May 29–30, 2024
Hosted at Stephen Wise Free Synagogue in New York City
Early-bird pricing is $165. The cost to register will increase to $190 after May 1. Hotel block rates are available until April 12–30, depending on the hotel.
The conference will begin with breakfast at 8 a.m. on May 29 and conclude by 4:30 p.m. on May 30. The full conference schedule with all speakers will be published in the coming weeks. All registrants will be asked to choose their sessions, workshops and meals.
Keynote
WEDNESDAY, MAY 29, 9:25–10:00 a.m.
Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch
Senior Rabbi, Stephen Wise Free Synagogue
Rabbi Ammi Hirsch is the senior rabbi of Stephen Wise Free Synagogue in New York. With a fiery voice, a listening heart and a brilliant mind, Rabbi Hirsch articulates a clear vision for the survival and success of American Judaism while tending compassionately to the needs of his growing congregation.
In 2018, The Jerusalem Post named him among “The 50 Most Influential Jews of the Year” and City & State praised him as “the borough’s most influential voice” for Manhattan’s more than 300,000 Jews.
Prior to his arrival at Stephen Wise, he served for 12 years as executive director of the Association of Reform Zionists of America (ARZA), the Israel arm of the North American Reform movement. An accomplished teacher, author and public speaker, he is also a trained lawyer and a veteran of the Israel Defense Forces. He is the host of the bi-weekly podcast “In These Times with Rabbi Ammi Hirsch” and his new book, “The Lilac Tree: A Rabbi’s Reflections on Love, Courage, and History” is available now wherever you get your books online.
Plenum I: Antisemitism and Anti-Zionism on College Campuses
WEDNESDAY, MAY 29, 10:50 a.m.–12:15 p.m.
Jonathan Greenblatt
CEO and National Director, Anti-Defamation League
Jonathan Greenblatt is CEO of the Anti-Defamation League, the world’s leading anti-hate organization with a distinguished record of fighting antisemitism and advocating for just and fair treatment to all. Jonathan joined ADL in 2015 after serving in the White House as special assistant to President Obama and director of the Office of Social Innovation and Civic Participation. He joined the government after a distinguished career in business as a successful social entrepreneur and corporate executive: he cofounded Ethos Brands, the company that launched Ethos Water (acquired by Starbucks in 2005), founded All for Good (acquired by Points of Light in 2011), and served as a senior executive at realtor.com (acquired by News Corp in 2014).
Since becoming CEO, Jonathan has modernized ADL while refocusing it on the mission it has had since its founding in 1913: to fight the defamation of the Jewish people, and to secure justice and fair treatment to all. Under Jonathan, ADL has modernized its operations, innovated its approaches to counter antisemitism from all sides and enhanced its efforts to combat extremism in all forms.
Rabbi David Wolpe
Visiting Scholar, Harvard Divinity School
Max Webb Rabbi Emeritus, Sinai Temple of Los Angeles
Named “The Most Influential Rabbi in America” by Newsweek and one of the ”50 Most Influential Jews in the World” by The Jerusalem Post, and twice named one of the ”500 Most Influential People in Los Angeles” by the Los Angeles Business Journal, David Wolpe is the Max Webb Senior Rabbi of Sinai Temple.
Rabbi Wolpe previously taught at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America in New York, the American Jewish University in Los Angeles, Hunter College, and the University of California, Los Angeles. A weekly columnist for the New York Jewish Week and weekly Torah columnist for the Jerusalem Post, Rabbi Wolpe has been published and profiled in The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, Time, Newsweek, and The Atlantic, among others. He has been featured on The “Today” show, “Face the Nation,” “ABC This Morning,” and “CBS This Morning.” Rabbi Wolpe has also appeared prominently in series on PBS, A&E, History Channel, and Discovery Channel, and has engaged in widely watched public debates with Christopher Hitchens, Sam Harris, Richard Dawkins, Steven Pinker and many others about religion and its place in the world.
Rabbi Wolpe, who has spoken all over the world — from Israel to India — is the author of eight books, including the national bestseller ”Making Loss Matter: Creating Meaning in Difficult Times.” His latest book, “David, the Divided Heart” was a finalist for the National Jewish Book Awards, and has been optioned for a movie by Warner Bros.
