Machar is lucky to have a large supply of "go-to” people, members who say, "I can do this," when there's a call for a new project or activity. Here they are, a list-in-progress:
David became a Machar member in 2011, has co-chaired the Adult Education Committee for several years, and was an at-large Board Member. He’s married to Kelly Hand and has two daughters, Hazel and Daisy, who attended the Jewish Cultural School. David works at the U.S. Department of State as an analyst of Russian foreign policy and occasionally teaches at Georgetown University. He received his doctorate in Cultural Anthropology from Indiana University, where he specialized in community and conflict in post-Soviet Uzbekistan.
Email: abrahand@msn.com
Emails:
Myrna Frank: myrnafrank@gmail.com
Marc Mauer: marcmauer@yahoo.com
Email: julakiva@hotmail.com
Email: hdubowitz@gmail.com
Darlene joined Machar in 2005, has served as a President of Machar and as chair of the Book Club for several years. Darlene has worked for the Federal Government for almost 30 years and currently is a foreign affairs analyst for the Department of State with a focus on Russia. A Los Angeles native, she has a B.A. in political science from University of California, Berkeley, and an M.A. in international affairs from The American University. Darlene loves to travel and explore local crafts. She inherited her father’s love for photography and enjoys taking loads of pictures of her journeys. Darlene lives in Silver Spring with her cats Tolstoy and Anna.
Ami and his wife, Ann, have been members of Machar since 2001. Ami was born and raised in Israel in a fairly secular home, although his upbringing was strongly affected by his Orthodox grandparents. Upon his arrival in the U.S., he searched for many years for the right congregation, until he finally landed in Machar, where he feels at home. A professional Hebrew to English translator by trade, Ami works as a language specialist for the Federal Department of Justice.
Marlene has just reached her 30th year as a Machar member! She is so grateful for all the thoughtful, caring, inspiring people who have become her friends along this journey and for the special community that is Machar!
She also serves as Chair of the Youth Education Committee of the Society for Humanistic Judaism and is on its Executive Board.
She is a former Jewish Cultural School Director and Vice President of Machar. Now she chairs the New Members Committee and participates in the Adult Education and Social Action Committees and WITs.
Marlene retired after 35 years as a communications professor and director of the International Education Center at Prince George’s Community College. Now she teaches part-time introductory communication to anxious University of Maryland College Park freshmen.
Husband Michael Kidwell was raised Methodist but is a secular IT program manager who enjoys Machar; he just won’t eat the gefilte fish. Son Alex Kidwell is a happy Reality TV podcaster & show producer in Los Angeles. He was schooled and B Mitzvahed in Machar; his irreverent religious upbringing serves him well in the snarky world of podcasts and Twitter.
Originally from Hewlett, Long Island, NY, Renée has lived in Washington, DC, for most of her adult life. She received her B.A. from The American University and an M.A. from New York University. In 2007, she received a M.Ed. in the Teaching of Reading from Trinity Washington University. For many years, she was a teacher of special education, working primarily with children with emotional disorders and learning disabilities, at a variety of private and charter schools, in Washington, DC. She currently tutors children who have learning issues, a practice she has maintained for over 20 years. Previously, she has served as teacher and principal of Machar’s Sunday School. She and her husband, Peter G. Wolfe, have two lovely daughters, Amy and Nancy Wolfe, both of whom attended JCS. Nancy celebrated her B Mitzvah in 1998.
Nadine is thrilled with Machar’s growth and aims to make Machar the home for many more Secular Humanistic Jews in the Washington, DC, area. She was raised in a conservative Jewish synagogue, but, finding them less than meaningful, ceased participating in Jewish services and activities until her husband found Machar decades later. She and her family—husband David Baron and son Jacob Baron—have been Machar members since 1998. Jacob graduated from Machar’s Jewish Cultural School and presented a B Mitzvah program on “Jewish Composers” (memorably playing Berlin’s “White Christmas” and other, less surprising selections, including from Leonard Bernstein’s “Kaddish”). In her non-Machar life, Nadine is an immigration lawyer and head of the immigration program at Maryland’s Office of the Public Defender. She also is co-author of an immigration law treatise published by West (Thomson-Reuters) and a frequent lecturer on immigration law to lawyer groups across the United States.
