Conference Presenters - Alphabetic Listing (K-Z)

Learn more about our presenters and the sessions they led at Conference 2009.

Lior Kaminetsky
Lior Kaminetsky has been featured in various festivals and concert halls around Europe, U.S.A and Israel, most recently at Lincoln Center Theater in NY. Kaminetsky, 7th generation Jerusalemite, was born to a traditional and musical family. He is the son of the Chazzan, Cantor Jacob and Ofra Kaminetsky z"l. He served as a Medic in the IDF as part of a Hesder - Yeshiva program and earned a teaching certificate in Jewish Philosophy and Jewish Oral studies at the Herzog Institute at the Har Etzion Yeshiva. Lior has a wide ranging repertoire which includes classical music and Jewish music, as well as Klezmer.

  • Sessions
  • Night at the Improv: A LimmudLA Music Experience and Closing Ceremony
  • Songs From my Father's House: Finding Meaning in Personal Loss


Yosef Kanefsky
Yosef Kanefsky received rabbinical ordination and a masters degree in Jewish history from Yeshiva University in 1989. From 1990-1996, he served as the Associate Rabbi at the Hebrew Institute of Riverdale, working with Rabbi Avi Weiss. He has been rabbi at Bnai David-Judea Congregation, a Modern Orthodox synagogue in Los Angeles, since 1996, and loves what he does!

  • Sessions
  • Face to Face Learning Intensive: Limmud Lishma With LimmudLA Presenters
    • >
  • Orthodoxy and Egalitarian Torah Reading
    • >
  • "Food, Inc.": Industrial Food Production, Farm Workers, and More



Alisa Katz
Alisa Katz graduated from the University of California, San Diego and attended the Film Academy of Prague (FAMU). Alisa's film producing experience includes Edward Zwick's "Defiance," Michael Mann's "Miami Vice," and Pieter Jan Brugge's "The Clearing." Additionally, she was the Director of Production for UNITY Productions, served on Fox Searchlight's acclaimed creative advertising team, and held positions with several international film festivals. She is currently developing a documentary that examines Jewish education in Eastern Europe since the fall of Communism.

  • Sessions
  • Jewish Identity and Education in Eastern Europe: Since the Fall of Communism



Gerry Katzman
Gerry Katzman is a successful actor and comedian who has appeared on shows like "JAG" on CBS, "Angel" on The WB, "Lucky" on FX, and many other film, theater, and television roles. He has performed onstage at comedy clubs including The Improv, The Laugh Factory, The Bellagio Hotel, The Comedy Store, The Magic Castle and many other venues across the country. He has written for newspapers, magazines and television and has taught hundreds of people to unleash the creative power of their stories in his classes- standupcomedyclass.com. His troupe of comedians can be found at thejewishcomedian.com.

  • Sessions
  • Creating Your Own "Jewish Journal": Storytelling, One Laugh At A Time
  • Saturday Night Comedy Festival



Yitzchak Kerem
Yitzchak Kerem is an historian on Sephardic Jewry at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He has been the editor of Sefarad, the Sephardic newsletter, since 1991. He is also a former radio moderator of "Diaspora Jewry" (Reshet Bet and Aleph, 2004-2007), section editor for Encyclopedia of the Holocaust and New Encyclopedia Judaica, and is now visiting Israeli professor of Sephardic Studies at American Jewish University of Los Angeles.

  • Sessions
  • World Sephardic Jewry: A Survey
  • Issues in Sephardic Halakha



Menachem Klein
Menachem Klein is a Medical Intuitive/Healer. He has used his skills to diagnose, heal, comfort and guide numerous people to health and spiritual purpose. Menachem is a graduate of Yeshiva University as well as the Neighborhood Playhouse in New York. He has been a teacher and student of Gong Fu for the past 32 years, as well as a student of renowned healer/Mekubal, Harav Ofer Elfassy. Menachem teaches healing/meditation and the skills to access higher self through purity of mind.

  • Sessions
  • Meditation: You Are Where You Feel You Are: Feeling and Allowing Your Way Back to Hashem
  • Love Thy Neighbor as Thyself: The Subtle and Elusive Power of Love



Shira Kline
New York-based Shira Kline travels with her band, ShirLaLa, throughout the world, bringing a dynamic, interactive program of joy and spirit, story, and song. Shira works to deepen rituals, holiday celebrations, and love for Jewish life and prayer. She has released three albums of Outrageously Hip Jewish Kiddie Rock for Shabbat, Chanukah, and Pesach. Shira is also a founding company member of Storahtelling: Ritual Theatre Revived.

  • Sessions
  • Family Shabbat with ShirLaLa
  • Friday Night Sing-a-Long Oneg: DIY
  • Is God a Girl or a Boy? Talking to Children About God
  • ShirLaLa Family Concert



Lisa Klug
Lisa Alcalay Klug is an award-winning journalist and the author of the bestselling book, "Cool Jew: The Ultimate Guide for Every Member of the Tribe" (Andrews McMeel, September 2008). The daughter of an Ashkenazi Holocaust survivor and the descendant of a Sephardic chief rabbi of Sarajevo, Lisa's work has appeared in a wide range of mainstream and Jewish publications. She was recently named Erma Bombeck Humor Writer of the Month. As a consultant, Lisa partners with organizations to present workshops, seminars, and panel discussions. Lisa has a bachelors degree in Middle Eastern Studies and a masters in journalism from U.C. Berkeley.

  • Sessions
  • Being a Cool Jew: The Ultimate Guide for Every Member of the Tribe
  • Jewish Cultural Revival



Deborah Engel Kollin
Deborah Engel Kollin is currently the Day School Administrator of the Rabbi Jacob Pressman Academy of Temple Beth Am. Deborah has a Masters Degree in Education from the University of Judaism, now known as the American Jewish University. Recently, Deborah took a two year course from the Bureau of Jewish Education, "Moledet," focusing on Israel education.

  • Sessions
  • Celebrate Tel-Aviv @ 100



Ze'ev Korn
Ze'ev Korn is a Harvard and Yeshiva trained Educator and YU trained social worker. He has served previously as Director of School-Based Mentoring for Jewish Big Brothers/Big Sisters, Director of School Based Mental Health Services for Jewish Family Services, and as the LA Hebrew High Retreat Coordinator.

  • Sessions
  • Would You Buy a Solar Cooker for Your Neighbor? What Does it Mean to Love Your Neighbor as Yourself?