Eden Yadegar
Student, Columbia University-Jewish Theological Seminary
Eden Yadegar is a rising senior in the joint program between Columbia University and the Jewish Theological Seminary double majoring in Middle East studies and modern Jewish studies with a concentration in political science. On campus, she serves as the president of Students Supporting Israel and an engagement fellow for Columbia/Barnard Hillel. She is passionate about shifting the narrative surrounding Israel and Zionism on campus through education and fostering open dialogue — something she feels the current campus environment lacks.
She regularly organizes conversations, rallies and tablings on campus with this purpose, and has hosted speakers including the son of the co-founder of Hamas, a delegation of Arab and Israeli peace activists, the chairman of Yad Vashem, survivors of the Nova festival massacre, and more. She has been featured on “60 Minutes,” CNN, and the Times of Israel, and recently addressed the Congressional Committee on Education and the Workforce’s roundtable with Jewish students impacted by antisemitism.
MODERATED BY
Rabbi Melissa B. Simon
Director of Israel Education, Hillel International
Rabbi Melissa B. Simon is the director of Israel education for Hillel International, a part of the Center for Jewish and Israel Education. She is in her 10th year in the Hillel movement, having served as the Hillel director and Jewish chaplain at Muhlenberg College and as the senior Jewish educator and Rabbi for North Carolina Hillel at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
A graduate of Mount Holyoke College, she was ordained by Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, where she also received a master’s in religious education and a master’s in Hebrew letters.
A 2021 Richard M. Joel Exemplar of Excellence, Rabbi Melissa has been named a Selah Fellow with Bend the Arc and a Rabbis Without Borders fellow with CLAL, a rabbinic fellow with JOIN for Justice’s clergy leadership and organizing program, a member of the senior educators cohort at M2, and a member of the Hillel educators cohort at the Shalom Hartman Institute.
Plenum II: Our Social Justice and Interfaith Partnerships
THURSDAY, MAY 30, 9:00–10:25 a.m.
Amanda Berman
Founder and Executive Director, Zioness
Amanda Berman is the founder and executive director of the Zioness Movement, where she works to empower and activate Zionists on the progressive left to stand proudly in social justice spaces as Jews and Zionists. She is also a civil rights attorney who previously worked to fight antisemitism legally, spearheading such groundbreaking initiatives as the international action against Kuwait Airways for its discrimination against Israeli nationals, and the dual cases against San Francisco State University for its constitutional and civil rights violations.
She earned her bachelor’s and master’s from the University of Pennsylvania and her JD from the Cardozo School of Law. Amanda writes on Jewish and civil rights issues, is a media contributor across various mediums and outlets and speaks publicly before diverse audiences.
She is the recipient of Hadassah’s prestigious Myrtle Wreath Award and the Algemeiner listed her as one of the top “100 people positively contributing to Jewish life” in 2018.
Rabbi David Saperstein
Senior Advisor for Policy and Strategy, Union for Reform Judaism
For 40 years, Rabbi Saperstein directed the Religious Action Center, representing the Reform Jewish movement to the U.S. Congress and administration. From 2015 to 2017 he served as the U.S. Ambassador for International Religious Freedom and served from 2019 to 2020 as the president of the World Union for Progressive Judaism. Currently he serves as senior advisor for policy and strategy to the Union for Reform Judaism. Over the years, he has also served on four federal advisory committees (chairing two of them) on a range of domestic and foreign policy issues.
During his career, Rabbi Saperstein has served on and chaired several of the boards or executive committees of over 20 national inter-religious, civil rights, and social justice coalitions and organizations including the NAACP, Common Cause, People for the American Way, the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, Multi-Faith Neighbors Network, the National Religious Partnership on the Environment, the World Faith Development Dialogue, Muslim-Jewish Advisory Council, and the Latino-Jewish Advisory Council. Rabbi Saperstein has received significant recognition and appreciation for his leadership (including a Uniters Award from the White House in September 2022) in such broad-based coalitions both within progressive coalitions and “strange bedfellow” bipartisan left-right coalitions.
Amy Spitalnick
CEO, Jewish Council for Public Affairs
Amy Spitalnick is the CEO of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, the national convener of Jewish coalitions working across communities to build a just and inclusive American democracy. She previously served as executive director of Integrity First for America, which won its groundbreaking lawsuit against the neo-Nazi, white supremacist, and other hate groups responsible for the violent events that occurred in Charlottesville, Virginia, in August 2017.
Amy also serves as a senior advisor on extremism to Human Rights First, on the advisory board of the Polarization and Extremism Research and Innovation Lab (PERIL) at American University, and on Bedrock’s national leadership council. She has extensive experience in government, politics and advocacy, including as communications director and senior policy advisor to the New York attorney general and spokesperson and advisor to the New York City mayor. She has also worked for a number of federal, state and local officials, campaigns and advocacy organizations, including as J Street’s first press secretary.
