Rabbi Alfredo Borodowski serves as the Executive Director of the Skirball Center for Adult Jewish Learning. Raised in Argentina, earned his law degree at the University of Buenos Aires Law School (1986) and was ordained as a rabbi at the Seminario Rabinico Lantinoamericano (1991). He received an MA in rabbinic literature and a doctorate in Jewish Philosophy from the Jewish Theological Seminary of America (1997). Rabbi Borodowski also studied at the Hebrew University Institute for Advanced Studies and is a graduate of Senior Educators program at the Melton Center for Education in the Diaspora – Hebrew University (1989-1990). In 1989 he was invited to spend a semester at the Hebrew Union College-Cincinnati as the first Conservative rabbinical student from the Seminario Rabbinical School. He is a graduate of the Metivta Institute for Contemplative Judaism (2000-2001) and is certified as an administrator and interpreter of the Myers Briggs personality type instrument specializing in organizational leadership and spirituality. He is a graduate of the Kellogg School of Management for Jewish Leaders (2009).
Darone Ruskay has been the Managing Director of The Skirball Center for Adult Jewish Learning since the Fall of 2006. Before coming to the Skirball Center, Darone served as Assistant Director of Institutional Advancement at The Jewish Theological Seminary, Director of the UJC Young Leadership Cabinet and Conference Coordinator for The Coalition for the Advancement of Jewish Education.
Yael Shmilovitz has been the Program Director of The Skirball Center for Adult Jewish Learning since the Summer of 2008, after being ordained as a rabbi from HUC-JIR where she also received a Masters of Religious Education. A native Israeli, Yael is co-author of Resilience of the Soul: Developing Emotional and Spiritual Resilience in Adolescents and Their Families, published by URJ Press. She brings to Skirball a variety of teaching, writing and research experience for private, educational and academic institutions.
ARLENE AGUS is Jewish Resource Advisor to Jewish Child Care Association and an executive consultant to Jewish family foundations. She is a contributing author to Beginning Anew: A Woman’s Companion to the High Holidays and What Happens After I Die?
Dr. Debra Reed Blank DR. DEBRA REED BLANK is the Rabbi Philip Alstat Assistant Professor of Liturgy at JTS.Her scholarly interests focus on the development of Jewish liturgy, from the rabbinic through the medieval periods, as well as the modern period, and she is currently writing about liturgical change. She holds a PhD in rabbinics and liturgy from JTS, where she was also ordained.
RABBI ALFREDO BORODOWSKI recently joined The Skirball Center For Adult Jewish Learning as Executive Director. Previously, Rabbi Borodowski served as Executive Director of The American Friends of the Hartman Institute. Alfredo was ordained as a rabbi by the Seminario Rabinico Latinoamericano and is a graduate of the Melton Senior Educators Program at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Alfredo teaches at JTS’s rabbinical and graduate schools, and has served as a pulpit rabbi for more than a decade. He has written extensively in academic and popular journals, and published Isaac Abravanel on Miracles, Creation, Prophecy, and Evil in 2003 (Peter Lang Press).
RABBI DANIEL M. BRONSTEIN is congregational Scholar at Congregation Beth Elohim of Brooklyn and a doctoral candidate in Jewish History at JTS. He has lectured and taught in a variety of synagogues as well as academic and informal learning settings. Daniel has also contributed to The Forward and the book Jews and American Popular
Culture, among other publications.
Daniel M. Bronstein DANIEL M. BRONSTEIN is Congregational Scholar at Congregation Beth Elohim of Brooklyn and a doctoral candidate in Jewish History at JTS. He has lectured and taught in a variety of synagogues as well as academic and informal learning settings. Daniel has also contributed to The Forward and the book Jews and American Popular Culture, among other publications.
is Research Professor of Jewish Social Policy at HUC-JIR and Director of the Berman Jewish Policy Archive at NYU Wagner. In 1992 he made aliyah and taught for 14 years at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Previously, he taught at Queens College, with visiting appointments at Yale, Brandeis, and JTS. With Arnold Eisen he wrote The Jew Within, and with Charles Liebman he wrote Two Worlds of Judaism: The Israeli and American Experiences.
DAVID CURZON is the author of books of poetry and Midrash and two anthologies of twentieth century poetry responding to biblical texts, as well as books of translations. His original work is represented in two Oxford anthologies and in the Norton anthology, World Poetry. He is currently a contributing editor of The Jerusalem Review and The Forward, where he edited a column of Midrash on the portion of the week.
