Rabbis, Staff and Board

Rabbi Lauren Henderson

Rabbi Lauren Henderson originally hails from Spartanburg, SC, and is thrilled to be returning to her southern roots as the rabbi of Or Hadash. 

She earned her BA from Rice University in 2009 in Religious Studies and History, and studied at the Pardes Institute in Jerusalem and the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies in Los Angeles before transferring to the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York. She was ordained from JTS in 2016 with an MA in Midrash and a Certificate in Pastoral Care. Rabbi Lauren was part of the Jewish Emergent Network Rabbinic Fellowship at Mishkan Chicago from 2016-2018, and then served as Mishkan’s Associate Rabbi and Director of Family Learning and Spirituality from 2018-2020. 

She is passionate about the intersections of mindfulness, Torah, music, and tikkun olam, and finds her connection to the Divine on hiking trails, in hospital rooms, and in moments of vulnerability. She is married to Joel Dworkin, an outdoor experiential educator and a brilliant home chef, and they have an adorable dog named Sophie.

Gail Duner, President

Gail Duner and her family have been members of Congregation Or Hadash for 17 years, joining after they moved to Atlanta from Southern California in 2003. She has been actively involved in the synagogue, serving on committees, on the Executive Board, co-chairing the Strength to Strength Campaign to help make the synagogue debt-free, and most recently as a member of the rabbi search committee. Her husband Bruce is also a past executive board member (and High Holiday shofar blower) and her children both had their B’nai Mitzvahs at Or Hadash.

Gail and her family have developed strong roots in the Atlanta Jewish community. Their children attended The Epstein School and The Weber School and spent summers at Camp Ramah Darom. Gail is a trustee of the Jewish Women’s Fund of Atlanta, which is dedicated to effecting social change for Jewish women and girls. She is also on the board of Am Yisrael Chai, a Holocaust education and awareness organization that oversees The Daffodil Project.

Gail spent many years in marketing and strategy roles at a Fortune 100 global pharmaceutical company and has been a consultant in the healthcare arena. She spent several months working in Buenos Aires and is proficient in Spanish. She traded in her cache of frequent flier miles (one of the reasons Bruce married her) to focus on family and philanthropy/volunteering. Gail holds a BA in International Relations from Stanford University and an MBA from Harvard University.

Gail and Bruce have two children, Alex, 24, who is a software engineer for Apple in NYC and Emily, 22, who is graduating from Northwestern University in June. Gail is an avid tennis player, loves to hike, travel, read, cook and drink good wine (the last three she can still do in our current environment).

Amy Cooper Robertson, PhD, Director of Lifelong Learning

Amy comes to us with over 15 years of experience teaching and building Jewish education programs across the lifecycle. She began her career in academia, spending her 20s immersed in Jewish texts and language study at Harvard Divinity School and later at Emory, where she earned a PhD in Religion/Hebrew Bible.  Her dissertation focused on the description of the mishkan in Exodus, looking at its unusually repetitive and formal writing style through the lens of ritual. Here in Atlanta and in Cambridge, MA, Amy has taught Tanakh, Judaism, Biblical Hebrew, and critical thinking and writing to undergraduates and graduate students. 

Hungry for stronger connections to her community after many years of study, Amy shifted her “home base” to Jewish communal work in 2007, and has found that the intersection of community building, program leadership and Jewish learning is her favorite place to be. Amy has served as the Education Director and later the Executive Director at Congregation Bet Haverim, taught middle school Judaics at The Davis Academy, served as Rosh Chinuch at Camp Havaya in the Poconos, and tutored many b’nai mitzvah students, both children and adults.  She is passionate about projects of “practical innovation” - identifying and addressing the barriers that keep Jews from engaging more deeply with learning and community, whether those barriers are logistical, literacy-based, or an issue of motivation. Her most recent chidush has been a project called Your Jewish Bridge, which has garnered local and national attention for its mutually beneficial approach to connecting unaffiliated Jews with the resources traditionally housed in the synagogue.

In her spare time, Amy is co-creator and host of a weekly interfaith podcast called BibleWorm, which has had over 10,000 downloads in its first six months. She shares her current social isolation with her spouse, Will, and two children, Levi and Noa, and is staying sane with a good dose of music-making and morning runs.

Angela Habeeb-Ajao
Bookkeeper

Office Operations Coordinator

Congregation Or Hadash, based in Sandy Spring, Georgia, is a dynamic synagogue offering a warm, inclusive, spiritual Jewish environment.  Our team members each wear multiple hats in our very busy office.  We are looking for an engaging, professional and positive person to join our high performing, creative professional team.

This ideal candidate will love serving others and be conscientious, outgoing, collaborative and willing to not just think, but work “outside the box”.

Office Operations Coordinator Job Responsibilities:

• Serve as the initial and ongoing point of contact for all members, volunteers, vendors and partners

• Maintain and publish synagogue schedule/calendar

• Manage lifecycle processes (e.g, births, deaths, yahrzeits, weddings, b’nai mitzvah, namings, brit milah)

• Manage and maintain accurate databases - CRM system (ShulCloud & Mailchimp)

• Directly support synagogue professional and lay leadership team

• Support synagogue operations and all events by creating and maintaining systems and processes (e.g, rentals, kitchen usage, community group usage)

• Manage vendor relationships, including negotiating and signing contracts

• Schedule and oversee task completion of vendors, security, maintenance and environmental services staff

• Maintain office, school, pantry and kitchen supply inventory

• Conduct banking and basic accounting functions

This position is responsible for ensuring synagogue coverage during traditional business hours Monday - Friday and will require periodic evening and weekend hours at the synagogue.  There is some flexibility on office hours  This position does not require travel outside of Metro Atlanta.  In addition to compensation commensurate with this full-time position, we also offer medical/dental plans and a complementary synagogue membership.  

Office Operations Coordinator Qualifications/Skills:

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills

• Proficient with Google Workspace, Zoom, Mailchimp & CRM programs (ShulCloud)

• Track record of successful member, vendor and partner relationships

• Familiarity with Jewish rituals and traditions

• Previous supervisory experience

• Demonstrated experience developing and managing standards, systems and procedures

• Experience negotiating and executing contracts

• Professionally organized and skilled multi-tasker

• Familiarity with using social media platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, etc.

Additional Requirements:

• College graduate or commensurate experience

• Two to three years’ experience in a similar role/industry

• Reliable access to a personal vehicle and licensed to drive

• Vaccinated for Covid-19

• Able to pass a background check

• Able to stand or walk for extended periods

• Able to lift and carry 20 pounds

If you are interested in this position, please submit resume and cover letter to employment@or-hadash.org