Aaron holds dual Master’s Degrees in Education and Judaic Studies from New York University, where he was a Jim Joseph Fellow. He is a graduate of the Yeshiva University Certificate Program in Experiential Jewish Education; the iCenter Master’s Concentration in Israel Education; and the American Jewish World Service Rabbinic and Graduate Student Global Justice Fellowship. Aaron received his bachelor’s degree in Journalism, Judaic Studies, and Hebrew from New York University’s Gallatin School of Individualized Study.

Aaron Rotenberg is the spiritual leader of the Annex Shul. He is passionate about soulful davening and creating traditional egalitarian spaces.

Abrah Dresdale, M.A., is an educator, curriculum designer, and a culture-shift consultant in the fields of social permaculture, food justice, and Jewish earth-based traditions. She serves on faculty in the Sustainable Food and Farming program at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst and at Omega Institute for Holistic Studies. She is founding Coordinator of the Local Food & Gardening Program at the Franklin County Jail, MA. She is an educator and consultant for progressive Jewish organizations, helping them to develop ecological and justice-based programming. She is Director of Regenerate Change, offering social permaculture trainings and consulting services for change makers, organizations, and institutions, and her related book, Regenerative Design for Change Makers: A Social Permaculture Guidebook, will be out September 2020. As a cultural artist, she applies whole-systems frameworks to make connections between the personal, social, ecological, and economic dimensions of projects centered around healing and justice. Abrah is willing to travel.

Adam W. McKinney is a former dancer with Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, LINES Ballet, Béjart Ballet Lausanne, and Milwaukee Ballet Company. He was raised in Milwaukee, WI where he attended and graduated from Hillel Academy, an Orthodox Jewish Day School. Soccer on Saturdays and going to McDonald’s on Pesach with matzah in hand were not uncommon occurrences. In 2006, he co-founded DNAWORKS, an arts and service organization committed to healing through the arts and dialogue (www.dnaworks.org). Through this organization, he often facilitates workshops and experiences for Jews, as well as participants from other backgrounds, to explore and transform themes of identity and ancestry.

An Assistant Professor of Dance at Texas Christian University, his work investigates tikkun olam, transgenerational trauma, and dance in community settings. He choreographed and performs in HaMapah/The Map, which explores mixed heritage identities, and the possibility and responsibility of bringing people closer together through performance. He holds a BFA in Dance Performance from Butler University and an MA in Dance Studies with concentrations in race and trauma theories from New York University, where he was a Bronfman Artist Fellow.

Adam recently returned from Poland where he danced as historical, embodied reconciliation in spaces associated with the Holocaust. In summer 2018, he was one of 20 artists selected from a pool of nearly 200 applicants to participate in the Asylum Arts social justice retreat, in partnership with Repair The World. The retreat was made possible by The Schusterman Foundation and Lippman Kanfer Foundation for Living Torah and gave space for Jewish artists to share their expertise in community organizing, education, and creative inquiry with one another. Adam went on to receive funding through Asylum arts for his work “SCAB,” which explores the long-term effects of southern racist violence.

Adam lives in Fort Worth, TX with his husband Daniel.

Adeena is currently finishing a year of Jewish service leadership as the Education Justice Fellow of Repair the World Philadelphia. Adeena studied communications at Goucher College and Talmud at Machon Mayaan in Beit Shemesh. This year Adeena has specialized in facilitating conversations around modern social justice issues within a Jewish context. Adeena has also focused on creating pluralistic events for the young professionals of her community centered around Judaism and social action.

Rabbi Aderet is a spiritual leader, educator, entrepreneur & community organizer. She is Co-Director for The Den. She has served as the spiritual leader for a congregation in Northern California and Campus Rabbi for Hillel at the University of Maryland. She loves traveling, spending time by the water, cooking & spontaneous dance parties with her husband and two kids. Rabbi Aderet loves using and creating ritual for individuals and groups of people for life cycle moments, mindful living, and other times of transition. Rabbi Aderet loves teaching and co-creating meaningful and impactful opportunities with students and adults in the community.

Dr. Aileen Heinberg is passionate about using traditional Jewish texts to undogmatically grapple with life’s big questions. She’s also a big fan of adding insights and strategies from fields like psychology and behavioral economics to the mix. At her day job, she’s a behavioral scientist in Design & Innovation at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. Before that, she taught high school Talmud and was a behavioral scientist at RAND.  Aileen studied in the Pardes Kollel and is a graduate of the Pardes Educators Program. She also holds a BA from Columbia University and a PhD from UCLA, both in psychology.

Alex Weisberg is an ordained orthodox rabbi with a Masters in Jewish philosophy. Before he was religious, he spent a decade studying Buddhist meditation. When he became religious, he studied with a well-known Jewish meditation teacher for a number of years.

Alice Frank has taught her own kind of Jewish Mystical Yoga, Shal(om) Yoga, for 15 years. After a spontaneous, totally normal and accidental awakening, alone in her room on the day of Yom Kippur in her 20th year, she fell deeply in love with the Torah. She has distilled each parashah (portion) down to an epic consciousness teaching, highly relevant to the people (Jews and non-Jews alike) of today. She was a student at Metivta- Academy of Contemplative Judaism, under Jonathan Omer-Man, Rabbi Rami Shapiro, Rabbi David Zeller. She has led ceremony for all the holy days, taught at ALEPH (“Kabbalah of Relating”), in shuls around the country, and led Moishe House retreats including Channukah “Light Up the Dark,” and Pesach of this year. She is a poet and a speaker about the unity of humanity. Her book of poetry is called “My Real Name is You.”

Amanda completed her Master’s degree in Experiential Education and Jewish Cultural Arts at the George Washington University in August 2018 and the JOFEE (Jewish Outdoor, Food, Farming and Environmental Education) Fellowship with Hazon in January 2019. She worked as a Hillel professional, Israel on Campus Coalition Regional Coordinator, and has been trained as a Birthright Fellow. Her expertise includes Israel, Jewish food, Jewish agriculture laws, immersive experience planning, event planning, leadership development, Hebrew calendar, Shabbat, and outdoor education.

Andrei Borovsky, artist, art historian, teacher. Having started working with children at the beginning of the history of Russian non-formal Jewish education in 1993, he became the author of many educational programs and his own methods devoted to Jewish culture. Specialist in art therapy and museum pedagogy. Currently working in kindergarten “Tapuz” ECC them. R. Goldman at the Nikitsky and Children’s Center of the Jewish Museum and Center for Tolerance in Moscow, participates in the programs of Jewish children and family camps. Lead educational seminars in different regions, a regular participant and author of children’s programs Limmud in Moscow, London and the CIS countries. From 2015 – expert and permanent author of methodological studies of the PJ-library project in Russia.

Anise Simon is a reproductive health advocate and non-profit professional. She is an alumnus of the Brandeis Collegiate Institute program through AJU and a co-founder of the Triangle, NC Moishe House. As a racial and reproductive justice facilitator, she enjoys weaving Jewish themes to help “wrestle” with Jewish text and connect our values with our religious and cultural tradition. Anise grew up in Jewish communities in both the US and the Caribbean and currently lives between South Florida and Northern California with her partner and two dogs. Currently, Anise works as the Member Systems Manager at the National Network of Abortion Funds and renovates vacation rental properties near the beach. Anise enjoys community organizing, vegetable gardens, and live music.