Dr. Galeet Dardashti an anthropologist and renowned vocalist of Iranian descent, recently completed her dissertation on the cultural politics of contemporary Mizrahi and Arab music in Israel. As an artist, she leads the all-female Mizrahi/Sephardi band Divahn, and she will release her original multi-media musical project, "The Naming" in spring 2010. She has published widely and offers lectures and artist/scholar-in-residencies throughout the country.
DR. DAVID ELCOTT has spent the last twenty-five years at the intersection of community building, the search for a theory of cross-boundary engagement, and interfaith and ethnic activism. Trained in political psychology and Middle East affairs at Columbia University and Judaic studies at the American Jewish University, Dr. Elcott is the Taub Professor of Practice in Public Service and Leadership at the Wagner School of Public Service at NYU, senior research fellow at the Research Center for Leadership in Action and Faculty Director of Wagner's Executive MPA program.
SHELLY R.FREDMAN teaches writing at Barnard College. She received an MFA from Washington University and has taught at the University of Missouri–St. Louis Honors College. Her work has appeared in Best Jewish Writing 2002, First Harvest, the Chicago Tribune Magazine, Lilith, and a number of anthologies and literary magazines.
Dr. Ruth Gais DR. RUTH GAIS was ordained at Hebrew Union College
DR. NEIL GILLMAN is Professor Emeritus of Jewish Philosophy at JTS. A world-renowned thinker and teacher, Neil is the author of several seminal books on Jewish theology, most recently Doing Jewish Theology: God, Torah and Israel in Modern Judaism (Jewish Lights Publishing, 2008).
Rabbi Daniel C. Goldfarb RABBI DANIEL C. GOLDFARB is the Director of the Conservative Yeshiva of the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism in Jerusalem.He is a native of Boston, and a graduate of Harvard College, Columbia Law School, and JTS.He made aliya in 1976 and worked as an attorney before joining the Yeshiva in July 2000. He has taught at Limmud in England and New York and at synagogues in Israel, Europe, and North America.
Dr. Freema Gottlieb DR. FREEMA GOTTLIEB, author of The Lamp of God: A Jewish Book of Light, Jewish Folk Art, and Mystical Stonescapes of Prague Jewish Town and Village Graveyards, is a freelance writer and teacher living in New York.
DR. ALYSSA GRAY is Associate Professor of Codes and Responsa at HUC-JIR in New York. She received her PhD in Talmud and Rabbinics from JTS, and also holds an LLM from the Hebrew University Faculty of Law. She is the
author of the book A Talmud in Exile as well as a number of articles on Talmud criticism and the history of halakhah. She has taught and lectured in the U.S., the U.K., and Latin America.
BASMAT HAZAN ARNOFF has widely taught Jewish text, having served on the faculty of institutions such as the Brandeis Collegiate Institute, Kolot, and Elul, the last two based in Israel. She is the author of Mayyim Hafoochim, a novel, and works as a theater director. Her play, LeShem Yichud, won the award for best ensemble at the Akko Theater Festival. She recently adapted David Grossman’s See: Under Love for the stage in Tel Aviv and New York.
RABBI DAVID INGBER is the founder and spiritual director of Romemu on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. He is a sought-after national and international leader and educator because of his unique, open-hearted, and embodied approach to Jewish teaching. David studied Philosophy and Psychology at NYU, and has learned at a wide range of yeshivot in Jerusalem and New York, including Yeshivat Chovovei Torah. David received his smicha from Reb Zalman Schachter-Shalomi in 2004.
TOBI KAHN is an internationally acclaimed painter and sculptor whose work has been shown in over 40 solo exhibitions and over 60 museum and group shows. He is the co-founder of Avoda Arts and has taught at the School of Visual Arts in New York since 1985.
JUDY KLITSNER is a senior lecturer at the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies, where she ahs taught Bibloe and biblical exegesis for the past eighteen years.
DR. WILLIAM KOLBRENER, educated at Columbia and Oxford Universities, teaches in the Department of English at Bar Ilan University, focusing on Renaissance literature and philosophy. His works include Milton"s Warring Angels (Cambridge, 1997) and a new collection on the eighteenth-century proto-feminist Mary Astell (Ashgate, 2007). William has also written extensively on Jewish philosophy and hermeneutics.
