Cleveland Kesher, Spring 2026

Community News MAKING HISTORY

Weiss ready to lead University Heights as possibly US’ first Orthodox Jewish female mayor

Cleveland Kesher

The city of University Heights made history on Nov. 4, 2025. That’s the day when residents elected Michele Weiss as mayor –becoming the first city in the country believed to elect an Orthodox Jewish woman to the position of mayor.

“I really started thinking about how I wanted the city to look, how I wanted to build my team,” Weiss told Cleveland Kesher during an exclusive interview in her office on Jan. 6, just days after taking office. “I was so humbled and honored the day the residents of University Heights elected me, and I’m going to make them proud. It’s something that is very special and not to be taken for granted.”

Weiss, 50, received 56.63% of votes, while Chauncey Hutton earned 37.34% and Philip Atkin picking up 6.03%. She was officially sworn in in a private ceremony on Dec. 31.

Michael Dylan Brennan served University Heights as mayor since 2018 and announced in January 2025 that he would not seek a third consecutive term, stating in a news release that “every goal has been met.”

After election results were finalized, Weiss said she immediately got to work, meeting with some of the city’s key employees and imagining ways they could make University Heights a better place, despite Brennan barring her from entering any city building or property on Dec. 3, except for properly noticed meetings, until she was sworn in.

Weiss said she has already shared her initial 100-day plan, which is comprised of the goals she aims to achieve in her first 100 days in office. She said there are already “exciting things” in the works for the city, including bringing the building department back in-house after it was outsourced for some time, with fast-tracking facility and infrastructure updates being a central focus of hers.

Weiss also said the city is aiming to start a

University Heights Mayor Michele Weiss stands in front of a bookcase in her new office at University Heights City Hall.

| Photo / Cleveland Kesher

“really robust” senior service.

“There’s many new initiatives we’re going to take,” she said. “I want to create a mission statement for the city going forward, which has never been done. I want to create a culture of positivity and collaboration.”

Weiss said University Heights is also becoming a “Kindland community,” joining the Values-in-Action Foundation’s nonprofit Kindland movement aimed at cultivating

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kindness within communities, organizations and institutions using practical strategies and educational tools.

Weiss said it is also important to her that the city, made up of nearly 14,000 residents who identify by 17 different ethnicities, is unified.

“This was a really difficult election,” Weiss said. “We’re a nonpartisan city, but partisan politics came into it, and I want to make sure we stay true to us. We’re a bedroom community. Everyone knows their neighbors, which is very unusual, and I want to make sure living here is a positive experience.”

Weiss, who has lived in University Heights for 28 years, has served as both vice mayor for six years and city councilwoman for 10, but said she never thought of herself as being on an “upward trajectory, in terms of politics.” in fact, she doesn’t see herself as a politician at all, she said.

As vice mayor, she frequently clashed with Brennan and supported efforts to censure him in 2021 and 2024. In 2021, she introduced a censure resolution that passed 6-1, citing Brennan’s “use of offensively coarse and unwarranted and inappropriate language and conduct unbecoming of the office of mayor.”

On Nov. 18, 2024, another censure resolution introduced by the council was approved in a 7-0 vote, in regards to a Facebook post made by Brennan discussing the results of the presidential election. The post, made on Nov. 7, 2024, called into question the city council members influence and specifically addressed the political alignment of council members Weiss and Sheri Sax.

University Heights is a 2-square-mile city, which Weiss said has about 150 employees and a budget of about $20 million. The city’s administration is “lean,” and much of the city’s revenue comes from income taxes, she said.

“These are things we have to be really cognizant of,” she said. “We have to figure out how to bring in more revenue and stay true to our expenses without increasing them drastically.”

“There’s many new initiatives we’re going to take. I want to create a mission statement for the city going forward, which has never been done. I want to create a culture of positivity and collaboration.”

University Heights Mayor

Michele Weiss

Tower, are in “full swing” and construction on a new Aldi’s located next to Target on Cedar Road will begin later this year. She also said they are in the process of redoing the city’s zoning code.

