Mission
History
AJSS Leadership
Tribute to Henry Kohn

The American Jewish Society for Service links social conscience to Jewish consciousness, engaging teenagers in acts of tikkun olam – repairing the world – one house, one park, one community center at a time. The mission of AJSS is to build leaders by inspiring volunteers to put their Jewish values into action while providing service to communities in need and developing skills for independent living.

AJSS was conceived of by three activist rabbis who wanted to see Judaism translated into action in a way that would help repair the world. They were active early in the civil rights and peace movements and looked at the American Friends Service Committee as a model. The AFSC programs were certainly helping to repair the world but the element that was missing for these rabbis was the critical link between the important service work and prophetic Judaism in the modern age. It was time to create something that would make this connection for the volunteers. It was time to create an opportunity for Jewish young people to put their Jewish values into action, and Rabbis Arthur Lelyveld, Isidor Hoffman and Ferdinand Isserman turned to a young lawyer in New York, Henry Kohn, to help them translate these ideas into an organization, In 1951 the American Jewish Society for Service was established. Today, the vision of our founders is carried out with a six-week program for teens to experience tikkun olam (repairing the world.)

The first AJSS project helped to build a single-family home for a disabled African-American veteran in a deteriorated neighborhood in Indianapolis. Since then, we have conducted 140 projects in 47 states as well as Canada and Israel. Click here to see an overview of our 140 projects.

Executive Director, Rena Convissor
In 1980 Rena was an AJSS volunteer in Jeanerette, LA, and in 1984 served as a counselor in Dahlonega, GA. Prior to becoming the organization’s first professional executive director, Rena was the deputy executive director and then vice president for finance and operations at the Center for the Advancement of Health, a Washington, DC,- based health policy institute. She has more than 15 years of experience in building and transforming nonprofit organizations, as both a volunteer and as a manager. She served as a Presidential Management Intern with the Department of Health and Human Services from 1988 –1990. Rena holds a masters degree in public health policy and administration from the University of Michigan and a B.A. from Dickinson College in Carlisle, PA. She is married to Howard Milchberg, a professor of physics and electrical engineering at the University of Maryland, and they have three children, all future AJSS volunteers. Rena is a member of Congregation Har Shalom in Potomac, MD.

Larry Green, Chair, Board of Directors
Larry was an AJSS volunteer on the Northern Cheyenne reservation in Busby, MT, in 1968 and a counselor in Waterloo, IA, in1972 and in Crookston, MN, in 1973. Larry received his B.A., with honors, from Wesleyan University and his J.D. from New York University School of Law, where he was a Root-Tilden Scholar. Larry is a partner with the Boston law firm Burns & Levinson LLP, where he co-chairs the business litigation department. He lives in Brookline, MA. He and his wife, Denise, are members of Temple Ohabei Shalom, where he serves on the board of trustees. Larry has two sons, a pediatrician and a student at Stanford Law School.

Jean Zukerman Cohen, Program Chair
Jean was an AJSS camper in 1969 in Crow Agency, Montana and a counselor, along with Larry Green in 1972 in Waterloo, Iowa. Jean’s two sons participated on AJSS trips in 2000 and 2002 in Riverton, Wyoming and Taos, New Mexico. Jean is a psychotherapist in private practice in Silver Spring, Maryland. She and her husband, Harrison Cohen, live in Washington, DC and are members of Temple Sinai.

Martin P. Kopelowitz, Alumni Outreach Chair
Marty, along with his wife, Rochelle, served as project directors from 1972 through 2000, directing 27 projects throughout the United States. Each of their three children participated as campers, and one as a counselor. He is a retired superintendent with the New York City Department of Education and currently serves as a consultant to New Visions for Public Schools, one of the nation’s leading school reform agents. Marty and Rochelle live in East Meadow, NY, and are members of Temple Emanu-el of East Meadow.

