Rabbi Leora Abelson
Rabbi Leora Abelson (she/they) is the rabbi of Nehar Shalom Community synagogue in Jamaica Plain, Boston. Previously, she served as the rabbi of Congregation Agudas Achim in Attleboro, MA from 2016 to 2020.
Rabbi Abelson (she/they) grew up in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and lived in Middletown, CT; Nairobi, Kenya; and Chicago, IL before moving to Boston to attend Hebrew College Rabbinical School. She was ordained as a rabbi in 2017.
She has completed four units of chaplaincy training (Clinical Pastoral Education) at Hebrew SeniorLife and Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and in addition to serving as Nehar Shalom’s rabbi, she works as an Interfaith Chaplain at Hebrew SeniorLife Hospice Care. She has been active in movements for social justice for many years, including fighting against racism and classism in the queer community in Chicago and supporting the Palestinian- and Israeli-led struggle for justice, safety, dignity, and freedom for all Israelis and Palestinians. She was led towards the rabbinate by her longing for a Jewish communal home that is aligned with her commitment to building a more just world and with her anti-oppression values (and with good singing of course!). She is passionate about making Jewish tradition and practice – from Talmud study to embodied theology to deeply rooted ritual – accessible to those longing for it. She is equally passionate about celebrating historically silenced voices and bringing diverse experiences into conversation with our tradition, believing that we know the Divine and understand and live Torah more fully only when our full collective wisdom is expressed. Leora lives with her partner Ray-ray in Jamaica Plain. She is a proud auntie and grammar nerd, shyly plays the violin, and loves the ocean.
Rabbi Abelson (she/they) grew up in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and lived in Middletown, CT; Nairobi, Kenya; and Chicago, IL before moving to Boston to attend Hebrew College Rabbinical School. She was ordained as a rabbi in 2017.
She has completed four units of chaplaincy training (Clinical Pastoral Education) at Hebrew SeniorLife and Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and in addition to serving as Nehar Shalom’s rabbi, she works as an Interfaith Chaplain at Hebrew SeniorLife Hospice Care. She has been active in movements for social justice for many years, including fighting against racism and classism in the queer community in Chicago and supporting the Palestinian- and Israeli-led struggle for justice, safety, dignity, and freedom for all Israelis and Palestinians. She was led towards the rabbinate by her longing for a Jewish communal home that is aligned with her commitment to building a more just world and with her anti-oppression values (and with good singing of course!). She is passionate about making Jewish tradition and practice – from Talmud study to embodied theology to deeply rooted ritual – accessible to those longing for it. She is equally passionate about celebrating historically silenced voices and bringing diverse experiences into conversation with our tradition, believing that we know the Divine and understand and live Torah more fully only when our full collective wisdom is expressed. Leora lives with her partner Ray-ray in Jamaica Plain. She is a proud auntie and grammar nerd, shyly plays the violin, and loves the ocean.
Rabbi Michelle Dardashti
Rabbi Michelle Dardashti is the spiritual leader of the Kane Street Synagogue in Brooklyn, New York. From 2013 to 2022, she served as the Associate University Chaplain for the Jewish Community at Brown University and Rabbi at Brown RISD Hillel.
Rabbi Dardashti is the daughter of an American folk-singer and teacher and an Iranian-born cantor. She was raised on a brand of Judaism that is multicultural, meta-denominational, musical and global; she became a rabbi to share the gifts her parents’ eclectic Judaism afforded her: passion, hope, wonder, gratitude, empathy, responsibility and joy.
Her appointment at Kane Street has been covered by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, The Brooklyn Eagle, and the Brown Daily Herald.
Rabbi Dardashti was ordained and received an MA in Jewish Education from the Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS). During her time at JTS, she was trained in Congregation-Based Community Organizing through JOIN for Justice and in Clinical Pastoral Education at Bellevue Hospital; she was also an educator for Interfaith Community and Director of Youth and Family Education at Congregation Shaare Zedek. She came to Brown University in 2013 after serving as the Marshall T. Meyer Fellow at Congregation B’nai Jeshurun in Manhattan and Director of Community Engagement at Temple Beth El in Stamford, CT.
