Speakers for Yom Masorti and Masorti Europe Conference

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Rabbi Dr. Bradley Shavit Artson, Dean of Zacharias Frankel College and Ziegler School

Rabbi Dr. Bradley Shavit Artson holds the Abner and Roslyn Goldstine Dean's Chair of the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies and is Vice President of American Jewish University. Rabbi Artson has long been a passionate advocate for social justice, human dignity, diversity and inclusion. He wrote a book on Jewish teachings on war, peace and nuclear annihilation in the late 80s, became a leading voice advocating for LGBTQ+ marriage and ordination in the 90s, and has published and spoken widely on environmental ethics, special needs inclusion, racial and economic justice, cultural and religious dialogue and cooperation, and working for a just and secure peace for Israel and the Middle East. A member of the Philosophy Department, he is particularly interested in theology, ethics, and the integration of science and religion. He mentors Camp Ramah in California in Ojai and Ramah of Northern California in the Bay Area. He is also dean of the Zacharias Frankel College in Potsdam, Germany, ordaining Conservative rabbis for Europe. A frequent contributor for the Huffington Post and for the Times of Israel, and a public figure Facebook page with over 53,000 likes, he is the author of 12 books and over 250 articles, most recently Renewing the Process of Creation: A Jewish Integration of Science and Spirit. 

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Andrea Ausztrics, Marom Budapest

Andrea Ausztrics is a creative producer and curator with a background in Culture Anthropology and Film Studies. She also holds a PhD in Social History and publishes frequently. Since 2003 she has worked across several production roles on her way to become an independent producer. Her main focus are documentary films and integrated animations with a special interest in identity issues, cultural heritage and minorities. Her last feature film All About the Levkoviches about a three generation Jewish story recently won the international critics prize at the Sofia International Film Festival. 

She is also the artistic director of Marom Budapest's arts and culture project called ZSK2028 (Jewish Culture 2028). She often volunteers for Jewish causes and she is part of a variety of Jewish initiatives across the globe, including ROl Community, Paideia Alumni, the Jerusalem Biennale, the Muslim Jewish Conference, European Masorti Movement, and the MiNYanim Group.

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Rabbi Mauricio Balter, Executive Director of Masorti and MERCAZ Olami

Rabbi Mauricio Balter (הרב מאוריסיו בלטר) was born in Montevideo, Uruguay. He received an MA in Jewish thought from the University of Haifa. He received his rabbinic ordination in 1991 from the Seminario Rabínico Latinoamericano Marshall T. Meyer. He attended the prestigious Educators Graduate Program at the Melton Center for Jewish Education at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and continued his educational leadership training at the Leatid program in Argentina.

Rabbi Balter Balter was a Rabbi in Argentina for 12 years at the Kehilot of Tucuman and Salta (Northern Argentina) and Or Hadash Kehila of Buenos Aires. He was also the first director of the Masorti Movement in Argentina. He made aliyah in 1995 and was Rabbi of the Kiryat Bialik community for 15 years. From 2010 until 2017, he served as the Rabbi of Kehilat Eshel Avraham in Be’er Sheva. He was formerly Chair of the Publications Committee, as well as a member of the Executive Committee for Masorti Israel, and previous served as co-president of the Rabbinical Assembly in Israel and was a member of the Administrative Committee of the International Rabbinical Assembly.

Rabbi Balter currently serves as Executive Director of Masorti Olami and MERCAZ Olami and sits on the Executive of the World Zionist Organization and the Board of Directors of JNF-KKL where he heads the committee on sustainability and environmental protection.

Rabbi Balter has been married to his wife, Bilha for 40 years. They have two daughters, Maia (married to Herman) and Shani (married to Orion), and two Grandsons, Matan-Chaim and Ma’or.

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Chazan Rebecca Blumenfeld from Shema Koleinu and the Oxford Jewish Congregation

Chazan Bex is a Spiritual and Liturgical Leader, and a Jewish educator. She graduated from Hebrew College in Boston in 2015 with cantorial ordination (smicha) and a Masters in Jewish Studies and she moved back to the UK (where she was born) with her family in 2016.