DR.DAVID KRAEMER is Professor of Talmud and Rabbinics at JTS, where he is also Joseph J. and Dora Abbell Librarian, overseeing the greatest collection of Judaica in the Western world. Among his many publications is his recently published Jewish Eating and Identity Through the Ages.
RABBI JENNIFER KRAUSE brings inventive forms of Jewish learning to diverse groups throughout the country. The author of The Answer: Making Sense of Life, One Question at a Time (Perigee), she also has had writing and commentary featured in Newsweek, the New York Times, and O, The Oprah Magazine. Jennifer serves as an adjunct lecturer in Jewish Studies at the City College of New York and as the High Holidays rabbi at Manhattan’s 92nd Street Y.
DR. ANNE LAPIDUS LERNER is director of the Jewish Feminist Research Group and assistant professor of Jewish Literature at JTS, and a frequent scholar-in-residence at synagogues across the country. Her interest in the imaginative revisioning of biblical texts is at the core of her most recent highly acclaimed book: Eternally Eve: Images of Eve in the Hebrew Bible, Midrash, and Modern Jewish Poetry.
RABBI ADINA LEWITTES is the founding rabbi of Sha’ar, an innovative Jewish community in Bergen County, NJ. Ordained by JTS in 1993, she is the first Canadian woman to be ordained a Conservative rabbi. She held positions with the National Conference of Christians and Jews, and CLAL, and served as the Assistant Dean of the Rabbinical School at JTS. Her teaching experience is extensive and varied, including faculty appointments at JTS, the Solomon Schechter Day School, and the JCC on the Palisades in Tenafly, NJ.
DR. JONATHAN S. MILGRAM is Assistant Professor of Talmud at the Jewish Theological Seminary. He was previously a professor at the University of London. He is former Coordinator of the Lieberman Institute of Talmudic Research, an institute dedicated to computerizing Talmud manuscripts, has published on Talmud criticism and medieval Jewish law, and is currently writing a book about the development of rabbinic inheritance law in its ancient Mediterranean context.
RABBI LEON A. MORRIS is the Executive Director of the Skirball Center for Adult Jewish Learning. Ordained at the HUC-JIR, Leon has taught at Orthodox, Conservative, and Reform synagogues as well as at the Drisha Institute. His essays have appeared in numerous publications. He serves as rabbi of Temple Adas Israel in Sag Harbor, NY.
MICHAL NACHMANY is a graduate of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Michal has taught liturgical, biblical, and modern Hebrew for more than 20 years at synagogues and other institutions throughout New York City.
RUBY NAMDAR’s first book, Haviv (a collection of short stories), was published in 2000 and won the Israeli Ministry of Culture’s award for Best First Publication as well as the Jerusalem Fiction award. He has published book reviews and translations of medieval Persian poetry and is currently living in New York City, working on a novel and teaching Hebrew language and literature.
DR.DAVID M.POSNER,senior rabbi at Congregation Emanu-El of the City of New York, has been with the synagogue for over three decades, since his graduation from Hebrew Union College. His areas of expertise include Semitic languages and music. He earned his doctorate in music from Teachers’ College, Columbia University.
ANNE ROIPHE is the author of fourteen books of fiction and non-fiction, including Lovingkindness and 1185 Park Ave. Her latest book is Epilogue: A Memoir. She is a journalist and a contributing editor to the Jerusalem Report.
RABBI JACK ROMBERG is in his 9th year serving as rabbi of Temple Israel in Tallahassee, Florida, where he is continuously active in local and state affairs. He received his ordination from HUC-JIR in 2001. Prior to entering HUC, Rabbi Romberg spent 18 years as the president and owner of a cabinet manufacturing company in Pennsylvania, which led him to develop a keen interest in business ethics. He is currently on sabbatical, studying in New York.
DR. DANIEL RYNHOLD serves as Assistant Professor of Modern Jewish Philosophy at the Bernard Revel Graduate School of Jewish Studies, Yeshiva University, having previously held a post at King’s College London since 2001. Educated at the universities of Cambridge and London, Daniel was a fixture on the adult education circuit in the United Kingdom, and is the author of Two Models of Jewish Philosophy: Justifying One’s Practices and An Introduction to Medieval Jewish Philosophy (2009). Dr. Rynhold teaches the 3rd year Iyun class.
