We Are Excited to Welcome The Following Guests for the 2015 Shabbaton
Rabbi Joel Alter
Director of Admissions, Jewish Theological Seminary
Rabbi Joel Alter is director of Admissions at The Jewish Theological Seminary. He comes to JTS after 16 years of service at Jewish day schools in Washington DC, Baltimore, and Boston. A teacher of Tanakh, rabbinics, and Jewish living Rabbi Alter helped shape the schools in which he served. His dual commitments during that time were to Jewish pluralism and building mission-driven institutions. Ordained while still in the closet, Joel is proud to serve at JTS as an openly gay rabbi. He serves on the board of Nehirim, a national Jewish LGBT community. Rabbi Alter earned his BA in Jewish History at Columbia University, and rabbinic ordination and MA in Jewish Education at JTS.
Maiya Chard-Yaron
Assistant Director of the University of Maryland Hillel
Coming Soon
Eric Fingerhut
President and CEO of Hillel International
Eric Fingerhut has devoted his entire professional life to public service and higher education. He came to Hillel after a distinguished and varied career. As Chancellor of the Ohio Board of Regents from early 2007 to 2011, Fingerhut led Ohio’s system of public universities and colleges. Among his many accomplishments, he is a former U.S. congressman and state senator. He is also a past president of the Conservative synagouge Congregation Agudas Achim in Columbus, Ohio. Fingerhut has earned a reputation as an innovative leader and ardent advocate of the value of higher education.
Ben Gersten
Undergraduate Student in the Joint Program between JTS & Columbia
Ben Gersten is an undergraduate student in the Joint Program between the Jewish Theological Seminary and Columbia University. Originally from Roseland, New Jersey, Ben had an active career in USY and spent a year in Israel on the Nativ College Leadership Program. Ben has served in multiple leadership/teaching capacities at Congregation Agudath Israel, has spent many summers on the staff at Gesher Summer Camp, and worked last year at Ramah Day Camp of Greater Washington, D.C. for their inaugural summer. Currently Ben serves as the Shabbat Engagement Coordinator for Columbia/Barnard Hillel’s KOACH Conservative Community and is an intern at the American Camp Association.
Abe Fried-Tanzer
Project Coordinator for Teen Learning, United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism
Abe Fried-Tanzer is the Project Coordinator for Teen Learning for United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism. He coordinates USY on Wheels and USY Israel Pilgrimage trips each summer and works with USY throughout the year.
Previously, Abe worked as a fieldworker for KOACH, traveling to college campuses on the east coast to help build up and sustain Conservative Jewish communities. Abe lives in New York City with his wife, Arielle, who he met
in USY.
Erin Kahal
Jewish Women's Renaissance Project
Erin is originally from Augusta, GA, and received Bachelors Degrees in both Social Studies Education and History from the University of Georgia. After graduating, Erin served as an Education Fellow at the Goldring/Woldenberg Institute of Southern Jewish Life (ISJL), a non-profit organization based in Jackson, Mississippi. Following the fellowship, Erin taught middle school Social Studies in Jackson, MS. Currently, she works for the Jewish Women's Renaissance Project (JWRP), which organizes subsidized trips to Israel for mothers through their 100+ partners all over the world. Erin is currently the JWRP Program Manager, and works with their partner organizations to ensure that the trip participants continue to be engaged after the trip and grow as Jewish leaders.
Rabbi Joel Levy
Yeshiva Director at the Conservative Yeshiva in Jerusalem
Rabbi Joel Levy studied Natural Sciences at Cambridge University and was chair of the programme at Limmud. In 1989 he went to Israel to study and teach, returning to the UK in 1991 to serve as the director of NOAM, the Masorti youth movement until 1994.
He moved to Israel with his wife Susanna in 1994 in 2000 semicha from Rabbi David Hartman. In Israel Joel teaches and studies at the Conservative Yeshiva and runs a cross-denominational rabbinical programme for Ta Shma, an organisation that provides multi-vocal Jewish education.
He is heavily involved with NOAM, supports Israel programmes and many of the Masorti congregants who go to live and study in Israel.
