what skills he brought to his position as president. Josh recalls how he was able to implement his goal setting efforts and how it gained footing.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eHe reflects on the most challenging and surprising aspects of serving as president. Josh shares some of the people he turned to when he needed advice during his presidency and how they worked together. He discusses what brought him the most joy and gratification while he was president, and what else he took away from serving as president. He talks about the two things he would have handled differently while president.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eJosh spoke the qualities board members, and the president should have if they are serving on a non-profit board. He mentions how he and his family have continued to be involved with the synagogue. He discusses what he sees as the challenges and strengths of Shearith Israel at this point in time. Josh talks about the importance of finding balance and not trying to do it all while serving as the president. He ends the interview by reflecting on the resources available to synagogue presidents and for leaders to find and use the resources.\u003c/p\u003e (scope content)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Rights Statement"]},"value":{"en":["\u003cp\u003eAll rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, recorded by any information storage and retrieval system, without the express written consent of the William Breman Jewish Heritage Museum.\u003c/p\u003e"]}},{"label":{"en":["Subject"]},"value":{"en":["D’Agostino, Josh (b. 1976) (personal name)","D’Agostino, Annie Grodin (b. 1975) (personal name)","D’Agostino, Claire Allen (1945-2023) (personal name)","Chernow, Lance (b. 1969) (personal name)","Wender, David (b. 1975) (personal name)","Leder, Brenda (b. 1946) (personal name)","Green, Nancy (b. 1972) (personal name)","Kaiman, Ari (b. 1982) (personal name)","Kaplan, Richard (b. 1957) (personal name)","Tucker-Zemlak, Jo-Anne (personal name)","Atlanta, Georgia (geographic term)","Congregation Shearith Israel (corporate name)","Temple Sinai (corporate name)","United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism (corporate name)","Reform Judaism (topical term)","Conservative Judaism (topical term)","High Holidays (topical term)","Yom Kippur (topical term)","Bat Mitzvah (topical term)","Shabbat (topical term)"]}}],"summary":{"en":["\u003cp\u003eJosh D'Agostino was interviewed by Robin Rosenberg on March 25, 2025, in Atlanta Georgia.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eJosh D\u0026rsquo;Agostino was born on May 18, 1976. He is the middle child of Robert and Claire Allen D\u0026rsquo;Agostino. He has an older brother, Joseph, and younger sister, Gaby. Josh grew up in Atlanta, Georgia and attended Riverwood High School. He attended Tufts University and later transferred and graduated from the University of Texas at Austin. Growing up, he and his family attended Temple Sinai in Sandy Springs, Georgia.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eJosh is the President and CEO of Mighty Auto Parts, which is based in Atlanta. He served as President of Congregation Shearith Israel from 2015 to 2017. He also has served on Inman Park Cooperative Preschool Board of Directors, the Advisory Committee for Camp Barney Medintz, and Vice-President of Fundraising for the Midtown High School Parent-Teachers-Student Organization. Josh is married to Annie Grodin D\u0026rsquo;Agostino, and they have three daughters, Elena, Sari, and Mira.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eJosh begins the interview by sharing how he got involved with the Shearith Israel\u0026rsquo;s board and eventually became president. He reflects on the turmoil the synagogue was undergoing when he joined the board. He also talks about how things have turned around since that time. He discusses what skills he brought to his position as president. Josh recalls how he was able to implement his goal setting efforts and how it gained footing.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eHe reflects on the most challenging and surprising aspects of serving as president. Josh shares some of the people he turned to when he needed advice during his presidency and how they worked together. He discusses what brought him the most joy and gratification while he was president, and what else he took away from serving as president. He talks about the two things he would have handled differently while president.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eJosh spoke the qualities board members, and the president should have if they are serving on a non-profit board. He mentions how he and his family have continued to be involved with the synagogue. He discusses what he sees as the challenges and strengths of Shearith Israel at this point in time. Josh talks about the importance of finding balance and not trying to do it all while serving as the president. He ends the interview by reflecting on the resources available to synagogue presidents and for leaders to find and use the resources.\u003c/p\u003e"]},"requiredStatement":{"label":{"en":["Attribution"]},"value":{"en":["\u003cp\u003eAll rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, recorded by any information storage and retrieval system, without the express written consent of the William Breman Jewish Heritage Museum.\u003c/p\u003e"]}},"provider":[{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/aboutus","type":"Agent","label":{"en":["William Breman Jewish Heritage Museum"]},"homepage":[{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/","type":"Text","label":{"en":["William Breman Jewish Heritage Museum"]},"format":"text/html"}],"logo":[{"id":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/organizations/logo_images/000/000/082/original/TheBreman_SecondaryMark_Horizontal_Blue_Black.png?1713640889","type":"Image"}]}],"thumbnail":[{"id":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/collection_resource_files/thumbnails/000/273/200/small/JDAgostino.mp4_1747486608.jpg?1747486613","type":"Image","format":"image/jpeg"}],"items":[{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/148668/file/273200","type":"Canvas","label":{"en":["Media File 1 of 1 - JD'Agostino.mp4"]},"duration":2087.26084,"width":640,"height":360,"thumbnail":[{"id":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/collection_resource_files/thumbnails/000/273/200/small/JDAgostino.mp4_1747486608.jpg?1747486613","type":"Image","format":"image/jpeg"}],"items":[{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/148668/file/273200/content/1","type":"AnnotationPage","items":[{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/148668/file/273200/content/1/annotation/1","type":"Annotation","motivation":"painting","body":{"id":"https://aviary-p-thebreman.s3.wasabisys.com/collection_resource_files/resource_files/000/273/200/original/JD'Agostino.mp4?1747486603","type":"Video","format":"video/mp4","duration":2087.26084,"width":640,"height":360},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/148668/file/273200","metadata":[]}]}],"annotations":[{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/148668/file/273200/transcript/79989","type":"AnnotationPage","label":{"en":["D'Agostino, Josh [Transcript]"]},"items":[{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/148668/file/273200/transcript/79989/annotation/1","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eROSENBERG:\u003c/strong\u003e Today's March 25, 2025. My name is Robin Rosenberg and I'm interviewing Josh D'Agostino, past president of Congregation Shearith Israel as part of Shearith Israel's Presidents Program, Lessons in Leadership. We're delighted to collaborate with the Breman Museum in recording this conversation. Josh, thanks for being here, for taking the time. Why don't you start with the dates that you served? How you came to be president and a bit about what the synagogue was like then.