Be'chol Lashon Team
 D. Tobin |
 Funnye |
 Cheng |
 Esensten |
 Fishman |
 Mejía |
 Reed |
 Schwartz |
 Sizomu |
 Wuriga |
 Ybarra |
 Yoches |
 Zarchi |
Research Scholars
 Belzer |
 Comenetz |
 Dennis |
 Dutwin |
 J. Gordon |
 L. Gordon |
 Isaac |
 Kim |
 Kula |
 Landres |
 Leavitt |
 Wilson |
 G. Tobin |
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Be'chol Lashon Team
Diane Tobin
Director
Diane Kaufmann Tobin is the president of the Institute for Jewish & Community Research (IJCR), an independent think tank providing original research and innovative initiatives. Founded by the late Dr. Gary A. Tobin, IJCR has strategic initiatives in three pivotal areas of Jewish life: religious prejudice, philanthropy, and demography. Ms Tobin is also the founder of Be’chol Lashon (In Every Tongue), a community-building initiative of the Institute that seeks to grow and strengthen the Jewish community through a global understanding of the Jewish people. With representatives and partners across the United States, as well as in Latin America, Europe, and Africa, Be'chol Lashon advocates for pluralistic inclusive expressions of Judaism that are relevant to young people and others. Diane Tobin is the author of In Every Tongue: The Racial & Ethnic Diversity of the Jewish People, which was a 2006 Independent Publisher Book Award finalist, and co-author of Jewish Family Foundations..
Ms. Tobin attended the California Academy of the Arts, and prior to joining the Institute in 1991, was the president of a design firm for more than fifteen years, specializing in corporate and non-profit identity, marketing, conferences, and fundraising events. Ms. Tobin brought with her a unique sense of organizational focus and direction that has helped IJCR to become a leader in Jewish research. She has served as a community leader in a number of Jewish organizations, including president of the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco, 1986—1989.
Diane Tobin has six children, Adam, 39; Amy, 35; Sarah, 33; Aryeh, 30; Mia, 27 and Jonah, 12.
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Director
Diane Kaufmann Tobin is the president of the Institute for Jewish & Community Research (IJCR), an independent think tank providing original research and innovative initiatives. Founded by the late Dr. Gary A. Tobin, IJCR has strategic initiatives in three pivotal areas of Jewish life: religious prejudice, philanthropy, and demography. Ms Tobin is also the founder of Be’chol Lashon (In Every Tongue), a community-building initiative of the Institute that seeks to grow and strengthen the Jewish community through a global understanding of the Jewish people. With representatives and partners across the United States, as well as in Latin America, Europe, and Africa, Be'chol Lashon advocates for pluralistic inclusive expressions of Judaism that are relevant to young people and others. Diane Tobin is the author of In Every Tongue: The Racial & Ethnic Diversity of the Jewish People, which was a 2006 Independent Publisher Book Award finalist, and co-author of Jewish Family Foundations..
Ms. Tobin attended the California Academy of the Arts, and prior to joining the Institute in 1991, was the president of a design firm for more than fifteen years, specializing in corporate and non-profit identity, marketing, conferences, and fundraising events. Ms. Tobin brought with her a unique sense of organizational focus and direction that has helped IJCR to become a leader in Jewish research. She has served as a community leader in a number of Jewish organizations, including president of the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco, 1986—1989.
Diane Tobin has six children, Adam, 39; Amy, 35; Sarah, 33; Aryeh, 30; Mia, 27 and Jonah, 12.
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Rabbi Capers Funnye
Associate Director
Rabbi Capers Funnye is spiritual leader of Beth Shalom B’nai Zaken Ethiopian Hebrew Congregation, Chicago and the Associate Director of Be’chol Lashon. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in Jewish Studies and a Master of Science in Human Services Administration from Spertus Institute of Jewish Studies, Chicago and rabbinic ordination from the Israelite Board of Rabbis, New York.