Rabbi Jessica Lott
Hillel International's Director of Jewish Educational Networks
Rabbi Jessica Lott holds a bachelors in Jewish and Near Eastern Studies from Washington University in St Louis and a masters in Social and Cultural Foundations of Education from DePaul University in Chicago. She is a graduate of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College. She loves to teach Torah and has done so with people of all kinds - from toddlers to seniors, at synagogues and summer camps, on Israel trips, in interfaith dialogue groups, and on college campuses. A deep investment in innovation and pluralism lead her to Hillel. She joined Hillel International after more than two years as the Associate Director for Jewish Life and Learning at University of Maryland Hillel, and has also worked with many other Hillels. Jessica lives in Washington, DC with her husband, Rob.
Rabbi Josh Rabin
Director of Kehillah Engagement, United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism
Rabbi Joshua Rabin is the Director of Kehilla Enrichment at the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism. Josh received his Rabbinic Ordination and a Masters of Arts in Jewish Education in 2011 from the Jewish Theological Seminary, where he served two terms as a student president of the Rabbinical School. Josh is a proud alum of the University of Maryland, College Park (Go Terps!), where he graduated Magna Cum Laude with a degree in Philosophy and Jewish Studies 2005. While on campus, Josh served two terms as president of the Conservative Minyan, was a student member of the University Senate, and was inducted into the Omicron Delta Kappa Honor Society.
You can read more of Josh’s writings at www.joshuarabin.com
Kayla Reisman
Senior Engagement Associate, Hillel at Ithaca College
Kayla is the Senior Engagement Associate and Engage2Educate Fellow for Hillel at Ithaca College. Their Hillel recently won the 2014 student engagement award from Hillel International! Kayla comes from a strong background of Jewish education through day schools and camps, including a degree in Judaic Studies and Sociology with a certificate in Jewish and Hebrew Education from Dickinson College. After spending a year in Israel, she is always up for a conversation about Birthright, MASA programs and Israeli culture. Kayla also loves everything related to sign language and Deaf culture, and has incurable addictions to Facebook and Instagram. But most importantly, Kayla is really fun, really loves being Jewish, and would really like to meet you.
Rabbi Esther Reed
Senior Associate Director for Jewish Campus Life, Rutgers Hillel
Rabbi Esther Reed grew up in East Brunswick, NJ. A graduate of Bryn Mawr College, she received both her master’s degree in Jewish Women’s Studies and Rabbinic Ordination from the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York. She is a Conservative rabbi and lives in Highland Park with her husband, Mordy Schwartz, and three sons: Isaac, Sammy and Jonah.
Dan Ring
US History & Government Teacher
Dan is a native of Reisterstown, MD and graduated from the University of Maryland College Park in 2012 with a degree in History and Secondary Education. At UMCP, Dan took part in many extracurricular activities, including serving as President of KOACH. During senior year, after a friend forwarded a job opportunity from the Jewish Studies listserv, he applied for a job at the Institute of Southern Jewish Life (ISJL) based in Jackson, MS. Following graduation, Dan moved down to Mississippi to begin two years as traveling Jewish educator throughout the South. Currently, Dan teaches US History and Government at High Point High School in Beltsville, MD.
Rabbi Mordecai Schwartz
Director of the Beit Midrash of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America
Marcus Mordecai Schwartz currently serves as the Director of the Beit Midrash of The Jewish Theological Seminary of America. He is a also an assistant professor at JTS. Rabbi Schwartz is recipient of rabbinical ordination, a Ph.D. and an MA specializing in Talmud, as well as a Master of Philosophy degree from The Jewish Theological Seminary. He was a recipient of the prestigious Saul Lieberman Fellowship for Talmud and Rabbinic graduate studies. Rabbi Schwartz is an alumnus of the University of Nebraska.
He has taught graduate and undergraduate courses at JTS, Rutgers University, the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, as well as Hebrew Union College/ Jewish Institute of Religion in New York. He has written articles for the New Encyclopedia Judaica and the Cambridge Dictionary of the Jewish Religion. The findings of his research on Rabbinic travel and pilgrimage in the Talmud will shortly be published in the Hebrew Union Annual titled, “As They Journeyed From the East: The Nahotei of the Fourth Century and the Construction of the Rabbinic Diaspora.” His new book, on the effect of tradition from the Land of Israel on the composition of the Babylonian Talmud, forthcoming from Mohr-Siebeck Academic Publishers, is entitled Rewriting the Talmud.
