Liz Simon
President
Liz Simon has been actively involved with Oak Park Temple since 1990. She and her husband Jonathan met and were married at OPT. She and her three daughters became B’nai Mitzvah, and all three daughters worked as TAs in the religious school and at Camp Shalom. As a family, they have traveled with Cantor Yugend-Green to Israel, celebrated with other community members at the annual Temple Retreats, and contributed to many of the Temple’s social action initiatives. Liz is active in Rabbi Weiss’s Saturday morning Torah study group, and she sings with Zimrei Ha’am. She has been involved in several committees, including religious school, the Caring Community, worship and HR.
Liz is an attorney with a mediation and arbitration practice focused on labor and employment law. She serves on three national dispute resolution boards and teaches at Loyola University Law School, where her students advocate on behalf of small businesses and low income clients.
Aaron Leibovitz
Interim Executive Vice President
Aaron joined the OPT Board as the Vice President in Finance in March of 2013. His family joined the Temple in 2006. Aaron grew up in Glencoe, IL, and became Bar Mitzvah at Am Shalom.
Aaron and his wife, Donna Meyers, have served on a wide range of boards and committees around town, including the D97 Financial Oversight and Review Committee, the D97 PTO Council, West Suburban PADS, the Oak Park & River Forest Food Pantry, the Chicago Zoological Society, the Oak Park / River Forest Community Foundation, and the Chicago Institute for Psychoanalysis. Aaron was trained as an economist, and he spends his weekdays developing quantitative strategies for investment and trading.
Officers Bios
Shari S.
Immediate Past President
Shari and her family have been members of Oak Park Temple for more than 10 years. She has served as an at-large board member, she served two terms as the Treasurer, and she held the role of Executive VP before taking over as President. She has been actively involved in various committees, including most recently finance, human resources, communication, worship, and Derech Eretz.
Shari became a Bat Mitzvah at Oak Park Temple as an adult. Her son went through the Religious School program, Bar Mitzvah, and was confirmed at OPT. Shari is active in a women’s Torah study group as well as a chavurah. Shari is a Certified Public Accountant, Certified Fraud Examiner, and she is currently a Supervisor who leads a group of highly specialized forensic accountants.
Karen Muriello
Secretary
Debbie Hayes
Treasurer
Ali Mandell
VP Membership-Development
Jeff Schneider
VP Membership-Engagement
At-Large Members of the Board:
Jeff Bergman
Elyse Forkosh Cutler
Janet Kelenson
James Korshak
Michael Shapiro
Carolyn Sherman
Maurie Stern
Elliot Regenstein
Josh Tepfer