Amy frequently appears in national media and has been awarded various fellowships and honors, including being named a Women inPower Fellow at the 92nd Street Y, a Truman National Security Project Fellow, a City & State 40 Under 40 Rising Star, and a New York Jewish Week 36 Under 36 Changemaker. She graduated from Tufts University.
MODERATED BY
Rabbi Jonathan Jaffe
Senior Rabbi, Temple Beth El of Northern Westchester
Rabbi Jonathan Jaffe serves as senior rabbi for Temple Beth El of Northern Westchester. He also serves as co-chair of the Chappaqua Interfaith Committee and sits on Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion’s President’s Rabbinic Council and AIPAC’s National Rabbinic Council, and is a fellow of the Shalom Hartman Institute’s Rabbinic Leadership Initiative. Before arriving at Temple Beth El, Rabbi Jaffe served as rabbi and education director of Congregation Emanu-El of San Francisco, where he sat on the boards of the Jewish Community Federation’s Peoplehood Commission, the San Francisco Interfaith Coalition and the Pacific Association of Reform Rabbis and wrote a column for J. The Jewish News of Northern California.
Rabbi Jonathan Jaffe was born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii. He attended Camp Ramah in Ojai, California, and later served as education director for URJ Camp Newman in Santa Rosa, California. He received his bachelor’s in philosophy and history from Duke University and studied abroad at The Hebrew University in Jerusalem. Prior to his ordination, Rabbi Jaffe served student pulpits in Great Falls, Montana, and Las Vegas and he spent a year working as the education director of Temple Beth Torah in Fremont, California, and creating the San Francisco Bureau of Jewish Education’s Teen-to-Teen program.
Plenum III: New Paradigms for Israel Education
THURSDAY, MAY 30, 10:45 a.m.–12:10 p.m.
Dr. Yehuda Kurtzer
President, Shalom Hartman Institute
Yehuda Kurtzer, Ph.D., is president of the Shalom Hartman Institute. Yehuda is a leading thinker and author on the meaning of Israel to American Jews, on Jewish history and Jewish memory, and on questions of leadership and change in American Jewish life.
Yehuda led the creation of the Shalom Hartman Institute of North America in 2010 as a pioneering research and educational center for the leadership of the North American Jewish community, and teaches in its many platforms for rabbis, lay leaders, Jewish professionals, and leaders of other faith communities. He is the co-creator of the Shalom Hartman Institute’s iEngage Project, which seeks to bridge between Israel and world Jewry through content, curriculum, and cutting-edge educational programs. Additionally, he is the host of Hartman’s “Identity/Crisis” podcast which can be found at identitycrisispod.com.
Yehuda received his doctorate in Jewish studies from Harvard University and his master’s in religion from Brown University, and he is an alumnus of both the Bronfman Youth and Wexner Graduate Fellowships. Previously Yehuda served as faculty member at Brandeis University, where he held the inaugural chair in Jewish Communal Innovation.
He lives in New York with his wife Stephanie Ives and their three children.
Dr. Lesley Litman, RJE
Director of the Executive MA Program in Jewish Education, Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion
Lesley Litman, Ed.D., RJE, is the director of the executive MA program in Jewish education and coordinator of faculty instructional support at the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion. She also consults The iCenter in the area of curriculum design and professional development in Israel education with a particular emphasis on infusing Israel in Jewish day schools.
Lesley has served in leadership positions in a wide variety of Jewish educational settings including at congregations, day schools, youth movements and the Union for Reform Judaism. She lived in Israel for 10 years and was a founder of the Reform movement’s first kibbutz, Kibbutz Yahel. Lesley holds an Ed.D. from the Jewish Theological Seminary, a master’s in Jewish Studies with a Hebrew concentration from Hebrew College, Boston, and a bachelor’s in economics from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. She was a Mandel Jerusalem Fellow from 1994 to 1996.
Rabbi Dr. Laura Novak Winer, RJE
Director of the Master of Educational Leadership Program, Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion
Rabbi Laura Novak Winer, Ed.D., RJE, is director of the Master of Educational Leadership Program at the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion and a member of the School of Education faculty, based on the Skirball Campus in Los Angeles.
She earned her master’s in Jewish education and her rabbinical ordination from HUC-JIR. Laura’s doctoral research at the William Davidson Graduate School of Education at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America focused on how teachers’ connections to and understandings of Israel impact the decisions they make about what to teach and how to teach it.
