Valarie Hurwitz announced her retirement as Beth Tikvah B’nai Jeshurun’s executive director in February. She had served the Erdenheim synagogue, first as a preschool teacher, then as preschool director and finally as executive director, for almost 50 years.
Her tenure as executive director began in the 1980s. Congregant Rachel Fox called Hurwitz, “The heart of BTBJ.”
It took BTBJ months to find Hurwitz’s replacement.
But find her it has.
Julie Atchick, the community engagement and outreach coordinator at Temple Beth Zion-Beth Israel in Center City, will take over as executive director at BTBJ on July 1.
Atchick grew up attending Ner Zedek in Northeast Philadelphia. Before BZBI, she worked for 20 years as director of programs at another suburban synagogue. Her BZBI job was part-time, so she sought out a full-time gig.
She said she liked BTBJ because it’s a smaller, more intimate synagogue with young and older members. The congregation has 100 students in its religious school.
“They have room to grow,” Atchick said.
In a recent letter to the 210-family congregation at BTBJ, Atchick explained that she grew up in a Conservative home that kept kosher, sat for Shabbat dinner and enjoyed holiday dinners with grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. She also said she expects her son Joshua, daughter-in-law Brittney, son Max and future daughter-in-law Nicole to join her at BTBJ for Shabbat, holidays and other events.
The new executive director is not replacing the old one, she said. She couldn’t.
“What I want to do is be an amazing executive director as Julie and not as Valarie,” Atchick said.
At the same time, Hurwitz is still a member of BTBJ. Whenever the new executive director has a question, she plans on finding her predecessor.
“Who’s the vendor that fixes the air conditioner? Who mows the lawn? Oh my God, the roof needs to be fixed. What do I do?” Atchick said.
But while Hurwitz will be a resource, Atchick knows what to do. In her letter, she said she’s welcomed more than 250 congregational families during her career. She has also worked with preschool families to bridge the gap from preschool to religious school.
“Retention is paramount, and I worked tirelessly to create relationships with the existing members, learning about them and their families and being accessible to them for any questions and concerns,” she wrote.
At a previous stop, Atchick worked to re-kasher the kitchen. The project took “six weeks, many donations and trips to the Dumpster and many trainings with lay people,” she recalled. But “when we were done, we had a beautiful, clean, organized and verifiable kosher kitchen, with clearly defined dairy, meat and pareve rules.”
Atchick taught religious school for 25 years, led youth groups, served as a religious school director and ran a b’nai mitzvah program. In that last role, she gave out dates and helped families plan details of celebrations.
“Because I was at Beth Sholom for 20 years, it’s like the next step. The only next step. Where else would I go? I’ve done many of the synagogue jobs that would be available,” she said.
BTBJ President Alana Dunoff and Executive Vice President Beth Schwartzman agreed with Atchick. She was qualified. She also stood out among many candidates, according to Schwartzman.
“I think that Julie brings to BTBJ a ton of programming experience and energy, and she knows the community because she’s from here (Greater Philadelphia),” Dunoff said.
“From the beginning, it just seemed like she understood our community. She understood the job and the bigness of the job. And that she would be filling in for somebody who is a legend in the field and in the area,” Schwartzman added.
Atchick watched the stream of the Shabbat service during Hurwitz’s celebration weekend in March.
“We shared some of our history, and there was love shared about Val,” Dunoff said. “I appreciated her wanting to understand our community. She wants to honor Val.”
Atchick will spend several days at BTBJ in May and June before she starts, according to her letter.
“Come by and say hi,” she wrote.
Her goal in her first year is to learn and remember everyone’s name.
“I really like to address people by their name,” she said.