At Brown, Dardashti represented Judaism at university events and multi-faith programs and nurtured Jewish life at Hillel through teaching, leading (and supporting students in leading) services, creating alternative platforms for spiritual engagement, including monthly Women’s Rosh Hodesh (New Moon) gatherings, weekly “JIM Sits” (Jewishly Inspired Meditation—a workout for the soul) and Kivun, a musical and soulful prayer experience. She has also birthed a number of initiatives that critically explore allyship, antisemitism, activism, and the American Jewish relationship to Israel. Among these are the Narrow Bridge Project and Fellowship, recently covered by JTA. Dardashti received a Campus Life Staff Excellence Award from Brown University in 2020 and, during her tenure, Brown RISD Hillel was recognized by Hillel International with both the “Best Place to Work” and “Outstanding Campus” awards.
Rabbi Dardashti has spent time living and working in the Jewish community of Montevideo, Uruguay as well as four years in Jerusalem, where she was a student at Hebrew University, a Dorot Fellow, and a volunteer and staff member at a number of NGOs working in the realms of democracy, dialogue and cross-cultural exchange. Her writings have appeared in Sh’ma Journal, Jewschool and Siddur Lev Shalem (2016), and in three recent books, One Nation, Indivisible: Seeking Liberty and Justice from the Pulpit to the Streets (2019), Chaver Up: Allyship Through A Modern Jewish Lens (2021), and Jewish Theological Grace: Drashot In Honor of Chancellor Arnold M. Eisen (2022). She is also a 2021 Pedagogies of Wellbeing Research Fellow through M²: The Institute for Experiential Jewish Education. Rabbi Dardashti is married to Nathan Sher, who hails from Sydney, Australia. They will soon be moving to Carroll Gardens with their three children: Eden, Miya and Lavi, who are excited to be starting at the Hannah Senesh Day School.
Rabbi Dardashti is the daughter of an American folk-singer and teacher and an Iranian-born cantor. She was raised on a brand of Judaism that is multicultural, meta-denominational, musical and global; she became a rabbi to share the gifts her parents’ eclectic Judaism afforded her: passion, hope, wonder, gratitude, empathy, responsibility and joy.
Her appointment at Kane Street has been covered by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, The Brooklyn Eagle, and the Brown Daily Herald.
Rabbi Dardashti was ordained and received an MA in Jewish Education from the Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS). During her time at JTS, she was trained in Congregation-Based Community Organizing through JOIN for Justice and in Clinical Pastoral Education at Bellevue Hospital; she was also an educator for Interfaith Community and Director of Youth and Family Education at Congregation Shaare Zedek. She came to Brown University in 2013 after serving as the Marshall T. Meyer Fellow at Congregation B’nai Jeshurun in Manhattan and Director of Community Engagement at Temple Beth El in Stamford, CT.
At Brown, Dardashti represented Judaism at university events and multi-faith programs and nurtured Jewish life at Hillel through teaching, leading (and supporting students in leading) services, creating alternative platforms for spiritual engagement, including monthly Women’s Rosh Hodesh (New Moon) gatherings, weekly “JIM Sits” (Jewishly Inspired Meditation—a workout for the soul) and Kivun, a musical and soulful prayer experience. She has also birthed a number of initiatives that critically explore allyship, antisemitism, activism, and the American Jewish relationship to Israel. Among these are the Narrow Bridge Project and Fellowship, recently covered by JTA. Dardashti received a Campus Life Staff Excellence Award from Brown University in 2020 and, during her tenure, Brown RISD Hillel was recognized by Hillel International with both the “Best Place to Work” and “Outstanding Campus” awards.