Kohenet Annie Matan (anniematan.com) is a singer, artist, spiritual leader and Jewish educator. Annie received ordination from the Kohenet Hebrew Priestess Institute in 2009. Annie studied for 2 years at the Pardes Institute of Jewish studies in Jerusalem, where she earned a certificate in Experiential Jewish Education, has a BA in Humanities (focused on Jewish Studies) from York University and also spent two years in the Aleph Alliance for Jewish Renewal rabbinical ordination program. Last year, Annie was chosen to be a mentor in the 92Y Shababa Network for Jewish professionals. Annie is passionate about inclusive and accessible Jewish and multi-faith spirituality, Annie is known for using original gospel music to infuse Jewish liturgy with meaning, intention and soul.

Arya is a first-generation American born to Iranian immigrants and raised in Los Angeles – the heart of the largest Persian-Jewish population in the world. Deeply driven by human connection, Arya earned his bachelor’s degree in Psychology at UC San Diego, and a master’s degree in Organizational Behavior from NYU. Arya has embraced his full alignment as a non-profit Jewish communal “lifer,” following a seven-year student-leader to professional career from Hillel of San Diego to the Hillel International offices in Washington, DC. In 2015, Arya returned to Los Angeles after ten years between San Diego, Tel Aviv, and DC, based largely in part on his ability to fully come out as a gay man to his family. Soon after, Arya began a body of work he had dreamt of since he was a teen, advocating for the full equality of LGBTQ+ individuals in Persian, Jewish, and broader communities. In less than two years, Arya has advanced from Consultant to Managing Director of JQ International, an LGBTQ+ Jewish non-profit that transforms Jewish communities, and ensures inclusion through education, support, and identity-enrichment. In 2017, continuing his devotion to this mission, Arya launched the first-ever Persian Pride Fellowship, an interfaith LGBTQ+ and ally activism training built to train the next generation of leaders in this life-saving work. His dedication to Jewish leadership and community have earned him a place on the LA Jewish Journal’s 30 Under 30 list, a feature in Iranwire’s Top 50 Iranian-American You Should Know, and most recently the 2019 JPro Young Professional Award.

Asi has years of experience working for Hashomer Hatzair and other Jewish institutions. He has been the Sheliach of Hashomer Hatzair for all Brasil and also had been a teacher during Shnat Hachshara in Israel. His areas of expertise are informal education, activism and leadership

Atara Cohen graduated Princeton University with a BA in Religion and a certificate in Judaic Studies, where she focused her non-academic time on interfaith work. After studying Torah in a variety of settings, including Midreshet Nishmat, Yeshivat Hadar, and the Drisha Institute throughout college, she began to study full time at Yeshivat Maharat. She was a T’ruah Rabbinical Fellow for Human Rights, a JOIN for Justice fellow, and is a UJA Graduate fellow. She has taught Torah as a scholar in residence in multiple communities and served as a rabbinic intern at the Columbia-Barnard Hillel. Atara currently serves as a Cooperberg-Rittmaster Pastoral and Educational Intern at Congregation Beit Simchat Torah. She lives on the upper west side, where she thinks about social justice issues, knits, and cooks inventive chickpea recipes.

Avery Robinson is a Jewish culinary historian and educator. He wrote a thesis on kugel as a lens into Jewish identity and curated an exhibit on American Jewish foodways while completing his MA at the University of Michigan. Avery has worked in a cider mill, NYC’s bougiest bagel shop, Tel Aviv’s fanciest croissant bakery, built a clay oven, and baked challah for 300 in an open pit fire. Avery works as editor for the Posen Library of Jewish Culture while researching the diversity of Jewish food ways. He is a wilderness educator, an alumnus of yeshivat Hadar’s year program, and guided tours of 5+ Israeli shuks.

Avraham Khazin is a graduate of the Beit Midrash program in Beit Berl College. Avraham is a dance and movement instructor and a founder of the Rujum Program, he is a long time facilitator in various organizations and a professional ski instructor.

Batya Friedland comes from Chassidic, Cohen, and Rabbinic lineages. Her spiritual pursuits began in Eastern traditions, which resulted in a MA in Eastern Classics and ordination as a Buddhist Chaplain. Batya received private rabbinic ordination through Rabbi Mark Siedler in 2015.
For over a decade she has been a teacher in both individual and group settings. She facilitates Lifecycle Ritual, Nature-based Judaism, and Contemplative Jewish Spiritual Practice. She offers 1:1 sessions in person and online, healing treatments, and co-leads the Moishe House Annual Jewish Meditation Retreat. She is the founding rabbi of the upcoming temple, the Mikdash, and is the first West Coast Rabbi of JYourWay. She is dedicated to the roots & truths of the Jewish and pre-Judaic lineage.
Batya is also a singer, dancer, musician, and poet.
She is the founding rabbi of the upcoming temple without walls, the Mikdash, dedicated to Jewish spiritual practice and the healing of the Jewish lineage. She is based in Oakland, CA, and travels internationally.

Becca was the Assistant Farm Manager at Urban Adamah and completed the Urban Adamah fellowship.

Charna Rosenholtz, MA is an accomplished teacher, specializing in psychospiritual growth and applications of spiritual wisdom. Ordained as a Hebrew wisdom teacher (Maggid) by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi and Rabbi Tirzah Firestone, she also holds a Masters degree in Religious Studies from Naropa University in Boulder, CO. She has mentored with medicine women, clergy, and master teachers in relation to the development of human potential. Charna’s passion and skill helps develop an empowered learning environment. By utilizing technologies from Matrix Leadership Institute, Hakomi Institute, and Right Use of Power, she seamlessly weaves content and context, for a holistic educational experience.

Chaya Sara Weiss is an active Jewish community leader and ceramicist. Her knack for crafting and creating is not limited to the wheel; through her retreats and and shabbat friendly camping trips in the summertime, Chaya Sara is crafting intentional community through her passion for engaging and pluralistic Jewish spaces. In addition, she is musician and vocalist in an all women’s chassidic jazz band, New Moon, and feels passionate about inspiring Jewish women to challenge the status quo. After studying Torah and Jewish mysticism full time for two years at the Merkos Women’s College in Melbourne and at Beth Rivkah Seminary in New York, Chaya Sara spent a year in the mystical city of Tzfat as a madricha in Machon Alte, where she taught and mentored women in their 20s from all over the world. After returning from her stint in Israel Chaya Sara became a DONA trained doula and birth and women’s health activist. She is currently studying nursing on the road to realizing her dream to become a midwife and an advocate for birthing mothers.

Chen Shair has 10 years of of experience educating youth at risk. He is the head of a district at Hanoar Haoved Vehalomed – social change youth movement and a graduate of the Beit Berl College of Education. He has a B.E.D degree in education and teaching credentials, specialization in the history of the State of Israel and Israeli society. He is the coordinator of the Dror Israel Movement Educational Training Programs. He is also the founder, coordinator and community organizer of the Rujum Community Network – Gen Y’ers for social change.