Chazan Blumenfeld works as a freelance Chazan and a Jewish educator. She is a teacher and mentor for EAJL (the European Academy of Jewish Liturgy), she is employed by Masorti Judaism and she works part-time for the Oxford Jewish Congregation.

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Dr. Jonathan Boyd, Execute Director of the Institute for Policy Research

Jonathan has been Executive Director of JPR since 2010, having previously held research and policy positions at the JDC International Centre for Community Development in London and Paris, the Jewish Agency in London and New York, and the UK-based UJIA and Holocaust Educational Trust.  

He is a former Jerusalem Fellow at the Mandel Institute in Israel and holds a doctorate in education from the University of Nottingham and an MA and BA in Modern Jewish History from University College London. A specialist in contemporary Jewish life, his work covers a wide range of topics, including antisemitism, education, demography and community development. He has been involved in Jewish social research since the 1990s and has conducted studies for a range of organisations, including the European Commission, the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, the National Library of Israel, the Board of Deputies of British Jews, the Jewish Leadership Council, Jewish Care and World Jewish Relief. 

He is a Board member of the Association for the Social Scientific Study of Jewry, serves as a trustee and advisor to several foundations involved in supporting Jewish life in the UK and across Europe, and is a columnist at the Jewish Chronicle. He is a much sought-after speaker and is well-known for his engaging style and insightful presentations that have informed planning work across the Jewish world over many years. 

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Rabbi Irene Muzas Calpe, Atid, Barcelona

Rabbi Irene Muzas Calpe was born in Barcelona (1974), and graduated in English Philology with Postgraduate studies in English Literature at the UAB (Autonomous University of Barcelona), and holds studies in Classical Philology and Far Eastern Culture and Society. Before becoming a rabbi she worked as a teacher of English and Latin, as well as a publisher and an editor of fiction.

As her commitment to her Jewish community grew, she eventually decided that the best way to honour her love of Jewish texts and her passion for education would be to train as a rabbi and put herself at the service of the Jewish community. She completed her rabbinical studies at the Masorti rabbinical seminary Zacharias Frankel College in Berlin-Potsdam in October 2022, where she studied Jüdische Theologie (B.A. and M.A.) at the University of Potsdam as part of her studies. Since November 1, 2022 she has been working as a full-time rabbi at ATID, the Masorti community of Catalonia (www.atid.es) in Barcelona, and in her spare time, she is pursuing a doctoral thesis on Literary and Linguistic Studies at the University of Barcelona.

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Donna Cohen, Community Liaison Manager, EcoJudaism

Donna has a degree in French and Spanish from Queen Mary, University of London.  In addition to her role at EcoJudaism, she teaches French and Spanish to A Level at Wentworth College in North London.  Her love of languages is surpassed only by her passion for the environment which she has felt since her teenage years, way before it became a mainstream concern.  Donna is Eco Lead at Barnet Synagogue in Hertfordshire. She spearheaded the Environmental Project there in 2020 which has been a huge success. One of the initiatives she is most proud of is the Love Your Leftovers cookbook she produced with the support of the community https://www.barnetshul.com/leftovers to eliminate food waste. Donna has worked for EcoJudaism as Community Liaison Manager since 2022 and considers it her dream job. Among other responsibilities, her main priority is to guide and encourage communities on their journey towards greater sustainability using the Environmental Audit as a framework. She never ceases to be impressed by the sheer commitment and engagement of registered communities all over the UK and particularly welcomes EcoJudaism’s first community abroad– ATID Masorti Barcelona and hopes many other international communities will join EcoJudaism in the near future

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Eyal Dali, Masorti Ukraine-Berlin

Eyal Dalis has been a member of the Masorti community in Ukraine for more than 5 years. For the last 2 years we have been living in Berlin, like part of our community who moved here from Ukraine at the beginning of the war. I am responsible for the connection of our community with Masorti Olami and also maintain contact with our communities in Ukraine. In the past, I worked Israel government  ; for 5 years I was the Israeli consul in Central Asia. Since 2018 I have lived in Kyiv and become an active member of the Masorti community. I was part of the board of the Kyiv community. My wife was madricha Noam in Kyiv. Now she do activities with Jewish Ukrainian children in Berlin.  With the beginning of the war, i help with the evacuation of members of our community from Ukraine and then helped Jewish communities in Ukraine with humanitarian issues.