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/148668/file/273200#t=0.0,35.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/148668/file/273200/transcript/79989/annotation/2","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eD'AGOSTINO:\u003c/strong\u003e I think like most synagogue presidents, you get kind of tricked into it, and I think that's true for me too. I was actually on the board of my kid's preschool, and the preschool had gone through this very, very difficult time with the director, embezzlement, all this really bad stuff.  Annie and I joined the board and helped turn that around. We felt pretty proud about that, that we had really helped this organization. Then immediately after that kind of ended, I caught wind that things weren't well at Shearith Israel. I . . . met Lance Chernow, one of our members and donors, for a beer. He told me all about it because he was on the board. I said, \"Maybe I can help. Maybe I can join the board, and I can help.\" I was feeling kind of good about what we just accomplished. He looked at me and said, \"Did you hear what I just said to you for the last 30 minutes about the turmoil at Shearith Israel?\" I said, \"Yes.\" I joined the board at large. I believe that was in 2012, and I was a member-at-large for a year, kind of just trying to understand what was going on. Then from 2013, or maybe it was 2013, because then . . . 2014, 2015, I was the organizational vice president, so kind of responsible for board governance and management and such and then became president 2015 through 2017. That's when I was president of the board, so that is kind of how that all came together.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/148668/file/273200#t=35.0,122.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/148668/file/273200/transcript/79989/annotation/3","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eROSENBERG:\u003c/strong\u003e That was a pretty natural progression, actually. You had the opportunity to see behind the scenes and have that experience.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/148668/file/273200#t=122.0,129.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/148668/file/273200/transcript/79989/annotation/4","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eD'AGOSTINO:\u003c/strong\u003e As a member-at-large I really didn't do much. I mostly just listened and talked to people and learned the inner workings of the synagogue. I think when you're a member of most any organization you often don't know how things are really working behind the scenes. You hear things that might be true, you hear things that often probably aren't true, and so part of my expectation as a member at large was just kind of absorbed. Then became organizational vice president, where I got really involved in. That was an executive committee position and then volunteered to be president.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/148668/file/273200#t=129.0,163.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/148668/file/273200/transcript/79989/annotation/5","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eROSENBERG:\u003c/strong\u003e You talk about some turmoil . . . describes some of what was going on and how it changed? How would you describe Shearith today, sort of a little bit of history there.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/148668/file/273200#t=163.0,177.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/148668/file/273200/transcript/79989/annotation/6","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eD'AGOSTINO:\u003c/strong\u003e What wasn't going on in 2015, I would say. I think like a lot of synagogues, financial struggles. Membership wasn't strong. It was stagnant at best, perhaps declining. People's donations were declining, in terms of the Yom Kippur appeal and other types of fundraising. There was a religious fight, so to speak. People weren't happy with the rabbi. Some were, some weren't. Very loud voices about that. The board wasn't running very well, I would say. It was combative, it wasn't organized real well. I'll say this, there was someone on the board who came and read the paper during board meetings, when I first began, and literally pulled the paper out and read it the entire board meeting. It was very disrespectful, I would say, in many ways. There's a lot of turmoil, I might use the word turmoil, there's lot of chaos. It really was in a bad situation in most every way. But what it did have of course, was a lot of care, a lot of dedication, a lot of people who really wanted it to flourish and do well, and were trying to do that, were trying help the synagogue turn it around and really be where it is today. I think today we have more than twice as many members than we had in 2015. Balanced budgets for the vast majority of the last ten years and in fact surplus budgets in the last, more than the last 10 years, if I'm aware of that, I think. Now, I say that because that includes fundraising and the appeal, of course, but at the end of the day, the synagogue is in a much better financial position. New rabbi who is well loved, a great staff that, we've had some turnover in staff as every organization does, but overall, a healthy staff. Lots of volunteers on the board, seems to be running much more smoothly, respectfully, organized, accomplishing goals. I really think the board that I had, to the boards that have followed have just really done an amazing job at taking Shearith from really a drowning community to a thriving one. That's a big, it's a huge difference today than where it was when I first joined the board, I think.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/148668/file/273200#t=177.0,327.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/148668/file/273200/transcript/79989/annotation/7","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eROSENBERG:\u003c/strong\u003e What do you think you uniquely brought to this role? Did you have a specific goal?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/148668/file/273200#t=327.0,332.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/148668/file/273200/transcript/79989/annotation/8","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eD'AGOSTINO:\u003c/strong\u003e I think my biggest strength was more business experience. I used to joke that I'm probably the least knowledgeable person in the building about Judaism. I grew up Reform. I followed my mother's footsteps. She was president of Temple Sinai in the late 1980's when I was in middle school. That's where I grew up at Sinai. It wasn't nearly as traditional as Shearith Israel. My wife grew up Conservative, we wanted a Conservative synagogue. But I used to joke, I know the least about Judaism in the building. I felt that my strength was really more business, organization, goal setting, kind of task management, working with people, collaboration, making decisions. I thought that that was the experience and perhaps the skill that the synagogue needed at the time. It needed organization. It needed some strong leadership. It needed some goals. It needed direction. I wasn't going to be helpful with Jewish life in reality. I was going to be helpful with the business management of the synagogue. I think ultimately that's kind of what it needed at that time. That's what I thought my strengths were and when we came in that's what we did. We set goals for everything, membership goals, number of children in our education program goals, financial goals, fundraising goals. We really set goals for everything. Every month, where are we on this goal, and I think it made a difference.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/148668/file/273200#t=332.0,418.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/148668/file/273200/transcript/79989/annotation/9","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eROSENBERG:\u003c/strong\u003e I'm asking you questions that are a little bit different than many that I've asked other presidents because of your orientation toward goal setting. How were you able to institutionalize that mindset?