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Rabbi Avi Weiss President & Founder Rav Avi is the Senior Rabbi of the Hebrew Institute of Riverdale, an 800 family modern orthodox congregation in Riverdale, New York, and founder and dean of Yeshivat Chovevei Torah, the open Orthodox Rabbinical School in New York City. Rav Avi is the author of The Principles of Spiritual Activism and Women at Prayer: A Halakhic Analysis of Women's Prayer Groups, and editor of the Haggadah for the Yom HaShoah Seder. He writes regularly for leading Anglo-Jewish newspapers and had appeared in the New York Times, Washington Post, and the New York Law Journal, among many others As an activist, Rav Avi:
Underlying all of Rav Avi's efforts is the concept of Ahavat Yisrael - the idea that every Jew, no matter the background or affiliation, is a member of our family and deserves our dedication, love, and respect. Rabbi Etan Mintz Executive Vice President Etan is the Associate Rabbi of the Hebrew Institute of Riverdale, an 800 family modern orthodox congregation in Riverdale, New York. He oversees the major Synagogue programs, the programming for the elderly, teaches classes, and serves the pastoral needs of the community. Etan has lead countless protests and traveled extensively to raise awareness on issues such as anti-Semitism and Holocaust revisionism. Etan has served as Assistant Rabbi at The Hampton Synagogue, Rabbinic Fellow at CLAL (The National Jewish Center for Learning & Leadership), and as an advocate for humanitarian causes with the American Jewish World Service. He has also spent much time working actively with Jewish communities overseas, in the former Soviet Union and Germany. He received rabbinic ordination from the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary and is completing his Masters degree in Jewish Philosophy at the Bernard Revel Graduate School of Jewish Studies. Rabbi Shmuel Herzfeld Washington Director Shmuel is the Rabbi of Ohev Sholom -- The National Synagogue; and co-founder of Lishma, an organization dedicated to expanding the breath and depth of Torah learning across the denominations. Shmuel's communal responsibilities include teaching classes, coordinating adult education, creating programs for the elderly, the youth, and the sick, and ministering to the pastoral needs of the congregation. Smhuel received rabbinic ordination from the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary, an affiliate of Yeshiva University, and holds a Masters in Jewish History from Bernard Revel Graduate School of Yeshiva University. He is a frequent columnist for local newspapers and lives in Riverdale, with his wife Rhanni, and his children Lea, Roey and Elai Rabbi David Kalb Vice President David is a Teaching Fellow on the Faculty of CLAL – The National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership. He is also the founding Rabbi of Yavneh – The Jewish Living Project, based on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. David has taught Liturgy at the Academy for Jewish Religion, Modern Jewish History at Touro College and Bible at Norwalk Community College. Rabbi Kalb has lectured at a number of different Jewish organizations, synagogues, federations, Jewish community centers and institutions including Limmud England, Limmud New York, Lishmah New York, JOFA, Edah, 92nd Street Y, New York Kollel – The Center For Adult Jewish Studies at Hebrew Union College and the Yemei Iyun in Tanakh (Bible Conference) at Yeshivat Chovevei Torah. David has a long history of being involved in social action. He has appeared on and in major national and international media as a voice against prejudice, anti-Semitism, terrorism, poverty and environmental pollution. David received his rabbinic ordination from Rabbi Shlomo Riskin, and was a member of the first class of the Meorot Fellowship. Rabbi David Fine Midwest Regional President David is the spiritual leader of Congregation Beth Israel Abraham and Voliner in Overland Park, Kansas. He recently completed a five-year rabbinate in Milwaukee at the Lake Park Synagogue. He was ordained in 1998 by Rabbis Chaim Brovender and Shlomo Riskin at the Joseph Straus Rabbinical Seminary in Efrat, Israel. David holds a master's degree in Jewish History from the Graduate School of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America and a BA in Near Eastern and Judaic Studies from Brandeis University. He has also studied at Beit Medrash LeTorah (Jerusalem Torah College) in Jerusalem and at Hebrew University in Jerusalem. He attended high school at the Yeshivah of Flatbush in Brooklyn, New York. David is married