Michelle has been a temple member since 1997 and has served the TI community in numerous volunteer roles as Chaverim chair, VP of Membership, Executive Vice President and Temple President in 2013-2015. In 2015, Michelle joined the professional staff at TI becoming the Temple Administrator. She has over 30 years of non-profit experience with social action/social justice organizations in Boston and has a Master’s degree in Management of Human Services from the Heller School at Brandeis University. Michelle is a member of the Massachusetts Association of Synagogue and Temple Administrators and the North American Association of Synagogue Executives. She resides in Holliston with her husband, Adam and son Joshua.
Director of K-12 Learning
Lisa Gittelman-Udi is our Director of K-12 Learning. She is a dynamic and creative educator and skilled administrator with more than 20 years of experience as an educational director for various synagogues, including Temple Beth El, Stamford, CT, Greenwich Reform Synagogue, Greenwich, CT, Congregation Kol Haverim Glastonbury, CT, and The Community Synagogue, Port Washington, NY. She also worked as a youth director and was the teen Jewish resource specialist supervisor at Surprise Lake Camp in New York State.
Lisa holds a Bachelor of Arts in Drama from the University of Southern California and Master of Arts in Folklore and Mythology from University of California at Los Angeles. She has extensive post-graduate training in Jewish education. She and her husband, Amnon, have two grown sons, Adam and Jordan and one grandson, Levin Henry.
Director of Early Learning
Faye Tonkonogy is the Director of Early Childhood Education. Faye has a spirited commitment and endless enthusiasm to work with young children and their families and to foster deep and meaningful relationships within the TI community and the Judy Gordon Early Learning Center. These relationships are the foundation for developing a love of learning and serve to motivate Faye’s passion to welcome, honor, connect, and educate families in a Jewish setting. Faye has a degree in Early Childhood education from Wheelock College and has professionally worked in a variety of educational settings, both Judaic and secular, with young children and their families. Before coming to Temple Israel, Faye was a kindergarten teacher in the Framingham Public Schools. Faye is the proud mother of three amazing daughters. She is so grateful for the opportunity to work and be part of such a wonderful and warm synagogue and often thinks of Temple Israel as her second home.
USY Advisor & Coordinator
Michelle Nelson is a lifelong member of Temple Israel of Natick. She currently serves as your Youth Programming Coordinator, organizing informal learning opportunities for students in grades K-12, and teaches in our Ida and Charles Gilvarg Religious School.