PENINNAH SCHRAM, internationally known storyteller, teacher, author, and recording artist, is Associate Professor of Speech and Drama at Stern College of Yeshiva University. Peninnah is the author of nine books of Jewish folktales, including Jewish Stories One Generation Tells Another and Stories Within Stories: From the Jewish Oral Tradition. She received a Covenant Award for Outstanding Jewish Educator in 1995.
RABBI CHAIM SEIDLER-FELLER has been working with students and faculty as UCLA’s Hillel Director for thirty-three years. He was ordained in 1971 at Yeshiva University. Chaim is a lecturer in the Departments of Sociology and Near Eastern Languages and Cultures at UCLA, and a faculty member of the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem and of the Wexner Heritage Foundation. He was a founding member of Americans for Peace Now and serves on the Rabbinic Cabinet of Brit Tzedek v’Shalom. He was a rabbinic consultant to Barbra Streisand during the making of the film Yentl.
DR. DIANE M.SHARON is a member of the faculty in Bible at the Academy for Jewish Religion. She has taught at JTS, Fordham University, General Theological Seminary (Episcopal), and other institutions of higher learning.Her area of expertise is the Hebrew Bible in its context in the ancient Near East, comparative religion, and women’s studies.
RABBI YAEL SHMILOVITZ is the Program Director of the Skirball Center. She is a graduate of the University of Haifa and was ordained by HUC-JIR, where she also received a master of arts in Religious Education. A native Israeli, Yael is co-author of Resilience of the Soul: Developing Emotional and Spiritual Resilience in Adolescents and Their Families (URJ Press, 2007).
Rabbi Joel E. Soffin served as the rabbi of Temple Shalom in Succasunna, NJ, for twenty seven years until his retirement in 2006. He founded the Adult Mitzvah Corps of the URJ and the teen Bonim Banim building projects, as well as the Million Quarter Project to feed Ethiopian children, micro-loans in Mexico and Israel, and other projects in Rwanda, Cambodia, and Ukraine. He is the founding president of Jewish Helping Hands.
Dr. Regina Stein DR. REGINA STEIN is the director of the Hadassah Leadership Academy, a Jewish leadership education program sponsored by Hadassah. She has a MA and doctorate in Jewish History from JTS. Regina has taught for the Wexner Heritage Foundation, CLAL, and Bronfman Youth Fellowships in Israel, as well as JTS, Temple University, and the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem.
DAVID WACHTEL, holds advanced degrees in Medieval History and Jewish Studies from Columbia University and has co-curated exhibitions at the Herbert and Eileen Bernard Museum at Temple Emanu-el and JTS. He is a consultant for the Books and Manuscripts department at Sotheby’s and is the former research librarian for special collections at JTS. He serves as the rabbi for the Nathan I.Nagler B’nai B’rith Senior Residence Home.
DR.MARK WEISSTUCH received his doctorate in Theater History from the City University of New York. He has taught courses on the Second Temple, general Jewish history, the history of the Jews in Poland and Eastern Europe, and various subjects related to the Holocaust. Mark is Administrative Vice President of Congregation Emanu-El of the City of New York.
MISHAEL ZION was born and raised in Jerusalem and has taught Talmud and Jewish Thought in Israel and the U.S. Currently, he is at Yeshivat Chovevei Torah Rabbinical School in New York. Mishael is co-author of HaLaila HaZeh: The Israeli Haggadah (2004, Hebrew) and A Night to Remember: The Haggadah of Contemporary Voices (2007, English).
DR. AVIVAH GOTTLIEB ZORNBERG is the author of Genesis: The Beginning of Desire, for which she won the National Jewish Book Award, and The Particulars of Rapture: Reflections on Exodus. She was born in London and grew up in Glasgow, where her father was a rabbi and the head of the rabbinical court. Avivah holds a doctorate in English literature from Cambridge University. After teaching English literature at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, she turned her literary sensibility and skills to teaching Torah. For the past twenty years, she has taught Torah in Jerusalem at Matan, Pardes, and the Jerusalem College for Adults. Avivah also holds a Visiting Lectureship at the London School of Jewish Studies. She travels widely, lecturing in Jewish and academic settings. Her forthcoming book, The Murmuring Deep: Reflections on the Rabbinic Unconscious, is in press (Schocken).