As a senior fellow at the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Center for Studies in Jewish Education at Brandeis University, Laura is developing a new paradigm for Israel education which invites us to think differently about the goals and outcomes of Israel education.
She lives in Fresno, California, with her husband Rabbi Rick Winer.
Plenum IV: Visions for the Future
THURSDAY, MAY 30, 3:15–4:15 p.m.
Rabbi Meir Azari
Founder, Senior Rabbi + Executive Director,
The Daniel Centers of Tel Aviv-Jaffa
Rabbi Meir Azari is the founder of Tel Aviv’s Beit Daniel, where he has served for the past 33 years. Over the last three decades, Beit Daniel has become The Daniel Centers — four congregations spread across the greater Tel Aviv-Jaffa area. Rabbi Azari served as the executive director of the Israel Movement for Progressive Judaism from 1986 to 1989. He served twice as the chairperson of MARAM (Israeli Council of Progressive Rabbis) and is a current board member of the Jewish Agency for Israel, where he serves as deputy chair of its evaluation and measurement committee. In 2017 Rabbi Azari received an honorary doctorate from Hebrew Union College. He also received the International Humanitarian Award from the World Union for Progressive Judaism and Women of Reform Judaism at the 2017 URJ Biennial in recognition of his contributions to progressive Judaism in Israel and around the world.
Rabbi Azari has published two books: one discussing the origins and customs of Israeli Independence Day and another presenting Reform Judaism to Hebrew speakers through a set of essays.
Ilana Drake
Student, Vanderbilt University
Ilana Drake is a rising senior at Vanderbilt University majoring in public policy studies and English. Ilana is an alumna of Seeds of Peace where she gained experience in domestic and international dialogue. Her experience at Seeds led to her focus on building community and the importance of dialogue. At Vanderbilt, Ilana serves on the Vanderbilt Project on Unity and American Democracy Student Advisory Board and is part of the Interfaith Scholars Program.
Ilana was selected as a United Nations Association of the United States of America Global Goals Ambassador for the past two years, where she has advocated for SDG 4 (Education) and SDG 10 (Reduced Inequalities). She was most recently chosen as a UNA-USA delegate to the United Nations 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women.
Ilana’s writing has been published in Newsweek, Insider, and Ms. Magazine among others, and she has been quoted in The New York Times, The Washington Post and Teen Vogue.
Rabbi Samantha Kahn
Senior Associate Rabbi,
Congregation B’nai Israel of Boca Raton, Florida
Rabbi Samantha Kahn strives to instill Jewish excitement, provide guidance, offer counsel, and uncover Jewish passions for all. She is an experienced educator, pastor, advocate and preacher.
Rabbi Kahn is a proud member of the inaugural class of Stephen Wise Free Synagogue’s Amplify Israel Fellowship. A longtime Israel-lover and advocate, you can read more from Rabbi Kahn on her Times of Israel blog.
She is a millennial, a Zionist, a meaning-seeker, an equality-endorser, a bigotry-opposer, a mindfulness advocate, a social justice champion and silly social media fan (find her on TikTok @prettyflyforarabbi).
Rabbi Kahn is honored to serve as the senior associate rabbi at Congregation B’nai Israel in Boca Raton, Florida, and to focus her talents and passions on working with the Women of CBI and the social justice team, fighting for reproductive freedom with the Religious Action Center in Florida.
Rabbi Kahn is happily married to Matt Kahn, the Southeast regional director of American Friends of Shalva. She is a devoted mother, wife, sister and friend, and she is most content when she sees her daughters Roey and Stella Mae giggling.
Andrew Keene
Vice Chair, World Union for Progressive Judaism
Andrew Keene is the vice chair of finance for the World Union for Progressive Judaism, the global parent organization of Reform, progressive, liberal, and reconstructionist Jewish communities. He has served on the board of WUPJ since 2015 and is one of the organization’s representatives to the United Nations.
Andrew made aliyah in 2023 and now calls Tel Aviv home after six years in Washington, D.C. Originally from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Andrew was very active in the Reform Jewish Youth Movement, NFTY, ultimately serving as its North American president. During his year as NFTY president, Andrew took a gap year between high school and college to support the Union for Reform Judaism’s Campaign for Youth Engagement and spent significant time at the URJ Kutz Camp as a participant, staff person and faculty member.