Rabbi Funnye is involved in many community organizations. He serves on the boards of the Chicago Board of Rabbis, American Jewish Congress, Jewish Council on Urban Affairs, Boys-To-Men and the South Chicago Chamber of Commerce. Rabbi Funnye has served as a consultant to the DuSable Museum of African American History, Chicago Historical Society, Spertus Museum of Judaica, and the Afro-American Museum, Los Angeles. Rabbi Funnye has appeared on numerous television and radio programs, including: Our Voices, BET, The Jerry Springer Show, WMAQ-TV, Common Ground, WBBM-TV, Talking With Aaron Freeman and WPWR-TV.
Rabbi Funnye and his wife, Mary, have four children.
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Associate Director
Rabbi Capers Funnye is spiritual leader of Beth Shalom B’nai Zaken Ethiopian Hebrew Congregation, Chicago and the Associate Director of Be’chol Lashon. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in Jewish Studies and a Master of Science in Human Services Administration from Spertus Institute of Jewish Studies, Chicago and rabbinic ordination from the Israelite Board of Rabbis, New York.
Rabbi Funnye is involved in many community organizations. He serves on the boards of the Chicago Board of Rabbis, American Jewish Congress, Jewish Council on Urban Affairs, Boys-To-Men and the South Chicago Chamber of Commerce. Rabbi Funnye has served as a consultant to the DuSable Museum of African American History, Chicago Historical Society, Spertus Museum of Judaica, and the Afro-American Museum, Los Angeles. Rabbi Funnye has appeared on numerous television and radio programs, including: Our Voices, BET, The Jerry Springer Show, WMAQ-TV, Common Ground, WBBM-TV, Talking With Aaron Freeman and WPWR-TV.
Rabbi Funnye and his wife, Mary, have four children.
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Davi Cheng
Be’chol Lashon Los Angeles Director
Born in Hong Kong, Davi Yael Cheng immigrated to the United States with her family when she was fourteen. In addition to her rich Chinese heritage, Davi has embraced Judaism and is actively involved in her synagogue, Beth Chayim Chadashim (BCC), "House of New Life," the world's original gay and lesbian synagogue founded in Los Angeles in 1972. Davi is the immediate past president and is the co-founder of the synagogue's Klezmer band, "Gay Gezunt," where she plays the trumpet and French horn, she also sings in the choir.
Davi is a graphic designer in Los Angeles and her artwork reflects the diverse aspects of her life and the unique perspective it has given her. Davi designed the twelve stained glass windows at BCC, and fabricated the windows along with three other artists, all BCC members.
Davi was elected in February of 2007 to serve as one of the Executive Vice Presidents for the Union for Reform Judaism (URJ) Pacific Southwest Regional Board. In addition to her interests in art and music, Davi holds a second-degree black belt in Judo. Davi holds a B.A. degree in Biological Science from the University of California, Berkeley, where she met her life-partner, Bracha Yael Cheng.
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Be’chol Lashon Los Angeles Director
Born in Hong Kong, Davi Yael Cheng immigrated to the United States with her family when she was fourteen. In addition to her rich Chinese heritage, Davi has embraced Judaism and is actively involved in her synagogue, Beth Chayim Chadashim (BCC), "House of New Life," the world's original gay and lesbian synagogue founded in Los Angeles in 1972. Davi is the immediate past president and is the co-founder of the synagogue's Klezmer band, "Gay Gezunt," where she plays the trumpet and French horn, she also sings in the choir.
Davi is a graphic designer in Los Angeles and her artwork reflects the diverse aspects of her life and the unique perspective it has given her. Davi designed the twelve stained glass windows at BCC, and fabricated the windows along with three other artists, all BCC members.
Davi was elected in February of 2007 to serve as one of the Executive Vice Presidents for the Union for Reform Judaism (URJ) Pacific Southwest Regional Board. In addition to her interests in art and music, Davi holds a second-degree black belt in Judo. Davi holds a B.A. degree in Biological Science from the University of California, Berkeley, where she met her life-partner, Bracha Yael Cheng.
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Andrew Esensten
Program Coordinator
Andrew Esensten is the Be'chol Lashon program coordinator. He holds a B.A. in African and African American Studies from Harvard University and received a fellowship upon graduation to conduct research on the African Hebrew Israelite community (Black Hebrews) in Dimona, Israel. He lived inside the community from September 2007 to November 2008 and is currently writing a book about the experience.
