Daryl Messinger of Palo Alto will become the next chair of the Union for Reform Judaism, the URJ has reported in a press release.

She will become the first woman to hold the top lay leadership position in the URJ, which covers 900 synagogues and 1.5 million Jews in North America, according to a URJ release issued June 30.

Messinger has been nominated to serve as the next chair of the board of trustees, and her nomination will be formally presented to the full board at the URJ Biennial in Orlando, Florida, from Nov. 4 to 8. The URJ release noted that she will succeed Stephen M. Sacks, who will have served the maximum allowable four years as chair.

Messinger has been very involved in URJ, and currently serves as chair for the URJ Camp Newman advisory board in Santa Rosa. She previously served as a vice chair and an assistant treasurer of the URJ. She was also the president of Congregation Beth Am in Los Altos Hills at age 36, making her the youngest president in the synagogue’s history, according to the URJ release.

Messinger was in the news a few weeks ago after the World Zionist Congress announced the results of its 2015 elections. A member of the ARZA slate representing the Reform and Reconstructionist movements, Messinger has been named a delegate to the World Zionist Congress in Israel in October.

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