“I see myself as a collaborator, and as somebody who’s a doer,” Weiss said.

A graduate of John Carroll University’s Boler College of Business in University Heights with a degree in accountancy in 1997, Weiss became controller at Hebrew Academy of Cleveland, a role she said she intends to continue fulfilling in addition to her mayoral duties. Weiss returned to John Carroll in 2013 to earn her Master of Business Administration, which combined with her Jewish values and watching her father work as an inner-city school principal, is how she eventually decided to run for mayor, she said.

Weiss will be paid $50,000 a year for her mayoral duties and another $50,000 annually for serving as the city’s safety director.

“My father was a very special person that did for his community,” Weiss said. “Growing up, I saw his kindness and drive to do something better. My MBA program focused on leadership, which was also something that impacted me. I believe everybody is put on this earth to make a difference, and getting involved WEISS | 4

Weiss said ongoing projects, like John Carroll University’s Gateway North project and the conversion of University Square into Bell

WEISS | 8

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in local government became a way to do that for me.”

Weiss said she also draws inspiration from University Heights Councilwoman Winifred “Win” Weizer for her political stewardship, and looks to Rabbi Alexander Charlop, rabbi at her University Heights-based synagogue, Congregation Zichron Chaim, for his guidance.

“I’m Orthodox, our rabbi is really part of our family, our guiding force in major life decisions,” Weiss said. “We’re very blessed to have someone so knowledgeable who we trust and can turn to. We have a great community here with many rabbis who are just phenomenal.”

Weiss said she has already spoken to the police chief about how to handle emergencies on Shabbat and Jewish holidays.

“They would come to my house in case of an emergency like a shooting, natural disaster or something like that,” she said. “There is also a vice mayor. It’s not anything we won’t be able to handle. If there’s a life-and-death situation, you’re allowed to use technology during Shabbat.”

An avid supporter of Israel, Weiss said she took a gap year between high school and college to travel there, and tries to return at least once a year to visit family who have made a home there.

“You can’t explain Israel unless you’ve been there,” Weiss said. “You really grow personally and emotionally, and the whole vibe can really change you. The holiness of it and the resilience of the people ... it’s a beautiful experience.”

Weiss said in terms of addressing antisemitism in University Heights, everyone has to “stay vigilant,” and that the city is fortunate to have “excellent” security between its police force and the support of the Jewish Federation of Cleveland.

“I think there’s undertones of antisemitism everywhere, unfortunately, and it’s about how you handle it,” Weiss said. “I know if anything happens, between our police force and the Federation, they’re going to be on it. I have no doubt about that.”

Last year, the city raised service fees for outside groups holding special events in University Heights, causing the annual

University Heights Mayor Michele Weiss is administered the oath of office by Luke McConville, former law director for the city of University Heights, at the first council meeting of the year on Jan. 5 in the Dolan Science Center Auditorium at John Carroll University. | Submitted photo

Cleveland B’nai B’rith Health Run to move to Pepper Pike. Weiss said that she “doesn’t see why that run shouldn’t happen” in University Heights.

“I do have to speak to the police chief because they’re the main organizer,” she said. “They have to make sure the streets are closed, and service department would also have to help with cleanup, but I don’t see why they shouldn’t have their run here again.”

Weiss said she plans to be out and about in the city, even hosting meet-the-mayor events. She said over the next four years, she hopes to increase the city’s responsiveness to residents.

“I’m very excited to serve, and I’m proud of the city,” Weiss said. “I want its residents to be proud of me, and of the city, as well. Humility is really important when you’re in a position of leadership. I surround myself with experts. I have excellent staff and directors and the city council is amazing. So, we’re going to get some things done.”

