Stephen Wise Free Synagogue’s Amplify Israel Rabbinic Fellowship is a selective yearlong professional development program for early-career Reform rabbis to provide the tools and resources to incorporate Israel and Jewish peoplehood more fully into their practice.
This fellowship is made possible in part by the Hochberg Family Foundation, the Lisa and Michael Leffell Foundation, Maimonides Fund, the Paul E. Singer Foundation, and the Zalik Foundation Fund, along with hundreds of other donors to Stephen Wise Free Synagogue’s Amplify Israel initiative.
Meet The 2023–24 Amplify Israel Rabbinic Fellowship Cohort
Rabbi Lindsey Danziger is a senior state organizer at the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism. She guides synagogues and clergy across the country in their work to organize and mobilize for justice. She is also an adjunct professor at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, where she teaches community organizing.
Rabbi Danziger was ordained there in 2017 and also received a master’s in Religious education. She is a member of the Nashville Jewish Federation Board of Directors and the Aspen Institute Collective on Racial Justice and Religion, a national advisory council of faith leaders creating anti-racist religious spaces.
Rabbi Danziger resides in Nashville with her husband, Rabbi Michael Danziger, and their three children, Ben, Aviva, and Noa. She loves serving on the faculty of URJ Jacobs Camp in Utica, Mississippi. In her spare time, Lindsey loves to read, hike, paddleboard, and practice hot yoga.
Josh Franklin is senior rabbi of the Jewish Center of the Hamptons. In his six years on East End, he has helped revitalize and grow the Jewish community through engaging programming, transformative classes, inspiring worship, and welcoming community outreach. Rabbi Franklin was named to the 2021 Schneps Media Powerlist, honoring the movers and shakers on the East End of Long Island. Dan’s Papers named Rabbi Franklin one of its “People of the Year: East Enders Who Made the World A Better Place in 2022.”
Before receiving his ordination from Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, Rabbi Franklin attended Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts, receiving both a bachelor’s and master’s in history. He previously served as a rabbi at Temple Beth Elohim in Wellesley, Massachusetts.
Rabbi Franklin resides in East Hampton with his wife Stephanie and their two children, Lilah and Amelia.
Josh Gischner is a creative and inclusive Jewish educator who grew up in Rockland County, New York. He is passionate about making the Jewish canon accessible to all ages and uses magic tricks, puppetry, theater, humor and other art forms in his work. Gischner is also a proud “Pioneer Staff Member” at URJ 6 Points Sci-Tech Academy and founded Wrestling with Torah, a radically inclusive online Jewish learning community. He earned his master’s in Hebrew literature and religious education from Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in 2020 and 2021, respectively, and was ordained as a rabbi in 2021. In his spare time, Gischner loves to experiment in the kitchen, paint and hang out with his pet parrot Charlie.
You can find him on TikTok and Instagram at @RabbiJoshG.
Rabbi Maya Glasser serves as senior rabbi of Congregation Ahavath Chesed in Jacksonville, Florida. She finds great meaning in sacred encounters between people and tradition. Her favorite parts of being a rabbi include connecting with congregants of all ages; learning and growing through classes, prayer and rituals; and striving to make our ancient texts new again.
Before arriving in Jacksonville, Rabbi Glasser was the assistant rabbi at Anshe Emeth Memorial Temple in New Brunswick, New Jersey. She was ordained by Hebrew Union-College Jewish Institute of Religion in New York in 2018, when she was awarded the college’s first-ever certificate in pastoral care and counseling. During rabbinical school, Rabbi Glasser interned in communities in Belarus, Arkansas, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Mississippi, completed two units of clinical pastoral education, and worked at the Association of Reform Zionists of America.
Rabbi Glasser was married to Jake Bayer z”l. In her free time, she loves listening to show tunes, enjoying her cats Moses and Aaron, and praying for the New York Mets.
Rabbi Samantha Kahn strives to instill Jewish excitement, provide guidance, offer counsel, and uncover Jewish passions for all. An experienced educator, pastor, advocate, and preacher; Rabbi Kahn is also a meaning-seeker, equality-endorser, bigotry-opposer, mindfulness advocate, social justice champion and silly social media fan (find her on TikTok @prettyflyforarabbi).