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David Djemal, Co-cantorial Lead at New London Synagogue

David is a British-Israeli actor and theatre maker of Syrian Jewish heritage. He studied acting at the Stella Adler Studio of Acting in New York, the Yoram Lowenstein Studio for Performing Arts in Tel Aviv, and is also a graduate of the Royal Academy of Music in London, where he graduated from the Musical Theatre Post-Graduate programme with distinction. During his studies at the Royal Academy he was awarded First Prize in the HL Hammond Verse Speaking and Poetry Reading competition. Throughout his acting-devising career Daniel has continued to develop as a writer and has been published in the Guardian as well as having plays in development for organisations such as JW3. Much of his writing is inspired by ongoing dialogue with his own heritage and identity and the ways they intersect.

Alongside his acting career, David is co-cantorial lead at New London Synagogue. He also teaches Hebrew privately for the Spiro Institute.

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Rabbi Gesa Ederberg, Oranienburger Strasse, Berlin

The first woman rabbi to serve in Berlin since Regina Jonas, Gesa Ederberg has played an essential role in restoring Jewish life in Germany. Born a Lutheran, Ederberg first visited Israel at age thirteen and slowly fell in love with Judaism. She earned a degree in physics in Berlin while studying Protestantism and Judaism, studied religion at Hebrew University in Israel and the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York before converting in 1995. She returned to Berlin, where she taught Hebrew school at the Oranienburger Strasse Synagogue before earning ordination from the Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem in 2003. She was the spiritual leader of the Jewish community in Weiden, Bavaria until 2007, when she was hired as rabbi at the prestigious Oranienburger Strasse Synagogue, where she had previously taught. In 2006 she helped found the European Rabbinical Assembly of Masorti/Conservative Rabbis and as of 2016 continues to serve as its executive vice president and treasurer. She was also a founding member of the General Rabbinic Conference of the Central Council of Jews in Germany. In 2014 she began supervising mentorships for the new Conservative seminary in Berlin, the Zacharias Frankel College.

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Angela Gluck, an experienced educator for March of the Living and throughout the Jewish community

Angela Gluck has worked as a teacher, trainer and consultant to schools and education authorities. The author of over 40 books on aspects of religion and history—including the best-selling, award-winning book Holocaust and its impact on real people—she broadcasts on these subjects. She devotes part of her work to teaching children, young people and adults within the Jewish community, specialising in history and Bible. She is a vigorous trustee of The Separated Child Foundation, which supports lone refugee children.

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Margo Gold, President of Masorti Olami

Margo Gold of Atlanta, Georgia served as International President of The United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism (USCJ) from 2015 through 2018. She has been a Vice President of Masorti Olami since 2019. In addition, she serves on the Va’ad of the USCJ Fuchsberg Jerusalem Center and is a Delegate of the WZO Va’ad HaPoel Hatzioni.

Margo is a respected professional leader and volunteer in an array of nonprofit and communal organizations. She served on the Boards of JTS, the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies, MERCAZ USA, and on the Executive Council of the Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations. Margo was a delegate to the World Zionist Congress in 2015 and 2020.

In Atlanta, Margo served as President of Ahavath Achim Synagogue, President of Congregation B’nai Tora, Vice President of the Marcus Jewish Community Center of Atlanta, and on the Board of the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta (JFGA), among other leadership roles.

Professionally, Margo is a Managing Director for Hadassah (HWZOA). Previously, she served as Director of Development and Communications for Georgia Appleseed Center for Law & Justice, and was Community Relations Director for the JFGA and active in the national Jewish Council for Public Affairs.

