Board of Trustees

Nancy Green and her husband Mitch have been members of the Shearith Israel community since 2003. They raised their two children (Lily-20 and Nathan-17) here, while marking many milestones. Nancy converted, had her “rewedding” with Mitch under a Chuppah, and became a bat mitzvah at age 40 at Shearith. She began serving as a member of the HR Committee in 2008, went on to chair that committee for two terms, and concluded her board service as VP of Organizational Development in 2018. She was a co-chair of the Kiddush Krew back in the day, was a member of the Rabbi Search Committee when hiring RAK, and co-chair of the Executive Director Search Committee for Genea Moore.

Outside of work, Nancy is a lifetime entrepreneur; for 20 years consulting with organizations to improve employee performance and for the last three years as a partner, developing social-emotional skills and wellbeing for children, educators and families. For the last 12 years, she has also taught leadership and professional development for Emory’s Continuing Education Department. In 2018, Nancy and her family embarked on a two-year adventure living and working in Quito, Ecuador. She is so excited to serve alongside this fabulous group of people!

Mara Block and her husband Nate Block joined Congregation Shearith Israel in 2017 when they moved back to Atlanta from Oak Park, Illinois. Mara and Nate met at Emory in the 1990s and always wanted to return to Atlanta. Mara and Nate have two kids, both of whom joyfully celebrated their b'nai mitzvahs at CSI and participated in Machaneh Shai. Both kids currently attend Tapestry Public Charter School in DeKalb County. 

Mara is a managing attorney at Atlanta Legal Aid. She has spent the majority of her legal career working in civil legal services. She is a graduate of Chicago-Kent College of Law. Prior to becoming a lawyer, she spent time as a Jewish communal professional, working as a community relations associate and Holocaust educator for the JCRC of Great Boston.

Mara has previously served as the co-chair of CSI's criminal justice reform group, as a member of the Governance Committee, on the education director search committee, promoter of blood drives and Pride Parade captain. Outside of shul, she was elected to the Laurel Ridge Elementary School Principal's Advisory Committee and as PTA president. 

When not working or schlepping children around, Mara enjoys traveling, running, reading, eating food and reading about food. 

BOARD OF TRUSTEES

Financial Advancement Committee Chair — Jay Steinberg

Jay Steinberg married into the shul 31 years ago.  Jay and Shari’s three children, Eva (29), Jonathan (28) and Michael (26) grew up at Shearith Israel. He previously served as at large member of the shul board and has contributed to various shul and shelter activities/events over the years including being a lecturer for the Synagogue Scholars series.

Jay is Professor Emeritus at Emory University after serving on the Medical School faculty in the Division of Infectious Diseases for 34 years.  With his background in infectious diseases, he helped guide Shearith Israel through the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Jay grew up in Omaha, Nebraska, where his family established roots 140 years ago. Having recently retired, he has discovered that additional time has minimally helped his tennis game and piano playing. Other than traveling or just spending time with family/friends, his happy zone is walking their rescue dog while listening to an audiobook.

Religious Life Committee Chair — Michael Rich

Michael Rich grew up at Shearith Israel, where he's regularly read Torah and led tefila since becoming a Bar Mitzvah. He moved to Florida in 2002 but returned home to Shearith Israel in 2012. Since 2014, Michael has served on the Religious Life Committee and has been responsible for ensuring we have Shleichei Tzibur (prayer leaders), Haftarah readers, and Gabbaim for our Shabbat and Yom Tov morning services.

Michael was born in Atlanta and graduated from Georgia Tech (BS-EE '01 & MS-ECE '06). He is now a Senior Research Engineer at Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI). Michael currently lives in Decatur and can frequently be found running or cycling in the area.

Chair of the Council of Past Presidents — Howie Slomka (til March 2026)

Howie is pleased to be back on the board representing the Past presidents of Shearith Israel. As a civil and real estate lawyer by day, Howie offers frequent advice to the shul related to employment contracts, leases, property disputes, and vendor obligations.    

Howie is a frequent Torah reader at our Shabbat morning services, where he also enjoys leading prayer and drinking Scotch. Howie’s wife Andrea Seidel Slomka grew up in CSI and the two were married on our bima in 1992. The Slomka children are also regular Torah readers along with Andrea. In fact, Howie is the only member of his immediate family not to have become a bar mitzvah at CSI.

As President of the shul, Howie oversaw the renovation and naming of the Horowitz Family Sanctuary, and the beginning of our second century of service to the community. Since then, he has served on numerous committees and panels, chaired the shabbaton, flipped thousands of latkes, erected dozens of sukkahs, blown a shofar or two, housed a sefer Torah during COVID, and written countless Purim shpiels – one of which was funny.

When not in CSI, Howie represent clients in commercial real estate transactions and property-related litigation in Georgia and Florida. He serves as general counsel of several development companies, and of the Safety Harbor Resort and Spa on the shores of Tampa Bay.  Howie and Andrea have a dog and 7 hens, which belies their newest role as empty nesters. He can be found in the third row from the back of the left side pews – right in front of the Dukes.

A Yankee by birth and an Atlantan by choice, Jon Effron lives in Morningside with his wife Jaci and daughters Ziva and Ari. A member of CSI since 2015, Jon has been honored to serve our community as a member of the Strategic Planning Committee, the Master Planning Committee and most recently as the 2022 Annual Appeal Co-Chair. He has previously served on the boards of Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta and the Atlanta Scholars Kollel and is currently serving on the board of Jewish Kids Groups. Professionally, Jon is a Realtor at Compass where he helps home buyers and sellers navigate the wilds of the Atlanta real estate market. Jon is a proud alumnus of the University of Wisconsin and the Wexner Heritage Program. He likes drinking coffee, kibbitzing, chilling, thrilling and hanging out with his awesome family.

Rachel Silverman has been a member of Shearith Israel off and on for the last 15 years. She is a board member and volunteer for Rebecca's Tent Women's Shelter, and is an avid consumer of Atlanta's myriad Jewish offerings, such as In the City Camp, Jewish Kids Groups and Camp Ramah. Rachel has been a health information technology consultant for 20+ years, and moved to Atlanta in 2000 after stints in San Francisco and Japan.

A native of Hollywood, FL, Rachel lives in Candler Park with her husband Joel and two Midtown high schoolers, Sophie and Mira. She enjoys traveling to far flung places, eating weird foods, Peloton and is learning how to work on her ability to say "no" in a graceful manner.

Andrew Lorber