In March 2009, Esensten published a front-page article about the Black Hebrews in the Forward. He has also published op-eds about Israel in a variety of newspapers and wrote a column for his college paper, the Harvard Crimson, on issues of race, class, and politics.
Esensten was born in Pasadena, CA and currently lives in San Francisco.
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Program Coordinator
Andrew Esensten is the Be'chol Lashon program coordinator. He holds a B.A. in African and African American Studies from Harvard University and received a fellowship upon graduation to conduct research on the African Hebrew Israelite community (Black Hebrews) in Dimona, Israel. He lived inside the community from September 2007 to November 2008 and is currently writing a book about the experience.
In March 2009, Esensten published a front-page article about the Black Hebrews in the Forward. He has also published op-eds about Israel in a variety of newspapers and wrote a column for his college paper, the Harvard Crimson, on issues of race, class, and politics.
Esensten was born in Pasadena, CA and currently lives in San Francisco.
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Esther Gibian Fishman
Program Manager
Esther Gibian Fishman is the Be'chol lashon program manager. She comes to IJCR after two years at the Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco, working in the Campaign Department.
Born and raised in Kansas City, Esther moved to California to attend university in 1999. Graduating magna cum laude, Esther holds her B.A. in Political Science, with an emphasis on City Planning, from San Francisco State University.
Esther spent one semester in Jerusalem and one semester in Amsterdam. In Amsterdam, in addition to attending graduate courses in International Relations, Esther interned for the Anne Frank House, focusing her research on current human rights violations. Upon returning to San Francisco, Esther has continued her volunteerism at various local organizations including Creativity Explored, Planned Parenthood and the SF Food Bank. Esther is currently seeking her Jewish Service Learning Master’s Certificate at SFSU.
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Program Manager
Esther Gibian Fishman is the Be'chol lashon program manager. She comes to IJCR after two years at the Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco, working in the Campaign Department.
Born and raised in Kansas City, Esther moved to California to attend university in 1999. Graduating magna cum laude, Esther holds her B.A. in Political Science, with an emphasis on City Planning, from San Francisco State University.
Esther spent one semester in Jerusalem and one semester in Amsterdam. In Amsterdam, in addition to attending graduate courses in International Relations, Esther interned for the Anne Frank House, focusing her research on current human rights violations. Upon returning to San Francisco, Esther has continued her volunteerism at various local organizations including Creativity Explored, Planned Parenthood and the SF Food Bank. Esther is currently seeking her Jewish Service Learning Master’s Certificate at SFSU.
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Rabbi Juan Mejía
Be'chol Lashon Southwest Director
Rabbi Juan Mejía was born in Bogotá, Colombia in 1977. When he was 15, he discovered his converso roots and began to explore the history of the secret Jews of Latin America. This process eventually led him to Jerusalem, where he rejoined his people and decided to pursue the rabbinate in order to help others to find their Jewish souls. There he met his wife, Abby Jacobson, also a rabbinical student. Rabbi Mejía holds an undergraduate degree in philosophy from the National University of Colombia and a master's degree in Jewish Civilization from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He received rabbinic ordination from the Rabbinical School of the Jewish Theological Seminary.
Rabbi Mejía dreams of establishing a Yeshiva and Return Center for Conversos in the American Southwest where he can help train the leadership of these new communities both in the U.S. and in Latin America. In the meantime, he teaches classes to conversos in seven countries through his website: www.koltuvsefarad.com.
Rabbi Mejía lives with his wife and daughter in Oklahoma City, OK.
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Be'chol Lashon Southwest Director
Rabbi Juan Mejía was born in Bogotá, Colombia in 1977. When he was 15, he discovered his converso roots and began to explore the history of the secret Jews of Latin America. This process eventually led him to Jerusalem, where he rejoined his people and decided to pursue the rabbinate in order to help others to find their Jewish souls. There he met his wife, Abby Jacobson, also a rabbinical student. Rabbi Mejía holds an undergraduate degree in philosophy from the National University of Colombia and a master's degree in Jewish Civilization from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He received rabbinic ordination from the Rabbinical School of the Jewish Theological Seminary.
