American Friends of Am Yisrael Echad/Jewish Youth United. American Friends of Am Yisrael Echad/Jewish Youth United promotes and develops programs aimed at building understanding and bridging gaps between secular and religious Jews. Howard Spilko, Andrew Ward, Michael Brooks, and Dana Katz provide general corporate advice. Howard serves on the organization’s advisory board of governors.

Auschwitz Jewish Center Foundation. The Auschwitz Jewish Center Foundation, Inc. operates the Auschwitz Jewish Center, located in Oswiecim, Poland. The Center’s mission is to provide a place for individuals and groups to learn about the vibrancy of Jewish culture and also to serve as a haven where visitors to the Auschwitz-Birkenau camps can memorialize Jewish victims of the Holocaust and commemorate the rich Jewish-Polish life and culture eradicated during WWII. Ernest Wechsler, Abe Safdie, and Adam Karasik represented the AJCF in connection with its business combination with the Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust.

Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun. Jonathan Wagner represents Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun, one of the leading Modern Orthodox congregations in Manhattan, in litigation and other matters. Jason Shames represented the congregation in connection with the sale of a co-op apartment.

Congregation Ohab Zedek. Michael Mayerfeld assisted the seven hundred member Congregation Ohab Zedek with various corporate governance and employment matters with support from Kevin Leblang and Robert Holtzman. Larry Loeb advised the Congregation on a lease-related matter.

Congregation Sya. Joshua Brody assisted Congregation Sya in connection with its incorporation as a not-for-profit corporation.

Interfaith Neighbors. Tom Janover, Gordon Stone, and Chatchada Chiamprasert assisted this New Jersey-based nonprofit organization in connection with winding down its affairs and its dissolution.

Tanenbaum Center for Interreligious Understanding. The Tanenbaum Center for Interreligious Understanding works to prevent verbal and physical violence perpetrated in the name of religion and seeks to make religion a source of dialogue and reconciliation rather than division. Bob Heller is Secretary of the Center and a member of its Board and provides corporate counsel or supervision on a variety of legal issues. Legal work this year included several governance matters, preparing new By Laws for the Center, advice with respect to intellectual property issues, and counseling in connection with employment and regulatory matters. Richard Moss counseled the Center on copyright issues. Izabel McDonald advised on employment matters. Heather Chase, Erica Klein, and Ashley Roberts also assisted with respect to website intellectual property issues.

Union for Reform Judaism. The Union for Reform Judaism (formerly the Union of American Hebrew Congregations) represents over 900 Reform Jewish congregations in North America, with over 1.5 million members. The URJ provides leadership, vision, and programmatic resources to Reform congregations and their members. It is the patron of the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, the Reform seminary and academic center of progressive Judaism in the United States and Israel, and the URJ works through the World Union for Progressive Judaism to build Reform congregations in Israel and around the world. Together with the Central Conference of American Rabbis, which represents over 1,800 Reform rabbis, the URJ works to apply the insights of Jewish tradition to major societal concerns and acts to mobilize the American Jewish community on legislative and social policy matters through the Joint Commission on Social Action and its Religious Action Center based in Washington, D.C. Bob Heller, Chair of the URJ and former Chair of the Commission on Social Action, counsels the URJ on internal governance, employment, and similar legal issues, and assists on amicus briefs and other public policy matters. He is a member of the Board of Governors of HUC-JIR and serves on its Law Committee. In addition, Bob has served as a lay adviser — providing both legal and general policy counsel — to the CCAR committee charged with reviewing and revising its Ethics Guidelines and Procedures for resolving ethics complaints involving rabbis.

Union Square Sephardic Synagogue. The Union Square Sephardic Synagogue is a newly formed synagogue on 16th Street founded with the goal of fostering the customs of Sephardic Jews in downtown Manhattan. Abe Safdie provides general corporate representation and serves as a member of the board.

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