Cherie Brown is the founder and executive Director of the National Coalition Building Institute (NCBI). For 30 years, NCBI has been a pioneer organization leading anti-oppression work in schools, campuses, communities, and law enforcement agencies all over the world. Cherie is also an adjunct faculty at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College teaching courses on diversity, race, class and Jewish internalized oppression, Conflict Resolution Skills for rabbis, and a progressive understanding of anti-Semitism. Cherie has led hundreds of weekend workshops for Jews and non Jews on anti-Semitism and internalized anti-Semitism.

Chloe Zelkha is an educator, facilitator, and spiritual caregiver. She directed the Urban Adamah fellowship for 3 years, where she led Jewish ritual (Avodat Lev, Shabbat, mikvah), facilitated creative games and community sharing, and taught workshops on a range of topics, focusing especially on mindfulness meditation and anti-oppression concepts. She trained as a chaplain at UCSF, where she completed 3 units of CPE, offered emotional and spiritual care to patients and their families in moments of crisis and transition, and led mindfulness-related programming. She is currently enrolled in a Master’s program at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, where she studies Transformative Experiences.

Daniel has dedicated his profesional life to teaching Jewish thought, Jewish history and Holocaust Studies to young Jews in Argentina, Israel and Mexico.

He holds a BA in Universal History, a BA in Jewish History and a MA in Universal History, all by the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He also studied Holocaust Studies at the Yad Vashem Institute in Jerusalem and Jewish Thought, Tradition and Texts at the Hebraic University in Mexico City.

Daniel teaches both the historical and the religious reading of Jewish texts in an inspiring way. HIs classes instill pride in his students’ Jewish heritage and motivate them to lead others into the richness of our tradition and history.

“Who is wise? One who learns from all”, these are the words that ring truest to Danniell. Through her work with the disability community, interfaith dialogue, and adult and family programming, Danniell excels at establishing connections and building relationships. Danniell is committed to cultivating mindful immersive opportunities for individuals to explore their Jewish identity and build community. Born and raised in Metro-Detroit, Danniell has also lived in Seattle where she helped individuals delve into their heritage through education and experiences, as the Jewish Life and Learning Professional at the SJCC, and currently lives in Atlanta serving as the Senior Director of Jewish Journeys, Places, and Welcoming and the Jewish Federation. Danniell loves bold flavors, deep conversations, and anything with peanut butter and chocolate.

Daphne is the Executive Director of JOFA, the Jewish Orthodox Feminist Alliance. She is also an Adjunct Professor at Georgetown University Law Center, co-teaching a seminar in Jewish law to second- and third-year law students. Highlighted topics include gender issues, food ethics and religious roots of Israeli civil society.

Daphne worked at the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism (RAC), where she was the Development Director. During her tenure she engaged in program planning, management, strategic planning, alumni engagement and development. She is also the former North American Director of the Muslim Leadership Initiative at the Shalom Hartman Institute of North America, where she was responsible for fostering connections between Muslim and Jewish communities. More recently she served as a Vice President at West End Strategy Team.

Daphne received a BA with honors in Religious Studies from York University and an MA in Judaic Studies from Concordia University. She is currently an adjunct professor of Jewish Law at Georgetown University Law Center. She is active in the Orthodox community in her hometown of Silver Spring, MD, where she lives with her husband and two children.

David Manchester is the Associate Director of Impact Assessment and Learning at the Combined Jewish Philanthropies (CJP), Greater Boston’s Jewish Federation. In his role he supports efforts to measure the impact generated through communal giving. Additionally, he is a Ph.D. candidate in social policy at Brandies University and a Berman Fellow in Jewish Socio-Demographic Studies. David completed Masters’ degrees in Public Policy and Jewish Professional Leadership as part of the Hornstein Program and received his BA in International Affairs from American University’s School of International Service.

He previously lived in Washington, DC where he began his career as a legislative assistant for Hadassah’s Washington Action Office. He then became an operations analyst at Blackboard, Inc., where he honed his skills in quantitative metrics and evaluation. Growing up in Scarsdale, NY, he was active at Westchester Reform Temple. David recently completed 12 years of service on the Board of Directors of American University Hillel. During that time, he was instrumental in reinvigorating the organization leading a reorganization and recruiting a new, executive director.

David is a rabbinical student at Abraham Geiger Kolleg in Berlin. He is a young, smart and very accessible future rabbi and a huge hope for the Czech Jewish Community! David focuses on making Judaism accessible in post-Shoah Europe and educating people about finding answers to the issues of the modern world, including fake news, extremism, and loneliness, in the traditional Jewish texts. He speaks English, German, Hebrew, and Czech.

Débora Kantor is a Ph.D. candidate at the Social Sciences program of the University of Buenos Aires (UBA), her research is funded by the National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET) of Argentina, and she has a degree in Political Science by the Catholic University of Córdoba (UCC).
Her current line of research is focused on contemporary Argentine cinematic representations of Jewishness and her areas of interest are visual culture, argentine cinema, film studies, Jewish studies and aesthetics.

Don has spent the majority of his professional career working in Jewish educational settings. He has experience teaching many different Judaic courses for differing levels of knowledge, as well as creating/leading retreats, giving Don a unique ability to build on themes and lessons.

Dor Haberer currently lives in Boulder, CO where he studies Shiatshu massage therapy and doing a master degree through Gaia University in Integrative Ecosocial design. He works with youth on rites of passage, as a coach for OneTable & as a community organizer. Dor has helped facilitate and run the kitchen at a few retreats and has been involved in facilitating a variety of gatherings, mens groups, and sharing/grief circles. He has worked as an educator for many Jewish organizations including Ramah in the Rockies, Wilderness Torah, and Moishe House.

Dr. Marlon Danilewitz is a highly sought after speaker and Jewish educator. He completed an undergraduate degree at Yeshiva University with a diploma in Jewish studies. He is also a certified yoga instructor and mindfulness teacher. He has a special interest in Jewish yoga and has taught previously at Romemu in NYC and led workshops across North America. His approach to yoga and meditation, is also informed by his clinical work as a physician specializing in mental health and addictions, and as a researcher. His research explores the therapeutic benefit of yoga and also the impact of yoga and meditation on the brain. Moishe House and building local Jewish community is an important part of his identity. In his spare time, he loves to write and has published poetry and short stories in a variety of literary magazines.

Dr. Mira Neshama Niculescu is a Paris-born Jewish meditation scholar and teacher. She studied Torah, Gemara and Jewish thought at the Drisha Institute for Jewish Studies in New York, at the Section Normale des Etudes Juives in Paris, at Matan and at the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem, where she was a Yesod Fellow and received a certificate of ‘Experiential Jewish Educator’. She received her Ph.D in Sociolgy of Religion at the Ecole de Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales in Paris, focusing her research on contemporary Jewish Spirituality, and her certification as a “Jewish Mindfulness Teacher” from the Institute of Jewish Spirituality in New York. She contributes regularly to French Jewish learning website “Akadem” and to leading French Jewish Journals (JewPop, Tenou’a and L’Eclaireur). A strong believer in body-mind balance, she also teaches Vinyasa and Ashtanga Yoga specially designed for Jewish audiences. A faculty member at the Or Ha Lev Center for Jewish spirituality in Israel, she has been teaching meditation in various settings (Moishe Houses, JCCs, Yeshivot and Synagogues) since 2013. An advocate of fixing the world by improving ourselves and by creating happy healthy communities, one person at a time, she travels in Europe and in the United States to offer Jewish Meditation workshops and retreats and to help Jewish communities set up local meditation groups.