Helene Kornsgold
Helene M. Kornsgold, originally from Philadelphia, was ordained from The Jewish Theological Seminary of America in 2006 and earned a Masters in Jewish education from JTS. She has been working as the Rabbi-in-Residence at Pressman Academy in Los Angeles for the past three years. She has worked in a variety of Jewish educational settings, including Camp Ramah, USY, Hebrew schools, and private b'nai mitzvah tutoring.

  • Sessions
  • Reflections on the Five Megillot: These Texts ARE Actually Relevant to your Life!!



Dave Koz
Dave Koz is a platinum-selling artist, humanitarian, entrepreneur, radio host, and instrumental music advocate. A six-time Grammy nominee, Dave will be honored in 2009 with a star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame. He has played with such musical luminaries as Burt Bacharach, Ray Charles, Natalie Cole, Celine Dion, U2, and Rod Stewart. Born and raised in LA's San Fernando Valley, Dave can be heard weekdays on the Smooth Jazz Radio Network and weekends on the syndicated Dave Koz Radio Show.

  • Sessions
  • Night at the Improv: A LimmudLA Music Experience and Closing Ceremony



Joy Krauthammer
Joy Krauthammer, MBA (University of Judaism), medical case worker, poet, percussionist, "serves God With joy." In Los Angeles' Jewish Renewal, feminist, and hasidic worlds, at LimmudLA, AJU/UJ and Kallah, Joy teaches and leads women's lifecycle and healing rituals. She directed Jewish Women's World and "Timbrels of Miriam."

  • Sessions
  • Baby Boomer — Joy of Wisdom: Simchat Chochmah Journey and Ritual



Esther Kustanowitz
Esther D. Kustanowitz, a recent NYC transplant to LA, writes, edits and consults on matters relating to dating and relationships, Jewish life, pop culture and online social media. Esther wrote "First Person Singular," a singles column in the New York Jewish Week, and she currently blogs at My Urban Kvetch and J-daters Anonymous. She also consults for the ROI Community, an international network of young Jewish innovators, and has been known to teach improv and host karaoke parties.

  • Sessions
  • Reshaping the Jewish Future: A Look at Young Jewish Innovation Worldwide
  • The Singles Scene: Jewish Dating in the Age of J-Date: A Panel Discussion
  • 'Jews' Line is it Anyway? Basic Improv for Jews
  • Writing Workshop: Find Your Megillah



Gail Labovitz
Gail Labovitz is an Assistant Professor at the American Jewish University in Los Angeles, where she teaches Rabbinic Literature and Jewish Law, primarily for the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies. She was ordained as a Conservative Rabbi at the Jewish Theological Seminary, where she also received her PhD in Talmud and Rabbinics. She has held positions with the Feminist Sexual Ethics Project at Brandeis University and the Jewish Women's Studies Program at JTS and is currently at work on a book about marriage and metaphors of ownership in rabbinic literature, to be published by Lexington Books.

  • Sessions
  • Bodies at Sinai



Daniel Landes
Daniel Landes is Director and Rosh HaYeshivah of the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem. Daniel edited "Genocide: Critical Issues of the Holocaust," as well as "Confronting Omnicide: Jewish Reflections on Weapons of Mass Destruction." He was the Jewish Law Commentator for the ten-volume inter-denominational My People's Prayer Book: Traditional Prayer, Modern Commentaries (winner of the National Jewish Book Award). Daniel was a founding faculty member of the Simon Wiesenthal Center and of Yeshiva University of Los Angeles. He was also Adjunct Professor of Jewish Law at Loyola Law School. He has been a faculty member of the Wexner Foundation for a number of years, a Lehman Fellow at Brandeis-Bardin Institute and has taught Ethics at the RAND Corporation. As a rabbi, he served B'nai David-Judea Congregation of Los Angeles, and served as a judge on the Los Angeles Rabbinic Court.

  • Sessions
  • Face to Face Learning Intensive: Limmud Lishma with LimmudLA Presenters
  • The Lonely Man: Eliezer ben Hyrcanus and Yohanan ben Zakkai
  • In Search of the Messiah and Tikkun Olam: Shimon bar Yochai and Yehoshua ben Levi
  • Post Madoff: Is the American Jewish Community Losing Its Way?



Cynthia Lauer-Kagal
Cynthia Lauer-Kagal has been practicing family law in Toronto, Canada, since 1996. In addition to traditional family law, she is also interested in Alternative Dispute Resolution and is a member of Collaborative Practice Toronto.

  • Sessions
  • Ancient Torah Wisdom and Modern Parenting Practices
  • Jewish Legal Rights and Islamophobia: Case Studies From Canada



Sara Lederer
Sara Lederer received her doctorate in clinical psychology in 2007. She specializes in treating anxiety and mood disorders and has experience in health psychology, oncology, death and dying and self-care. She recently completed her postdoctoral fellowship at Cedars Sinai Thalians. Dr. Lederer has conducted research on clinician burnout, self-care and stress reduction. In addition to currently being adjunct faculty at Argosy University, Los Angeles, Dr. Lederer is an associate in a group therapy practice, David Plotkin & Associates in West LA.

  • Sessions
  • Spiritual Healing



Simcha Levenberg
Simcha Levenberg is a comedian, father of four, and an orthodox rabbi. His favorite food is mussels with marinara sauce.

  • Sessions
  • Saturday Night Comedy Festival



Richard Levik
Richard Levik is the host of TheLeviteLine.com, an organization dedicated to reestablishing the Levitical/Aaronic priesthood. His beliefs and ideas are definitely outside the Jewish mainstream. For example, he does not claim a "religion" for himself, but he does claim a covenant with a God. One of his philosophies is to retain individuality within a group. He feels each of us should learn to appreciate and encourage healthy expressions of individuality.

  • Sessions
  • It's the 58th Century, But Who's Counting?



Brian Levine
Brian Levine is an esteemed LA bass 4,5 and 6 string bass player. He was awarded "2006 Session Bassist of the Year" and "2005 Bass Player of the Year" by Los Angeles Music Awards. He is endorsed by Spector Basses and by Line 6. He holds a bachelors degree in music from California State University, Northridge and has toured with famed Israeli band Reva L'Sheva.

  • Sessions
  • Night at the Improv: A LimmudLA Music Experience and Closing Ceremony



AriellaShira Lewis
AriellaShira Lewis, MA, SLP, Pediatric Speech/Language Therapist, leads Rosh Chodesh celebrations, lifecycle and healing ceremonies/circles, both locally and internationally. She also conceived and co-produced the CD, "Let There Be Light — Jewish Songs of Healing and Wholeness" with Rabbi M. Halfon.