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/148668/file/273200#t=418.0,437.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/148668/file/273200/transcript/79989/annotation/10","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eD'AGOSTINO:\u003c/strong\u003e I think the board that volunteered at that time felt more aligned with that philosophy. How do we know where we're going if we don't have a goal. How do you know what we really need to accomplish, if we really don't set a goal? Some of those goals I mentioned were numbers goals, but there were other goals of course. We went through a rabbi search, so a goal was finding a new great rabbi. That's not a numbers game right, that's a big initiative, huge initiative. We had goals beyond just these numbers. I think in the beginning some people may have felt this is business speak, but I think that at the end of the day when you write down a goal and set a target, you're much more likely to achieve it. I think that’s true in business, its true in life and I think as we started to achieve these things. Oh, we added three new members last week, we added this, we have four more children in the education program. People started seeing the momentum of our efforts and then the goal became, where are we? Where are we on the goal? I think some of it was, in the beginning, they were aligned with the strategy, but also as they saw it starting to work, then it became, this makes sense. This . . .  is working. We are adding numbers, we are adding members, we are getting more volunteers, we're getting more spirit with our donations, better attendance at different events. I think success begets success. That's what I think people were seeing, that this kind of business management, so to speak, is really working.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/148668/file/273200#t=437.0,534.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/148668/file/273200/transcript/79989/annotation/11","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eROSENBERG:\u003c/strong\u003e Thinking back, what were the things that were the most challenging then, because you talked about a lot of them? What would you talk about as most surprising and most challenging?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/148668/file/273200#t=534.0,548.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/148668/file/273200/transcript/79989/annotation/12","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eD'AGOSTINO:\u003c/strong\u003e I think these are two different things. I think what was most surprising to me, I thought that being president was just going to be just constant misery from the members. I really did. I thought it was just going to be grievances and complaints and just constant. That's not at all what happened. The amount of people who really care about Shearith was beyond my understanding at the time. The amount of people who were just so thankful and grateful for the work that you were doing was the surprising part. I really felt like the president just gets a lot of grief. I think I saw that when I first joined the board, or at least I thought I did. What I didn't see was the gratefulness and the appreciation. That was very surprising to me, to walk away from that experiencing what people really appreciated, what the president of a synagogue does, including me. That was pretty surprising. What was most challenging? The rabbi's situation was challenging. I spent a lot of time interviewing a lot of people with a lot of strong opinions about that situation. My determination was everybody’s at fault. It wasn't, it's that person's fault or it's that person fault. Everybody’s at fault. I'm saying that generically, but some of the things that happened were not one-sided. What I kind of learned is the partnership has gone bad, right? It's gone bad. It's gone bad for the rabbi. It's gone bad for the synagogue. How do we make this change in the least painful way for everyone, for the rabbi, for the congregation? We were able to do that. We were able do that, but that was the most challenging piece. How to navigate the spiritual leader. That is one of the, if not the, most critical pieces of the synagogue. When I was president, we'd meet with other presidents and say, \"Boy, what's the difference between a flourishing synagogue and what's not.\" I said, \"The rabbi.\" You got to start there. You got to have a great rabbi, great education program, and the rest, to me, kind of follows that. That was the most challenging part, and the most surprising part was the appreciation.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/148668/file/273200#t=548.0,675.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/148668/file/273200/transcript/79989/annotation/13","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eROSENBERG:\u003c/strong\u003e In terms of that kind of problem-solving, who did you go to? Where did you find your support? You mentioned some of the past presidents. How did you look for the answers or suggestions?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/148668/file/273200#t=675.0,690.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/148668/file/273200/transcript/79989/annotation/14","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eD'AGOSTINO:\u003c/strong\u003e Before I was president, I did, I would meet any number of past presidents, very involved members, people who had been around a long time, we'd go grab a beer, we'd grab dinner or whatever, and we'd talk. Tell me what's going on, tell me about what you're seeing, tell what you think about the synagogue. I gathered a lot of information. I spent a lot of time with the rabbi at the time, and got his perspective, and gathered information there. I spent time with the executive director. But when it came time to think about well what should we do? Obviously talking to Annie, my spouse, she's pretty level-headed and can cut through the clutter in a lot of ways. But also, we had a great executive team. We had a great executive team, we had, I wrote some of their names down so I wouldn't forget everybody, but David Wender and Brenda Leder and Nancy Green was really very helpful. Lance Chernow. We really spent time talking about what we should do in a way that was going to be incredibly helpful. I hope I didn't miss anybody I probably did. Let's see David, Brenda . . . those are the core of that executive committee, and we would talk. We were really very well aligned as to what do we need to do so. I think in any non-profit there’s not, it's a collaborative effort. In business someone makes the decision and there's a hierarchy and sometimes people follow that. You're collaborative, as much as you can be, but I think in a non-profit you really have to be even more so. You've got to get more people in the boat. You've got to get more people aligned with what you want to do, and you make a decision together. That's the group that I turned to, to say, here's my assessment of the situation, what do you think, what should we do?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/148668/file/273200#t=690.0,796.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/148668/file/273200/transcript/79989/annotation/15","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eROSENBERG:\u003c/strong\u003e What would you say was the most gratification? What were the things that just sort of brought you joy in this effort? You mentioned the appreciation that you felt from the congregation. Is there anything else that sort of stands out?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/148668/file/273200#t=796.0,812.