Rabbi Kahn is also a longtime Israel lover, who believes that to be a Zionist in 2023 means to continually hope that someday Israel can and will find a way to live up to the values stated in its Declaration of Independence and thrive as a democratic Jewish state that not only defends Jewish lives and expands Jewish culture, but also exemplifies Jewish ethics and values of justice, while igniting Jewish hearts with pride worldwide.
Rabbi Kahn is honored to serve Congregation B’nai Israel in Boca Raton, Florida, as its senior associate rabbi.
Rabbi Kelly Levy serves as the associate rabbi of Congregation Beth Israel in Austin, Texas. She previously served as the assistant and associate rabbi of Temple B’rith Kodesh in Rochester, New York. She was ordained by Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in 2014 and received her bachelor’s degree in psychology from Texas Tech University in 2007.
Rabbi Levy served on the Women’s Rabbinic Network board as the communications vice president and president and is currently serving a second term as immediate past president. She participates in the Planned Parenthood of Greater Texas Clergy Advisory Council, serves as an Austin city leader for the Multi-Faith Neighbors Network, and sits on the admissions committee for the Central Conference of American Rabbis. She is proud to be a National Council for Jewish Women “Rabbi for Repro” and an alumna of the Balfour Brickner Rabbinic Fellowship through the Religious Action Center.
She lives in Austin with her husband, two daughters, and their dog.
Rabbi Allison Peiser has served as temple educator at Temple Emanu-El in Marblehead, Massachusetts, since 2019. Previously, she was the education director at Temple Beth Shalom in Melrose, Massachusetts, and campus director at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colorado. Rabbi Peiser started the path to the rabbinate as a junior in high school and EIE-NFTY semester in Israel participant. She experienced Judaism as a lived religion with a complicated history that could be observed in diverse ways.
Rabbi Peiser majored in Judaic and Near Eastern studies and sociology at Brandeis University. She spent a year at the University of Haifa, studied at Pardes Institute for Jewish Studies in Jerusalem, and attended the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College in Wyncote, Pennsylvania. Rabbi Peiser’s goal is for every Jewish person to discover a meaningful Jewish identity and a sense of belonging to the Jewish people.
Elana Rabishaw is a rabbi at Temple Beth El in Boca Raton, Florida. She completed her studies at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Los Angeles in 2022, and most recently worked as a rabbinic intern at Congregation Kol Ami in West Hollywood, California, before landing in Boca Raton. Rabbi Elana has worked at numerous synagogues throughout greater Los Angeles and as a student rabbi in Yakima, Washington. She also spent a summer working as a chaplain intern at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles.
Born and raised in Los Angeles, Rabbi Elana spent her summers at URJ camp OSRUI in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin. She loved summers in Wisconsin so much that she attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison (Go Badgers!), where she earned her bachelor’s in community and nonprofit leadership and modern Hebrew. She earned her master’s in Hebrew letters from HUC-JIR in 2019, and her master’s in Jewish education in 2020.
She lives in Boca Raton, Florida, with her rescue doodle, Busby.
Rabbi Cantor Serebro-Litvak is the senior rabbi at Temple Shalom in Succasunna, New Jersey.
Born in St. Petersburg, Russia, she made aliyah with her entire family to Israel, where she pursued her undergraduate studies at the Music Academy of Tel Aviv University. After graduating, she moved to the United States and enrolled at Jewish Theological Seminary’s Miller Cantorial School, becoming the first woman from the former Soviet Union to graduate from JTS.
Rabbi Inna served as the cantor at Temple B’nai Or in Morristown, New Jersey, and Temple Beth Am in Parsippany, New Jersey. While at Temple Beth Am, she earned her rabbinic ordination and master’s in Jewish studies from the Academy for Jewish Religion.
She is married to Anatoly Litvak, and they have two daughters, Emily and Abigail. In her free time, Rabbi Inna enjoys hiking, practicing yoga, going to theaters, listening to audiobooks, and learning French.