Alana Tilman
Program Director, National Ramah Commission
Alana is the Program Director of the National Ramah Commission. Through her work, she plans and coordinates National Ramah projects including movement-wide leadership training, college programming, and the Ramah Service Corps Fellowship. She holds an MA in informal Jewish education from the Davidson School of Education at The Jewish Theological Seminary. Alana is a graduate of Brandeis University where she studied psychology, Jewish studies and Modern Hebrew literature. She has been a Jewish educator in a variety of settings including synagogues, youth programs and JCCs. As a lifelong Ramahnik, she has spent many summers as a camper, counselor and rosh edah at Ramah Poconos, Ramah Israel Seminar and Ramah Nyack.
Joey Weisenberg
Creative Director of Yeshivat Hadar's Center for Communal Jewish Music
Joey Weisenberg is the Creative Director of the Hadar Center for Communal Jewish Music, and is the author of Building Singing Communities. He’s a multi-instrumentalist musician, singer and composer who has performed and recorded internationally with dozens of bands in a wide variety of musical styles.
Having come to cherish the imperfectly beautiful music of normal people singing together, Joey works to empower communities around the world to unlock their musical and spiritual potential, and to make music a lasting and joy-filled force in shul and in Jewish life.
His nigunim have become popular worldwide.
For more information on Weisenberg, check out his website.
Rabbi Gil Steinlauf
Senior Rabbi of Adas Israel Congregation
Rabbi Gil Steinlauf is the senior Rabbi at Adas Israel in DC. He is a summa cum laude graduate of Princeton University (1991), studied at the Pardes Institute in Jerusalem, received an M.H.L. from the University of Judaism in 1994, and received Rabbinic ordination as well as an M.A. from the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York in 1998. Currently, Rabbi Steinlauf is on the boards of the Washington Chapter of the American Jewish Committee, and the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington. Rabbi Steinlauf enjoys in-depth study of Jewish texts, academic research, writing, and reading works of philosophy, theology, and inter-religious studies.
You can follow many of Rabbi Steinlauf's sermons and essays on his Blog, 'Dover Emet.'
Rabbi Yoni Warren
United States Navy Chaplain
Yoni Warren is a rabbi, a chaplain, and a pretty likeable guy. He is also the incoming rabbi at United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, MD. He was a regional officer in Seaboard USY, Gabbai at KoachUMD, and a Rosh Edah at Camp Ramah in the Berkshires. A graduate of the University of Maryland, he went on to receive rabbinical ordination, as well as an M.A. from the Jewish Theological Seminary in 2011. Commissioned in the Navy in 2009, Rabbi Warren went on Active Duty shortly after graduation from rabbinical school, and brought his poor wife from New York City to Okinawa Japan where they worked with with Jewish military personnel across denominations. His battalion duties kept him engaged with Marines and Sailors across religious affiliations, and in three years he deployed to mainland Japan, South Korea, the Philippine Islands, and Afghanistan.
Dr. Marilyn Wind
Vice President and Co-Chair of MERCAZ USA's Zionist Congress Election Committee
Coming Soon
David Yarus
Founder of mllnnl
Founder of JSwipe
@DavidYarus is the Founder of mllnnl, a millennial marketing agency that helps organizations like Hillel International, Taglit-Birthright Israel, and The Israeli Consulate understand and inspire millennials worldwide. David is also the founder of JSwipe – the world's largest and fastest-growing Jewish dating app – with over 135,000 active users since launching last Passover. He is passionate about technology, millennial empowerment, and all things #future. Previously, David was the General Manager of Mr Youth, where he ran the youth marketing for brands like Coca-Cola, Microsoft, and Spotify. David spends his free time thinking about Facebook ad strategy, studying consumer behavior, and empowering local Jewish communities and organizations with social media best-practices.
Rabbi Elianna Yolkut
Elianna Yolkut is a rabbi without portfolio who strives through challenging questions, dynamic study and meaningful connection to help Jews at all life stages reach toward a deeper understanding of and connection to Judaism. Raised with three brothers in her native St. Louis, where as a toddler she would often lose herself in the folds of her father's talit, Elianna is a thinker, writer and educator who seeks new models for religious community-building and fresh ways to teach Torah. Ordained in 2006 by the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies at the American Jewish University in Los Angeles, she was later an adjunct faculty member there while serving as assistant rabbi at the Conservative synagogue Adat Ari El in nearby Valley Village. Elly, who holds a BA in Near Eastern and Judaic Studies and Sociology from Brandeis University, now lives with her partner and their young twins in Washington D.C. (Learn more at www.rabbielianna.com)