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/148668/file/273200/transcript/79989/annotation/16","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eD'AGOSTINO:\u003c/strong\u003e Yes, I would think so. I told people this. When I got involved with the preschool board, I didn't love the preschool. I liked it. It was fine. It's a nice community. But my kids loved it. When I got involved with the Shearith Israel’s board, I didn't love Shearith Israel. I had the same kind of attitude. I liked it. It was nice community. My kids seemed to really love it. At that time, when I became president, my kids were nine, seven, and five. They were in the throes of it, right? They're going to the education program, we're going services. We're not terribly far away from my oldest's bat mitzvah. What was most, I guess gratifying and fulfilling was helping their community remain. Remain strong, healthy, flourish, thrive so that they could have the experience that they ended up having. That their friends could have experience they were having. That future families and kids could have an experience that their having. That's the most gratifying is what's happened since and the ability for families and children to engage in this community, and come to love it as I have. I really . . . you join a synagogue when our kids are old enough. It became something that you did, and then it became something we loved, and I wanted that for other people.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/148668/file/273200#t=812.0,901.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/148668/file/273200/transcript/79989/annotation/17","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eROSENBERG:\u003c/strong\u003e This really leads to, you've described something about what the impact was on you as president, and it sounds like that's kind of right up there . . . Were there other things that you took away as a leader, as a community member? Is there anything you want to add to that?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/148668/file/273200#t=901.0,919.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/148668/file/273200/transcript/79989/annotation/18","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eD'AGOSTINO:\u003c/strong\u003e One other thing I personally loved, full selfish, is that we defied the Conservative movement trend. Our synagogue has more than doubled in membership, I think, in the last 10 years. If it's not more than double, it's something close to that. Financially sound, a very stable religious life. We certainly have our challenges. There's always, you got a board that turns over every two years. You got new leadership coming in. You've got staff turnover that you're dealing with. Right now, we're looking at a new executive director who's coming on board. There's always the natural challenges but some of those bigger broader challenges Shearith doesn't seem to have, and I was really kind of proud of that defying the Conservative movement trend. Now, that's selfish because I don't want the Conservative movement to be doing poorly, I want them to do as well as possible. But I certainly was proud that we were able to accomplish what we accomplished. For me as a leader it was, you always learn something. What did I learn from this experience? How did what we did work or didn't work? One of the questions of what you do differently. I think as a leader, you take that, and you think, okay, some of this is applicable to other things you're going to encounter. You're going to encounter challenging situations with people. You're going to encounter the need to collaborate and get consensus. You're going to encounter challenging, complicated situations. A synagogue, you got a board, you got the rabbi, you've got these staff, you've got the community. It's a challenging environment to manage and in our community a lot of strong opinions. You have to manage that as well. As a leader I think it just helped me personally take all that challenge and learning and hopefully incorporate it into future things, if that makes sense.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/148668/file/273200#t=919.0,1034.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/148668/file/273200/transcript/79989/annotation/19","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eROSENBERG:\u003c/strong\u003e You touched on what would you have done differently. Was there something that you might have gone about in a different way?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/148668/file/273200#t=1034.0,1040.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/148668/file/273200/transcript/79989/annotation/20","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eD'AGOSTINO:\u003c/strong\u003e It's a great question because I really was thinking about all the things that we accomplished and trying to think of what didn't we accomplish and I think it is a tough question. It's such a good board, such a dedicated group of people. I think when we brought on our new rabbi, it was his first senior pulpit position, and he was the shiny new coin in town and everybody wanted his attention. Everybody wanted him to join this group and come to this meeting and be part of this. I probably could have done a better job at helping him manage that because I think his four children, they were much younger then. He got spread very, very thin in the beginning and I eventually had to try to help reel him back in. But I think I could have been better, me personally, at helping him manage his time and schedule and the people that were coming for his time. I look back on that and I think I probably should have been more aggressive at the beginning rather than trying to reel it back in. That was certainly one thing [I] didn't do as well as I'd like. The other thing I would say that I thought of is, while we straightened out the board, I think on how it operated from a board perspective, what we didn't do is build that pipeline of future leaders. Some of that may just been time, we were focused on a lot of other very significant challenges. But when it came time for elections, it was once again, the scramble of, who will do this? Who will do that? Who's a good person? Trying to convince people. We didn't do a great job of creating a pipeline. I think after my term, future presidents and boards spent time on creating a pipeline of leadership and it seems that that's the case. There are people kind of waiting in the wings to be president. There are people that are joining the board voluntarily. It seems to be less of a who are we going to go get and twist their arm type of thing. Those are two areas I would say we didn't do the best job on, and one certainly not working with the rabbi helping him manage his kind of assimilation into the community because he came from out of town. Then the other was really just who's going to take this next.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/148668/file/273200#t=1040.0,1181.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/148668/file/273200/transcript/79989/annotation/21","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eROSENBERG:\u003c/strong\u003e . . .  You're talking about what the board should be and the pipeline. What are the qualities that we should be looking for in a board member?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/148668/file/273200#t=1181.0,1194.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/148668/file/273200/transcript/79989/annotation/22","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eD'AGOSTINO:\u003c/strong\u003e I think when it comes to a non-profit, care is significant. You care about this organization. I think that's really, really important, because you have to have some sort of connection to it. Some sort of care about its success. I think you have to be collaborative. It's different, you've got a board of 15, 16 people. You've got a staff; you have a rabbi. Consensus building is important, and you're not always going to all agree on everything. You've got to build some level of agreement. That requires more questions and inquisitive nature and understanding people's opinions and working towards a solution. That can take some time, so patience is also good. I'm not the most patient person, so that's something I've had to learn in the non-profit world. Business world, you can be less patient, I think. Non-profit world, you got to be more patient. I think that's important as well. I would say care of the collaboration, some patience, but then diligence. Shearith Israel's board is a working board. This is not a, here's what we say, somebody else go do it. This is a working board, volunteers leading initiatives, and so people on this board in particular have to be willing to do the work. It's not just show up, it's just not write a check. You've got to do the work. I think that's really important for this particular board and probably many non-profit boards.