‘No such thing as a typical day,’ say synagogue executive directors; NATA has their back

SHANNON LEVITT | STAFF WRITER

Zach Dunn recently ended his tenure as the executive director for Phoenix’s Temple Chai to take the same role at Congregation Ahavath Chesed in Jacksonville, Florida, close to his aging in-laws. It will be his third executive director role at a synagogue in his 13-year career.

The job is especially challenging because of its unpredictability, he said. Dunn has a calendar full of scheduled meetings and events, but he never knows when it will all be upended by something he never saw coming.

“I don’t know what my day looks like when I walk in,” he said.

His discovery of the National Association for Temple Administration (NATA) made his life a little easier. He attended his first NATA conference last November and, in addition to having access to useful data and trends, he started networking with people who face the same issues he does.

“This job can be very lonely at times, and there is comfort in knowing colleagues across the country dealing with the same exact issues that you’re dealing with — it just makes you feel better,” Dunn said.

Rebecca Weinstein, NATA’s executive assistant, hears similar feedback all the time since taking the job in April of last year. Congregations expect their directors to be personable so new members feel welcomed, skilled project managers for the building and event planners, knowledgeable about finances and budgets, competent grant writers and even to have handyman skills for quick fixes.

Additionally, they also have to manage the sometimes big personalities of their staff and clergy. For example, a congregation might have a dynamic rabbi who wants to help with administrative work but clashes with the staff, or a great religious school director who also happens to be a rabbi and wants to take on more rabbinic responsibilities, or a very talented rabbi and cantor that don’t work well together.

“Half the congregation likes Person