Margo has been honored for her dedication to Israel and to the Jewish nonprofit world by Israel Bonds, City of Hope, Ahavath Achim Synagogue and the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta Women’s Division.

She and her husband, Atlanta attorney Larry Gold, are proud parents and grandparents of David and Emma Dix and their daughters Isabella and Layla (Atlanta); Michael and Mindy Gold and their son, Jackson (Atlanta); and Carolyn and Evan Remer and their children, Daniel and Vivian (Columbus, OH).

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Rabbi Jeremy Gordon, New London Synagogue

Rabbi Jeremy has a first-class honours degree in Law from Cambridge University and subsequently went to work in television for the BBC and a number of independent production companies. His love of Judaism was really ignited at the Limmud Conference in December 1995. This marked the start of a decade of study in England, at the Hebrew University and the Conservative Yeshiva in Jerusalem and the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York. He graduated from JTS with Rabbinic Ordination, a Masters in Midrash (Rabbinic Exegesis) and a number of academic awards. 

While in New York, Rabbi Jeremy trained as a hospital Chaplain and spent many hours working as a Chaplain with the Red Cross in the aftermath of the September 11th suicide attacks. He has been active in several social action campaigns – particularly relating to refugee issues and international development – and has served as convenor of a major interfaith dialogue forum in New York. He is married to Josephine who directs two arts-based charities. They have a two sons, Carmi and Harry. His academic interests include Midrash and contemporary Jewish legal responses.

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Paul Harris, criminal defence solicitor for over 30 years

Paul brings decades of experience to his caseload, with particular expertise in offences of violence including Murder, large scale drug supply and complex fraud amongst all aspects of serious and organised crime. Paul can boast an impressive list of high-profile successes and is regularly instructed by celebrities in relation to criminal allegations. Paul is also instructed in a number of a high-profile inquests and inquiries.

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Dr. Yizhar Hess, Vice Chair of the World Zionist Organization

Following his military service, Yizhar earned a BA in Political Science and Hebrew Literature at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. A member of the Israeli Bar, his law degree is from the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya. He holds an MA in Jewish Studies from the Schechter Institute in Jerusalem and his PhD in Sociology and Education from Sussex University in Brighton, England.

Yizhar has a broad range of experience in Jewish communal service. After holding the Deputy Director position at the Shorashim Centre for Jewish Studies, Yizhar served as the Jewish Agency’s community shaliach to Tucson. On his return to Israel, he worked for the Jewish Agency as Director of Partnerships.

Yizhar has professional experience in advertising and journalism. He is a regular contributor to the Israeli press on the subjects of religion and state and is the co-editor of the book, Questions About God, published by Ma’ariv.

Between 2007-2020 Yizhar served as the Executive Director of the Masorti Movement in Israel - part of the worldwide Conservative/Masorti Movement dedicated to a traditional, egalitarian and pluralistic vision of Israel and Judaism. Yizhar represented the Masorti Movement in the negotiations with the Israeli government regarding egalitarian prayer at the Kotel, and he is one of the leading voices in Israel promoting Jewish pluralism.

Yizhar Hess is a 10th generation Jerusalemite. He lives today in Modi'in with his wife Yael, a former colonel in the IDF, and their two children Achiad and Mica.

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Rhiannon Humphreys from Shema Koleinu and Noam Masorti Youth.

Rhiannon is a shlicha tsibbur and an informal educator, with a deep love for all things tefillah (prayer). As the Training Manager for Masorti’s tefillah project, Shema Koleinu, they lead training and help communities who want to learn more about tefillah. Rhiannon also works with reform communities across the UK, leading creative musical services for both young people and adults.

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Rabbi Yael Jaffe, New North London Synagogue

Rabbi Yael Jaffe (She/Her) received rabbinic ordination from Yeshivat Hadar in New York City. 

Rabbi Yael will be working with our Ohel Moed community, helping develop and inspire the community and taking them to the next level!