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/148668/file/273200#t=1194.0,1280.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/148668/file/273200/transcript/79989/annotation/23","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eROSENBERG:\u003c/strong\u003e Then for the president . . . Are there additional qualities . . . How do we find the right president? What are we looking for?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/148668/file/273200#t=1280.0,1291.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/148668/file/273200/transcript/79989/annotation/24","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eD'AGOSTINO:\u003c/strong\u003e I think it varies on the needs. When I was president, I was very focused on the business side and financial management and staff management and kind of task management and goal setting. I think a lot was accomplished, and the next president who came after me I think was more focused on community and religious life and that was more his skill and that's what was needed then. I think sometimes you have to look for a president of what do we need? We don't just need a president. But we have these particular initiatives or these particular challenges. What type of person would be best for that? I think you somewhat have to think about the overall needs of the organization as the type of a person that makes sense. But I think generally speaking, our president has to be all the things we talked about. They've got to care. They've got to be collaborative. They've got to be willing to do the work. They've got to be diligent, organized. They've got to have the time. The time commitment is significant. Not just time for board meetings and executive meetings, but time to go visit the synagogue during the day and see the staff. Time to spend with the rabbi, time to spend with congregants, picking up the phone and calling people who've lost a loved one, writing notes to people, planning for board meetings, being at events. One of the things I told the congregation is, I'm just not going to be at every event. I can't do it. I've got three young children, nine, seven, and five. I can't do it. But there will be executive committee member at every event, and the congregation accepted that. I think previously they thought the president should be at everything and the congregation really accepted that and that went well. Time is a big issue. You have to manage your time, but you have to have the time to give, and I thought to myself look, it's two years, for two years it's going to be very, very intense and then it's not. You just kind of set in your mind that this is what we're going to do. I think the time commitment is important. You've got to make decisions. We've deliberated. We've got all the information we think we need. Make a decision. Then everybody get on board and do it. I think that's really important that the president has to lead it. If the president is wishy-washy, can't make a decision, that just permeates down through the board, through the organization. The leadership quality is, when it's time to make the decision, make the decisions and do it.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/148668/file/273200#t=1291.0,1435.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/148668/file/273200/transcript/79989/annotation/25","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eROSENBERG:\u003c/strong\u003e How have you continued to be involved with Shearith?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/148668/file/273200#t=1435.0,1439.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/148668/file/273200/transcript/79989/annotation/26","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eD'AGOSTINO:\u003c/strong\u003e After you're president, you're immediate past president, so you're still very much on the board and on the executive committee, so you spend another two years kind of being the institutional knowledge, so to speak, on being part of that and really working hard to pass . . . stay out of the way as well. It's not my turn anymore, but being very involved. Then kind of since then, I was very focused on my children and their bat mitzvahs. We had three bat mitzvahs within a course of really four years, technically. We were focused on that, participating in our J to A program, participating in their learning and studying, participating in planning for the events. That took the next few years. Then kind of since they have passed that time period, my kids are, they teach in the school. All three taught in the schools. One's in college now, so the other two are still teaching. We're involved in that way. I was asked to participate in our new executive director search, so I chaired that committee and helped do that so that was maybe a three or four month project. Little things here and there. I wouldn't say that I'm overly involved as I was at one point in time. But we go to services, and we go to events and certainly High Holidays and participate in some things that they ask me to do every once in a while. Involved with my kids. That's how we've stayed involved. We're mostly members, which is nice. But we volunteer and we do things that they need.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/148668/file/273200#t=1439.0,1531.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/148668/file/273200/transcript/79989/annotation/27","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eROSENBERG:\u003c/strong\u003e Using your wisdom and experience, thinking about . . .","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/148668/file/273200#t=1531.0,1535.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/148668/file/273200/transcript/79989/annotation/28","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eD'AGOSTINO:\u003c/strong\u003e . . . Wisdom is loosely there.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/148668/file/273200#t=1535.0,1538.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/148668/file/273200/transcript/79989/annotation/29","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eROSENBERG:\u003c/strong\u003e Thinking about Shearith's strengths and challenges, talk a little bit, and you have talked certainly about both of those items a little bit, but in Shearith Israel today, how do you describe those and what advice can you give to future leaders?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/148668/file/273200#t=1538.0,1555.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/148668/file/273200/transcript/79989/annotation/30","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eD'AGOSTINO:\u003c/strong\u003e How would I describe Shearith Israel today?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/148668/file/273200#t=1555.0,1557.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/148668/file/273200/transcript/79989/annotation/31","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eROSENBERG:\u003c/strong\u003e In terms of the strengths and challenges that we're facing.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/148668/file/273200#t=1557.0,1561.