Rabbi Dardashti has spent time living and working in the Jewish community of Montevideo, Uruguay as well as four years in Jerusalem, where she was a student at Hebrew University, a Dorot Fellow, and a volunteer and staff member at a number of NGOs working in the realms of democracy, dialogue and cross-cultural exchange. Her writings have appeared in Sh’ma Journal, Jewschool and Siddur Lev Shalem (2016), and in three recent books, One Nation, Indivisible: Seeking Liberty and Justice from the Pulpit to the Streets (2019), Chaver Up: Allyship Through A Modern Jewish Lens (2021), and Jewish Theological Grace: Drashot In Honor of Chancellor Arnold M. Eisen (2022). She is also a 2021 Pedagogies of Wellbeing Research Fellow through M²: The Institute for Experiential Jewish Education. Rabbi Dardashti is married to Nathan Sher, who hails from Sydney, Australia. They will soon be moving to Carroll Gardens with their three children: Eden, Miya and Lavi, who are excited to be starting at the Hannah Senesh Day School.
Rabbi Carol Glass
Rabbi Carol Glass is a former staff chaplain at Rhode Island Hospital. She is a spiritual director, Mussar group facilitator, and Reiki practitioner in Newton Center, Massachusetts.
Rabbi Carolan Glatstein
Rabbi Carolan Glatstein was ordained in 2014 from the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion. During rabbinical school, she earned two units of Clinical Pastoral Education doing chaplaincy work at Good Samaritan, Jewish, and Cincinnati Children’s Hospitals. She also interned at a synagogue where she was extensively involved in the education and music programs. Previously, she attended the University of Kansas, earning a bachelor’s degree in English literature. She formerly served United Brothers Synagogue in Bristol. She now serves Tree of Life Congregation in Columbia, South Carolina.
Rabbi/Cantor Anne Heath
Rabbi/Cantor Heath was ordained rabbi by The Academy for Jewish Religion in New York (Riverdale -The Bronx) in 2007. She received Cantorial Certification from Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion School of Sacred Music in 2000. She began serving Congregation Agudath Achim of Taunton, Massachusetts, in June 2003 while still in rabbinical school. She retired in June of 2021 and now resides in St. Louis.
Rabbi Adam Lavitt
Rabbi Adam Lavitt is a spiritual director, educator, and writer in Philadelphia. Previously, he served as Rabbi and Chaplain at Orchard Cove, a campus of Hebrew SeniorLife in Canton, MA. As a CLAL Rabbis without Borders Fellow, he offered spiritual leadership to the unaffiliated Jewish community in Providence (2014-15).
In addition to serving as Director of Program Design and Facilitation at the Jewish Studio Project, he offers spiritual companionship to seekers near and far in a growing private practice. His work as a spiritual director recently received mention in the New York Times.
He has served as a spiritual leader for congregations, college campuses, and healthcare settings. Co-founder of the Movement Minyan — a method that explores Jewish liturgy through embodied practice — he was the National Havurah Summer Institute's Liturgist in Residence (2013). He is also an alumnus of the JOIN for Justice Clergy Fellowship (2015-16), the Boston Bridges Fellowship (2017-18), and the Davennen Leadership Training Institute (2018-2020).
After a semester abroad at Oxford University (2003), he graduated cum laude from Kenyon College in 2004. In 2012, he was ordained at and received a Master’s in Jewish Education from Hebrew College Rabbinical School — and was the school’s first recipient of a certificate in Pastoral Care. In 2017, he completed training as a Spiritual Director through Hebrew Union College’s Bekhol Levavkha training program, and in 2019 became a Board Certified Chaplain (BCC) through the Association of Professional Chaplains. Many of his teachings have been published in Evolve, Huffington Post, MyJewishLearning, and The Wisdom Daily. He lives with his husband, Alex, in Philadelphia, PA. In his spare time, he enjoy playing clarinet, studying Torah, going on walks with friends, and learning how to knit.