Rabbi Mejía dreams of establishing a Yeshiva and Return Center for Conversos in the American Southwest where he can help train the leadership of these new communities both in the U.S. and in Latin America. In the meantime, he teaches classes to conversos in seven countries through his website: www.koltuvsefarad.com.
Rabbi Mejía lives with his wife and daughter in Oklahoma City, OK.
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Deryck Reed
IT Services
Deryck Reed provides IT services for the Institute for Jewish & Community Research. He has strategized about and implemented the use of technology through his company Modern Mechanic in order to effectively collaborate with IJCR's research associates and fellows scattered around the globe. In 2007 Mr. Reed went to Uganda to set up a computer center for the Abayudaya community, empowering them with the technology to communicate with the global Jewish community.
Mr. Reed founded his company Modern Mechanic in 1999 and has developed long-term relationships with a diverse clientele. He holds a Private Pilot license and is fluent in Spanish.
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IT Services
Deryck Reed provides IT services for the Institute for Jewish & Community Research. He has strategized about and implemented the use of technology through his company Modern Mechanic in order to effectively collaborate with IJCR's research associates and fellows scattered around the globe. In 2007 Mr. Reed went to Uganda to set up a computer center for the Abayudaya community, empowering them with the technology to communicate with the global Jewish community.
Mr. Reed founded his company Modern Mechanic in 1999 and has developed long-term relationships with a diverse clientele. He holds a Private Pilot license and is fluent in Spanish.
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Lacey Schwartz
Be'chol Lashon New York Director
Lacey A. Schwartz is a film and television director/producer, who has worked with a variety of networks and production companies, including BETJ, @radical.media, Drive Thru Pictures and The Leon Charney Report, on branded entertainment programs, scripted and reality television series, commercials, feature-length documentaries, narrative films, concert films, live performances, added value DVD content and EPKs. Currently, she is producing/directing "Outside the Box," a documentary which traces Lacey’s upbringing in a white Jewish family, discovery at eighteen that her biological father is Black and personal exploration of her mixed-race identity; all the while exploring her connection to other Black Jews in America.
Originally from Woodstock, NY, Lacey graduated cum laude in 1998 from Georgetown University with a B.A. in Government and a minor in Studio Arts and received a J.D. from Harvard Law School in 2003, where she wrote, directed, edited and produced her first two films; Schvartze (2002), a short autobiographical film, and, Legally Black, Brown, Yellow and Red (2003), a feature-length documentary on minority experiences at Harvard Law School.
Previous to her career in television and film production, Lacey worked in corporate, civil rights and entertainment law at the American Civil Liberties Union, Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton and Garrison LLP, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP and MTV Networks. She also worked as a New York City Public School teacher teaching math and theater while she DJed on the side for an arts organization, band and private parties.
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Be'chol Lashon New York Director
Lacey A. Schwartz is a film and television director/producer, who has worked with a variety of networks and production companies, including BETJ, @radical.media, Drive Thru Pictures and The Leon Charney Report, on branded entertainment programs, scripted and reality television series, commercials, feature-length documentaries, narrative films, concert films, live performances, added value DVD content and EPKs. Currently, she is producing/directing "Outside the Box," a documentary which traces Lacey’s upbringing in a white Jewish family, discovery at eighteen that her biological father is Black and personal exploration of her mixed-race identity; all the while exploring her connection to other Black Jews in America.
Originally from Woodstock, NY, Lacey graduated cum laude in 1998 from Georgetown University with a B.A. in Government and a minor in Studio Arts and received a J.D. from Harvard Law School in 2003, where she wrote, directed, edited and produced her first two films; Schvartze (2002), a short autobiographical film, and, Legally Black, Brown, Yellow and Red (2003), a feature-length documentary on minority experiences at Harvard Law School.
Previous to her career in television and film production, Lacey worked in corporate, civil rights and entertainment law at the American Civil Liberties Union, Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton and Garrison LLP, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP and MTV Networks. She also worked as a New York City Public School teacher teaching math and theater while she DJed on the side for an arts organization, band and private parties.