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/148668/file/273200/transcript/79989/annotation/32","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eD'AGOSTINO:\u003c/strong\u003e Based on what I think I know, which is less than I used to know, I think the challenges are probably similar to some non-profits. The board does this, the professional staff does that, the rabbi does this. These things blur from time to time. But everybody needs to understand where decisions and management lie. I think that's sometimes a challenge, that people bleed into each other's lanes. Sometimes that's part of the relationship, and sometimes that has to be managed. I think that remains a challenge. Shearith right now is going through a kind of a strategic plan and a capital campaign. One of the big challenges is the facility. The facility is old, it needs a lot of work, interior, inside the walls, outside the walls. Part of the strategic plan is to create a kind of better facility and environment. That requires money with a capital campaign so I think the needs now are people who can help do that, can help with the strategic plan, can help raise money, can help fundraise and then the staff has to be able to implement some of these things and be involved in the implementation of contractors and whatever else, other vendors that will help with this process. I think that's a big need of Shearith now, kind of financial acumen to manage these projects, so the task management piece and fund raising. I think that's kind of unique to this time period for Shearith. Always the education program. Shearith is going through a new director of education search as well. A lot of transition on the staff side, just kind of coincidentally. I'm a firm believer that kids education is where you get members. It needs to be very strong and effective. I think that's always an ongoing project at a higher level than most other things. Like it just needs more attention. It needs more work all the time, no matter how good you think it is. I think it always needs that kind of attention. Those are the areas that I think Shearith is challenged with. One's a big opportunity. The capital campaign and strategic plan, but there's challenges in managing that. The other is children's education, going to have a turnover with the leadership, and that just needs to be strong. It's the pipeline, it's the lifeblood of the synagogue, in my opinion. Then just some of who does what, and that's ongoing, I think that's a forever thing. You just have to manage that. But what's going great at Shearith. The membership is growing. People are happy. People don't leave Shearith Israel. Our reputation is very strong, I believe, in Atlanta and beyond. The finances are sound. We have a great rabbi who's really involved and cares. We have, I think, 150 people out of our membership that are actively, regularly involved, and that's a little bit of a thumb in the air type of thing. But if I think about how many people come to Shabbat and other services and volunteer and work on the board, I think it's a fairly sizable number of people that you could consider regulars. It doesn't mean they're there every week, but it means that they're there enough that you know who they are. That's another great strength of Shearith. It's growing, but it’s not so large that you don't have a community and you don't, I think we have such a hamish environment, which I love. It's the most unpretentious synagogue I've ever been in my life, and I love that. I love it. Not that I've been to dozens and dozens, but I've been to enough to feel like this is the most unpretentious, and that I really enjoy that. I think it has a culture that's a little bit different than a lot of people experience when they come. They can sense that the culture is different. Just going through these executive director’s search these last few months, not one of the candidates didn't mention something about our culture and how they felt it was different. They were interviewing other synagogues or interviewing other organizations for similar type roles so that was very rewarding to hear that. I think Shearith benefits from a geography. It's in a great neighborhood where people want to live where there's lots of kids where every time a house goes up for sale it's purchased within minutes. It's just kind of, we have a benefit of geography as well. It's not just what we're as a leadership team and as a staff and as community, but we are in the right spot, I think, for what's happening.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/148668/file/273200#t=1561.0,1843.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/148668/file/273200/transcript/79989/annotation/33","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eROSENBERG:\u003c/strong\u003e Any advice?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/148668/file/273200#t=1843.0,1845.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/148668/file/273200/transcript/79989/annotation/34","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eD'AGOSTINO:\u003c/strong\u003e Any advice. Yes, don't screw it up. There are a lot of things that are working really well, and leadership matters. It is much easier to destroy something than create. It is, you can take something down in minutes, it takes a year to put up. You have to really stay focused on the success. That was one of the things, some of the advice that I give other presidents when they're thinking about becoming president, I say, \"Look, you can't do everything. It's a volunteer role, you have a job, you have a career, you've a family, you have a life, you have other things to do. You got to pick the things you must do and then a few things you want to do, you can't do it all.\" That's kind of what we did. I said look, I'm focused on the business aspect and things we have to do and then Rick who came after me was focused more on community and religious life. That's what he was, that's what was needed at time. That's always my . . . What's going really well? If this is going really well, keep doing that don't lose focus on that. Keep doing it and don't assume it's just going to go well all by itself. You have to keep it going well, and then what are the critical things that have to be done. We have to balance our budget. We have to pay people. We have to manage our staff. We have to respond to community needs, and then what are the couple things you want to do. I think that's the best advice I could give future leaders. It's easy to look back and say, why didn't I do this and why didn't I do that? Because you have this, this, and this going on in your life and it's a volunteer role. You did what you could do. I think that's important advice for people . . . Again, you pick what must be done and you pick a few things you want to do and that's what you focus on.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/148668/file/273200#t=1845.0,1963.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/148668/file/273200/transcript/79989/annotation/35","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eROSENBERG:\u003c/strong\u003e Is there a question I didn't ask? Anything that you'd like to add and share?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/148668/file/273200#t=1963.0,1970.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/148668/file/273200/transcript/79989/annotation/36","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eD'AGOSTINO:\u003c/strong\u003e I think if you're a leader of an organization, there's lots of resources. There's your personal resources, your network, your other board members, people you know, mentors, family. But there are resources beyond that. There's other synagogues. There's the USCJ [United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism]. I spent time talking with Jo-Anne Tucker-Zemlak at the USCJ, multiple occasions to get her perspective on things. I joined, and we didn't meet that much, but I joined like the President's Council kind of around Atlanta, and we met a couple times and talked about challenges at the synagogue and shared ideas. You tap into some of those resources. There are, you're not by yourself, right, not on an island, like, and it's not unique to you. What's going on at Shearith's is going on someplace else. What's going on someplace is going on at Shearith, so tap into the network to help and get some advice and thoughts. Again, it's time, but it may actually shortcut to get to the answer, to reach out to some resources. I would say that for future leaders, there's more resources than just internal ones. There's other synagogues. I've got to tell you, I don't think I ever called anybody who wasn't willing to talk and share their story. People are very open to some of the gory details. They're out there. I guess that would be kind of further advice to someone is, don't think you're on an island because you're not. There are plenty of people who have gone through this before or are going through it and there's resources of here's what's happening over here, here's what's working over there. Maybe you should try that.