In addition to serving as Director of Program Design and Facilitation at the Jewish Studio Project, he offers spiritual companionship to seekers near and far in a growing private practice. His work as a spiritual director recently received mention in the New York Times.
He has served as a spiritual leader for congregations, college campuses, and healthcare settings. Co-founder of the Movement Minyan — a method that explores Jewish liturgy through embodied practice — he was the National Havurah Summer Institute's Liturgist in Residence (2013). He is also an alumnus of the JOIN for Justice Clergy Fellowship (2015-16), the Boston Bridges Fellowship (2017-18), and the Davennen Leadership Training Institute (2018-2020).
After a semester abroad at Oxford University (2003), he graduated cum laude from Kenyon College in 2004. In 2012, he was ordained at and received a Master’s in Jewish Education from Hebrew College Rabbinical School — and was the school’s first recipient of a certificate in Pastoral Care. In 2017, he completed training as a Spiritual Director through Hebrew Union College’s Bekhol Levavkha training program, and in 2019 became a Board Certified Chaplain (BCC) through the Association of Professional Chaplains. Many of his teachings have been published in Evolve, Huffington Post, MyJewishLearning, and The Wisdom Daily. He lives with his husband, Alex, in Philadelphia, PA. In his spare time, he enjoy playing clarinet, studying Torah, going on walks with friends, and learning how to knit.
Rabbi Amy Levin
Rabbi Amy Levin is the founder and director of Pirka, Mobile Jewish Learning (www.pirkalearning.net). From 2004 to 2014, she served Temple Torat Yisrael, a Conservative congregation in East Greenwich, RI.
Rabbi Levin grew up in New Jersey and worked as the Education Director of a collaborative Hebrew High School program for three Conservative congregations in New Jersey before making aliyah in 1981.
Rabbi Levin was the second woman to be ordained by the Schechter Institute of Jewish studies, the rabbinic seminary of the Israeli Masorti (Conservative) Movement and served as a congregational rabbi in Jerusalem.
Rabbi Levin is a past President of the Board of Rabbis of Greater Rhode Island, is a member of the Rabbinical Assembly's Committee on Jewish Law and Standards and was active in the East Greenwich Clergy Association.
Since 2008, Rabbi Levin has served as a mentor for senior rabbinical students at The Jewish Theological Seminary in New York who are fellows of the Legacy Heritage Rabbinic Fellows Program.
Rabbi Levin grew up in New Jersey and worked as the Education Director of a collaborative Hebrew High School program for three Conservative congregations in New Jersey before making aliyah in 1981.
Rabbi Levin was the second woman to be ordained by the Schechter Institute of Jewish studies, the rabbinic seminary of the Israeli Masorti (Conservative) Movement and served as a congregational rabbi in Jerusalem.
Rabbi Levin is a past President of the Board of Rabbis of Greater Rhode Island, is a member of the Rabbinical Assembly's Committee on Jewish Law and Standards and was active in the East Greenwich Clergy Association.
Since 2008, Rabbi Levin has served as a mentor for senior rabbinical students at The Jewish Theological Seminary in New York who are fellows of the Legacy Heritage Rabbinic Fellows Program.
Rabbi Aaron Philmus
Rabbi Aaron Philmus is the School Rabbi of the Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy in Overland Park, Kansas. Previously, he served as the rabbi of Temple Torat Yisrael in East Greenwich from 2014 until 2022.
Rabbi Philmus received ordination from the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York. He grew up in New Jersey and met his wife, Valerie, at UMASS Amherst. In his former life he was a Wildlife Ecologist and Jewish Nature Educator. He continues to learn Torah from the earth, but now he also learns Torah from books and people, too. His wife, Valerie, is a professional kosher baker and chef. They are the parents of Sophie and Aeden. Rabbi Aaron loves leading students in song with his guitar as well as exploring Jewish values and spirituality through food, agriculture, and nature connection.