Bais Avroham congregation is seeking a rezoning issue to turn these houses on Edgewood Road into a synagogue in Beachwood. The congregation has operated out of 2555 Edgewood Road for over six years and is seeking to turn 2561 Edgewood, the home on the right, into a 2,250-square-foot synagogue and demolish the other house to make room for a parking lot. | Photo / Cleveland Kesher

Council says no to Bais Avrohom rezoning

Cleveland Kesher

Beachwood City Council unanimously rejected Bais Avrohom congregation’s proposal to rezone two Edgewood Road homes into a synagogue with a parking lot at its Feb. 2 meeting.

The ordinance was defeated 7-0, with Danielle Shoykhet, Jillian DeLong, Alec Isaacson, Alexandra Jacobs, Pete Smith, Ali Stern and June Taylor all voting no.

The proposal sought to rezone 2555 and 2561 Edgewood Road from a U-1 singlefamily residential district to a U-5 public and institutional district, which permits places of worship. Both properties currently contain residential homes.

The plan would have expanded the house at

2561 Edgewood Road into a 2,250-square-foot synagogue and demolished 2555 Edgewood Road to construct a parking lot with 10 paved spaces.

“I’m hoping that we can have some more creative discussions with the city to find a way to resolve this,” Aaron Evenchik, an attorney with Hahn Loeser & Parks LLP in Cleveland who represents some of the city’s home synagogues and has been assisting Bais Avrohom in the process, told Cleveland Kesher.

Evenchik said next steps involve continuing talks with the city to find a way forward, but declined commenting further to keep discussions between only Bais Avrohom and the city.

Bais Avrohom has operated its shul out of

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2555 Edgewood Road for over six years.

The congregation first proposed rezoning the site on Aug. 20, 2024, to allow for additional parking. The proposal was discussed at a Beachwood City Council meeting on June 16, 2025, where some neighbors said increased traffic to the shul created unsafe conditions and questioned whether a parking lot would ease the narrow street’s parking issues.

After the original application did not advance, Bais Avrohom revised its plan, reducing its variance requests – exceptions to zoning rules – from seven to one.

The sole remaining variance involved lot size. A U-5 district, which includes public and private schools, libraries, parks and community centers, requires a minimum lot area of 18,000 square feet. Bais Avrohom fell short at 4,800 square feet, meaning a stipulation would have been needed to allow construction despite the requirement.

George Smerigan, Beachwood city planner, said at the Feb. 2 meeting it has been brought up that a similar rezoning request was made involving Congregation Zichron Chaim, an Orthodox synagogue at 2392 S. Green Road in University Heights, which was approved and built in 2022. But, he noted “there are several distinctions between these two.”

“In the Green Road instance, there was an area variance there as well but that was for 1,262 square feet. This is 4,800 square feet,” he said. “That variance was approximately 7% of what the code requirement is. This variance is over 26%. In the planning commission’s view when they were making their recommendation to you there was substantial difference in the size of the variances.”

Smerigan also said the property that Zichron Chaim sits on is in an area surrounded by lots that have “institutional character.”

“Every other property on that block on

This vacant lot at 2547 Edgewood Road is adjacent to homes at 2555 Edgewood Road and 2561 Edgewood Road in Beachwood. The owner of the lot is waiting on Bais Avrohom to make her an offer for her lot which could be used to create a 2,250-square-foot synagogue and include 10 parking spaces. The synagogue has operated out of 2555 Edgewood Road for over six years. Beachwood City Council rejected a rezoning request on Feb. 2 and the synagogue is now considering their next steps. | Photo / Cleveland Kesher

CAMP CHABAD CAMP CHABAD

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the Beachwood side was zoned U-5 and the property across the street from that property in the neighboring city (University Heights) is for institutional use,” he said. “This property is in the middle of a residential block surrounded on both sides by residences and across the street. The only near adjacent U-5 is the old (Anshe Chesed) Fairmount Temple property but as you’re well aware, the city is proceeding to rezone that property for a senior housing project. This property would be the lone U-5 on the entire block.”

Another di erence between Zichron Chaim’s and Bais Avrohom’s situations, according to Smerigan, is parking capabilities. Zichron Chaim had a written agreement for overflow parking with a nearby institution, but no such option exists for Bais Avrohom, he said.