Eli Reiter is a teacher, writer, and storyteller who blogs extensively and his writings have been published in the Forward, Gothamist, and in the Beit Hatfusot museum in Tel Aviv.

Emily Muskin has been the Project Manager at HeyNow! Media for a little over a year. Before joining the HeyNow! Team, Emily served as the Cleveland Region of the Anti-Defamation League’s Education Director. In this role she was responsible for the creation, coordination, and implementation of anti-bias educational workshops and materials in schools and the greater communities of Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. Within this role, Emily had the opportunity to work with a variety of diverse stakeholders; including the Regional Board, National Office Staff members, Regional Staff members, Schools, the Regional Education Committee, and many others. In her current and past roles, Emily has especially enjoyed working with people and having the opportunity to build meaningful working relationships. Her ability to maintain consistency, attention to detail, and passionate care for her work is essential to every project she manages.

Emma Howitt is a Licensed Professional Counselor as well as a Licensed Chemical Dependency Counselor. Originally from Houston, Emma earned her Bachelor’s in Psychology at Texas State University and her Master’s in Mental Health Counseling at Yeshiva University. Prior to working at Jewish Family Service of Austin, Emma was a therapist at several non-profit behavioral health and substance abuse agencies in the Austin area. She brings ten years of experience counseling individuals, couples, and families dealing with issues such as depression, anxiety, substance abuse, relationships, and life transitions.

As a therapist and community educator with Jewish Family Service of Austin, Emma has facilitated many psychoeducation workshops and group therapy sessions that incorporate Judaism in mental health and substance abuse treatment. She has created programming specifically at the intersection of mental health and Judaism, including a community storytelling event which highlighted Austin Jews in recovery, an ongoing Mood and Mindfulness workshop, and Shalom Village, a supportive social group for new Jewish parents.

https://shalomaustin.org/emmahowitt

Erin travels around the world educating on the marriage between psychology and spirituality. She specialized in female (and all those who identify as women) spiritual-based retreats filled with holistic eats, meditation, movement, manifestation, circling and ceremony. She facilitates innovative mindfulness workshops in the areas of meditation, emotional intelligence, positive psychology, conflict competency, nutrition, yoga, and spiritual, personal and professional development. The workshops help foster individual and group wellness, advancing soul connection and healing. Erin developed the workshops based on her experience living and learning in the Middle East and Southeast Asia. Erin earned an MA in Clinical Psychology and Education from Columbia University, and is a Certified Functional Medicine Health Coach. Check out her Instagram @ErinRDoppelt and her website https://www.erinracheldoppelt.com/

Born in Chicago, Illinois, Franklin Drob learned to speak Russian fluently from his mother and grandmother. At the age of 16, he began to take his academic pursuits and self-study seriously. By the age of 18, Franklin received seven scholarly first class awards and scholarships to DePaul University, where he became a National Honor Roll student. While in college, Franklin met his first mentor, a retired hedge fund manager with more than 40 years of meditation and yoga experience. Those years would provide Franklin with the business and emotional intelligence resources to consult corporations, micro-small & medium sized business owners, private organizations and learn how to support and work with 501(C)3’s.

Franklin is now an international yoga teacher. Outside of weekly work life, you can find Franklin around the globe co-hosting wellbeing and yoga retreats, leading workshops , participating on panels at social events , professionally speaking at conferences, collaborating with various charity and social media personnel around the world.

With the support and guidance of his local rabbi, Franklin became involved in the Russian-speaking Jewish community. As a result, he was selected as part of a pilot program to be one of the first residents of the Chicago Russian-Speaking Moishe House. He has hosted more than 100 programs, including Shabbat dinners, holiday celebrations, social soirees, Hebrew lessons, collaboration with synagogues, Russian guitar sing-along events and “good karma” cafés.Unit 1602. In 2016 Franklin was awarded a Tikkun Fellowships by the Jewish United Fund’s Russian Jewish Division to help develop and support the fine arts and culture, further health and wellness, enhance Jewish education, all with Jewish flair.

Gabriel Weitz is a young successful Jewish entrepreneur, engineer and member of the ID teachers staff. Gabriel is the creator of a very well known app in Argentina aimed at encouraging people to car-pool. More information: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gweitz

Georgina is a seasoned Jewish educator and is passionate about building inclusive, cross-communal Jewish community. She frequently presents at Limmud Festival and facilitates Jewish learnings sessions on a range of topics. She is the Chief Executive of Mitzvah Day and has worked for JDC Entwine, OLAM and UJS (the Union of Jewish Students) to name a few. She founded and runs a women’s Rosh Chodesh circle supported by Moishe House Without Walls. She is also a former Moishe House London resident and has been involved with March of the Living and Grassroots Jews.

Hana Waxman was born in Chisinau, Moldova, and has lived in Odessa, Ukraine since 2012. She have graduated from the Polytechnic University in Chisinau and became master of Arts and Architecture. She is also an artist with a specialization in water painting, decoupage, pastel painting, quilling, sculpturing, glass-painting, soap-making, culinary. She is also an accredited mashgiach. She was a Moishe House resident in Chisinau from 2010-2012. Now, she is a director of programs in the Congregation of Conservative Judaism in Odessa.

Heela lives and works in Florentine, Tel Aviv. Coming from an orthodox background in Jerusalem, Heela is a graphic designer (working at Eretz Nehedert tv show), a cultural creator of colorful events around the city (notably, through collaborations with TEDER.FM and others), a member of Oniya collective, the Florentine community garden, and a managing partner in CTLV urban tours. Heela is an urban activist, taking part in most of the significant community struggles of recent years against the municipality’s reckless development plans for south Tel Aviv.

CTLV.org.il
Florentine Community Garden: https://www.facebook.com/Florentin2012/
Onya Collective: http://onyacity.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nomi.berg

Hindy Finman loves fusing her passion for Torah and commitment to normalizing mental health into her teachings. She enjoys challenging our traditions and texts to align with the here and now in nature’s classroom- the great outdoors. She is an avid dirt lover, be it ceramics, gardening, creating composting systems, or trying to understand the Earth’s messages.

Cross Culturalist, Mediator, Urbanist and Entrepreneur. Ilyll has over a decade of experience in leading, training and guiding diverse groups and individuals in cross-cultural fields in English, Hebrew, French and Spanish. Ilyll has lived and worked in the USA, France, Spain and Argentina while researching cultures and initiating and leading entrepreneurial projects. Through international encounters she has gained knowledge and hands-on experience of how cultures shape business interactions and organizational norms. In one-on-one sessions, group trainings and workshops, Ilyll’s mediator skills allow her to bridge the challenging cultural gaps and transform them into strengths. Over the years she has developed elaborate models and tools for implementing the impact of cultures on the ways in which people think, feel and act. Ilyll holds an MA in Mediation & Conflict Resolution from Tel Aviv University.