to Dr Julie Fine (nee Goldstein), a Doctor of psychology and has three sons, Etan, Chana and Amiel. Rabbi Aaron Frank Mid-Atlantic Regional President Aaron is a the Lower School Judaics Principal at the Beth Tfiloh Dahan Community School in Baltimore, Maryland. Aaron served as Associate Rabbi and Director of Education of the Hebrew Institute of Riverdale in Riverdale, New York, where he directed educational programs for people of all ages, all levels and of all Jewish denominations. Aaron is a graduate of the Jerusalem Fellows program at the Mandel School for the Development of Educational and Social Leadership in Israel where he did extensive research on educational and gender identity in the modern and centrist Orthodox Yeshiva system in the US. Aaron holds a master's degree in Judaics from the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, a master's of science from the Columbia University School of Social Work, and a BA in Philosophy from the University of Michigan. Aaron holds rabbinic ordination from Rabbi Avraham Weiss, Rabbi Mordechai Tendler, and from The Metivta, Institute of Traditional Judaism in Teaneck, New Jersey. Additionally, he was a Fellow in the MeORoT: Modern Orthodox Rabbinic Training Fellowship. Aaron and his wife, Laura Shaw-Frank, have three children: Ateret, Yanniv and Elinadav. Rabbi Eliot Pearlson Southeast Regional President Elliot is the Spiritual Leader of Temple Menorah in Miami Beach, Florida. He also served as a pulpit Rabbi in Asheville, North Carolina and as Director of Education at Temple Menorah. Elliot began his Jewish Studies in Miami at the Hebrew Academy and The Mesivta. He studied Rabbinics at Yeshiva University and the Diaspora Yeshiva in Jerusalem. In addition to his Rabbinic ordination and a master's of science in Jewish History, he also did graduate studies in microbiology at the University of Florida. Rabbi Yehuda Sarna Rabbinic Campus Liaison Yehuda serves as a Rabbi at the Bronfman Center for Jewish Student Life: Hillel at New York University. He initiated Eimatai, a high school leadership training program for select students from day schools nationwide and taught in MTA - Yeshiva University High School for Boys. He holds rabbinic ordination from Yeshiva University, a master's degree in Medieval Jewish History from Yeshiva University, and a BA in English Literature from Yeshiva University. At NYU, Yehuda and his wife Michelle live on campus and extend an "open door" invitation to all Jewish students. Judy Balint Israel Representative - Jersusalem Diaries Judy is an award-winning Jerusalem-based journalist, writer and author. Prior to making aliya, she served as the national director of Amcha. In 2003 Judy won the Mosaic Award presented by Israel's Ministry of Tourism for Excellence in Feature Writing about Israeli Peoplehood, Culture and Society. She was awarded second place in the 2003 Jerusalem Foundation Excellence in Jerusalem Reporting Award. Judy has been published in numerous publications, including the New York Post, Christian Science Monitor, Jerusalem Post, Ha'aretz - Magazine Section, The Forward, Seattle Times, Montreal Suburban, Moment Magazine (cover story, October 2002), Jerusalem Report, Whistleblower Magazine, Midstream, Bnai Brith International Jewish Monthly, London Jewish Chronicle, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Jewish Action, Emunah Magazine and Amit Magazine. Judy is the author of Jerusalem Diaries: In Tense Times. (Gefen, 2002) She is a contributor to the Peace Fire Anthology, edited by Ethan Casey and Paul Hilder (Free Association Books, 2002). Judy has been a featured guest on CNN USA and CNN International. Her commentaries are carried on Israel National News Radio Judy is a senior correspondent with The Media Line and columnist for jewsweek.com and israelinsider.com. She is a contributor to frontpagemag.com and regularly reviews books for jbooks.com. Judy also serves as Jerusalem correspondent several US based radio talk shows. Glenn Richter Press Advisor Glenn is a long time Jewish activist, having served as the National Coordinator of the Student Struggle for Soviet Jewry, an organization that worked to free Jews trapped behind the Iron Curtain. Glenn and his wife reside of New York City. Eliezer Brender Technical Advisor Elie is an Associate Partner and Underwriter at Poal Capital Partners, a New York based private-equity firm. Elie is also a principal and acting President of Finance at Elite Hosts, Inc. a web-hosting and colocation service provider. Elie lives in New York with his wife and children. |
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