Sam Spector has been the rabbi of Congregation Kol Ami in Salt Lake City since 2018. Originally from Seattle, he attended the University of California San Diego, where he was an active brother of AEPi. Sam graduated cum laude with a bachelor’s in Judaic studies and was elected Phi Beta Kappa. He was ordained by Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Los Angeles in 2015.
Prior to arriving in Utah, he served as the associate rabbi of Temple Judea in Tarzana, California. He is currently a member of the Central Conference of American Rabbis and serves on the advisory board for the Salt Lake Chamber and the Christian Center of Park City.
He is an avid fan of baseball and an enthusiastic traveler, having been to over 60 countries. In his free time, you can find Sam playing with Nezek, his Brittany Spaniel, and Walter, his Chocolate Lab. He is married to Jill, and they are proud parents of two daughters, Miriam and Esti, and host parents of Yasamin, a high school student from Afghanistan.
Rabbi Jim Stoloff
Rabbi, Temple Avodat Shalom
River Edge, New Jersey
Since July 2019 Jim Stoloff has served as the Rabbi of Temple Avodat Shalom in River Edge, New Jersey. He hit the ground running with the lay leadership and professional staff, guided the community through the COVID-19 crisis, and continues to work toward strengthening Reform Jewish life in Bergen County. Previously he served as assistant/associate rabbi of Temple Israel of the City of New York from 2013 to 2019. Born and raised in Chattanooga, Tennessee, Rabbi Stoloff graduated with a bachelor’s in music history from the University of Memphis and was ordained by the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Cincinnati.
Rabbi Stoloff, his wife Charlotte Rocker, and their son Hudson live in Ridgewood with their cats, Albus and Minerva. An avid reader of sci-fi and fantasy in his spare time, Jim also enjoys the outdoors, traveling and anything pertaining to his past life as a musician.
Rabbi Natan Trief serves as Temple Sinai of Atlanta’s director of adult learning, overseeing all adult education programs and initiatives for the congregation. Especially passionate about Hebrew and Israel education, he strives to connect adults to the timeless wisdom of Jewish tradition. He is an adjunct writer for the MirYam Institute as well as host of the podcast “”Seeking Sinai,”” where he interviews and highlights unique and inspiring Jewish journeys.
Rabbi Natan’s own journey to the rabbinate was circuitous, including extended wanderings through Spain and the seven continents, working in corporate America, serving as a lone soldier in the Israel Defense Forces, and sailing across the Atlantic Ocean.
Natan is married to Rabbi Samantha Shabman Trief, whom he met while in rabbinical school in Jerusalem. They are the proud parents of five-year-old Rafael and two-year-old Maayan. Their lovable dog Huck completes the Trief family.
In the Media
Reform rabbis on Amplify Israel Fellowship visit a ‘nation at war,’ bring experiences home
December 1, 2023
Unlike the dozens of missions and trips that have come to Israel since Oct. 7, the group of nine Reform rabbis who visited Israel from the United States last month weren’t there to show solidarity or to volunteer (though they did do both) but to learn, reports eJewishPhilantrhopy’s Judah Ari Gross. They were part of the Amplify Israel Fellowship, a newly launched initiative, led by Stephen Wise Free Synagogue’s Rabbis Ammiel Hirsch and Tracy Kaplowitz, that is meant to prepare the next generation of Reform rabbis to lead the movement, particularly on Zionist and Israel-related issues.
Stephen Wise Free Synagogue launches Amplify Israel Fellowship to connect future Reform leaders to Israel
July 7, 2023
Amid concerns of a growing split between American Jewry and Israel, the Stephen Wise Free Synagogue announced the launch of the Amplify Israel Fellowship, a yearlong program for 10 early-career Reform rabbis, reports eJewishPhilanthropy’s Jay Deitcher.
For any other questions, contact Rabbi Tracy Kaplowitz, Ph.D., at tkaplowitz@swfs.org or (212) 877-4050, ext. 225.
The Amplify Israel Rabbinic Fellowship is a project of Amplify Israel: A Stephen Wise Free Synagogue initiative. Stephen Wise Free Synagogue is a 501(c)(3) religious organization (Tax ID #13-1628215) and any donations are tax deductible to the full extent allowable by law.