Originally from South Florida, R. Yael graduated from Brandeis University with a BA in Jewish Studies, Gender Studies, and Sociology, and has previously studied at Midreshet Lindenbaum, Drisha, Pardes, and the Hartman Institute. 

R. Yael is motivated by the intersection of Jewish tradition with our own experiences and relationships, and by the promise that Jewish wisdom has something to say to each of us. This has led her to teach Torah in a variety of communities across the US and UK, including helping to organise the Beit Midrash programme at the most recent Limmud Festival. R. Yael is also an experienced ba’alat tefillah, having regularly led services in communities across New York and London.

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Rabbi Joel Levy, Rosh Yeshiva of the Conservative Yeshiva and from Kol Nefesh Masorti Synagogue

Rabbi Joel Levy became the rabbi of Kol Nefesh Masorti in September 2001. Joel lives in Jerusalem and is at Kol Nefesh roughly one Shabbat each month, as well as each year for the Yamim Nora’im (Rosh Hashanah through Yom Kippur) and Shavuot. Joel is Director of the Conservative Yeshiva in Jerusalem, where he is also active in inter-denominational and inter-faith work. 

Joel studied Natural Sciences at Cambridge University and was chair of programming at Limmud. From 1991 through 1994 he served as director of NOAM, the Masorti youth movement. He received semichah (ordination) from Rabbi David Hartman in 2000. 

Joel is married to Susanna Cohen, a long-time classical musician and music therapist. They have two daughters, Shira and Kalya. 

Joel is an extraordinary man who is passionate about his Judaism and about enabling his congregants to live rich Jewish lives. His shiurim and study sessions always challenge, inspire, and provoke.  

✲ Rabbi Natasha Mann, New London Synagogue

Rabbi Natasha Mann joined New London Synagogue by herself as a teenager. She was born in Hertfordshire to a lively interreligious and intercultural family. Rabbi Natasha fell in love with Jewish practice and ideas in her youth, at which point she joined New London Synagogue and studied with Rabbi Jeremy Gordon.

After achieving her first class honours degree in Theology from Heythrop College, University of London, Rabbi Natasha moved from London to Jerusalem. In Jerusalem, she studied in the Conservative Yeshiva, and began to work in the non-profit world with Atzum – Justice Works, where she promoted better education and legislation on human trafficking issues.

Rabbi Natasha then moved to Los Angeles to study at the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies, American Jewish University. During her time in California, she worked at several West Coast synagogues (including rabbinic internships at Herzl-Ner Tamid Conservative Congregation on Mercer Island, and Temple Beth Abraham in Oakland), and worked as the Mashgiḥah (kashrut supervisor) at the American Jewish University. She also committed herself to evening classes in order to achieve a Certificate in Jewish Education.

Rabbi Natasha was ordained at the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies in 2019, and was honoured to be presented for ordination by Rabbi Jeremy. She has now returned home to New London Synagogue to serve as a rabbi and has a deep connection with Noam Masorti Youth.

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Carmen McPherson, Masorti Europe Coordinator

Carmen was appointed Masorti Europe Coordinator in March 2024, and holds a Bachelor of Laws (with honors) and a Master's degree in Creative Writing. She has worked across the Jewish sector in developing community relations, advising on strategic outcomes, as legal advisor, and in policy making. Prior to this this she ran her own successful PR consultancy, and practised law, specialising in private client representation and mental health law.

As coordinator of Masorti Europe, she works to coordinate and develop activities of the Masorti Movement on the continent, working together with the lay leadership of Masorti Europe and our professional team based in Jerusalem to facilitate support for established and new communities by fostering inter-community and inter-country activities across Europe.

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Jacqueline Nicholls, artist and Jewish educator

Jacqueline Nicholls, a London based fine artist, Jewish educator, and award winning visual poet. She uses her art to engage with traditional Jewish ideas in untraditional ways, and explores handwriting as a form of drawing. Her drawing project, Draw Yomi, completed in Jan 2020, Jacqueline drew the Talmud, following the Daf Yomi schedule. Jacqueline’s art has been exhibited in solo shows and significant contemporary Jewish Art group shows in the UK, USA and Israel. Jacqueline has an MA in Fine Art from Central Saint Martins. Art. Recent residencies include ‘Wasted Books’ at The London Library, ’50 Jewish Objects’ Jewish Studies Department, Manchester University.. And Beit Venezia, where she was the lead artist for New Venice Haggadah (2016) and the Deck of Esther (2022), reimagining Megillat Esther as a pack of playing cards.

