LAY LEADERSHIP
Executive Committee
Carole Rodenstein
President
James Nahirny, President
James and his wife Janet live in Brookline, where they raised their three children, all of whom became b’nai mitzvah at TBA. James has been on the Board since 2012, is a past Treasurer of TBA, past chair of the Development Committee, has served on multiple task forces over the years, and currently leads the Executive Committee and serves on the Finance and Endowment Committees. He is an alum of Combined Jewish Philanthropy’s Archarai leadership program and served on CJP’s Budget and Administration Committee for many years. James was a Partner at McKinsey & Company, a Founding Partner and Managing Director at Bain Capital Ventures, is currently the Managing Partner of Alsora Capital, and has served on the boards of many private and public companies over the years.
Lisa Cohen, 1st Vice President
Membership & Outreach
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Lisa Cohen joined TBA in 2004 and grew her love of Temple during the 2005 family trip to Israel. Recently, she’s been more involved through the Atideynu program, Revenue Task Force, and Development Committee. She is a dermatologist and dermatopathologist who primarily works on the laboratory side with a focus on melanoma and other skin cancer diagnoses. She is currently Managing Director at StrataDx in Lexington.
David Cohen, Vice President
Finance & Operations
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David has been a member of TBA for many years where all three of his children attended religious school and became B’nai Mitzvah. In addition to serving as the chair of the finance committee as treasurer, he was the chair of the Revenue Task Force and instrumental in creating the new Member Commitment structure. David worked in private equity with Berkshire Partners and GC Companies, founded Midwood Capital Management, and served as the Director of Finance and Operations at the Vilna Shul. He is currently the CFO of Tour24, a mobile app for apartment touring.
Jeff Tarmy, Vice President
Programming
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Jeff has been a member of TBA for many years with his wife, Alison, and two teenage daughters, Hannah and Megan. He has been in leadership roles in the Brotherhood and social justice and plays on the TBA softball team. He is a corporate communications executive for life science companies.
Mike Zakin, Vice President
Education
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Mike and his wife Dori have been members of TBA since 2019 when their twin daughters joined the ELC. Mike is an active member of the Finance and Member Commitment Committees. He grew up in a family of Jewish educators and has always been involved in Temple life in different capacities. Professionally, Mike is currently a Director of Advanced Analytics at Fidelity Investments specializing in marketing. Prior to Fidelity, he worked in finance and accounting at Ernst & Young. Mike lives in Newton with Dori and their three daughters and enjoys playing tennis, jogging, and traveling with family.
Jeff Tarmy
Vice President
Programming
Jeff Tarmy has been a member of TBA for many years with his wife, Alison, and two teenage daughters, Hannah and Megan. He has been in leadership roles in the Brotherhood and social justice and plays on the TBA softball team. He is a corporate communications executive for life science companies.
Board of Directors
Maggie Brazin
Maggie was born and raised in Newton and returned to the area in 2018 after living around the country. She and her family quickly joined Temple Beth Avodah and have been active members ever since—participating in Torah study, the TBA Arts Troupe, and community events. Maggie has built a career in the Jewish non-profit world and currently engages donors and volunteers at Jewish Family & Children’s Service (JF&CS). She lives with her two kids, her partner Dan, his son, and their sweet puppy. In her free time, she enjoys being in nature, meditation, reading, and navigating the adventures of family life.
Bonnie Brodowski
Bonnie Brodowski has been a dedicated member of TBA for over 20 years, alongside her husband Michael and their two daughters, Cate and Mia. Throughout the years, the Brodowski family has been deeply involved in the TBA community. Cate and Mia both began their journeys at TBA in preschool, continued through Hebrew school, and proudly graduated from Midrasha. They were also active in BAYGL, with Cate serving as Vice President and Mia as President this past year. Bonnie played a key role in revitalizing the Sisterhood (Women of TBA) and has held multiple leadership positions within the congregation, including co-chair of the Women of TBA and a member of the TBA Board. She and her family reside in Needham. Outside of temple life, Bonnie works as a healthcare administrator and enjoys reading, traveling, and spending quality time with family and friends.
Margie Ross Decter
Margie Ross Decter has been a long-time active temple member. She currently active in the Tzedek (social action) Committee and enjoys participating in the Arts Troupe and women’s events. She’s passionate about civic engagement and has served in a number of Boards in the non-profit world including the Newton School Committee and runs a consultancy catalyzing health-driven organizations. She lives in Newton with her husband and three children.
Sarah Dretchen
Sarah Dretchen became more involved in TBA when her oldest joined the ELC in 2020. She is an active member of the Education Committee and the Revenue Task Force. She is a visionary design and product leader, coach, and mentor in the intersection of technology and design for disruption. She is currently the Associate Director of Product Design at Curology, making skincare accessible to all. Sarah also enjoys discovering new restaurants, cooking, riding her Peloton, and traveling the world.
Beth Kozinn
Beth and her family have been members of Temple Beth Avodah since 2002. She greatly enjoys being involved in TBA's Arts Troupe productions, chanting Torah, and planning the women's kallah. Beth currently works as Director of Operations at Kesher Newton, an independent Jewish after school program. She lives in Newton with her husband Glenn Barest and their daughter Peri.