Jamie is an alumnus of the Pardes Year Program (’99) and the Pardes Educators Program (’04-’06). He is a Jewish Educator and licensed Israel tour guide. Jamie earned his BA in Modern History from Oxford University and his MA in Jewish Education from Hebrew University. Jamie works in many different Jewish educational arenas. In recent years he has taught in a Jewish school in America, guided British Members of Parliament on their trip to Israel and lectured in England on the most recent archaeological discoveries in the City of David. Before joining Pardes, Jamie was the educational director for the Ministry of Tourism’s tour guide course at the Yad Ben Zvi Institute. He is a regular guide and educator in Israel for Pardes, the Nachshon Project, JCCA professionals, and others. Jamie and his family live in Jerusalem.

Jo(anna) Kent Katz is a social justice educator, youth worker, drama therapist, intuitive healer, Theater of the Oppressed practitioner, restorative justice circle keeper, rite of passage ritualist and an ordained Kohenet. She is a political educator who centers healing and a healing practitioner who believes in collective liberation. Jo’s work is a deep dive into healing from internalized anti-Semitism and the undoing oppression at the intersections of whiteness and Jewishness for Ashkenazi Jews.

As an educator, Jo creates and facilitates dynamic, liberatory anti-oppression trainings, supporting youth and young-adult leaders around the country to strengthen themselves as agents of social change. She has worked on-going with groups such as Bend the Arc’s Jeremiah Fellowship, JOIN for Justice, Adamah and Urban Adamah. Supporting individuals and collectives in building their capacity to interrupt patterns of oppression, Jo attends to the learning, unlearning, and the healing required to release ourselves –and one another– from our unconscious allegiance to systems that hold us captive, availing us to imagine and manifest the world we long for.

Joanna holds a Masters degree in Social Justice Education from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor with a degree in Counseling Psychology/Drama Therapy from California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco. You can find out more about her work at www.jokentkatz.com

Former Moishe House resident and Senior Director of House Programs, Joel learned Torah in Israel at Yeshivat Simchat Shlomo and the Conservative Yeshivah. He combines his Jewish education background with his Masters in Applied Theater and ten years experience as a 5Rhythms dancer. He has taught at multiple Limmud conferences, Moishe House programs, and various retreats.

Josh is a scholar of informal adult education, Jewish educator, and retreat mentor.
While he is now finishing his PhD on Jewish identity, meaning-making, and education among young adults in the USA, he has designed, facilitated, mentored, and educated at retreats in the USA and internationally.
He can offer insight regarding educational modalities and arc, help with playful integration of Jewish ritual, text, and inspiration, tips for building community … and guidance throughout your process, to enable you to gracefully pull off the bad-ass retreat you envision.

Julia Kolchinsky Dasbach (www.juliakolchinskydasbach.com) emigrated from Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine as a Jewish refugee when she was six years old. She is a Ph.D. candidate in Comparative Literature at the University of Pennsylvania where her research focuses on contemporary American poetry related to the Holocaust. Julia is the author of the Wick Poetry Prize-winning collection The Many Names for Mother (Kent State University Press, 2019) and the chapbook The Bear Who Ate the Stars (Split Lip Press, 2014). Her poems appear in POETRY, American Poetry Review, and The Nation, among others. She has received fellowships from the Hadassah-Brandeis Institute, Yiddish Book Center’s TENT Writing Conference, the Auschwitz Jewish Center, and the USHMM’s Seminar on the Holocaust in the Soviet Union. Julia organized (Un)Witnessable: Holocaust in the East, a two day conference comprised of a poetry & prose reading as well as a day of panels dedicated to this under-explored history from multidisciplinary points of view.

Julie Dean is a phenomenal facilitator, educator, musician, and community member, with over 24 years of professional experience. She is a regular facilitator and leader of Mussar groups, women’s spirituality groups, and more.

Kendra Fried has 24 years of professional and teaching experience in fitness/health, consulting, energy healing, and body/mind movement practices. She is a certified Yoga and Jewish Wisdom Teacher (through Jewish Learning Works). Her approach is reverent and lighthearted, and she is strongly influenced by the Eastern practices of mindfulness and meditation, and Judaism. She is passionate about creating a safe space for her clients and students to experience deep healing and transformation in their lives.

Kiki is a Jewish educator, musician, voice teacher, and prayer leader in the Bay Area. She grew up at the intersection of Judaism and music, and finds much joy in creating meaningful, musical Jewish ritual with and for others. She tutors b’nai mitzvah students in Hebrew and Torah trope, and she leads b’nai mitzvah ceremonies. She also co-leads Shabbat Services and High Holiday Prayer Services. Kiki leads a monthly Rosh Chodesh circle for teenage girls, focusing the curriculum through a Jewish feminist lens. She also teaches private voice lessons to women to empower them to get more comfortable with the sound and power of their own voice.

As a child, Shoshana Jedwab would drum on parked cars, plates, tables, books and other people’s bodies. Hailing from a family of rabbis and community leaders decimated by the Holocaust, Shoshana became a prize winning Jewish Studies Day School teacher, and the Jewish Life Coordinator at the A.J. Heschel Middle School in NYC. Shoshana Jedwab holds down the beat as ritual drummer and worship leader for cutting edge communities, including Romemu, LabShul, Kohenet, Kirtan Rabbi and the Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center.

Leah is a Denver, Colorado native that is currently transplanted in New York. She has worked educating and mentoring Jewish young adults and youth for over 8 years and traveled to over eighteen different countries. She loves working with and meeting people.

Leora Fridman has worked as an artist, organizer and educator in Jewish and arts communities since 2005. Leora is a creative facilitator experienced in integrating arts and social justice into Jewish practice. Leora has led immersive programming for organizations including the Dorot Foundation, Moishe House East Bay, and Sukkat Shalom, where she serves on the Board of Directors. Leora’s work has been supported by grants and residencies from the Center for Cultural Innovation, Art Kibbutz, and the Vermont Studio Center, among many others. More at leorafridman.com.

Liz Alpern’s career in food is driven by her passion for bringing people together. Based in Brooklyn, Liz travels around the globe as a cook, recipe tester, educator and entrepreneur. Alpern holds an MBA from Baruch College and is a faculty member in the Culinary Entrepreneurship Program at the International Culinary Center in NYC. She been featured in Forbes’ 30 Under 30 list for food and wine and was named one of the Forward 50 for 2016.

Madeline Dolgin is the Student Life Coordinator at the Hillel Jewish Student Center at ASU. She is in her second year of Hillel International’s Springboard Fellowship, a robust professional development program focused on entrepreneurship and innovation, Jewish learning, and experiential education. At Hillel, Madeline supervises the Student Leadership Board running weekly meetings in leadership development and Jewish education. She oversees a monthly women’s program that brings in prominent Jewish women from the area to share their life stories and offer career advice. In addition, Madeline co-teaches 2 classes of the Jewish Learning Fellowship: Life’s Big Questions, which is a 10-week seminar geared towards college students who are newer to text study but interested in exploring their Jewish identity. In the past, Madeline created and taught an original curriculum called Mi Cha Mocha: Jewish Learning in a Coffee Shop (pronounced moka like the coffee). Each week’s class looked at a Shabbat prayer or ritual in depth and used historical context, English translations, related art pieces, or scholarly quotes as a way of thinking about the relevance of the ritual to college student’s modern day lives. Madeline has a special interest in Mindfulness and received a Mindfulness Leadership Certificate from ASU in March 2018. She has taught mindfulness sessions incorporating texts from th Jewish Mussar movement as well as secular mindfulness at conferences for Hillel professionals. In her work at Hillel, Madeline loves exposing her students to the rich questions present in the Jewish tradition and getting to explore her Jewish identity alongside those of her students!