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Andrea Passe, Director of Operations, EcoJudaism 

Andrea has been working for EcoJudaism, previously the EcoSynagogue project since February 2020. EcoSynagogue was incubated by the Board of Deputies of British Jews until achieving independent charity status as EcoJudaism in December 2022. During that time, working with the multi denominational team of Rabbonim, Andrea developed and delivered the Environmental Audit, and grew the number of engaged synagogues to 75.

Previously Andrea worked as a Project Manager at several British communal organisations including Mitzvah Day and the ShabbatUK initiative for the Office of the Chief Rabbi, and before a career break when she had her children, she spent over 15 years as a credit analyst and relationship manager for UK Banks including NatWest.

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Rabbi Cheryl Peretz, Associate Dean of Zacharias Frankel College and Ziegler School

Since ordination in 2001, Rabbi Cheryl Peretz has served as one of the deans of the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies, teaching, counseling, advising and programming. In addition to her work at American Jewish University, Rabbi Peretz has served as a pulpit rabbi in synagogues such as Los Angeles’ Sinai Temple, Adat Shalom, and Burbank Temple Emanuel El and has been a High Holiday guest rabbi in synagogues in Florida, California, and Texas. She teaches the broader community through in-home study groups, Adult Education, Talmud classes, and world-wide scholar-in-residence programs.

Rabbi Peretz is a graduate of the double degree program between Barnard College and the Jewish Theological Seminary where she earned degrees in Mathematics and Jewish Philosophy. She also holds a Master’s in Business Administration degree from Baruch College.

Rabbi Peretz is known for creating individually expressive lifecycle rituals, offering interactive and lively teaching, listening compassionately to facilitate insight and meaning in times of transition, and for guiding personal and professional development, integrating corporate principles with spiritual dialogue. She also brings experience from her MBA and years of corporate professional experience in marketing, creating safe space work environments, vision and planning, organizational leadership, personnel supervising, budget and finance, and staff/board development, consulting with both rabbis and congregations to create healthy, productive relationships.

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Chazan Jalda Rebling, Director of Studies at EAJL.

Chazan Jalda Rebling grew up with the Yiddish songs of her mother, a Shoah survivor. She is an alumna of the famous acting school “Ernst Busch” in Berlin and as an actor worked for many theatres and in TIV and film productions. Since 1978 she has dedicated her life to Jewish music. In the mid 90’s she joined, and was actively involved in, the first egalitarian Synagogue in Berlin, Oranienburger Strasse.

She started her studies in Chazanut in the ALEPH cantorial program and immediately began teaching in Germany, and later in Europe and the US. She gained her S'micha as Hazzan in 2007 from ALEPH. In 2010 she met Chazan Jacky Chernett at the Conservative Yeshiva and developed a very fruitful friendship. Since then, she has been a teacher for EAJL and helped to develop several EAJL programmes, leading to her current role as Director of Studies. Chazan Jalda is a mum of three and a proud grandma.

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Dr. Sari Scheinberg, Secretary, Masorti Europe Executive

Dr. Sari Scheinberg works as a Gestalt & Organisation Psychologist, Teacher, Researcher, Activist – pioneering action research & development programs for over 35 years, at the intersection of well-being – human rights – sustainability & safety around the world. She has dedicated her life to exploring issues in society that touch her heart, including ‘What do we mean when we integrate as refugees in a new country’, ‘What are the various dimensions we need to nourish our well-being to be resilient and grow old with dignity’, ‘What supports and hinders Universities, communities, organisations to be innovative and sustainable’. Sari designs all of her work by mobilizing stakeholders representing the various sectors of society - to jointly study, learn and generate knowledge, innovation & transformation. Sari has learned that the essence of sustaining long term commitment to change –needs continuous care for our: well-being, building our relationships, and working in conscious and reflective ways.