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/148668/file/273200#t=1970.0,2074.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/148668/file/273200/transcript/79989/annotation/37","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eROSENBERG:\u003c/strong\u003e That's great. Thank you. This has been a great summary of many, many things. Appreciate you taking the time, and I look forward to continuing to work together.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/148668/file/273200#t=2074.0,2084.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/148668/file/273200/transcript/79989/annotation/38","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eD'AGOSTINO:\u003c/strong\u003e Thank you very much. I appreciate the opportunity.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/148668/file/273200#t=2084.0,2087.26084"}]},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/148668/file/273200/annotation_set/1898","type":"AnnotationPage","label":{"en":["Annotations [Transcript]"]},"items":[{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/148668/file/273200/annotation_set/1898/annotation/39","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cp\u003eRobin Yudelson Rosenberg (b. 1950) is an Atlanta, Georgia native, and daughter of Harold and Jane Zion Yudelson. She attended Northside High School and the University of Pennsylvania. In 1981, she married Fredric Rosenberg. She has worked in commercial real estate for 40 years. Robin has been active at Congregation Shearith Israel, serving as secretary, co-chaired Rabbi Kaiman’s installation, and on the shul’s strategic planning and social committees. She has also been active with various community organizations including president of the Epstein School.\u003c/p\u003e","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/148668/file/273200#t=0.0,35.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/148668/file/273200/annotation_set/1898/annotation/40","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cp\u003eFounded in 1904, Congregation Shearith Israel began as a congregation that met in the homes of congregants until 1906 when they began using a Methodist church on Hunter Street. After World War II, Rabbi Tobias Geffen moved the congregation to University Drive, where it became the first synagogue in DeKalb County. In the 1960s, they removed the barrier between the men’s and women’s sections in the sanctuary, and officially became affiliated with the Conservative movement in 2002. As of 2022, the current Senior Rabbi of the congregation is Ari Kaiman.\u003c/p\u003e","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/148668/file/273200#t=0.0,35.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/148668/file/273200/annotation_set/1898/annotation/41","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cp\u003eThe William Breman Jewish Heritage Museum in Atlanta celebrates and commemorates Jewish history, culture, and art through events and museum spaces. The Breman also contains the Cuba Family Archives for Southern Jewish History, which houses thousands of manuscripts, oral histories, and photograph collections, related to southern Jewish history and the Holocaust. \u003c/p\u003e","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/148668/file/273200#t=0.0,35.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/148668/file/273200/annotation_set/1898/annotation/42","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cp\u003eAnnie Grodin D’Agostino (b. 1975) was raised in Altamonte Springs, Florida. She attended Lake Brantley High School. She graduated from the University of Florida and earned a law degree from the University of Texas. Annie is married to Josh D’Agostino, and they have three daughters. Annie and her family belong to Congregation Shearith Israel.\u003c/p\u003e","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/148668/file/273200#t=35.0,122.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/148668/file/273200/annotation_set/1898/annotation/43","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cp\u003eLance Chernow (b. 1969) was originally from Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey. He attended Henry Hudson Regional High School. He graduated from the University of Maryland and law school at the University of Florida. Lance works as General Counsel at Davis Development. He is married to Erin Washofsky, and they have two sons. Lance and Erin are members of Congregation Shearith Israel, where he serves on the Advancement Committee.\u003c/p\u003e","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/148668/file/273200#t=35.0,122.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/148668/file/273200/annotation_set/1898/annotation/44","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cp\u003eYom Kippur [Hebrew: “day of atonement”] The most sacred day of the Jewish year. Yom Kippur is a 25-hour fast day. Most of the day is spent in prayer, reciting yizkor for deceased relatives, confessing sins, requesting divine forgiveness, and listening to Torah readings and sermons. People greet each other with the wish that they may be sealed in the heavenly book for a good year ahead. The day ends with the blowing of the shofar (a ram’s horn).\u003c/p\u003e","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/148668/file/273200#t=177.0,327.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/148668/file/273200/annotation_set/1898/annotation/45","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cp\u003eReform Judaism is a division within Judaism, especially in North America and the United Kingdom. Historically it began in the 19th century. In general, the Reform movement maintains that Judaism and Jewish traditions should be modernized and compatible with participation in Western culture. While the Torah remains the law, in Reform Judaism women are included (mixed seating, bat mitzvah, and women rabbis), instrumental music is allowed in the services, and most of the service is in the local language as opposed to Hebrew.\u003c/p\u003e","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/148668/file/273200#t=332.0,418.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/148668/file/273200/annotation_set/1898/annotation/46","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cp\u003eClaire Allen D’Agostino (1945-2023) is a Georgia native. She graduated from Agnes Scott College and earned her Ph.D from Georgia State University. She worked as a licensed clinical psychologist for the State of New Jersey, the City of Wilmington, Delaware, and the City of Atlanta, Georgia. She also served as a consultant to the Department of Justice under the Reagan Administration, founded the Georgia chapter of the Republican Jewish Coalition, served as the president of Temple Sinai, and was appointed to the Georgia Holocaust Commission. In 1970, she married Robert D’Agostino, and they had three children, Joseph, Josh, and Gaby.\u003c/p\u003e","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/148668/file/273200#t=332.0,418.