  • Sessions
  • Circles of Healing
  • Baby Boomer — Joy of Wisdom: Simchat Chochmah Journey and Ritual



Joseph Lipner
Joseph Lipner is an attorney and writer living in Los Angeles. Abigail Yasgur and Joseph Lipner have written "Max Said Yes! The Woodstock Story," a children's picture book about Woodstock in honor of the 40th anniversary of the Woodstock Festival.

  • Sessions
  • Get Your Tie-Dye On! Jews & Woodstock on the 40th Anniversary
  • The Amazing Life and Endless Adventures of Serah Bat Asher



Evan Lowenstein
With his brother Jaron, Evan Lowenstein is half of the pop/rock duo "Evan and Jaron." After being discovered by Jimmy Buffett, they scored three Top 40 hits, including the Top 10 smash "Crazy for this Girl." They have toured with an array of artists, including Sting, Heart, The Dixie Chicks, and Maroon5. The brothers currently host a weekly TV show on USA Network called "Character Road Trip" and have recently begun production on an show they created for MTV.

  • Sessions
  • Night at the Improv: A LimmudLA Music Experience and Closing Ceremony



Avram Mandell
Avram Mandell is the Director of Education at Leo Baeck Temple - as it turns out, he's also a really funny guy.

  • Sessions
  • What Inspires Me: Jewish Educators
  • Saturday Night Comedy Festival



Judith Margolis
Judith Margolis is an Israel-based American artist, writer, educator, and Art Editor of Nashim: A Journal of Jewish Women's Studies and Gender Issues. Her widely published and exhibited artwork and writing typically tackle provocative subjects. All this is accomplished from within a life devoted to anti-war, counter-culture and feminist activism and serious commitment to Jewish observance and creative endeavor.

  • Sessions
  • Kol Ha'olam Kulo Gesher Tsar Me'od / The Whole World Is a Narrow Bridge: An Artists' Panel Discussion
  • The Intersection of Personal Creative Process and Religious Ritual: A Hands-on Workshop



Matisyahu
Known for blending traditional Jewish themes with Reggae, rock and hip hop sounds, Matisyahu is most recognizable for being a hasidic Jew. As such, Matisyahu stands out for not performing on Shabbos. Since 2004, he has released two studio albums as well as one live album, two remix CDs and one DVD featuring a live concert, and a number of interviews. Most recently, he was named Top Reggae Artist of 2006 by Billboard. He was recently named a spokesperson for Kenneth Cole.

  • Sessions
  • Saturday Morning Service: Mechitza Minyan
  • The Late Show



Laurie Matzkin
Laurie Matzkin is finishing her journey towards rabbinic ordination from the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies, where she also earned a Masters in Jewish Experiential Education. In 2007, she co-founded Minyan Malei Shirah, an egalitarian, highly musical and spiritual Friday night Shabbat experience. Ask her about the Artist's Way, Kundalini yoga, and the sustainable food movement!

  • Sessions
  • A Path Toward Creativity and Excellence: Apply Best Practices of Friday Night Live to Your Shabbat
  • Friday Night Services: Traditional Egalitarian With Drumming
  • What Inspires Me: Jewish Educators



Sharon McCauley
Sharon McCauley has been doing Jewish needlework for over 45 years. She has created and assisted others in creating numerous tallitot, and has presented tallit-making workshops at Temple Beth Am and Ohr HaTorah in Los Angeles.

  • Sessions
  • Tallit-Making: An Introduction
  • Tallit-Making Workshop Part 1
  • Tallit-Making Workshop Part 2



Yael Miller
Yael K. Miller is marketing/technology director of Miller Mosaic LLC, which uses Internet marketing strategies to build WordPress.org websites for book authors and small businesses. It used this same technology to develop the website OperationSupportJewsintheMilitary.com.

  • Sessions
  • Chicken Soup for the Soul of Jewish U.S. Military Men and Women



Cheston Mizel
Cheston Mizel is an active entrepreneur as well as the founder of JconnectLA, an organization that sits at the cutting edge of the Los Angeles cool-to-be-Jewish scene. He is not a rabbi, but sometimes plays one around town — what he lacks in actual scholarship, he makes up for in passion and love of Jews and Judaism.

  • Sessions
  • A Light in the Darkness: A Discussion About What REALLY Matters in Life
  • Beyond the Establishment: Innovations in Grassroots Jewish Outreach



Modi
Modi is an established headliner at Comedy Clubs and Colleges across America and appears regularly in New York and Los Angeles. He has performed at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC and at the Montreal Comedy Festival many times. His television appearances include Last Comic Standing, The Sopranos, Friday Night Videos, New Joke City and Israel's Channel 10. Films include Waiting for Woody Allen, Stand Up, Rubout, Rent-A-Husband, Ira and Abby and A Perfect Christmas.

  • Sessions
  • Saturday Night Comedy Festival



Daniel Needlestone
Daniel Needlestone is a teacher and e-learning technologist working in a UK High School on the edge of London. He has just completed an MA in ICT in Education where he researched virtual learning environments in schools. Daniel is co-chair of Pro-Zion (UK equivalent of ARZA) and founder of the UK Jewish Teachers' Association.

  • Sessions
  • Israeli Politics for Beginners: How Israeli Politics Works (or Doesn't)



Harry Nelson
Harry Nelson studies Jewish texts mostly with his kids and when the rabbis of his shuls ask. He's a member of KolDor, an alum of Wexner Heritage and focuses his volunteer energies these days mainly on LimmudLA and Harkham Hillel Hebrew Academy. His day job is as a principal of Fenton Nelson, an L.A. healthcare law firm.

  • Sessions
  • Shabbat Sex: A Text Study, Not a Workshop



Hillel Neuer
Hillel Neuer is the executive director of UN Watch in Geneva. He has written widely on law, human rights and international affairs. Neuer testifies regularly before the UN Human Rights Council and has appeared in TV debates on CNN, BBC and Al Jazeera. He was formerly a litigator in New York at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton and Garrison and a law clerk in Jerusalem for Israeli Supreme Court Justice Itzhak Zamir. Originally from Montreal, Neuer holds four degrees in law and politics.

  • Sessions
  • What to Do About Durban II
  • The Rise and Fall of Human Rights at the U.N.



Sarah Newman
Sarah Newman is a researcher and writer at Participant Media, which is producing a film and companion book about industrial food production; both are titled "Food, Inc." Sarah has been intimately involved with the book and the film's companion Social Action campaign and has made significant changes in her life based on what she's learned through this work.