The ordinance received its first reading and was referred to the planning and zoning commission on Sept. 15, 2025. The commission issued a negative recommendation Oct. 30, 2025. City council then held a second reading Nov. 17, 2025, and scheduled a public hearing for Jan. 20, 2026.

At that hearing, members of Bais Avrohom spoke in support of the plan, while neighboring residents voiced opposition.

Rena Sobul, a Beachwood resident who lives across the street from the shul, said at the Jan. 20 meeting that there have been numerous incidents where she claims congregants parked in illegal spots, blocking the sidewalk and road. She said the shul “refused” to meet with neighbors about the parking situation.

Mordechai Lichtenstein, a Beachwood resident and a congregant of Bais

Attorney Aaron Evenchik, an attorney with Hahn Loeser & Parks LLP in Cleveland who represents some of the city’s home synagogues, presents during a public hearing at the Beachwood City Council meeting on Jan. 20. | Screenshot

Avrohom, also spoke to council on Jan. 20, saying the shul is good for residents’ taxes, home values and citizen’s personal economic status. He said it is a public street and therefore is available for people to park, and encouraged residents to “by all means, call the police” if someone is doing so illegally.

This is a developing story. For updates, visit cjn.org/kesher.

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Bikur Cholim gala celebrates leadership, human spirit

Cleveland Kesher

After receiving Bikur Cholim’s Leadership Award at The Heart of the Land gala, Dr. Michael (Meir) Pollack, president of the board, recalled a visit to Israel 20 years ago by Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz. During the trip, Schultz met Rabbi Nosson Tzvi Finkel and asked what lesson the Holocaust teaches.

Pollack said Finkel’s answer reflected the essence of the human spirit: how only one person was given a blanket while in the barracks, but choose to “push the blanket to five other people.”

“My friends, by coming here and showing your support to our organization and its holy work, you have all taken your blanket and pushed it onto other people,” he said. “You recognize the important mission of Bikur Cholim, and we hope you continue to join us in making Bikur Cholim even greater than it is today.”

The Feb. 16 gala, which attracted over 800 attendees at the Hilton Cleveland Downtown, celebrated Bikur Cholim’s supporters who have metaphorically pushed their blankets to others.

Before the program started, guests mingled while singer Eli Marcus entertained the crowd.

As guests began enjoying a three-course meal, Rabbi Boruch Hirschfeld delivered Tehillim, followed by opening remarks from master of ceremonies Daniel Schwartz and a video address from Albert Ratner, former CEO and chairman of Forest City Enterprises, on the importance of Bikur Cholim’s work and the former Mount Sinai Hospital.

“We, as individuals in a community, have an obligation to take care of people who have needs and cannot take of themselves,” Ratner said, “and in this community, the role of Bikur Cholim … because it’s not only within our community, but it’s really from around

Larry Weisman, center, accepts the Community Leadership Award presented to him and his wife, Lori, by master of ceremonies Daniel Schwartz, Bikur Cholim Executive Director Rabbi Aryeh Leib (Alan) Joseph, Bikur Cholim’s board president Dr. Michael (Meir) Pollack and Howard Goldman during The Heart of the Land gala on Feb.16 at the Hilton Cleveland Downtown.

| Photo / Cleveland Kesher

GALA | 16

the world and works in conjunction with our wonderful medical institutions.”

Dr. Ian Neeland, director of University Hospitals Center for Cardiovascular Prevention, received the award for Physician of the Year.

“Judaism thinks of being a physician as an important profession, as something that is doing kindness for people,” Neeland said during a video presentation. “And so, therefore, it drives me to be the best doctor that I could be.”

Throughout the video, Neeland’s colleagues praised him for his work and the compassion he shows toward patients.

Pollack and his wife, Deborah Pollack, who is the owner of Mahus Gifts, a gift shop specializing in personalized gifts, were presented with the Leadership Award.

He told the Cleveland Jewish News that although he and his wife are receiving the

award, he is accepting it on behalf of all the great work the Bikur Cholim team does.

