These sisters-in-law understand one another better than most, in part because both are simultaneously serving as synagogue presidents in Maryland.
Lizabeth Wagger is the president of Ohr Kodesh Congregation in Chevy Chase, a role she began in June 2023. Shana Wagger is the president of Adat Shalom Reconstructionist Congregation in Bethesda as of June 2022. Both are finishing their terms about a month from publication.
Lizabeth Wagger’s husband, David, is Shana’s younger brother.
The sisters-in-law have both overseen transitions within their respective synagogues — the welcoming of Rabbi Scott Perlo at Adat Shalom and of Executive Director Monica Saff at Ohr Kodesh. They have both served as synagogue president during uniquely difficult times for both the Jewish community and the world.
“Our synagogues face different challenges, and yet, as presidential sisters, we have been able to turn to each other for advice and support,” Lizabeth Wagger wrote in an email to Washington Jewish Week.
Lizabeth Wagger had been an active member of Ohr Kodesh for 20 years along with her husband and their three sons. She joked that few people ever “raise their hand” to be synagogue presidents; the role is typically handed to a responsible, experienced
member.
“Once I started volunteering, they kept asking and I kept showing up,” Lizabeth Wagger said in an interview. “When you love your community, you give back to it. That’s how I ended up here.”
She went from volunteering to showing up on committees to joining committees to accepting a board member position to joining the executive committee. Shana Wagger followed a similar route at Adat Shalom, where she’s been a member for 17 or 18 years.
“I actually was very surprised when the group that was thinking about the presidency for the next term approached me and asked me to take on that role,” Shana Wagger said. “I didn’t expect it.”
She expressed her appreciation for the honor and conversed with the members who felt that she was a good fit, to understand her strengths from each of their perspectives. Shana Wagger accepted the presidency after much thought, but the start of her term was far from easy.
“Around the time when I was assuming the presidency, we were just coming out of the pandemic, so there was the challenge of coming back to full physical presence,” she said. “And then, of course, we had Oct. 7, and that was quite traumatic.”
That 2023 day was difficult for the Ohr Kodesh community as well.
“The board has priorities: everything from budgeting to making changes,” Lizabeth Wagger said. “We had a new executive director that had just started, a lot of priorities we wanted to get to, and then it came to this screeching halt and all our time and effort was put to, ‘How do we react?’ ‘How do we support our congregants?’”
The next four or five months after October 2023 involved much pivoting. The staff and clergy team at Ohr Kodesh mobilized its Israel committee and resources to support Israeli Jews.
Not all challenges have been necessarily bad. A few years ago, the Ohr Kodesh community celebrated around 15 b’nai mitzvah in a year, according to Lizabeth Wagger. That number is now up to 40 or 50 b’nai mitzvah.
“Everyone loves an influx of families, but how do we prioritize our time and resources for staff to support the b’nai mitzvah families?” Lizabeth Wagger asked.
The Waggers’ synagogue presidencies have brought them closer to their communities. Lizabeth Wagger makes an effort to talk to every b’nai mitzvah family ahead of the event and personally deliver the teen’s gift.
“One of the strengths I’m very pleased to have is a friendliness and a real connection with the people who come in the door,” Lizabeth Wagger said.
Similarly, Shana Wagger thinks of her role as being the president for “everybody.” She has tried to be present in the synagogue, getting to know as many members as she can.
“I feel like that’s been such a wonderful thing to experience, just to get to know people and their love for the community and their concerns,” she said. “There are really special friendships that come out of this kind of work as well.”
Shana Wagger helped develop Adat Shalom’s leadership roadmap. Over the past year, she’s worked with Mark Klapow, a fellow board member, who will succeed her as the next president-elect.
“Having him be part of strategic decisions that will come to play in his term is really important for continuity, for relationship-building,” Shana Wagger said. “The way that the board, clergy and staff have been able to work together is so important to the functioning of the synagogue.”
The sisters-in-law have been able to lean on one another for support that few others can provide.
“We don’t have to explain ourselves to each other,” Lizabeth Wagger said. “Shana and I have been able to honestly vent to each other on difficult moments, rather to each other than to anyone else.”
They also bounce ideas off of one another and share best practices, such as “What are you doing about synagogue security?” or “How are you working with staff?”
“I know the Conservative movement and other movements have their own presidential Listservs and congregations talk together, but it’s been really special having my sister-in-law, the one I make hamantaschen with every year, to be able to have a special presence at the same time,” Lizabeth Wagger said.
When the Wagger sisters-in-law reach the end of their presidential terms, they’ll continue to serve on their executive boards as immediate past presidents and take on projects.
But first, a sisters’ spa day.
