Mazel Talk
September 8, 2022 — Today we continue “Mazel Talk,” short interviews with SRE leaders who are working to ensure positive change towards the most equitable and vibrant Jewish community possible. Meet Charlene Seidle, the Executive Vice President of the Leichtag Foundation and a member of the Advisory Board.
Why are you a member of the SRE Advisory Board?
The Torah teaches that those who devote themselves to matters of the community should reap the highest rewards and praise. Those who work for the Jewish community are our most precious assets. We must not let them down. It is critical that as a community we reflect the highest values of respect, dignity and fair treatment that are present in our Jewish traditions. Impact starts and stops with the ways we treat each other. I am a member of the SRE Advisory Board because I believe passionately that we can all work together to ensure that all our Jewish communal organizations are at the cutting edge of practicing the Jewish values we espouse. As a woman leader, I feel particularly beholden to ensuring that our Jewish workplaces have zero tolerance for harassment, disrespect, and inappropriate behavior, at every level of every organization.
What is one thing you want the rest of the Jewish community to know about the SRE Network?
We are here primarily as a resource to help organizations and synagogues in keeping up with best practice to ensure safety, respect and equity. Our members are committed to creating progressively better and increasingly just work environments for their teams and we are just as committed to supporting them in this goal.
How does your professional role intersect with the work of SRE?
I have the privilege of working for the Leichtag Foundation, a philanthropic resource created by Toni and Lee Leichtag who were relentlessly optimistic in their vision of a better world. With no family members continuing to be involved, they put their trust in the professionals of the community organizations they loved and supported during their life. Leichtag Foundation is a funder of SRE Network because in this way we also put our trust in Jewish organizations to carry out their missions in ways that honor and reflect the best of our values.