“We put in a lot of hours, and I’m talking about not just myself but my entire team, from our executive directors to our directors of patient care to help people, Jewish people of all denominations – that’s very important to me,” he said.

Following the meal, the organization recognized its 360 volunteers and Pinchas Neuberger spoke about how Bikur Cholim helped him receive a heart transplant as well as provided support to his family.

Following Neuberger’s story, Larry and Lori Weisman, owners of Sheraton Furniture in Willoughby, received the Community Leadership Award for their contributions and donations to the organization.

“Bikur Cholim’s clientele, or people that are coming in, have dire situations, and I’m grateful, again, because they’re sick, and they

GALA | 20

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Cholim Executive Director Rabbi Aryeh Leib

board president Dr. Michael

Pollack and campaign host Alan Groedel, owner of Provide A Ride. | Photo / Cleveland Kesher

GALA | 18

don’t have the benefits that I have in my body,” Larry Weisman said in a video presentation. “And if we’re able to help them, it gives us a lot of joy.”

Then, a special video presentation titled,

“Baruch Hashem Yom Yom,” played, explaining how the organization helped Ori Rotterman recover from his third stroke.

Rabbi Aryeh Leib (Alan) Joseph, executive director of Bikur Cholim, ended the presentation with closing remarks, followed by a dessert reception.

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Cleveland Kesher launches new website and Facebook page

WantCleveland Kesher at your fingertips –whenever you want it?

We have great news.

Beginning with this issue, every edition of Cleveland Kesher dating back to its inaugural issue in 2023 is now available online at cjn.org/kesher or cjn.org/kesher/e-edition.

Our new digital home delivers the same trusted content you’ve come to expect in your mailbox or at your local store — along with additional stories and photo galleries available exclusively online. You’ll also find news from around the world from the Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Jewish News Syndicate. While the print edition will continue to arrive quarterly, our expanded digital presence allows us to share more stories, more quickly – helping you stay connected to our community in real time.

All your favorite sections are easy to find and simple to navigate, making it e ortless to explore the stories that matter most to you.

And to make sure you never miss a new article, Cleveland Kesher is now on Facebook. Follow us at facebook.com/ClevelandKesher for the latest stories, updates and opportunities to engage with our community.

If you’re a business owner, our expanded online presence o ers new and valuable advertising and marketing opportunities. Digital ads allow you to link directly to your website and include contact information,

making it easy for readers to learn more about your company.

It’s also an ideal platform to promote upcoming events, special o ers and seasonal campaigns in a timely, impactful way –connecting your business with our engaged community when it matters most.

To take full advantage of all of these advertising opportunities in print or online, email Marilyn Malcmacher at malcmacher@ clevelandkesher.com.

Cleveland Kesher also welcomes story ideas and photos from your events, as well as b’nai mitzvah, engagement, wedding and obituary announcements to possibly be featured in the print edition and online. Send submissions to submissions@clevelandkesher.com.

Finally, we would love to hear your feedback on our new website and Facebook page.

Share your thoughts with us via email at bjacob@clevelandkesher.com - or better yet - post a comment on our Facebook page.

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Marketing Mastery: Expert Insights & Strategies

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School

Ninth graders prepare to present their end-of-semester speeches for public speaking class.

Aviva Geller and Orion Lisogorski with balloon animals from a math project.

School SPOTLIGHTS

HEBREW ACADEMY OF CLEVELAND

Beis Chinuch Horav Dessler/Hebrew Academy of Cleveland culminated a productive first semester with programming, activities and visitors in each of its divisions. The school hosted Rabbi Nachman Levovitz, rosh yeshiva, Yeshivas Mir Yerushalayim, who addressed the junior high school and Kollel.

In the girls’ elementary division, first graders celebrated a Mesibas Chumash and a Mother Daughter Melava Malka. Girls’ middle school held a Shabbaton in Beachwood and Yavne High School held a Shabbaton at the Bertram Inn in Aurora.