  • Sessions
  • "Food, Inc.": Industrial Food Production, Farm Workers, and More



Rebecca Pappas
Rebecca Pappas is a dance maker who has been making work under the name "Pappas and Dancers" for the past seven years. She is known for creating delicate, self-contained movement worlds and idiosyncratic gesture. Her current project, Monster, explores connections and fractures between monstrous bodies and Jewish identity. It looks at the multi-faceted ways the Jewish body has been depicted as monstrous, the corporeal legacy of the Holocaust and the physical manifestations of shame in our daily lives. Sponsored by UCLA Center for Jewish Studies.

  • Sessions
  • "Monster": Dance Exploration of Jewish Identity



Bernie Pearl
Bernie Pearl was born in LA's Boyle Heights area, joined Habonim around the time of his Bar Mitzvah, and went to Israel for a year to live on a kibbutz. He began learning blues music while obtaining a BA in Middle East Studies at UCLA and went on to play with great blues artists such as Big Mama Thornton, B.B. King, Lightnin' Hopkins, Freddie King, Charles Brown, Big Joe Turner, and more. He has been a live show producer, radio host, teacher, and musician for close to 50 years, focusing on the blues.

  • Sessions
  • A Jewish Man Plays the Blues
  • Night at the Improv: A LimmudLA Music Experience and Closing Ceremony



Scott Perlo
Scott Perlo is the Rabbi in Residence of the Professional Leader's Project and was ordained in May 2008 from the Ziegler School at the American Jewish University. He was the rabbinic intern of IKAR in West L.A. Scott is invested in joining his generation in adding their distinctive hiddush — innovation — to the Jewish people's relationship with Torah. He believes in the necessity and holiness of having a passionate spiritual and intellectual engagement with Judaism. Ask Scott about Ma'or.

  • Sessions
  • Emotional Intelligence and You: Transform Your Leadership in 75 Minutes
  • The Singles Scene: Jewish Dating in the Age of J-Date: A Panel Discussion
  • Learn to Learn: How to Continually Find Meaning in Judaism



Martine Porter-Zasada
Martine Porter-Zasada, the mother of 4 children, ages 21, 18, 14 and 11, has been homeschooling for 14 years. Her oldest son is currently a senior at UCLA, majoring in English. Martine has focused her homeschooling efforts on teaching creativity through the arts.

  • Sessions
  • Jewish Homeschooling



Victor Raphael
Victor Raphael, by merging traditional media such as painting, photography and printmaking with modern electronic media, creates complex and beautiful images that expand conventional views of time and space. He has exhibited throughout the nation and abroad. In 1996, his work was selected as among the 50 best examples of Polaroid photography and was included in Polaroid 50: Art and Technology, an international touring exhibition. Currently, his work can be seen on ArtsEdNet, the J. Paul Getty Museum's highly-acclaimed art education website.

  • Sessions
  • Kol Ha'olam Kulo Gesher Tsar Me'od / The Whole World Is a Narrow Bridge: An Artists' Panel Discussion



Daniel Reisel
Daniel Reisel read theology at the University of Cambridge and then spent six years doing research on the biological basis of memory, resulting in a PhD in Neuroscience in 2004. He is currently finishing a medical degree at University College London. He serves as Education Chair of the Jewish human rights group RenéCassin and, many years ago, served as an infantry sergeant in the IDF.

  • Sessions
  • The Mitzvah of Diplomacy: Halakhic Duties to Seek Peace and Protect Civilians in War
  • BRCA Genes Related to Breast Cancer: A Layperson Discusses the Options and Jewish Thought
  • Prisoner's Dilemma: Lessons from the 2005 Disengagement from Gaza



Joel Rembaum
Joel Rembaum is the Senior Rabbi at Temple Beth Am, Los Angeles and formerly Associate Proferssor of Jewish History at the American Jewish University. He has been on the faculty of the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies, UCLA, UCI and the Wexner Heritage Program. He has spent many years in Jewish-Christian dialogue activity and works closely with Jews By Choice.

  • Sessions
  • The Real Bible Codes: A Study of Deep Structures in Selected Pentateuchal Narratives
  • Bridging Kev'a and Kavanah: An Exploration of Mystical Elements in Jewish Liturgy



Anthony K. Rogers-Wright
Ever since becoming a Jew by Choice eight years ago, the issue of how to identify himself as an African-American and a Jew is a perpetual question for Anthony. His experiences in synagogue and in daily social situations make his perspective on the issues of Jewish race relations heart-felt and honest.

  • Sessions
  • Repairing an Undeniable Connection: An Exploration of Jewish Race Relations Through the Genius of Mel Brooks
  • Renegades: The Road Less Traveled



Elana Rosenbaum
Elana Rosenbaum co-founded and directed the first Argentine Moishe House in Buenos Aires, which offered a new, inclusive community for Latin Jews, expats and travelers to engage in cultural activities.

  • Sessions
  • The Moishe House Story: How Grassroots Cultural Centers Are Engaging Jews from LA to Beijing



Aaron Rosenberg
Aaron Rosenberg is a member of LimmudLA's Programming Team. A jack of all trades, Aaron has had careers and businesses in fields as wide-ranging as engineering, construction, travel, catering, technical writing and elder care. He currently resides in Los Angeles, after several years in Israel.

  • Sessions
  • Aliyah Reality Check: What the Jewish Agency and Nefesh B'Nefesh Won't Tell You About Living in Israel
  • Strategy, Board, and Card Games



Jason Rosenblatt
Jason Rosenblatt, founder of the group Shtreiml, studied jazz piano at the Rimon School of Jazz in Ramat Hasharon Israel and at the McGill Conservatory. He is a leading innovator of the harmonica and is at the forefront of popularizing the use of the instrument in areas as diverse as klezmer, jazz, bluegrass and Turkish music. His achievements as a composer and harmonica player were recently recognized by the Canada Council for the Arts, which awarded him a grant to study with his mentor, harmonica master Howard Levy.

  • Sessions
  • Klezmer Kameleon: With Members of Shtreiml



Shari Rosenman
As a lawyer, Shari Rosenman learned the skills to master a variety subjects quickly. As a teacher, she learned how to communicate and give people the skills they need to master what she teaches. And you can't beat her onion challah.

  • Sessions
  • Crash Course in Challah Baking
  • Jewish Homeschooling



Shep Rosenman
Shep Rosenman is a father, husband, musician, and an avid student and teacher of Jewish prayer and Torah. Somewhere in all of this he finds time to practice entertainment law and serve ad co-chair of the 2009 LimmudLA Conference.