Rabbi Philmus received ordination from the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York. He grew up in New Jersey and met his wife, Valerie, at UMASS Amherst. In his former life he was a Wildlife Ecologist and Jewish Nature Educator. He continues to learn Torah from the earth, but now he also learns Torah from books and people, too. His wife, Valerie, is a professional kosher baker and chef. They are the parents of Sophie and Aeden. Rabbi Aaron loves leading students in song with his guitar as well as exploring Jewish values and spirituality through food, agriculture, and nature connection.
Rabbi Peter Stein
Rabbi Peter W. Stein is the senior rabbi of Temple B’rith Kodesh in Rochester, New York. He previously served as rabbi of Temple Sinai in Cranston and as associate rabbi of Rodef Shalom Congregation in Pittsburgh.
Rabbi Stein was ordained and earned an MA in Hebrew Literature at the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, studying in Jerusalem and New York City. He served as President of the Rabbinic Student Association.
His undergraduate studies were at Cornell University, and he also completed the Jewish Leaders Program at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.
Rabbi Stein is an alumnus of the Rabbis Without Borders Fellowship of CLAL and the Brickner Fellowship of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism. He also participated in the Professional Affiliates training of the Jewish Outreach Institute.
In Rochester, Rabbi Stein is engaged with a number of community organizations. He is president of the Rochester Board of Rabbis and a member of the Jewish Community Relations Council. He is also an adjunct faculty member at the Colgate Rochester Crozier Divinity School, teaching classes in rabbinic literature and Jewish biblical interpretation.
Nationally, Rabbi Stein has served as a committee chair for the Central Conference of American Rabbis. He is also a mentor for newly ordained rabbis through the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion and the CCAR, and he has served on camp faculty at three different Union for Reform Judaism camps.
Rabbi Stein has a commitment to social justice work and interfaith endeavors. He is a founding Steering Committee member of the Religious Action Center of New York, a part of the leadership of the ROC ACTS Clergy Caucus, and a past member of Planned Parenthood’s national Clergy Advocacy Board. In 2015, he walked in Alabama and Georgia as part of the NAACP Journey for Justice, and he has a longstanding engagement with issues of LGBTQ equality and poverty. He participated in a dialogue program and a Papal Audience at the Vatican in 2007 and has been involved in significant relationships with the Catholic, Christian, and Muslim community. He is proud to nurture connections between TBK and several area churches and mosques, and sits on several area interfaith clergy associations.
Rabbi Stein is a passionate Zionist and active supporter of Israel. He works closely with ARZA, the Israel Movement for Progressive Judaism, and AIPAC, as well as Rochester’s partnership program with the Israeli city of Modi’in. He has led several groups on trips to Israel and has travelled to Israel on many occasions, including as a delegate to the 2015 World Zionist Congress.
Rabbi Stein is an avid tennis player and trombone player. He is married to Amy and together they are the proud parents of Eliana and Ari.
Rabbi Stein was ordained and earned an MA in Hebrew Literature at the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, studying in Jerusalem and New York City. He served as President of the Rabbinic Student Association.
His undergraduate studies were at Cornell University, and he also completed the Jewish Leaders Program at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.
Rabbi Stein is an alumnus of the Rabbis Without Borders Fellowship of CLAL and the Brickner Fellowship of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism. He also participated in the Professional Affiliates training of the Jewish Outreach Institute.
In Rochester, Rabbi Stein is engaged with a number of community organizations. He is president of the Rochester Board of Rabbis and a member of the Jewish Community Relations Council. He is also an adjunct faculty member at the Colgate Rochester Crozier Divinity School, teaching classes in rabbinic literature and Jewish biblical interpretation.
Nationally, Rabbi Stein has served as a committee chair for the Central Conference of American Rabbis. He is also a mentor for newly ordained rabbis through the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion and the CCAR, and he has served on camp faculty at three different Union for Reform Judaism camps.