Ellen Meisel,
Past President
Ellen and her husband Jim have been Temple Beth Avodah members for over 25 years and Ellen served as President of the congregation. Under Ellen’s leadership, we celebrated 50 years in grand style. Ellen also led us through the Temple governance changes during her presidency. Ellen is the chair of the TBA Cares initiative that seeks to support and connect every member. When she isn’t at the Temple, Ellen spends her time as a realtor and with her growing family.
Adam Rizika
Adam has been a member of TBA for over 10 years. He is married to Ellen and they have three children, Joshua, Sasha and Ava. Adam spent two years as head of the Brotherhood and his favorite TBA event is building the sukkah. Outside of temple, Adam is an entrepreneur, tech company advisor, FIRST Robotics coach, plus an avid skier, kite boarder, hiker and mountain biker.
Carole Rodenstein
Immediate
Past President
Carole and her husband Mark and daughters Marissa and Jocelyn have been active members of Temple Beth Avodah for over 20 years. Her family has been honored to celebrate many special events at TBA including her daughters Bat Mitzvahs, graduations from preschool through Midrasha as well as Carole celebrated her adult Bat Mitzvah at TBA in 2014. Carole participates and leads many committees including the Board and the Executive Committee. In addition, she chaired the ad-hoc Vision committee and played a key role in developing our new Vision statement. Carole brings expertise in project management, strategic planning, and team building.
Margo Rosenbach
Margo joined TBA in 2015 after many years as a member at Ohabei Shalom. She previously was on the TBA board from 2017 to 2024 and has served on the Clergy Transition Task Force, the Cantorial Search Committee, and the Community and Programming Committee as co-chair of the TBA Boomers group. She is a member of the Garden Club and enjoys participating in Women of TBA events (such as the women's retreat). Margo recently retired from a 40-year career in health policy research and started Rosenbach Consulting to provide strategic advisory services in health care. Margo lives in Brookline with her husband Robert Gottlieb. She is the proud mom of Dana and Hannah (and sons-in-law Alex and Hunter) and loves being Melanie's grandma.
Abby Shapiro,
Past President
Abby and her husband Jay have lived in Newton for over 30 years. Their sons both were a part of the TBA community since Nursey school, were Bar-mitzvah, graduated Midrasha in their senior years of high school. Abby has been involved in temple leadership for over 16 years. Beginning with sisterhood, she has been involved in many facets of temple life. She served as the development chair, co-chaired the Torah project as well as the Temple's 50th anniversary yearlong celebration. Abby served on the executive board of directors and was temple president from 2015- 2018. Professionally, Abby founded and ran CampSource for 20 years, a consulting business dedicated to helping parents find the perfect summer camp for their children. In 2018 Abby transitioned into real estate and is part of MGS Group Real Estate where she works with buyers and sellers in Newton and around the Boston area.
Jon Simon
Jon and his wife Lauren have been members of TBA since 2010. Their two daughters both attended TBA's Early Learning Center; this was their entry point into the TBA community. Lila and Orly continued in religious school, had Bat Mitzvahs, and later worked for our religious school teaching staff. They live in Newton in close proximity to TBA. Jon joined the Board in 2024, and has been a member of the Finance Committee for several preceding years. He is an alum of CJP's Archarai Leadership Program and currently serves on the Board of Jewish Vocational Service (JVS). Jon is a Senior Director at Arrowstreet Capital, where he manages the firm's relationships with their institutional investors.
Michelle Spitzkoff
Michelle Spitzkoff first joined TBA when she was in 4th grade and returned with her own family. Michelle was active in the Parent Council and Education Committee, Welcoming Committee, Community & Programming Committee and the Engagement Task Force. She is currently the co-chair of the Atideynu program and is on the Transition Task Force. Michelle works in Human Resources at Liberty Mutual and lives in Newton with her husband, Craig, and their children Maya and Zach.
Sarah Wanger
​Sarah developed her love of both Judaism and theater through TBA. She attended Hebrew school after becoming a member with her parents in 2000, became a Bat Mitzvah, and attended Midrasha, all while participating in every temple show she could. She was a member of BAGYL board as well as one of the founding members of the Teen Choir. She moved to Philadelphia to become a NICU nurse, but found herself drawn back to Boston and TBA. She is now a member in her own right, and a proud part of the TBA Arts Troupe. She continues her work as a Pediatric RN, and lives in Waltham with her partner Tony and their 3 cats.
Mike Weissel
Mike, his wife Karen, and his three children have been TBA members for almost 20 years. This is Mike’s first term as a TBA Board member. In his professional life he spent 17 years at Oliver Wyman where he was a Managing Partner and founder of the firm’s Healthcare practice. He worked for six years at Optum as a member of the leadership team including as CEO of Optum’s Consumer Solutions Division. During Covid he led a startup focused on helping older adults with issues of loneliness and social isolation. After taking a year off he is going back to his strategy consulting roots in the fall. Additionally, Mike has served as a board member and advisory to a number of venture and private equity firms. Mike’s an avid cyclist and can be seen early in the morning on the streets of Newton, Needham and Dover.