Community Leaders

KKJ is fortunate to have an active group of Community Leaders who help to maintain and further our mission. Many of our leaders are the children or grandchildren of the original founders of our congregation, making it all the more special that they remain active and involved in our community. Coupled with the support of our Board of Trustees, these volunteers dedicate their time and effort to sustain KKJ and ensure its continuity for generations to come.

A graduate of Yeshiva Mesivtha Tifereth Jerusalem on East Broadway, Chaim has served as our community's Hazzan for more than a decade and serves on the Board of Trustees as our congregation's Treasurer. The son of community members Sol and Koula Kofinas, Chaim was born and raised on the Lower East Side and comes from a long line of Romaniote Jews with roots from Ioannina. Chaim was Bar Mitzvahed at KKJ and studied our unique Romaniote liturgy and piyutim from previous community leaders and scholars, including our former President Hy Genee of Blessed Memory. 

In addition to his service at KKJ, Chaim is a Senior Tax Manager and Certified Public Accountant at the firm WithumSmith+Brown, PC. He holds a BA in Accounting from CUNY Brooklyn College and and an MS in Taxation from Pace University.

Marcia Haddad Ikonomopoulos has served as the Museum Director of Kehila Kedosha Janina since 2004 and sits on the Board of Trustees of the Synagogue and Museum. She also serves on the Board of Directors of the Lower East Side Preservation Initiative and is President of the Association of Friends of Greek Jewry. She was born into a traditional Sephardic Jewish family from Salonika and has devoted her life to telling the story of Greek Jewry as an author, translator, editor and lecturer.

She holds two BAs, one from Brooklyn College in Psychology and the second from Queens College in Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies, plus two MAs, the first in Psychiatric Casework from the New School and the second in Italian from Queens College.

A proud Romaniote from Athens, Sol has served as our community's Gabbai and Financial Secretary for more than two decades. He is an active docent in the museum and provides weekly tours to visitors and school groups about the history of the Jews of Greece. A survivor of the Holocaust, Sol Kofinas immigrated to the United States in 1956 and has lived on the Lower East Side ever since, raising his two children, Chaim and Rachel, with his wife Koula.

A proud grandfather and now great-grandfather, Sol is a testament to the Romaniote tradition and spirit of warmth, love, and community.