Andrew earned his bachelor’s in entrepreneurship from Drexel University and works as an independent consultant in the area of civic technology with a focus on data-driven public outreach.
Rabbi Dr. Rachel Sabath Beit-Halachmi
Senior Rabbi, Har Sinai-Oheb Shalom Congregation
Rabbi Rachel Sabath Beit-Halachmi, Ph.D., an American-Israeli leader, author, and public speaker, is the inaugural senior rabbi at Har Sinai-Oheb Shalom Congregation in Baltimore. Ordained at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in New York, Rabbi Sabath also holds a doctorate from the Jewish Theological Seminary. She teaches Jewish leaders around the world through the Memorial Foundation for Jewish Culture and the Kaplan Center for Jewish Peoplehood.
Prior to her arrival in Baltimore, Dr. Sabath served on the faculty of HUC-JIR as assistant professor of Jewish thought and ethics and led a four-campus team. She was vice president of the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem, wrote a monthly column for The Jerusalem Post, and has published pieces in The Times of Israel and Haaretz. Currently, she serves on the editorial board of the CCAR Journal of Reform Judaism and is at work on two volumes, one on Jewish peoplehood and the other, co-edited with Rachel Adler, on ethics and gender. Rabbi Sabath is an alumna of the Wexner Foundation Graduate Fellowship and a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Society. Most recently, Rabbi Sabath was selected to be a scholar of Our Common Destiny, a partnership between philanthropists, the Israeli Foreign Ministry and former Israeli President Reuven Rivlin.
Rabbi Josh Weinberg
Vice President, URJ for Israel and Reform Zionism
Executive Director, Association of Reform Zionists of America
Rabbi Josh Weinberg is the vice president of the URJ for Israel and Reform Zionism and the executive director of the Association of Reform Zionists of America. He was ordained from the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion Israeli rabbinic program in Jerusalem and currently lives in New York.
Josh previously served as the director of the Israel program for the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, and as a faculty member of NFTY-EIE High School in Israel teaching Jewish History. Josh is a reserve officer in the Israel Defense Forces spokesperson’s unit, has hiked the Israel-trail, and made aliyah to Israel in 2003. Originally from Chicago, he has a bachelor’s from University of Wisconsin in Hebrew literature, political science and international relations, and master’s from Hebrew University in Jewish education. Josh has taught widely throughout Israel, the U.S. and Europe, as well as on Kivunim and Shnat Netzer gap-year programs. He has led numerous tours and trained tour educators for the Reform movement’s Israel experiences.
Josh is passionate about anything connected to Israel and hopes to strengthen the connection between the Reform Movement and the Jewish state. He is married to Mara Sheftel Getz, and is the proud abba of Noa, Ella, Mia and Alma.
MODERATED BY
Michael Laufer
Board Chair, American Zionist Movement
Michael Laufer has been active in leadership within the Reform movement for many years. Earlier this year, he completed 16 years of service on the Union for Reform Judaism board, where he also served two terms on the URJ Oversight Committee. Long involved in the movement’s Israel work, Michael is a long time ARZA board member, a former ARZA Vice-Chair and the former chair of the Reform movement’s 2015 World Zionist Congress election campaign. He also serves on the executive board of ARZENU, the political voice of Reform, Progressive and Liberal Religious Zionists within the World Zionist Organization. He was a member of the Reform Pension Board for nine years, a member of Rabbi Rick Jacobs’ transition team, and a member of the World Union of Progressive Judaism’s NA Advisory Board, as well as a past president of Temple Shaaray Tefila in Manhattan.
Michael currently serves as the board chair of the American Zionist Movement and is a member of the World Zionist Organization’s Va’ad Hapoel (Zionist General Council) and its Presidium and represents the Reform movement in those bodies. He has been a delegate to the last three World Zionist Congresses.
Outside of the Reform Movement, Michael currently serves on the board of 70 Faces Media, the largest and most diverse Jewish media organization in North America whose brands include JTA, My Jewish Learning, Kveller among others. He has been active with UJA-Federation of New York’s programs and grantmaking in Israel and served as Chair of UJA-Federation of New York’s Synergy Coordinating Council which provided support, resources, and capacity building for New York area congregations. He is a long-time member of the board of Tulane University’s Hillel, has served on the BBYO International Board, the ADL NY Regional Board, the NY Jewish Week board and the University of New Orleans Foundation Board.
A retired lawyer, certified public accountant and business owner, Michael lives in Manhattan with his wife Audrey.
Re-CHARGING Reform Judaism is sponsored by 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.