  • Sessions
  • Jewish Songwriting Workshop Part 1
  • Jewish Songwriting Workshop Part 2
  • Jewish Songwriting Workshop Part 3



Zvi Howard Rosenman
Zvi Rosenman is a producer of feature films, television, and documentaries. His credits include "Father of the Bride," Oscar and Peabody award-winning, "Common Threads" and "John from Cincinnati" for HBO. He recently appeared in the award-winning movie "Milk." He is also a contributing editor to The Los Angeles Sunday Times magazine.

  • Sessions
  • Renegades: The Road Less Traveled



Rena Rotenberg
Rena Rotenberg is a Jewish early childhood educator, teacher, director, and consultant, having served as author of "Curriculum Guides for Preschool/Primary" and co-author of "Torah Talk: An Early Childhood Teaching Guide." She is also a childbirth educator who developed a Jewish childbirth program. Rena received her BA from Brooklyn College, her MA from Baltimore Hebrew University, and her degree in Early Childhood Education from Hunter College.

  • Sessions
  • Helping Children to Incorporate Acts of Loving Kindness Into Their Lives



Ruthie Rotenberg
Ruthie Rotenberg is Executive Director of LimmudLA. In her spare time, she likes to volunteer for LimmudLA. When not spending time with Limmudniks around the world, you can usually catch her running.

  • Sessions
  • Women Making the World a Better Place: How Three LA Women Negotiate Very Public Roles in Non-Profit Management



Anne Rubin
Anne Rubin was born in Coburg, Germany in 1927. She escaped the Nazi regime on a Kindertransport to England in May 1939. She came to the U.S. in 1940. She recently returned to her native town for the first time in 70 years to speak about her experiences during Kristallnacht and beyond.

  • Sessions
  • Meeting and Memory: A Survivor Revisits Germany 70 Years Later



Shlomo "Schwartzie" Schwartz
Shlomo "Schwartzie" Schwartz is Director of The Chai Center and ventures where no rabbi has gone before. A onetime bongo-thumping Greenwich Village beatnik, he frequents rock concerts -- flowing beard, yarmulke, and Mickey Mouse suspenders. He's been called a Reform Hassid and God's court jester, but whatever the label, he believes that to bring Jews back into the fold, one must serve God with joy.

  • Sessions
  • The Excitement and Ecstasy of Prayer Through Kabbalah: Prayer Workshop



Shlomo Seidenfeld
Shlomo Seidenfeld has been involved in Jewish "Outreach" in different capacities for 20 years. He began as a campus program director for a Hillel in NY and then became the first director of JAM @ UCLA. He is now the Director of Isralight LA, an outreach program that offers inspirational, interactive Torah classes. As a freelance teacher, he continues to teach classes for LA Hebrew High, Aish Hatorah, JConnect,the Happy Minyan, Aaron's Tent, Federation, and Young Israel.

  • Sessions
  • Anatomy of a Murmur: Probing the Power and Poetry of Prayer
  • Yearning Disabled: Recapturing Longing and Inspiration in Our Daily Lives



Chaim Seidler-Feller
Chaim Seidler-Feller has been working with students and faculty as UCLA's Hillel Director for 33 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 is a faculty member of the Shalom Hartman Institute for Advanced Jewish Studies in Jerusalem and of the Wexner Heritage Foundation. He was a rabbinic consultant to Barbra Streisand during the making of the film "Yentl."

  • Sessions
  • Searching for God in Judaism
  • Zionism Isn't Dead: Moving Toward Renewal of the Zionist Idea
  • Encounters Between Isaac and Ishmael: A Jewish Perspective on the Relationship Between Judaism and Islam
  • Sexual Repression and Obsession in Traditional Jewish Practice: The Case of the Kitzur Shulhan Arukh



Doreen Seidler-Feller
Doreen Seidler-Feller has been a clinical psychologist in private practice of couples, sex and individual therapy for 30 years. She teaches courses on Doctoring at the UCLA medical school and on Human Sexuality at the UCLA Department of Psychiatry.

  • Sessions
  • Tensions Between Erotic and Companionate Needs in Long Term Relationships: "I Love My Spouse but the Sex is Boring"
  • What Inspires Me: Jewish Educators
  • Sexual Repression and Obsession in Traditional Jewish Practice: The Case of the Kitzur Shulhan Arukh



Jonathan Sheff
Jonathan Eliot Sheff has been living at a hermitage in Big Sur for the past year and a half. He's the resident Jew at a Catholic monastery, seeking rabbinic ordination. Originally from a nice Jewish family in Toronto, he is a stranger in a very strange land. Needless to say his father is not shepping as much nachas as he was when Jonathan got his masters in public policy at Harvard. Doing anti-hunger work for more than a decade was already bad enough, but this? Jonathan currently teaches Torah and Jewish mysticism in Santa Cruz and will soon be doing the same at the Esalen Institute. Have no fear, his classes will be kosher, though perhaps not totally glatt.

  • Sessions
  • The Entire Torah Standing on One Foot: The Complete Idiot's Guide to Torah for Our Generation Series
  • The Idiot's Guide to Torah or Plato's Republic Outside the Cave: The World on Shabbat
  • Renegades: The Road Less Traveled
  • Eliezer ben Dordia Goes to Hollywood, Or How Judaism's Most Depraved Saint Is the Rebbe for a New Millennium: The Complete Idiot's Guide to Torah Series, Rated R



Michael Shefrin
Michael Shefrin has been a professional touring/recording musician, band manager and has run a Hollywood nightclub. He is currently working in entertainment law. This past year he was a co-team leader of the highly successful "Taste of LimmudLA" monthly events. Having just returned from Limmud in the UK, he now officially considers himself a LimmudLA 'volunticipant'. He was born in 1974 in Los Angeles to a rabbi mother and entertainment publicist father.

  • Sessions
  • Teens: Sex, Drugs, Rock 'N Roll and Judaism: LimmudLA's 'The Real World': Masturbation, Manischewitz, Metallica and Maimonides
  • Sex, Drugs, Rock & Roll and Judaism For Adults: LimmudLA's 'The Real World': Masturbation, Manischewitz, Metallica, and Maimonides



Todd Shotz
Todd Shotz is the founder of Hebrew Helpers, the Los Angeles-based Bar/Bat Mitzvah tutoring service. Todd currently teaches Adult Hebrew Reading courses at IKAR, Leo Baeck Temple, and Beth Chayim Chadashim. Before moving to Los Angeles, he created the Bar/Bat Mitzvah program at The New Shul in Greenwich Village. When he is not teaching kids for their Bar/Bat Mitzvahs, Todd is a film and television producer. For the past two years, he has been a volunteer leader for LimmudLA.