Matthew has worked with many different age groups and had multiple experiences leading jewish experiences in a retreat type setting. During his time on staff at Kivunim, Matthew led programing centered around unplugging for shabbat, and adding mindfulness and intention framework for the participants. From his time at Ramah Matthew planned lessons incorporating nature into campers’ shabbat experience. Matthew is also skilled in content creation, travel, photography/video production, community engagement, social media marketing, the Adobe Suite, event planning, and more.

Mauricio is an educator, Jewish leader and scholar who holds studies in both pedagogy and Jewish studies. He holds a masters in Jewish Studies by the Hebrew University in Mexico and has been working as an active educator for more than 20 years.

As part of the professional work he now directs the Mejanjei Project for Keren Hayesod and was the director of Bitui Sojnut, and sub-principal of the Monte Sinai Hebrew School. He was very active on the Hanoar Hatzioni movement, holding various high responsibility educational roles in the institution. He is great working with young people and helping them understand that their relationship with Judaism can transcend their formal education or Jewish school. Mauricio is the Project manager of a Jewish teacher development program inside Hebraica University is called Laofek. He is also a teacher of Zionism and Israel current events at two Jewish days schools in the 12th grade, CIM-ORT school and Maguen David school.

Max Jared Einsohn’s unique and energetic music has brought this engaging Jewish Educator to communities across North America, Australia, and Israel, building diverse communities together through song, study, and prayer. After launching his debut album in 2012, and completing a Masters in Jewish Education from HUC-JIR in 2016, Max has been working as a Jewish musician, educator, prayer-leader, and social entrepreneur.
Max’s career pursuits have extended to include work as an environmental activist, interfaith progress initiate, tour guide, and youth-leadership advocate in North America and Israel. Max is currently based in Melbourne and is working to creating intention Jewish moments for the Australian community.

Maximiliano Diel has a Masters degree in Education, and a degree in Psychology, focused in Psychoanalysis. Since 2008 he has taught the History of Zionism, Jewish Culture, Theory of Knowledge and Shoah at the baccalaureate in the Escuela Integral Hebreo Uruguaya, which examines issues of HaShoah, Antisemitism, the history of the Jewish state, and major Jewish thinkers and writers. He has collaborated in several Jewish publications and radio programs like Radio Sefarad. Languages spoken: Spanish, English, Hebrew.

Megan is the Rabbi at the Silverstein Base Hillel at Lincoln Park and the campus Rabbi of Metro Chicago Hillel.
Megan grew up in Oak Park where she found her voice as a Jewish leader at her Conservative youth group and Reform summer camp. She graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 2006 with a B.A. in Psychology and Women’s Studies. Megan then went to work for the Hillel at Yale University where she discovered her passion for working with college students, and realized that rather than pursuing a PhD in Clinical psychology, she wanted to use the Jewish tradition as a source of meaning to empower young adults to create their own rich Jewish identities. Megan was ordained by the Jewish Theological Seminary in 2014 and also received an MA in Jewish Gender and Women’s Studies and a certificate in Pastoral Care and Counseling.

Megan in an alumna of the Wexner graduate fellowship and prior to joining Metro Chicago Hillel, Megan served as the Senior Jewish Educator at Columbia/Barnard Hillel. She also has a passion for travel and outdoor adventure- which has currently led her to forty-eight of the fifty states in the US.

Megan, her wife Paige and baby daughter Bri are thrilled to begin their fourth year at their Silverstein Base Hillel home, which serves as a hub for young adults craving meaningful, welcoming, vibrant Jewish life in the best city in the world!

Michael Fingerman was a Hillel professional doing engagement around Jewish identity and Israel for 2 years before joining the Ramah Darom year round staff. He’s part of a Ramah national educator cohort that travels around the world with other peers working on Jewish/Israel content.

Michael Rockman has been working in informal Jewish education for over 15 years (from summer camps to BBYO, to a variety of consulting projects for Jewish retreats and fundraisers). What makes Michael special is his RSJ background and his work with many RSJ programs. The topics of Israel and Jewish holiday are ones that Michael has explored many times with teens, youth, and young[er] adults. His personal immigration story provides an additional unique perspective on Jewish Identity which he shares with his audience.

Michelle Weiser is the Deputy Director at Boston Workmen’s Circle Center for Jewish Culture & Social Justice. Michelle is a Sephardi queer Jewish organizer and has been leading trainings for young Jews for the past 5 years on topics including Antisemitism, Israel/Palestine, Leadership, and Equity & Inclusion. She received a B.A. in Public Relations from Boston University, where she served on the board of the Center for Gender, Sexuality, and Activism and worked on the successful campaign to open a rape crisis center on campus. Michelle is a proud alum of the JOIN for Justice Fellowship program, where she worked side-by-side with front-line communities impacted by environmental threats. Prior to that, Michelle worked on local, state, and national communications strategies to support impact litigation at the LGBTQ law firm GLAD.

Mihal Stamova was born in 1973 in Rovno, Ukraine. In 1991, she graduated from the Rovno Music college with a degree in piano. She started her Jewish life in 1995 in JAFI Ulpan in Donetsk. Since 2000, she worked as a Hebrew teacher and teacher of Jewish music in Donetsk. In 2003, she graduated from the Jewish studies department at Donetsk State University. In 2005, she graduated from the Philology department at Rovno State Humanitarian University. She made Aliyah, then, in 2010, graduated Conservative Yeshiva in Jerusalem. Since 2012, she has worked as a the director of Jewish public-educational center “Masoret”. In 2017, she became a Master of History in Jewish studies in National University “Kiev-Mohylyanska Academy”. She now studies at a PhD program at Donetsk National University. She also works as a director of Family camp and organizes original courses on Jewish literature, history and music. She specializes in the history of the Jews of Bukovina and Galicia region in Ukraine.

Mikey Pauker is a folk and world artist, producer and prayer leader hailing from Oakland, CA. Mikey creates music written in Hebrew, English and Sanskrit described as “Medicine Music,” is inspired by mystical teachings and spiritual experience, and connects to people from all faiths. Growing up in Orange County, Mikey’s early experiences at underground shows exposed him to the intense, primal energy of live music, as well as the strong community bonds that form in an authentic and close-knit scene. Inspired by teachers who blend yoga and mystical practices he went to study in Jerusalem, soaking up the hidden teachings of his ancestral lineage. These spiritual dimensions guided his artistic development as he explored ecstatic music festivals and mystical religious traditions.

Mor Shimonie is a Community Leader at “Bina-Tel Aviv” community. Having established Bina house in India, an open Jewish house for travelers engaging in Jewish culture and Tikkun Olam with the local community in 2016, Mor is back in Israel and is currently an educator at the Secular Yeshiva of BINA in Tel Aviv and a high school teacher of Jewish philosophy and Bible. Mor is a graduate of the “Ofakim” program for her BA in Jewish Philosophy and education from Tel Aviv University.  Mor loves India, Gardening and Nigunim

Myra Meskin is a rabbinical student at the Zieglar School of Rabbinic Studies.

