MetroWest Jewish Day School (MWJDS) has named Ed Frim, as its 4th Head of School, effective July 1.

Frim, who brings both a deep knowledge of best practices in Jewish and secular education, as well as a passion for inclusion and meeting the needs of individual students, has spent more than 30 years in the world of Jewish education.

Frim will apply his extensive background in both the educational and Jewish worlds into his new role. He earned joint bachelor’s degrees in history, Judaic studies and Jewish education at Brandeis University and Hebrew College. He later obtained a master’s degree in public policy analysis at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School. Career highlights include serving as the Executive Director of the Agency of Jewish Learning in Pittsburgh, PA and as Vice President for Jewish Education and Identity at the Jewish Federation of Columbus, OH. Most recently, Frim directed two major disabilities inclusion initiatives, the Ruderman Family Foundation Inclusion Project at the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism and the Chicago Synagogue Inclusion Project at JUF/JCFS/Encompass.

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Richard F. Address, D. Min, founder and director of Jewish Sacred Aging, has joined the Gamliel Institute as Dean. The Gamliel Institute is the center for study and training of Chevrah Kadisha and related Jewish end-of-lifecycle practices. Address succeeds founding Dean, Rabbi Stuart Kelman who has served as Dean for the past ten years.

Address’ most recent project, Jewish Sacred Aging, creates awareness and resources for congregations on the implications of the emerging longevity revolution of the baby boom generation. This aging revolution has begun to impact all aspects of Jewish communal and congregational life.

Ordained at the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion (HUC-JIR) in Cincinnati (1972) Rabbi Address served congregations in California before joining the staff of the Union for Reform Judaism in 1978. He directed the Union’s Pennsylvania Council from 1978 through 2000, founding the Department of Jewish Family Concerns in 1997.

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Hebrew College has announced that Dr. Susie Tanchel and Rabbi Dr. Jeffrey Summit will be joining the College’s leadership team. These appointments represent the first of several steps toward implementing a new strategic direction for Hebrew College. 

Both Tanchel and Summit have extensive experience in pluralistic Jewish educational settings, and are highly regarded as thought leaders and institution builders in the local and national Jewish communities.

As the College implements its new strategic vision, it will be centering its efforts on a holistic and synergistic approach to community and graduate education. As part of that focus, Tanchel will serve as Vice President for Community Education, helping to create a renewed vision for youth, adult, and interfaith learning in the Greater Boston area, as well as local and national professional development programs. Summit will serve as Director of a new Innovation Lab, providing seed grants, mentorship, and ongoing support for student and alumni projects drawing on the vision and values of Hebrew College, and serving the Boston community and beyond. 

Tanchel will join Hebrew College in the summer of 2020, as she steps down from her position as Head of School at JCDS, Boston’s Jewish Community Day School.

Summit will join Hebrew College in the fall of 2019, after serving as the Neubauer Executive Director of Tufts Hillel for four decades. He consults for Hillel International and holds an appointment as research professor in the Department of Music and the Judaic Studies program at Tufts University.

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The Good People Fund, a grant-making organization that identifies, incubates and supports small nonprofits making impact throughout the United States and Israel, has named Erin Zaikis as Associate Director.  

Zaikis, a social entrepreneur with extensive experience and success building sustainable nonprofits, is the founder and former head of Sundara, an organization advancing hygiene, health education and women’s empowerment in Africa and in South and South East Asia, and a former Good People Fund (GPF) grantee.  

Zaikis founded Sundara in 2013 in response to her observations of poor hygiene practices and their consequences in parts of Africa and South and Southeast Asia. She built an organization that through partnerships with hotels and other entities involved local communities in soap recycling and hygiene education programs that cut across multiple countries to benefit over 55,000 children monthly. 

Prior to founding Sundara, Zaikis served as Director of Community Engagement for Justifi, where she worked with nonprofit groups in Thailand, privately funded rescue groups and governmental agencies to prevent and eradicate child sex trafficking. In 2017, she served as CEO of IsraAID US, fundraising to support a multi-million dollar annual budget and coordinating Israeli and American relief and medical team response and engagement in disaster areas around the world.  

Zaikis earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan, where she was a Gerald Ford Public Policy Fellow.