Rabbi Stein has a commitment to social justice work and interfaith endeavors. He is a founding Steering Committee member of the Religious Action Center of New York, a part of the leadership of the ROC ACTS Clergy Caucus, and a past member of Planned Parenthood’s national Clergy Advocacy Board. In 2015, he walked in Alabama and Georgia as part of the NAACP Journey for Justice, and he has a longstanding engagement with issues of LGBTQ equality and poverty. He participated in a dialogue program and a Papal Audience at the Vatican in 2007 and has been involved in significant relationships with the Catholic, Christian, and Muslim community. He is proud to nurture connections between TBK and several area churches and mosques, and sits on several area interfaith clergy associations.
Rabbi Stein is a passionate Zionist and active supporter of Israel. He works closely with ARZA, the Israel Movement for Progressive Judaism, and AIPAC, as well as Rochester’s partnership program with the Israeli city of Modi’in. He has led several groups on trips to Israel and has travelled to Israel on many occasions, including as a delegate to the 2015 World Zionist Congress.
Rabbi Stein is an avid tennis player and trombone player. He is married to Amy and together they are the proud parents of Eliana and Ari.
Rabbi Elyse Wechterman
Rabbi Elyse Wechterman has served as the Executive Director of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association in Philadelphia since 2015. Previously, she served as the spiritual leader of Congregation Agudas Achim in Attleboro, Massachusetts from 2001 until 2014.
Rabbi Wechterman has brought a commitment to social justice, a passion for interfaith and inter-communal partnership and a deep respect and love for her Reconstructionist colleagues to the position.
Rabbi Wechterman created the RRA’s Office of Rabbinic Career Development in an effort to serve the professional needs of rabbis in any field of work. She has also spearheaded a revised communications strategy and a renewed partnership with the RRC/JRC and other arms of the Reconstructionist movement. Rabbi Wechterman also teaches Pulpit Supervision at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College and serves as an informal advisor to many students.
Rabbi Wechterman was a founding faculty member of Camp JRF in the Poconos (now called Camp Havaya) and served on their summer faculty for many years. She has taught at the college and adult level in many settings and worked broadly with children and families with special needs to create inclusive communities for Jews of all abilities and backgrounds.
Prior to serving a pulpit, Rabbi Wechterman was the or Director of Congregational Services at the Jewish Reconstructionist Federation and consulted with congregations throughout the movement on governance, growth, staffing and other congregational issues.
A graduate of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, Rabbi Wechterman brings an open and inclusive approach to teaching Jewish life and traditions. She is committed to empowering Jews and fellow travelers on their individual and unique Jewish journeys.
During her tenure at Congregation Agudas Achim, Rabbi Wechterman has pursued a number of continuing education and rabbinic growth opportunities and was a member of the second cohort of START PEER (Program for Excellence and Education in the Rabbinate). She is also a graduate of the Institute for Jewish Spirituality’s Rabbinic training program and received the Hassenfeld Award for Jewish Service from the Jewish Federation of Rhode Island for her leadership work in providing social services in the context of Jewish community. In 2014, Rabbi Wechterman traveled to India with the American Jewish World Service as part of a rabbinic delegation building social justice partnerships.
In Massachusetts, Rabbi Wechterman was active in interfaith work in the community, serving on the board of the Attleboro Area Council of Churches and participating in the monthly Interfaith Dialogues. She is a founding member of GAIN, the Greater Attleboro Interfaith Network, which works on fair and just policing in the Attleboro area. She was a regular participant in discussion forums, interfaith services and other programs that bring people together.
Rabbi Wechterman holds a BA in International Relations and BS in Journalism from Boston University. She lives in Abington, PA with her husband David Nerenberg and is the parent of two children, Avi and Sharon.
Rabbi Wechterman has brought a commitment to social justice, a passion for interfaith and inter-communal partnership and a deep respect and love for her Reconstructionist colleagues to the position.
Rabbi Wechterman created the RRA’s Office of Rabbinic Career Development in an effort to serve the professional needs of rabbis in any field of work. She has also spearheaded a revised communications strategy and a renewed partnership with the RRC/JRC and other arms of the Reconstructionist movement. Rabbi Wechterman also teaches Pulpit Supervision at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College and serves as an informal advisor to many students.