  • Sessions
  • Hebrew Basics Boot Camp, Part 1: From the Vowels on Up
  • Hebrew Basics Boot Camp, Part 2
  • Hebrew Basics Boot Camp, Part 3



Shtreiml
Montreal/Philly-based Shtreiml offers a mix of not-so-traditional Eastern-European Jewish and Turkish music. Led by harmonica innovator Jason Rosenblatt, Shtreiml's blues-rock infused set delivers a new look at some centuries-old folk music. Joined by Rachel Lemisch (trombone), Thierry Arsenault (drums), Adam Stotland (bass), and Michael Winograd (clarinet), Shtreiml has performed at venues in Canada, the US, and Europe.

  • Sessions
  • Friday Night Services: Carlebach-Style Mechitza Minyan
  • Oneg Shabbat Gemishte Tish: Party Like It's 1790
  • LimmudLA Havdalah and Rockin' Concert With Shtreiml



Deborah Silver
Deborah Silver is a fourth-year rabbinical student at the Ziegler School. Prior to that, she worked as an attorney in England and as an assistant professor at BPP Law School. Deborah was a member of Limmud UK's Shabbat Committee and co-edited its study project for 2004. She is the co-editor, with Rabbi Bradley Shavit Artson, of the Ziegler Adult Learning Walking With… series.

  • Sessions
  • Face to Face Learning Intensive: Limmud Lishma with LimmudLA Presenters
  • Doing the Right Thing: Jewish Ethics
  • Not Skirting the Issues: Female Rabbis in Conversation



Leat Silvera
Leat Silvera began homeschooling her 4 children, ranging from ages 3-11, this past September. Before that she started Or Eliyahu, a Jewish school for small children using an alternative approach to teaching, in Los Angeles.

  • Sessions
  • Jewish Homeschooling



Alexei Smith
Rev. Alexei Smith, Director, Office of Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs, Archdiocese of Los Angeles, serves as a resource to the Archbishop and the various offices of the Archdiocese in all matters of ecumenical and interreligious issues. The Director is a representative to the various Christian, Jewish and non-Christian communities in the greater Los Angeles area as well as a developer and coordinator of bilateral and multilateral official dialogue in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.

  • Sessions
  • Interfaith Relations: A Panel Discussion Beyond Dialogue and Tolerance



Naomi Solomon
Naomi Solomon received a BFA in photography from Tisch School of the Arts at New York University in 1998, which included a semester abroad at Bezalel Academy of Art and Design in Jerusalem. Naomi's photographs have been published in a variety of Jewish publications, Newsweek, and The Wall Street Journal. She has lectured in Philadelphia, New Jersey, New York, and Los Angeles.

  • Sessions
  • Across the Green Line: Daily Jewish Life in the Disputed Territories and the Disengagement from Gaza



Yehuda Solomon
Born in Jerusalem and raised on Moshav Meor Modi'in, Yehuda Solomon's musical career began at the age of eight. By thirteen he was performing on stage with his Rebbe, Shlomo Carlebach. Trained by his father, Ben Zion Solomon of the Diaspora Yeshiva Band, Yehuda continued to perform on stage with his father and five of his brothers, singing the music of Rabbi Carlebach throughout Israel and the world. Today, Yehuda's band, Moshav, performs for universities and Jewish organizations across the US, as well as Canada, Australia, South Africa and Europe. When Yehuda is not on the road with Moshav he continues to lead Carlebach Shabbat for the Happy Minyan.

  • Sessions
  • Friday Night Services: Carlebach-Style Mechitza Minyan
  • Saturday Morning Service: Mechitza Minyan
  • Night at the Improv: A LimmudLA Music Experience and Closing Ceremony



Yosef Solomon
Raised in Israel on Moshav Meor Modi'im, Yosef learned and played music since childhood. His father is a prominent musician in Israel, who arranged and recorded the classic library of Breslov nigunim for the Breslov Research Institute. Yosef, along with his brother Yehuda and childhood friend Duvid Swirsky, founded the celebrated Moshav band.

  • Sessions
  • Night at the Improv: A LimmudLA Music Experience and Closing Ceremony



Jonah Steinberg
Jonah Steinberg is an Associate Dean at the Rabbinical School of Hebrew College, where he teaches courses on classical rabbinic text, thought, and liturgy. Jonah has also taught at the Jewish Theological Seminary, the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies, and the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College. He is co-founder of Hebrew College's Open Bet Midrash, received the New Scholar Award from the Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion, and is currently writing the JPS Guide to Rabbinics and a book on Judaism and the environment entitled "Truth Will Grow From the Earth."

  • Sessions
  • A Divine Environment: Building with Holiness and Ecology in Mind
  • Humanity, the Image of God Asleep in the World: Or, How to Read a Poem by the Young Abraham Joshua Heschel in Light of Classical Rabbinic and Hasidic Sources
  • The View from the Trans-Denominational Beit Midrash
  • Battlefield Ethics in an Age of Terrorism: Two Talmudic Perspectives on One Source



Lisa Stern
Lisa Stern is the civilian author of a trio of laws that, for the first time, enabled survivors and their heirs to sue companies accused of Holocaust era slave labor and insurance misdeeds. Those laws helped to "motivate" European companies and governments to pay $5.2 billion dollars - the world's largest human rights case settlement - to 400,000 elderly people around the world.

  • Sessions
  • Film: "On Moral Grounds": A Story of Holocaust Restitution



David Suissa
David Suissa is the founder and CEO of Suissa and Miller Advertising, a marketing firm that represents clients such as Heinz, McDonalds and Charles Schwab. Suissa is also the founder, publisher and editor of OLAM Magazine and Ads4Israel.com. He writes "Live in the Hood," a weekly column in the Jewish Journal, and he lectures regularly around the country and on college campuses about the subjects of spirituality and Israel.

  • Sessions
  • Ten Uniquely Sephardic Traditions That Belong to All Jews
  • Women Making the World a Better Place: How Three LA Women Negotiate Very Public Roles in Non-Profit Management



Carl Sunshine
Carl Sunshine is a founding member of the Westwood Free Minyan and a member of Library Minyan for past 20 years, where he has presented occasional Shabbat drashot. He also teaches and leads discussions as part of his work as an engineer.

  • Sessions
  • Prayers in Translation: Are Translations Always Inferior?