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Rabbi Gershom Sizomu
Research Fellow
Rabbi Gershom Sizomu is a Be'chol Lashon Rabbinic Fellow at the Institute for Jewish & Community Research and the spiritual leader of the Abayudaya Jews of Uganda. In 2003 he was awarded a Be'chol Lashon Fellowship to attend the 5-year program at the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies at the American Jewish University and live in Los Angeles with his wife Tziporah and their two children, Igaal and Dafna. During that time, Rabbi Sizomu served as a rabbinic intern at Shomrei Torah Synagogue. He spent the 2005-06 academic year with his family at the Schechter Rabbinic Seminary in Jerusalem where his third child, Navaah, was born.
After Rabbi Sizomu's ordination in May, 2008, he returned to Uganda and opened a Yeshiva to train African teachers and rabbis to serve their ancient and emerging Jewish communities. He continues to help his community remain healthy and strong, both physically and spiritually. With the support of Be'chol Lashon, the Abayudaya are engaged in a comprehensive Health and Development Project that includes building a Health Center, preventing disease, and developing economy.
Rabbi Gershom Sizomu is the grandson of community elder "Rabbi" Samson. He lives near the Moses Synagogue in the village of Nabugoye which he and others from the community's early 1980s "Kibbutz movement" built with their own hands. He was youth leader of the Abayudaya community from 1988 to 1998. Their goal was to gather what was left of the Abayudaya community back together after the devastating reign of Idi Amin Dada ended in 1979.
Rabbi Sizomu is also an ambassador for the Abayudaya. As part of the Be'chol Lashon Speakers Bureau, Rabbi Sizomu lectures and performs Abayudaya Jewish music at venues across the United States.
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Research Fellow
Rabbi Gershom Sizomu is a Be'chol Lashon Rabbinic Fellow at the Institute for Jewish & Community Research and the spiritual leader of the Abayudaya Jews of Uganda. In 2003 he was awarded a Be'chol Lashon Fellowship to attend the 5-year program at the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies at the American Jewish University and live in Los Angeles with his wife Tziporah and their two children, Igaal and Dafna. During that time, Rabbi Sizomu served as a rabbinic intern at Shomrei Torah Synagogue. He spent the 2005-06 academic year with his family at the Schechter Rabbinic Seminary in Jerusalem where his third child, Navaah, was born.
After Rabbi Sizomu's ordination in May, 2008, he returned to Uganda and opened a Yeshiva to train African teachers and rabbis to serve their ancient and emerging Jewish communities. He continues to help his community remain healthy and strong, both physically and spiritually. With the support of Be'chol Lashon, the Abayudaya are engaged in a comprehensive Health and Development Project that includes building a Health Center, preventing disease, and developing economy.
Rabbi Gershom Sizomu is the grandson of community elder "Rabbi" Samson. He lives near the Moses Synagogue in the village of Nabugoye which he and others from the community's early 1980s "Kibbutz movement" built with their own hands. He was youth leader of the Abayudaya community from 1988 to 1998. Their goal was to gather what was left of the Abayudaya community back together after the devastating reign of Idi Amin Dada ended in 1979.
Rabbi Sizomu is also an ambassador for the Abayudaya. As part of the Be'chol Lashon Speakers Bureau, Rabbi Sizomu lectures and performs Abayudaya Jewish music at venues across the United States.
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Rabson Wuriga, Ph.D.
Research Fellow
Dr. Rabson Wuriga, a Be'chol Lashon Research Fellow at the Institute for Jewish & Community Research, is conducting research and writing a book on Lemba traditions. Dr. Wuriga is a philosopher and biblical scholar by training. He earned his Ph.D. in Philosophy from the University of Natal, Durban, South Africa.
Dr. Wuriga was born and raised in Zimbabwe. He belongs to the Hamisi (or Hamish) clan of the Lemba community. He works with the Lemba community in Zimbabwe as national coordinator and fundraiser.
Dr. Wuriga and his wife, Eveline, have two children.