Sari is a passionate co-founder (of the Egalitarian Association in 2009) and the current Leader of the Working group for the Masorti Section of Judiska Församling in Göteborg, Sweden. She is also the Secretary and an active member of the Executive Board of Masorti Europe. She is part of the Study team in Masorti Europe. Sari, moved to Göteborg Sweden, from NYC ca 30 years ago and has been a Kabbalah teacher since 2006.
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Mariano Schlimovich, Director of The European Council of Jewish Communities

Mariano has been the Executive Director of the European Council of
Jewish Communities for the last 15 years. ECJC is a cross denominational platform bringing together over 60 European Jewish organisations from all walks of life. He oversees and executes programmes in the fields of Jewish
Education, Social Welfare and wellbeing, Community development,
Youth & Young Adults and brings with him over 25 years of
experience. Mariano specialises in Young Adults/ teens' outreach and after studying stage design he has graduated from the Senior Educators Programme from the Melton Centre for Jewish Education for the Diaspora, HU of Jerusalem and was a member of the 4th Cohort of the Senior Educators Training of Jewish Experiential Education from M2. He is fluent in English, French, Spanish, Hebrew & Italian. He is quite often travelling visiting the different communities.

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Rabbi Zahavit Shalev, New North London Synagogue

Zahavit Shalev is a rabbi at New North London Synagogue and also the rabbi at New Essex Masorti Synagogue. At NNLS she runs the conversion programme, and organises provision for young families. She received semichah (ordination) in 2019 from Leo Baeck College where she wrote her rabbinic theses on Jewish thought about sleep. She loves feminist Biblical and Talmud criticism, reading polemical non-fiction books, 90% dark chocolate, and singing with other people. She (almost) always says yes to requests for rabbinic coffees/chats. She is married to David Boyd and they have three children.

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Daniella Shaw, Masorti Judaism's Inclusion Manager

Daniella is the LGBT+ Inclusion Manager at Masorti Judaism, leading on the LGBT+ Inclusion Project. The project seeks to reflect Masorti values of inclusion and diversity by developing and embedding best practice on LGBT+ issues within all Masorti communities and spaces.

Daniella has a PhD focussing on faith communities’ adaptations to a rapidly changing world. She has worked on a large-scale research project exploring LGBT+ people’s experience of Covid lockdowns, taught in university settings, worked in inter-communal education and anti-racism.

Whilst Daniella is not working on LGBT+ Inclusion within Masorti communities, she is doing her postdoctoral studies on encounters between different faith groups. In her spare time, she co-convenes the Masorti LGBT+ Network, runs a reading group focussing on sexuality, race and gender and agrees to far too many other exciting projects.

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Rachel Sklan, CEO of Masorti Judaism

Rachel has been part of the Masorti Judaism for over a decade. She was the Masorti Judaism team Deputy Chief Executive of Masorti Judaism for three years before stepping up to the role of Chief Executive. Before that she spent eight years as the Director of Noam Masorti Youth and Marom. Rachel has spent a large part of the last 20 years focused on working with young people, developing future leaders and building resilient and strong communities. Her work has spanned three countries: the USA, Israel and the UK. 

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Wanda Teplitsky, President of Masorti Europe

Wanda is the current President of Masorti Europe and member of the Executives of Masorti Olami and Masorti Spain. Originally from Buenos Aires, she lives  in Valencia, Spain, where together with other volunteers she founded the  Masorti Community, Aviv.

Wanda is a sociologist and Hebrew teacher and she is currently researching for her PhD dissertation on Jewish life in Medieval Galicia, in north-west Spain. 