Gideon Sylvester
Gideon Sylvester built and is the Rabbi of Britain's fastest-growing Modern Orthodox synagogue. After making aliyah in 2004, he served as an Adviser at the Office of the Prime Minister of Israel. He currently works for Ohr Torah Stone Educational Institutions in Efrat, serves as Britain's Rabbinic Adviser in Israel, and consults to Merhavim — the Center for Shared Citizenship. Gideon is a regular contributor to Britain's Jewish Newspaper, "The Jewish Chronicle."

  • Sessions
  • The Love Triangle that Created Islam
  • The Moral Limits of Outreach to Assimilated Jews
    • Struggling With Faith
    War and Peace



Amira Tashman
A proud LimmudLA volunteer and supporter, Amira Tashman spends her daily life as an event consultant and a commercial and residential interior designer.

  • Sessions
  • Recipes for the Jewish Year



Michal Taviv-Margolese
The engine powering JConnectLA, Michal Taviv is Israeli/Russian/South African and has been a Jewish professional since 2003. She has two business degrees under her belt and does not stop networking, organizing or schmoozing unless she is enjoying the great outdoors, out of cell phone reach.

  • Sessions
  • Women Making the World a Better Place: How Three LA Women Negotiate Very Public Roles in Non-Profit Management



Daryl Temkin
Daryl Temkin is founder of the Israel Institute for the Advancement of Alternative Energy Innovation, which is devoted to furthering and illuminating Israel and the Jewish people's role in advancing alternative energy innovation and diminishing the global oil dependency. He is also founder of the Israel Emergency Winter Clothing Airlift and author of the nationally published weekly political and social commentary column "Pivotal Thought." Daryl is founder and teacher of the weekly adult education program "Limmudei Hanefesh -- Studies for the Soul" at Beth Jacob Congregation and has spoken at the Jerusalem Conference, Hadassah of Southern California, American Jewish University, and other local institutions and synagogues. Daryl received his BA in Jewish Studies-Near Eastern Languages from UCLA, his MA in Education and Psychology from Loyola, and his PhD in Education and Counseling Psychology from USC.

  • Sessions
  • Israel Plugged-In: The Jewish Role for the Advancement of Alternative Energy Innovation



Oded Turgeman
Oded Turgeman was raised in Jerusalem and attended the Sam Spiegel Film & Television School there. In 2005, Oded moved to Los Angeles to attend The American Film Institute (AFI) Conservatory's directing program. His work there received awards from the Hollywood Foreign Press Association and the USA Film Festival, and his films have played in festivals worldwide, from Savannah to Cannes. Currently, Oded is the co-founder and president of The Operating Room, a content development company in Los Angeles, dedicated to creating unique, original stories for film and television.

  • Sessions
  • Film: "Song of David": Shorts Program



Ida Unger
Ida Unger is a certified Iyengar Yoga instructor who grew up with a strong Jewish identity and a yeshiva education. She taught yoga for over a decade at Santa Monica College as well as at her own former studio, Yoga Garden Studios. After years of practice and a miraculous series of coincidences, Ida began to connect her Jewish "roots" with her "spiritual wings" -- yoga. She has taught her "Yoga and Judaism" course to hundreds of people at temples, rabbinical schools, museums, and retreat centers. Her work is motivated by her own deep yoga practice, Torah study, and a belief that she is guided to share this work.

  • Sessions
  • Yoga for Shabbat
  • My Body, My Temple: Yoga for the Jewish Soul
  • Getting into Holy Shape: Yoga and The Alef-Bet



Saul Wachs
Saul Wachs is the Rosaline B. Feinstein Professor of Education and Liturgy at Gratz College, Chair of the Education Department, and Director of the newly established Doctoral program in Jewish Education. A native of Philadelphia, he has authored almost eighty publications and has lectured in almost 400 communities on five continents. He received a doctorate in education and Jewish history from The Ohio State University and an honorary doctorate from the Jewish Theological Seminary. His special interests are in the teaching of prayer, liturgy, and spirituality and in effecting change in these areas in Jewish schools and other educational settings.

Sessions

  • Teaching Prayer: How Does One Make It Meaningful?
  • Iyyun Tefillah: Unlocking a Censored Prayer Text
  • A Rumor of Angels: Signals of Transcendence
  • The Prayer of Empathy: Making the Case for Liturgy



    • Brenda Walt
    Known as "one of the best caterers in the world" by her children, Brenda Walt is a Los Angeles-based kosher caterer specializing in gourmet California cuisine. Catering by Brenda is a proud sponsor of LimmudLA.

    • Sessions
    • Recipes for the Jewish Year



    Harold Walt
    Born in South Africa, Harold Walt was raised with a passion for Jewish community, learning, and open-mindedness (with an accent). A Limmud International enthusiast, Harold was part of the founding team bringing Limmud to Los Angeles.

    • Sessions
    • Film: "Lest We Forget": South African Jews and Reconciliation



    Suzannah Warlick
    Suzannah Warlick's most recent film, "Match & Marry," involves matchmaking and marriage customs in the Orthodox Jewish Community. Her next documentary will focus on Scandinavian Holocaust survivors and rescuers before, during, and after WWII. Suzannah has also done commercials for the Simi Valley Library, a music video featuring singer/songwriter Mark Jordan, photo/video montages, weddings, and event videos.

    • Sessions
    • The Singles Scene: Jewish Dating in the Age of J-Date
    • Film: "Match and Marry"



    Merryl Weber
    Merryl Weber learned meditation as part of a Yoga Teacher's Training course. She is a Board member of Metivta, a center for Contemplative Judaism founded by Rabbi Jonathan Omer-Man, where she co-taught a course for Jewish Meditation Teachers with Rabbi Omer-Man. Introducing Jewish meditation to others who are interested in practicing meditation within the tradition lies close to her heart.

    • Sessions
    • A Taste of Jewish Meditation: A Practical Introduction



    Elchanan Weinbach
    Elchanan Weinbach, head of school for Shalhevet School in Los Angeles, has more than ten years experience in education and another ten as a synagogue rabbi. He brings a very broad perspective to the need of all Jews to learn in an environment that is non-judgmental and that presents Torah in a sophisticated and intellectually honest way.

    • Sessions
    • Traveling with a Jewish Soul: Why I Want To See China But Be Buried In Israel
    • A Testosterone Primer for Jews: What Testosterone Does to a Man's Soul



    Jason Weiner
    Jason Weiner was ordained in 2006 at Yeshivat Chovevei Torah in New York City and holds a Masters in Jewish History from Yeshiva University. He serves as the assistant rabbi at Young Israel of Century City, where his job is to engage the younger generation of a vibrant Modern Orthodox synagogue. Jason is the adjunct Jewish Chaplain at Cedars Sinai Medical Center where he works with Jews of various backgrounds to finds ways to make Torah and lifecycle events meaningful.

