Rosenthal named Sid Jacobson Jewish Community Center president

Amelia Camurati
Sid Jacobson Jewish Community Center's sitting board president Jodi Rosenthal will soon leave her post, and will be succeeded by David Levy. (Photo courtesy SJJCC)

The new president of the Sid Jacobson Jewish Community Center is no stranger to the position.

When President Jodi Rosenthal met her husband, Robert, in 1990, he was leaving the position after cutting the ribbon on the center’s Forest Drive location in East Hills in 1988.

“When we started dating, I was getting familiar with his philanthropic endeavors, JCC being one of them,” Rosenthal said. “When we got married and I moved from the city back here to Old Brookville, he went on to other philanthropic endeavors and I was so moved by all the different programs and services the JCC was offering to the community that I decided to get involved at that time.”

Robert is still an honorary board member for the center.

Rosenthal grew up in Roslyn before attending the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, but not long after getting her degree, she fell into the world of philanthropic work and joined the community center’s board of directors more than 20 years ago.

During her decades of work at Sid Jacobson Jewish Community Center, Rosenthal is most proud of her ability to create and grow the cultural arts program from a small committee hosting a handful of events to booking bestselling authors for sold-out events.

“I have sat on lots of committees from governance to operational to task forces that examine the role of the JCC within the community, but the cultural arts program is my personal baby,” Rosenthal said.

“It’s been nurtured for close to 20 years, and it started with a few little programs here and there and has grown into a full committee of dedicated volunteers and professionals who try to bring the best in cultural arts to our JCC. I think we’ve been doing it right because we are standing room only at many events, and this year should be the same.”

New York Times bestselling author Nelson DeMille will discuss his latest book, “The Cuban Affair,” on Oct. 24 as part of the Book and Author series.

Rosenthal said she “hopes to continue to provide, based on a solid foundation of Jewish values, meaningful programs and services in a welcoming environment to people of all ages in the community, that will strengthen, enhance and enrich their quality of life.”

“I look at the JCC as something for everyone from cradle to the elderly,” Rosenthal said. “We provide programs and services for all — for those in need, and for those who want. It’s a wonderful organization that does so much for so many. It really is a community center that embraces the community, and that’s why I’m there, to continue that and make it grow even bigger.”

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