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Naomi Verber, Executive Director, EcoJudaism

Naomi is the newly appointed Executive Director of EcoJudaism, the first person to hold this position. Previously she served as a management consultant for 15 yearsm before partnering with the Jewish environmental charity Sadeh to conceptualise, deisgn and run Europe’s first kosher eco-hotel. Naomi joined the United Synagogue in 2021 and ran the Dorot programme, the US and Office of the Chief Rabbi’s environmental initiative. Under her leadership, the first United Synagogue forest was created, more than 80 per cent of US synagogues went disposable-free, and environmentally-responsible operating processes were established.

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Rabbi Chaim Weiner, Director of the Masorti European Beit Din

Rabbi Chaim Weiner received his smicha [Rabbinic Ordination] from the Schechter Institute of Judaic Studies in Jerusalem. He graduated in 1989, in the second graduating class of the Bet Midrash. He was National Director of NOAM in Israel for three years, (1988-91) before taking up the pulpit at the Edgware Masorti Synagogue (1991-98) in London. He followed Dr. Louis Jacobs as the Rabbi of the New London Synagogue, in London, England. 

Rabbi Chaim Weiner is a graduate of the prestigious Jerusalem Fellows Program of the Mandel School in Jerusalem. As a member of the Va’ad Halacha [Law Committee] of the Masorti Movement in Israel, he published several Teshuvot [Legal Responses]. 

Rabbi Weiner has played a prominent role in the development of the Masorti Movement in UK. He directed the Masorti Teenage Centre in London for 5 years. He played an important role in the NOAM Youth Movement in its early years, and help in establishing the popular NOAM summer camps. He was instrumental in the establishment of the Masorti Bet Din in the United Kingdom, and in its development into the European Masorti Bet Din. He plays a key role in the Assembly of Masorti Synagogues in Great Britain, and is the Masorti Movement representative on cross-communal forums. 

Rabbi Weiner was previously the Director of Masorti Europe. As Av Bet Din (Director) of the European Masorti Bet Din, he oversees the provision of advanced Rabbinic services to European Masorti communities. 

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Rabbi Josh Weiner, Adath Shalom, Paris

Rabbi Josh Weiner grew up in Jerusalem and London, and is currently working as the assistant rabbi at the Adath Shalom synagogue in Paris, and teaching halacha at the Zacharias Frankel rabbinical seminary in Berlin. He also experiments with digital education and podcasts, under the label of ‘58th Century Judaism’s’, and looks for ways to bridge Jewish wisdom and modern challenges.

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Rabbi Jonathan Wittenberg, Senior Rabbi of Masorti Judaism and at New North London Synagogue

Jonathan Wittenberg was born into a family with a long rabbinical tradition going back several generations in Germany and Eastern Europe. Having earned his degree in literature at the University of Cambridge, he studied for the rabbinate at Leo Baeck College in London, and in Jerusalem. 

He has been the Senior Rabbi of Masorti Judaism since 2008 and the Rabbi of New North London Synagogue for over 25 years. 

Rabbi Wittenberg loves Judaism, literature, history, plants, animals and people. Interfaith work and pastoral care interest him deeply. He writes and speaks about the Jewish faith, moral issues, his love of nature, the spiritual search, human responsibility, and the transience of life. His books include Walking with the Light: From Frankfurt to Finchley, The Hidden God, The Three Pillars of Judaism, The Eternal Journey: Meditations on the Jewish Year, The Silence of Dark Water: An Inner Journey and Listening for God in Torah & Creation.

Rabbi Wittenberg is married to Nicola Solomon and they have three children. 

Rabbi Wittenberg was awarded an OBE in December 2023 for his services to interfaith relationships and the Jewish community.

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Rabbi Adam Zagoria-Moffet, St Albans Masorti

Adam Zagoria-Moffet is the rabbi of SAMS. He was ordained from the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York where he also received an MA in Jewish Thought. He grew up in Phoenix, Arizona, and has lived in America and Israel before moving to the UK. He co-edited the first Hebrew/English egalitarian Sefaradi siddur and runs the independent publisher Izzun Books. He often teaches about Sefaradi halakhah and culture as well as mysticism, mythology and ethics. He’s been privileged to be SAMS’ Rabbi since 2017.