Board and Staff

Board                 

 

Founder & President: Rabbi Shmuly Yanklowitz

Rabbi_Shmuly@utzedek.org

Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz is the Founder and President of Uri L’Tzedek. He also serves as the President & Dean of Valley Beit Midrash & as the Founder & CEO of The Shamayim  V’Aretz Institute. In 2012 and 2013, Newsweek rated Rav Shmuly one of the top 50 rabbis in America. In 2016, the Forward acknowledged Rav Shmuly as one of the 50 most influential Jews. Also, in 2016, the Forward named Rabbi Shmuly one of “The Most Inspiring Rabbis in America.” Rav Shmuly is the author of 14 books on Jewish Ethics. He studied at the University of Texas as an undergraduate and Harvard University for a Masters in Leadership and Psychology, and he completed a second Masters degree in Jewish Philosophy at Yeshiva University. He completed his doctorate at Columbia University in Moral Development and Epistemology, and has taught as an instructor of moral philosophy at Barnard College and at the UCLA Law School. Shmuly was ordained by Yeshivat Chovevei Torah while he was a Wexner Graduate Fellow.

Rabbi Avram Mlotek

Rabbi Avram Mlotek is the co-founder of Base Hillel and serves as rabbi of its Manhattan site. Base Hillel is a growing movement of pluralistic rabbinic couples who use their homes as convening points for Jewish life centered upon hospitality, learning and service. A scion of Yiddish cultural activists, his own Yiddish cultural work has brought him to Sweden, Romania, China, Australia, Ethiopia and Israel. Mlotek’s writing has appeared in The Forward, Tablet, Haaretz, The Jerusalem Post, The Jewish Week, The Huffington Post and Kveller among other blogs. In 2012, the New York Jewish Week selected him as a “leading innovator in Jewish life today” as part of their “36 Under 36” section and in May 2016, Mlotek was listed as one of America’s “Most Inspiring Rabbis” by The Forward. Mlotek received his BA in Near Eastern and Judaic Studies at Brandeis University and studied clinical pastoral education at The Jewish Theological Seminary. He received rabbinic ordination from Yeshivat Chovevei Torah. He is blessedly married to Yael Kornfeld, a social worker, and proud Tati to Revaya and Hillel Yosl.

Rosh Kehilah Dina Najman

Rosh Kehilah Dina Najman is the Marta d’Atra and Senior Rabbi of The Kehilah in Riverdale. From 2006-2013, RK Najman was the Marta d’Atrah at Kehilat Orach Eliezer in Manhattan (the first Orthodox synagogue to appoint a woman as senior Rabbi of a shul). She is head of the Gemara department at SAR Academy in Riverdale, NY. RK Najman has extensive experience teaching and speaking in the Jewish community on topics ranging from bioethics to environmental law. Rosh Kehilah Najman has served on the board of the Halakhic Organ Donor Society (HODS) for more than a decade and presently serves on the YCT and JOFA Advisory Boards as well. She participated in JOFA’s Agunah Task Force where she was the Education Committee chair.

Rosh Kehilah Najman studied at Michlalah in Jerusalem where she earned a teaching certificate. She went on to Yeshiva University, where she majored in Biology and minored in Judaic Studies, Music and Speech/Drama. Upon graduation, Rosh Kehilah Najman studied as a Drisha fellow and then went on to study at Nishmat, where she learned in their Machon Gavoha/Niddah learning program. She received her Rabbinic Ordination from Rabbi Professor Daniel Sperber. Rosh Kehilah Najman was a Torat Miriam Fellow and earned her certification in Bioethics and Medical Humanities from NYU/Einstein Bioethics and Medical Humanities Certificate Program. She compiled Jewish legal source material for HODS and has developed and taught halakhic curricula for the Drisha Institute as well as Ma’ayanot and SAR Yeshivot. RK Najman is a Senior Rabbinic Fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem.

Evan Farber 

Evan is currently an Associate in the Commercial Litigation Group at Reed Smith LLP.  He graduated in 1999 from Yale University with Distinction in Religious Studies, and in 2003 from Columbia Law School, where he was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar.  Evan has also clerked for Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein of the Southern District of New York and for Judge Robert S. Smith of the New York Court of Appeals.

Evan has provided pro bono counsel to several synagogues and other Jewish institutions.  He has served on the Board of Directors of Panim: The Institute for Jewish Leadership and Values, where he had previously completed a year-long fellowship, and of his shul, Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun in Manhattan’s Upper East Side.  Evan has also volunteered for other organizations, including the Unemployment Action Center, Memorial Sloan Kettering Hospital, and the Anti-Defamation League.

Rabbi Aaron Potek

Rabbi Aaron Potek grew up in Saint Louis Park, MN, and graduated from the University of Michigan with a degree in Industrial and Operations Engineering. After studying in Israel for two years, one at the Pardes Institute in Jerusalem and one at Yeshivat Har Etzion in Alon Shevut, he enrolled at Yeshivat Chovevei Torah in New York. A passion for working with teens led to his work with organizations like the Nesiya Institute in Israel, Impact and Genesis in Boston, and Moriah College in Sydney. Aaron has participated in a variety of interfaith programming. He interned at Beth Israel Congregation in New Orleans, LA, and at Hunter College and Harvard University Hillels. Aaron loves hiking, music, comedy, and podcasts. From 2013-2015 he served as the campus rabbi for Northwestern University Hillel. Currently, Rabbi Potek works with Gather DC, meeting with people in coffee shops and bars to have relaxed, meaningful discussions about what it means for someone to be Jewish in their 20s and 30s. His writings can be found  at “Rabbi Rants.”

 

Current Staff                 

Operations Manager: AJ Frost

AJ Frost is the operations manager for Uri L’Tzedek. A Phoenix native, he graduated Summa Cum Laude from Arizona State University with a Bachelors of Science in Political Science and a double minor in History (American) & Religious Studies and went on to earn a Masters at Columbia University in American Politics and Religion. In his spare time, AJ is an active member of Moishe House Phoenix, a board member for NowGen, an editorial consultant for Avalanche Comics Entertainment, and a freelance writer and editor.

Campaign Organizer: Eddie Chavez Calderon

Since he was a teenager, Eddie Chavez Calderon has been deeply involved in social justice work. From the trenches to the coasts and everywhere in between, Eddie fights for a progressive movement that works towards a more inclusive, diverse America. Despite having many obstacles in his way, nothing has deterred Eddie from continuing to fight for the Latino community as well as LGBTQ+ acceptance and inclusion, woman’s rights, economic justice, workers’ rights, citizenship and civic engagement, voter equality, and much more! He is excited to be a part of an interfaith coalition to continue to advocate for the dignity of every person no matter their creed or national origin. 

 

Past Board Members           

Co-Founder, Executive Board Member: Rabbi Ari Hart

Adam Block

David Gebler

Shira Hecht-Koller

Dr. Emilie S. Passow

Ellen Rosen Singer

David P. Stone

Jeffrey M. Wice

Ivan Wolkind

J. David Jacobs 

Karin Fleisch

Dyonna Ginsburg

 

Past Staff Members               

Communications Manager: Davina Bookbinder
 

Program Manager: Amanda Graff

Senior Educator: Rabbi Mike Moskowitz

Program Fellow: Adina Lichtman

Director of Programming: Yael Keller

Director of Operations: Hillary Levison

Executive Director: Steven Kraus

Executive Director: Rabbi Ari Weiss

Program Director: Raizel Druxman

Associate Director of Programming: Na’amit Sturm Nagel