Rabbi Wechterman was a founding faculty member of Camp JRF in the Poconos (now called Camp Havaya) and served on their summer faculty for many years. She has taught at the college and adult level in many settings and worked broadly with children and families with special needs to create inclusive communities for Jews of all abilities and backgrounds.
Prior to serving a pulpit, Rabbi Wechterman was the or Director of Congregational Services at the Jewish Reconstructionist Federation and consulted with congregations throughout the movement on governance, growth, staffing and other congregational issues.
A graduate of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, Rabbi Wechterman brings an open and inclusive approach to teaching Jewish life and traditions. She is committed to empowering Jews and fellow travelers on their individual and unique Jewish journeys.
During her tenure at Congregation Agudas Achim, Rabbi Wechterman has pursued a number of continuing education and rabbinic growth opportunities and was a member of the second cohort of START PEER (Program for Excellence and Education in the Rabbinate). She is also a graduate of the Institute for Jewish Spirituality’s Rabbinic training program and received the Hassenfeld Award for Jewish Service from the Jewish Federation of Rhode Island for her leadership work in providing social services in the context of Jewish community. In 2014, Rabbi Wechterman traveled to India with the American Jewish World Service as part of a rabbinic delegation building social justice partnerships.
In Massachusetts, Rabbi Wechterman was active in interfaith work in the community, serving on the board of the Attleboro Area Council of Churches and participating in the monthly Interfaith Dialogues. She is a founding member of GAIN, the Greater Attleboro Interfaith Network, which works on fair and just policing in the Attleboro area. She was a regular participant in discussion forums, interfaith services and other programs that bring people together.
Rabbi Wechterman holds a BA in International Relations and BS in Journalism from Boston University. She lives in Abington, PA with her husband David Nerenberg and is the parent of two children, Avi and Sharon.
Rabbi Alex Weissman
Rabbi Alex Weissman is Director of mekhinah and cultural and spiritual life at Reconstructionist Rabbinical College in Philadelphia. Previously, he served half-time as the Rabbi at Congregation Agudas Achim in Attleboro, MA, and half-time as the Rabbinic Organizer at T'ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights. He also served as the senior Jewish educator at Brown RISD Hillel for three years.
Alex mentors emerging religious leaders who may be lacking advanced Hebrew skills and Judaic knowledge. By immersing in Hebrew language, Jewish liturgy, texts and practice, students will gain the foundation of knowledge needed to thrive in rabbinic school and beyond. Alex, who completed the mekhinah program himself, brings a patient and relational approach, knowing how challenging and rewarding the material can be.
In his dual role as director of cultural and spiritual life, Alex works with college leadership, faculty and students to reimagine the RRC’s communal experience in the wake of disruptions brought about by COVID-19, with students learning in-person and remotely at various times. More than just a perk, RRC’s rich and nurturing community has longed proved an integral part of rabbinic formation, modeling the kind of community that rabbis can help strengthen and create.
He currently serves on the Ethics Committee of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association and on the advisory boards of Evolve: Groundbreaking Jewish Conversations, and the Inside Out Wisdom and Action Project.
He was ordained by the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College (RRC) in 2017, where he fell in love with Talmud study and served a range of communities, including Congregation Beit Simchat Torah in New York City; Temple Shalom of Newton, Mass; Avodah; and Jewish Family & Children’s Services of Greater Philadelphia as a hospice chaplain. He completed a unit of Clinical Pastoral Education at Hebrew SeniorLife. During his time at RRC, he received a Tikkun Olam award; the Ann W. Pinkenson Prize in Rabbinic Literature and Civilization; and the Lillian Fern Award for service to the community for his work as the president of the Reconstructionist Student Association.
Prior to rabbinical school, he worked as a community organizer.