Natanya Ruth Silverman brings a dynamic background in Jewish education, performing arts, yoga, and reiki to her facilitation. Owner of The Clearing Meditation and Healing Arts Studio in Buzzards Bay, MA, Natanya teaches yoga and meditation and facilitates theater workshops, infusing the theater creation process with mindfulness, moving with the breath, and flexibility, as well as exercises that connect participants in a safe space of creative, heart-centered expression.

As a former Hebrew Day School teacher and child of a rabbi, Natanya brings a playful approach to Jewish spirituality transmitted through lifelong study and integration of varied wisdom traditions. She draws on Jewish language in her yoga instruction, including the Kabbalistic Tree of Life as a body map to guide practice.

Ophir Haberer was the Festival and Leadership Manager for Wilderness Torah, Center for Earth-based Judaism based in Berkeley, CA. In addition, Ophir is a guest educator, consultant, or coach with other organizations including Urban Adamah and OneTable. Ophir comes with a passion for whole-system design and loves to teach and facilitate workshops on village building, earth-based Judaism, nature connection, regenerative agriculture and food systems, social permaculture, meditation & movement, and Kabbalah. He graduated from Tulane University in 2014 with a focus on Sustainable Development. There, he started several programs for the university including The Hope Gardens Project, urban gardening & farming program, and the Green Wave Community Market, a local market to link students with local businesses and farms. He then completed two Permaculture Design Courses, one with Turtle Lake Refuge in Durango, Colorado and one with the Center for Creative Ecology in Kibbutz Lotan, Israel through The Green Apprenticeship Program, and a seed apprenticeship with Sierra Seeds Co. He also spent 10 months in Southern Vietnam, where he taught in the university and facilitated leadership training as part of a Fulbright Fellowship.

Pavel ran the educational program for social and community specialists at the University Mahon. Pavel has worked in the Jewish community in Moscow where he was a volunteer and a madrich. Pavel was a project supervisor for the integration of Jewish children with special needs. From 2005 till now Pavel has been a madrich and a facilitator at different Jewish camps and retreats in Moscow, Russia, and Germany.

Adam is the Base Rabbi at Base Miami.

After growing up in the Five Towns of Long Island and studying in a yeshiva day school, Adam continued his Jewish education receiving a B.A. in Bible from the Jewish Theological Seminary and a B.A. in Religion from Columbia University. With a love of and dedication to learning, teaching, and experiencing Jewish texts, rituals, and life, Adam continued on to receive a Certificate of Jewish education at the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem. While living in Israel, Adam received rabbinic ordination from Yeshivat Pirchei Shoshanim and studied safrut (scribal arts) under the tutelage of Rabbi David Gottesman.

Adam worked as an experiential Jewish educator and classroom teacher designing his own curricula and courses at Golda Och Academy. After winning a Cholent cooking competition for charity, Adam established The Chosen Cholent and Smokehouse – a food truck specializing in Cholent and authentic BBQ to use as a tool to focus on community gathering, fundraising, and bringing back the love of cholent.

Ben Greenfield serves as the Rabbi of Bais Abraham Congregation, in Saint Louis, MO. Originally from Los Angeles, Ben was trained at Yeshivat Har Etzion, Yeshiva University, Oxford, and Johns Hopkins, and was awarded Tikvah Fund and Wexner Graduate fellowships. Ben is a founder of the Upper West Side Moishe House, where he coordinated 200+ Jewish communal events for over 5,000 Manhattan Jews, while also serving at Rikers Island Correctional Facility as the High Holidays and Passover rabbi. His writing was awarded the Whizin Prize in Jewish Ethics and he is the author of a cycle of original liturgy for Shavuot, Purim, and Yom HaShoah. Ben loves squash (the sport), faux-organic cooking, and finger percussion.

A rabbi, writer, meditation teacher, and yoga instructor, Benjamin Shalva regularly leads seminars in Spiritual Cross-Training, Kabbalah Yoga, Jewish Meditation, and Mindfulness Meditation. He received his rabbinical ordination from the Jewish Theological Seminary and his yoga teacher certification from the Yogic Physical Culture Academy in Los Cabos, Mexico. He is the author of two books — Spiritual Cross-Training: Searching through Silence, Stretch, and Song and Ambition Addiction: How to Go Slow, Give Thanks, and Discover Joy Within.

Daniel is an ordained rabbi of the reform movement. He attended the Adama program in America, which is a Jewish agricultural program. He is current the student chaplain/rabbi to university students for the alliance of Liberal and Reform Judaism.

Rabbi Daniel has his Rabbinic ordination from YCT (Chovevei), 15 years teaching experience, former Director of Jewish Life and Learning at Stanford Hillel (CA), Traditional Judaism as an embodied spiritual practice, Chasidut, Kaballah, Have performed Jewish poetry/rap and facilitated creative educational sessions throughout Europe, the US and Israel. Rabbi Daniel is also a experienced meditation teacher.

Danny received his semicha (rabbinic ordination) from Rabbi Jonathan Wittenberg after completing his studies at the Leo Baeck College.

Danny comes from an Orthodox background, having grown up in Stanmore at the United Synagogue. However, he has been a member of New North London for many years and his personal and professional approaches are pluralistic in nature. He currently works at a Masorti synagogue and a Reform synagogue.

He is the founder and director of HaMakom, an organisation which runs Jewish mindfulness meditation retreats for people from all parts of the Jewish community. Rabbis and lay people from all the different Jewish denominations (Masorti, Reform, Orthodox, Liberal) regularly attend. Prior to commencing his rabbinic studies, Rabbi Danny worked as a corporate lawyer in the City of London.

He read Jewish Studies at Oxford University and has studied at several Israeli yeshivot. He has been practicing meditation for over 20 years

David Paskin is an accomplished spiritual leader, singer/songwriter, entertainer, Jewish futurist, social activist, award-winning Jewish educator and founding rabbi of OHEL. Prior to moving to Florida, David served as the rabbi and spiritual leader of Temple Beth Abraham in Canton, Massachusetts for seventeen years. David currently serves as the Director of Youth and Family Engagement at Temple Sinai of North Dade and as the Educational Director of the Institute of Jewish Knowledge and Learning in Broward County. David loves spending his summers as Rosh Musica (Music Director) at Camp Ramah Darom in Georgia.

A graduate of Brandeis University (1993) and the Academy for Jewish Religion (2002), David has been working in the Jewish world for over two decades teaching at various religious schools, day schools, and camps around the country. In the Boston area, David served as Music and Judaics Director of Grossman Camp, as Judaic Studies Coordinator of the Rashi School of Greater Boston and as co-head of school at Kehillah Schechter Academy.

David has taught and performed at a number of conferences including the Shefa Network, CAJE, the National JEA Convention, the UAHC Biennial, the United Synagogue Biennial, and USY International Convention. His presentations have focused on prayer and spirituality, Jewish music, and formal and informal Jewish education.