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Research Fellow
Dr. Rabson Wuriga, a Be'chol Lashon Research Fellow at the Institute for Jewish & Community Research, is conducting research and writing a book on Lemba traditions. Dr. Wuriga is a philosopher and biblical scholar by training. He earned his Ph.D. in Philosophy from the University of Natal, Durban, South Africa.
Dr. Wuriga was born and raised in Zimbabwe. He belongs to the Hamisi (or Hamish) clan of the Lemba community. He works with the Lemba community in Zimbabwe as national coordinator and fundraiser.
Dr. Wuriga and his wife, Eveline, have two children.
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Dennis Ybarra
Research Associate
Dennis Ybarra is a research associate at the Institute for Jewish & Community Research. He is the manager of the initiative on anti-Semitism and anti-Israelism in America's K-12 education systems. Ybarra obtained a B.S. in business administration from the University of California, Berkeley, accompanied by substantial work in modern and biblical Hebrew. He earned an M.B.A. from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. From 1990 to 2000, he served as liaison to the Jewish community on behalf of the Catholic bishop of Sacramento, CA, for whom he provided testimony in California History-Social Science adoptions. In 1994, the Sacramento City Council honored him for his work strengthening the ties between the city's Jewish and Catholic communities.
Ybarra is the co-author of The Trouble With Textbooks, an examination of anti-Semitism and anti-Israelism that saturate elementary and secondary school social studies materials. The Trouble with Textbooks has attracted wide media attention, particularly from radio stations and in four segments during 2009 on Fox News.
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Research Associate
Dennis Ybarra is a research associate at the Institute for Jewish & Community Research. He is the manager of the initiative on anti-Semitism and anti-Israelism in America's K-12 education systems. Ybarra obtained a B.S. in business administration from the University of California, Berkeley, accompanied by substantial work in modern and biblical Hebrew. He earned an M.B.A. from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. From 1990 to 2000, he served as liaison to the Jewish community on behalf of the Catholic bishop of Sacramento, CA, for whom he provided testimony in California History-Social Science adoptions. In 1994, the Sacramento City Council honored him for his work strengthening the ties between the city's Jewish and Catholic communities.
Ybarra is the co-author of The Trouble With Textbooks, an examination of anti-Semitism and anti-Israelism that saturate elementary and secondary school social studies materials. The Trouble with Textbooks has attracted wide media attention, particularly from radio stations and in four segments during 2009 on Fox News.
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Joshua Yoches
Artistic Director
Josh Yoches is the Art Director for Be'chol Lashon. He received his BA from the University of California, Santa Cruz, where he received the Irwin Award for excellence in painting.
Josh comes to the project with over eight years of artistic direction experience. He served as art director for the design firm Full Support Productions, specializing in corporate identity, video production, print advertisement, and web design. He headed a collective of artists under the name ActivaSeed, which collaborated on art installations throughout the Bay Area, Nevada, Arizona, and Orange County. Their collaborative artistic efforts ranged from fine art galley showcases to large outdoor murals. These ventures spawned the clothing company ActivaSeed. Josh serves as the executive designer of the label. Josh was also part of the community outreach program Mezark Marks, where he led art workshops for children.
Josh is currently attending the California College for the Arts, pursuing his Master's degree in Architecture.
Josh has brought his expertise to many Be'chol Lashon events, and is excited to be designing and launching the new Be'chol Lashon website.
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Artistic Director
Josh Yoches is the Art Director for Be'chol Lashon. He received his BA from the University of California, Santa Cruz, where he received the Irwin Award for excellence in painting.
Josh comes to the project with over eight years of artistic direction experience. He served as art director for the design firm Full Support Productions, specializing in corporate identity, video production, print advertisement, and web design. He headed a collective of artists under the name ActivaSeed, which collaborated on art installations throughout the Bay Area, Nevada, Arizona, and Orange County. Their collaborative artistic efforts ranged from fine art galley showcases to large outdoor murals. These ventures spawned the clothing company ActivaSeed. Josh serves as the executive designer of the label. Josh was also part of the community outreach program Mezark Marks, where he led art workshops for children.
Josh is currently attending the California College for the Arts, pursuing his Master's degree in Architecture.