Alex mentors emerging religious leaders who may be lacking advanced Hebrew skills and Judaic knowledge. By immersing in Hebrew language, Jewish liturgy, texts and practice, students will gain the foundation of knowledge needed to thrive in rabbinic school and beyond. Alex, who completed the mekhinah program himself, brings a patient and relational approach, knowing how challenging and rewarding the material can be.
In his dual role as director of cultural and spiritual life, Alex works with college leadership, faculty and students to reimagine the RRC’s communal experience in the wake of disruptions brought about by COVID-19, with students learning in-person and remotely at various times. More than just a perk, RRC’s rich and nurturing community has longed proved an integral part of rabbinic formation, modeling the kind of community that rabbis can help strengthen and create.
He currently serves on the Ethics Committee of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association and on the advisory boards of Evolve: Groundbreaking Jewish Conversations, and the Inside Out Wisdom and Action Project.
He was ordained by the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College (RRC) in 2017, where he fell in love with Talmud study and served a range of communities, including Congregation Beit Simchat Torah in New York City; Temple Shalom of Newton, Mass; Avodah; and Jewish Family & Children’s Services of Greater Philadelphia as a hospice chaplain. He completed a unit of Clinical Pastoral Education at Hebrew SeniorLife. During his time at RRC, he received a Tikkun Olam award; the Ann W. Pinkenson Prize in Rabbinic Literature and Civilization; and the Lillian Fern Award for service to the community for his work as the president of the Reconstructionist Student Association.
Prior to rabbinical school, he worked as a community organizer.
Rabbi Rachel Zerin
Rabbi Rachel Zerin is the Assistant Rabbi serving Beth El Temple in West Hartford, Connecticut. Previously, she served as one of the rabbis at Temple Emanu-El of Providence from 2016 to 2021.
Rabbi Zerin is driven by her passion to cultivate sacred community, and to enable people of all ages, backgrounds, and abilities to access the wisdom of Jewish texts and traditions as sources of support when confronting life's joys and challenges.
At Temple Emamanu-El, Rabbi Zerin grew youth and family programming, oversaw adult learning, created holiday programs for people of all ages, led spirited services, and more. In the broader community, Rabbi Zerin served on the RI Commission on Prejudice and Bias, worked for the Cambridge Inter-Faith Programme’s Summer School at Cambridge University, and was founder of If We Serve, an interfaith service-learning retreat.
Rabbi Zerin was ordained from the Jewish Theological Seminary in 2015, where she also received her MA in Talmud and completed a unit of Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE). Prior to that, she studied at the Conservative Yeshiva in Jerusalem, where she first fell in love with Talmud; and earned her BA in Voice Performance and Religion from Syracuse University.
When she isn't helping people connect to each other and our texts and traditions, Rabbi Zerin is usually spending time with her spunky six year-old Rivkah, cooking, playing board games, or drinking coffee.
Rabbi Zerin is driven by her passion to cultivate sacred community, and to enable people of all ages, backgrounds, and abilities to access the wisdom of Jewish texts and traditions as sources of support when confronting life's joys and challenges.
At Temple Emamanu-El, Rabbi Zerin grew youth and family programming, oversaw adult learning, created holiday programs for people of all ages, led spirited services, and more. In the broader community, Rabbi Zerin served on the RI Commission on Prejudice and Bias, worked for the Cambridge Inter-Faith Programme’s Summer School at Cambridge University, and was founder of If We Serve, an interfaith service-learning retreat.
Rabbi Zerin was ordained from the Jewish Theological Seminary in 2015, where she also received her MA in Talmud and completed a unit of Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE). Prior to that, she studied at the Conservative Yeshiva in Jerusalem, where she first fell in love with Talmud; and earned her BA in Voice Performance and Religion from Syracuse University.
When she isn't helping people connect to each other and our texts and traditions, Rabbi Zerin is usually spending time with her spunky six year-old Rivkah, cooking, playing board games, or drinking coffee.