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/148668/file/273200/annotation_set/1898/annotation/47","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cp\u003eTemple Sinai was founded as a Reform congregation in 1968 and met in a variety of locations before establishing a synagogue on Dupree Drive in Sandy Springs, north of Atlanta. Rabbi Richard Lehrman was chosen as the congregation's founding rabbi. As of 2022, the current Senior Rabbi is Ronald M. Segal, who has served in that position since 2006.\u003c/p\u003e","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/148668/file/273200#t=332.0,418.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/148668/file/273200/annotation_set/1898/annotation/48","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cp\u003eAlso known as Masorti Judaism, Conservative Judaism is a form of Judaism that seeks to preserve Jewish tradition and ritual, but has a more flexible approach to the interpretation of the law than Orthodox Judaism. It attempts to combine a positive attitude toward modern culture, while preserving a commitment to Jewish observance. In general, Conservative congregations also observe gender equality (mixed seating, women rabbis, and bat mitzvah). The governing body for Conservative Judaism in the United States is the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism (USCJ), formerly known as the United Synagogue of America.\u003c/p\u003e","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/148668/file/273200#t=332.0,418.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/148668/file/273200/annotation_set/1898/annotation/49","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cp\u003eDavid Wender (b. 1975) was originally from San Antonio, Texas. He attended Tom C. Clark High School. David graduated from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri and Emory University School of Law. As of 2022, he is a partner at Eversheds Sutherland. He is married to Jamie Sherman, and they have twin boys. He and his family belong to Congregation Shearith Israel.\u003c/p\u003e","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/148668/file/273200#t=690.0,796.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/148668/file/273200/annotation_set/1898/annotation/50","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cp\u003eBrenda Leder (b. 1946) was born in North Carolina. She is the youngest daughter of Julian and Yetta Leder. She attended the University of Georgia. Brenda is a member of Congregation Shearith Israel, where she has been active on various committees and the board.\u003c/p\u003e","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/148668/file/273200#t=690.0,796.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/148668/file/273200/annotation_set/1898/annotation/51","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cp\u003eNancy Green (b. 1972) was originally from New Jersey. She graduated from the University of Massachusetts and earned an MBA from Emory University. She is an entrepreneur, working with organizations to improve employee performance and developing social-emotional skills and wellbeing for children, educators, and families. She is active in Congregation Shearith Israel, having served as a member of the human resources committee, VP of Organizational Development, and Executive VP of Strategy. In 1997, she married her husband, Mitch and they have a son and daughter.\u003c/p\u003e","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/148668/file/273200#t=690.0,796.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/148668/file/273200/annotation_set/1898/annotation/52","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cp\u003eA bat mitzvah [Hebrew: daughter of commandments] is a rite of passage for Jewish girls aged 12 years and one day according to her Hebrew birthday. Many girls have their bat mitzvah around age 13, the same as boys who have their bar mitzvah at that age. The bat mitzvah girl is now duty bound to keep the commandments. Synagogue ceremonies are held for bat mitzvah girls in Reform and Conservative communities, but it has not won the approval of Orthodox rabbis.\u003c/p\u003e","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/148668/file/273200#t=812.0,901.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/148668/file/273200/annotation_set/1898/annotation/53","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cp\u003eRabbi Ari Kaiman (b. 1982) was raised in Pensacola, Florida. He attended the University of Florida and later the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies in Los Angeles, California. He served as assistant rabbi at Congregation B’nai Amoona in St. Louis, Missouri for five years. In 2016, he became the rabbi at Congregation Shearith Israel in Atlanta. He and his wife, Emily have four children.\u003c/p\u003e","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/148668/file/273200#t=1040.0,1181.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/148668/file/273200/annotation_set/1898/annotation/54","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cp\u003eThe High Holy Days are the two holiest times of the Jewish calendar: Rosh HaShanah (Jewish New Year) and Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement).\u003c/p\u003e","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/148668/file/273200#t=1439.0,1531.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/148668/file/273200/annotation_set/1898/annotation/55","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cp\u003eShabbat (Hebrew) or Shabbos/Shabbes (Yiddish) is the Jewish Sabbath and is observed on Saturdays. Shabbat observance entails refraining from work activities and engaging in restful activities to honor the day. Shabbat begins at sundown on Friday night and is ushered in by lighting candles and reciting a blessing. It is closed the following evening with the recitation of the havdalah blessing.\u003c/p\u003e","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/148668/file/273200#t=1561.0,1843.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/148668/file/273200/annotation_set/1898/annotation/56","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cp\u003eHamish is a Yiddish term that means homelike, homey or cozy.\u003c/p\u003e","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/148668/file/273200#t=1561.0,1843.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/148668/file/273200/annotation_set/1898/annotation/57","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cp\u003eDr. Richard Kaplan (b. 1957) is physician in Atlanta, Georgia. He attended New York University and Emory University School of Medicine. He and his wife, Sharon Neulinger are members of Congregation Shearith Israel. He has been very active in the congregation serving on various committees and positions. He and his wife have a daughter and a son.\u003c/p\u003e","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/148668/file/273200#t=1845.0,1963.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/148668/file/273200/annotation_set/1898/annotation/58","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cp\u003eThe United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism (USCJ) is the major congregational organization of Conservative Judaism in North America. It is the largest Conservative Jewish communal body in the world. The organization works closely with the Rabbinical Assembly, which is the international body of Conservative rabbis. The organization was founded in 1913.\u003c/p\u003e","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/148668/file/273200#t=1970.0,2074.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/148668/file/273200/annotation_set/1898/annotation/59","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cp\u003eJo-Anne Tucker-Zemlak is the Director of Synagogue Operations \u0026amp; Program Support/Synagogue Consultant Southeast seaboard at the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism (USCJ). She has worked for the organization for over 23 years.\u003c/p\u003e","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/148668/file/273200#t=1970.0,2074.0"}]}]}]}