    • Sessions
    • Should We Rejoice at the Downfall of Our Enemies?
    • Can A Person Be Half-Jewish?



    Pamela Weisberger
    Pamela Weisberger is the program chair for the Jewish Genealogical Society of Los Angeles, research coordinator for Gesher Galicia, and co-chair for the 2010 International Conference on Jewish Genealogy. Documenting her family's history for over twenty-five years, she has traveled throughout Eastern Europe, visited ancestral towns and villages, and conducted research in Polish, Austrian, Galician/Ukrainian, and Hungarian archives.

    • Sessions
    • Locating "The Whole Mishpocha": An Interactive Q & A With Jewish Genealogists
    • Film: "The Attic: The Hiding of Anne Frank"
    • Jewish Genealogy 101: Tracing Your Family History
    • Jews in the News: Finding Your Immigrant Ancestors in Historical Newspapers



    Rhoda Weisman
    Rhoda Weisman is the Founding Executive Director of Professional Leaders Project (PLP). Dubbed a trendsetter in "next generation leadership development" by both the "Wall Street Journal" and the "Los Angeles Times," Rhoda is an expert in "Next Gen" leadership development. She conceptualized PLP in 2004 to address the talent crisis in the Jewish community. Today PLP is creating a reputation as a model for developing and mentoring next generation leaders. Rhoda spent a decade as Chief Creative Officer at Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life, where she initiated more than 15 international projects for college students and graduates, including Hillel's Birthright Program, and directed the Jewish Campus Service Corps.

    • Sessions
    • Emotional Intelligence and You: Transform Your Leadership in 75 Minutes
    • Gen Y and Leadership: Why They Are Our Best Generation Yet
    • SpeedMentoring: Providing Solutions for Your Toughest Jewish Leadership Challenges



    David N. Weiss
    David N. Weiss, Vice President of the Writers Guild of America, West (WGAW), has written or cowritten some of America's favorite family films, including Academy Award Nominees "Shrek 2" and "Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius." Emmy-nominated as Head Writer of the Rugrats, he co-wrote "Rugrats: Chanukah" and "Rugrats" Movies 1 & 2. He is currently drafting the live-action/CGI Smurfs for Sony. Other credits include, "Clockstoppers," "Are We There Yet, Cybill" (w/ Cybill Shepherd), "Roundhouse," and "All Dogs Go To Heaven."

    • Sessions
    • What Inspires Me: Filmmakers
    • From Hollywood to Holiness: The Wild Spiritual Ride of a Tinseltown Screenwriter



    Gary Wexler
    Gary Wexler is the owner of Passion Marketing, one of the most influential marketing firms working exclusively with the non-profit sector. Among Gary's clients are some of the largest Jewish organizations and foundations in the U.S., Canada and Israel. Prior to his shift into nonprofit marketing, Gary was an award-winning copywriter and creative director for major American ad agencies. Gary's articles on marketing and Jewish life have appeared in the LA Jewish Journal, JTA and the Jerusalem Post.

    • Sessions
    • Post Madoff: Is the American Jewish Community Losing Its Way?



    Adam Winter
    Adam Winter is a 27-year-old Israeli studying chiropractics in Los Angeles. He was a student at the Hartman Institute in Jerusalem, served in the IDF as a paratrooper and worked at Ramah and USY both in the US and Israel. He is also a member of the Mediterranean Klezmer Ensemble in Los Angeles.

    • Sessions
    • Film: "And Thou Shalt Love / V'Ahavta"
    • Songs From my Father's House: Finding Meaning in Personal Loss



    Andy Wolf
    A southern California native, Andy is a producer, director, puppeteer and comedian. His film noir spoof "The Dead Detective" won People's Choice at the Tri-Cities International Film Festival in Washington, and his feature dramedy "Dreammaker" just found distribution. Northwestern University-trained, Andy performs Jewish-themed puppet shows with the Fairfax Avenue Puppets. His solo comedy album "non sequitur" can be purchased everywhere, including cdbaby and iTunes.

    • Sessions
    • BRCA Genes Related to Breast Cancer: A Layperson Discusses the Options and Jewish Thought



    Abigail Yasgur
    Abigail Yasgur is a professional librarian, runs the Jewish Community Library of Los Angeles and is married to Joseph Lipner. Joseph and Abigail have written "Max Said Yes! The Woodstock Story," a children's picture book about Woodstock in honor of the 40th anniversary of the Woodstock Festival. They met and married in Boston and named their son Max Yasgur Lipner for reasons you can probably guess.

    • Sessions
    • Get Your Tie-Dye on! Jews & Woodstock on the 40th Anniversary



    Elianna Yolkut
    Elianna Yolkut is a Rabbi of Adat Ari El, a Conservative shul. She is married to Sara Leib. Having grown up in a traditional home, Elianna lives and loves Judaism every day. She hopes to create acceptance in Jewish organizations and families regarding religion and sexual orientation. She is writing a book with her parents which will both tell her family's personal story of her coming out in the Jewish community and guide other Jewish families in addressing questions and challenges which arise when relatives come out.

    • Sessions
    • "Mom and Dad, I'm a Lesbian:" Creating Jewish Families and Communities of Acceptance and Tolerance
    • Not Skirting the Issues: Female Rabbis in Conversation



    Raphael Zarum
    Raphael Zarum is Chief Executive and Head of Faculty at the London School of Jewish Studies (LSJS), the UK Center of Modern Orthodox Jewish learning. Creator of the Torah L'Am Crash Course, he is a Jerusalem Fellows graduate. He holds degrees in both physics and education.

    • Sessions
    • A Womb with a View: What do Jews Believe Happens Before We are Born?
    • Face to Face Learning Intensive: Limmud Lishma with LimmudLA Presenters
    • Batman, The Joker, and Haman: Purim's Dark Knight
    • Yitro - Uncommitted? So Who Was Moses' Father-in-Law, Anyway?
    • King Solomon's Seven Levels of Laziness



    Phyllis Zimbler Miller
    Phyllis Zimbler Miller is president of Miller Mosaic LLC, which uses Internet marketing strategies to build websites for book authors and small businesses. It uses the same technology to develop the website OperationSupportJewsintheMilitary.com.

    • Sessions
    • Chicken Soup for the Soul of Jewish U.S. Military Men and Women



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