David is a blogger for the Times of Israel and the World Wide Reblog and is a proud contributor to Not By Might: Channeling the Power of Faith to End Gun Violence​. David’s first book, The Search for the Sacred was published in the summer of 2016. In 2018, David collaborated with Rabbi Joseph Meszler on his second book: Go and Study: A Pluralistic Guide Through the Jewish Denominations’ Torah Commentaries.

In addition to his congregational work, David has taught prayer, music and rabbinics at the Academy for Jewish Religion – a pluralistic rabbinic and cantorial school in Riverdale, NY. For many years David served as an advisor to the Delet/MAT program at Brandeis University and volunteered as a Jewish chaplain at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. David is a past-President of the Association of Rabbis and Cantors; past-President of the Canton Clergy Association and a past trustee on the Board of Directors of the National Brain Tumor Society.

David has become known as the “Rock n’Roll Rabbi” having written, performed and produced six albums of contemporary Jewish music. His music is a mix of joyful, upbeat tunes and moving liturgical compositions. David’s music is sung in synagogues, camps, and schools around the country. David was honored to produce and record the anthem, Olam Chesed Yibaneh with his dear friend and musical partner, Rabbi Menachem Creditor. In addition to his Jewish music, in 2004, David produced a cd single entitled, So We Ride in honor of the 10th anniversary of the Brain Tumor Society’s Ride for Research.

Taking advantage of all that the internet has to offer, David has also become the “World Wide Reb.” Since 2009, David has offered a regular rebcast entitled, “Reflections of a Rabbi” in addition to other educational videos. All of David’s adult education classes are live-streamed at www.rabbidavid.tv and are available on-demand.

David’s accomplishments in Jewish education were recognized when he received the Keter Torah Award from the Bureau of Jewish Education in Massachusetts. David has also been recognized by the Association of Rabbis and Cantors (2012), the South Area Solomon Schechter Day School (2009), The National Brain Tumor Society (2008), The Hellenic Nursing and Rehabilitation Center (2008), Ordinary Heroes Hall of Fame (2007), Synagogue Council of Massachusetts (2007), Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (2005), Boy Scouts of America (2005), South Area Solomon Schechter Day School (2004), Boston JCC Maccabi Games (2004), Temple Beth Abraham (2003), State Senate of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts (2002), Grossman Camp (2001) and Temple Shalom of Milton (1996).

After the loss of his second daughter, Liat Chanina, David and his wife Heather founded the Liat Chanina Foundation, a non-profit foundation dedicated to creating and sustaining opportunities for hope and healing. David currently lives with his wife Heather, his daughters Dalia, Ayelet and Naomi, and the memory of his beloved daughter Liat (z’l) in Boca Raton, Florida.

Rabbi David helps to lead and coordinate The Temple’s social justice efforts, including a multifaceted Anti-Sex Trafficking Initiative and our Educational Initiative with Fred A. Toomer Elementary School. Rabbi David is also the co-founder of The Well at The Temple, the premiere Shabbat service for Atlanta’s post-college/pre-family community featuring outstanding music, resonant prayer, and meaningful conversation.

Rabbi Mintz is the current Rabbi of B’nai Israel The Downtown Synagogue. Rabbi Mintz lectures widely throughout the Baltimore community. He is active in community affairs, serving on the Executive Committee of Historic Jonestown, Inc., and various Associated Jewish Federation’s foundations and commissions.

Rabbi Mintz served for five years as Associate Rabbi at the Hebrew Institute of Riverdale. He also taught Jewish thought, text and practice at the Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School in Rockville, Maryland, and has served as a summer rabbi at The Hampton Synagogue in Westhampton Beach, NY.

He received his pastoral counseling training through a year-long chaplain residency program at the University of Virginia Health System, where he counseled individuals of all faiths in times of crisis. Rabbi Mintz is a senior rabbinic fellow of the Shalom Hartman Institute, and a long time group leader with the American Jewish World Service. Some of his fondest and earliest rabbinical experiences have included leading Passover seders in the Former Soviet Union and High Holiday services at Rashi’s shul in Worms, Germany.

He studied for two years at Yeshivat Sha’alvim in Israel, and received rabbinic ordination from Yeshiva University’s Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary. He also holds a Masters Degree in Jewish Philosophy and Mysticism from the Bernard Revel Graduate School, and an M.P.A. from the Kennedy School at Harvard University.

See full bio online at: https://www.jewishdowntown.org/our-rabbi.html

Leah is currently a European Fellow at the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem. For the past five years, she served as Progressive Jewish Chaplain for University Students in the UK and as the congregational rabbi of Norwich Liberal Jewish Community. Among her projects, she built and co-led the doubling in size of the Progressive Jewish Chaplaincy program in the UK, taught and led on the coordinating team for the Open Talmud Project (https://www.facebook.com/opentalmudproject/) – the only cross-communal open-to-all-learners Talmud initiative in Britain – and she is a founding member of Na’amod: British Jews Against Occupation (@NaamodUK), a movement of British Jews dedicated to ending our community’s support for the Occupation.

Leah grew up in the great American Midwest, learned in Jerusalem for two years and as a Year Fellow at Yeshivat Hadar in New York City, received an MA in Jewish Studies from King’s College London, and semicha/rabbinical ordination from the Leo Baeck College. She loves working with young people, Torah & Jewish text study, community building, and organising for change, as well as travel and fictional universes. She lives in London with her partner, Benji Stanley, also a rabbi.

Lizzi Heydemann catalyzed the founding of Mishkan Chicago in September of 2011. She graduated with Honors from Stanford University, and was ordained by the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies in Los Angeles in 2010. Lizzi’s first job out of school was as the first Revson Rabbinic Fellow at IKAR in Los Angeles. Mishkan contains the DNA of IKAR in Los Angeles, B’nai Jeshurun in New York, and the ecstatic, musical and meditative Jewish tradition that emerged out of South America to give rise to that approach here in the States.

Lizzi was selected for the Covenant Foundation’s Pomegranate Award in 2013 for promising early-career educators, Lizzi was a 2013 ROI Fellow, and was in the 2012 cohort of CLAL’s Rabbis Without Borders fellowship. Lizzi was on Jewrotica’s Sexiest Rabbis of 2013 list, was named one of Chicago’s 36 Under 36 by OyChicago, and one of the Top 20 Real Rabbis by myjewishlearning.org, both in 2012.

Rabbi Max Chaiken serves as the Assistant Rabbi at Congregation Kol Ami in West Hollywood, California. There he directs The Open Yad Project, a community of adults in their 20s and 30s, and his portfolio also includes weekly worship music, adult education, and social media. He serves as an Rabbinic Fellow with InterfaithFamily, a national non-profit which aims to empower people in interfaith relationships to engage in Jewish life. Rabbi Chaiken holds a BA in Economics and Public Policy from Brown University. He was ordained a rabbi in 2018 at the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Los Angeles, where he wrote his rabbinic thesis on economic ethics and thought in Jewish law. Prior to rabbinical school, he worked in the Boston area, teaching music, Hebrew, and more in synagogue religious schools and Jewish day schools. An accomplished song leader and composer, he loves to write both music and poetry. He lives with his husband, Rabbi Danny Shapiro, and their dog, Oogie (which is short for “cookie monster” in Hebrew!)