Bruce Levinson, Secretary
Bruce grew up in Brooklyn, NY, where, his life intersected with other AJSS participants at Midwood High School, Congregation Beth Elohim, and East Midwood Jewish Center. In 1971, he participated in an AJSS project in Madisonville, KY, and for the next year wore paint-splattered dungarees every day. He attended Oberlin College and since 1980 has practiced law in Manhattan specializing in real estate, litigation and landlord/tenant matters. His professional activities have included managing a rock and roll band, founding a non-profit theatre company and an indie record label and establishing movie studios at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. He is on the board of the International Buster Keaton Appreciation Society. His daughter was an AJSS camper in 2007 in Johnson City, TN.

Art Lifson, Treasurer
Art was an AJSS camper in 1961 in Palatine, IL, where AJSS built a barn for a camp that served poor children from the south side of Chicago who had never seen farm animals. The barn still stands today. He retired from CIGNA Corporation in 2004 as corporate vice president federal relations. He currently is the principal in his own consulting company. Art is a graduate of Hunter College of the City University of NY in 1967 and Case Western Reserve University where he earned his masters of science of social administration degree. He is chairman of the visiting committee of the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences at Case Western Reserve. He serves on the boards of the American Jewish Congress and the Ripon Society, where he chairs the finance committee. He is a member of Temple Emanuel in Kensington, MD.

Sara E. Nathan, Vice-Chair
Sara was an AJSS camper in Fulton, KY, in 1970. She is also the parent, sister, cousin and aunt of AJSS campers. She graduated from the University of Pennsylvania and Columbia University School of Law and now works as a consultant. She is planning co-chair of the Commission on Jewish Identity and Renewal at UJA-Federation of New York and an active member of Congregation B'nai Jeshurun in New York. Sara lives in New York City with her husband Joel Kazis.

Summer Program Staff
Our programs are staffed by adult project director(s) and graduate school/college age counselors who are committed to working with teens and serving as a role model throughout the summer. Our staff comes to us from a wide range of background and interests. In past years, our project directors have been school teachers, college professors, early childhood educators and others with experience working with teenagers in informal educational settings. We recruit widely for individuals that are able to provide the necessary leadership and who meet our high standards for excellence.

Henry Kohn is a senior partner with Frankenthaler Kohn Schneider & Katz in New York City, a law firm specializing in corporate and estate and trust law. A native of St. Louis, Henry was an excellent student and a Missouri state debate champion. His outstanding scholastic achievements earned him a full scholarship to Yale University, where he graduated as a member of Phi Beta Kappa. He went on to study at Yale Law School, where he served as an editor of the Yale Law Journal and graduated as a member of Order of the Coif. During World War II, Henry served as an attorney with the Board of Economic Warfare and a captain in the U.S. Army. Following the war, he entered private law practice in New York City.

In 1951, he founded the American Jewish Society for Service and nurtured this organization, making more than 135 impoverished communities in 48 states the beneficiaries of the volunteer efforts of Jewish teenagers. Today, the AJSS is going strong thanks to Henry’s unprecedented and unparalleled service as board chair, guiding light, primary fundraiser and inspiration. Henry has personally visited 130 of the project sites. He is responsible for developing the next generation of AJSS leaders, who look forward to building on Henry’s record of success. Henry Kohn is past president (1975-78), chairman (1978-82) and director (1968-present) of the 92nd Street Y in New York City. He served as director and treasurer (1962-66) of the National Jewish Welfare Board, now the Jewish Community Centers Association. For more than 20 years he served as a trustee of the Jewish Welfare Fund, was a director of the USO and a director of the Muscular Dystrophy Association of America. Henry is also a member of Temple Emanuel in Manhattan. Henry was married to the late Anne Frankenthaler with whom he had three daughters, all of whom participated on AJSS projects, and six grandchildren, four of whom were AJSS campers.

The American Jewish Society for Service is proud to honor Henry Kohn for his 56 years of dedicated leadership and commitment with the formation of the Henry Kohn Scholarship Fund which will enable more Jewish teens to put their Jewish values into action as they provide significant service to communities in need. For a moving look back at Henry’s involvement with AJSS and memories from family, project directors and board members, click below to view the video.