Josh has brought his expertise to many Be'chol Lashon events, and is excited to be designing and launching the new Be'chol Lashon website.
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Rabbi Shlomo Zarchi
Research Fellow
Rabbi Shlomo Zarchi is a research fellow at the Institute for Jewish & Community Research. He received his rabbinic ordination from the Rabbinical Academy in Jerusalem and New York. Rabbi Zarchi is the rabbi of Congregation Chevra Thilim, the oldest Orthodox synagogue in San Francisco.
Rabbi Zarchi comes from a Hasidic family of rabbis that goes back six generations. Growing up in Brooklyn, he learned Hebrew and Aramaic as soon as he was able to read. He began studying Kabbalah shortly thereafter, at the age of five. He has studied under some of the great Hasidic and Kabbalistic masters. He is one of the foremost experts on the Kabbalah on the West Coast and is a frequent lecturer. Rabbi Zarchi currently teaches classes at the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco.
Rabbi Zarchi has traveled to many parts of the world through his involvement in outreach programs. He spent significant time in the Former Soviet Union participating in the synagogue recovery program in the early 1990s.
He presently serves on the Vaad Hakashrus of Northern California.
Rabbi Zarchi lives in San Francisco with his wife Chani and their five children.
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Research Fellow
Rabbi Shlomo Zarchi is a research fellow at the Institute for Jewish & Community Research. He received his rabbinic ordination from the Rabbinical Academy in Jerusalem and New York. Rabbi Zarchi is the rabbi of Congregation Chevra Thilim, the oldest Orthodox synagogue in San Francisco.
Rabbi Zarchi comes from a Hasidic family of rabbis that goes back six generations. Growing up in Brooklyn, he learned Hebrew and Aramaic as soon as he was able to read. He began studying Kabbalah shortly thereafter, at the age of five. He has studied under some of the great Hasidic and Kabbalistic masters. He is one of the foremost experts on the Kabbalah on the West Coast and is a frequent lecturer. Rabbi Zarchi currently teaches classes at the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco.
Rabbi Zarchi has traveled to many parts of the world through his involvement in outreach programs. He spent significant time in the Former Soviet Union participating in the synagogue recovery program in the early 1990s.
He presently serves on the Vaad Hakashrus of Northern California.
Rabbi Zarchi lives in San Francisco with his wife Chani and their five children.
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Research Scholars
Tobin Belzer, Ph.D.
Research Scholar
Tobin Belzer PhD is a Research Associate at the Center for Religion and Civic Culture at the University of Southern California, and a Senior Research Associate at the Berman Center for Research and Evaluation at JESNA. With Rabbi Julie Pelc, she is the co-editor of Joining the Sisterhood: Young Jewish Women Write Their Lives (State University of New York Press, 2003). Belzer received her PhD in Sociology in 2004 and has a joint master's degree in Sociology and Women's Studies from Brandeis University. As a doctoral candidate, she was awarded the Joshua Venture Fellowship for Young Jewish Social Entrepreneurs. Belzer was recently awarded the Hadassah Award for Excellence in Writing about Women from the American Jewish Press Association. She is a 2007-08 Fellow of the Congregational Studies Team's Engaged Scholars Program, funded by the Lilly Endowment.
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Research Scholar
Tobin Belzer PhD is a Research Associate at the Center for Religion and Civic Culture at the University of Southern California, and a Senior Research Associate at the Berman Center for Research and Evaluation at JESNA. With Rabbi Julie Pelc, she is the co-editor of Joining the Sisterhood: Young Jewish Women Write Their Lives (State University of New York Press, 2003). Belzer received her PhD in Sociology in 2004 and has a joint master's degree in Sociology and Women's Studies from Brandeis University. As a doctoral candidate, she was awarded the Joshua Venture Fellowship for Young Jewish Social Entrepreneurs. Belzer was recently awarded the Hadassah Award for Excellence in Writing about Women from the American Jewish Press Association. She is a 2007-08 Fellow of the Congregational Studies Team's Engaged Scholars Program, funded by the Lilly Endowment.
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Joshua Comenetz, Ph.D.
Research Scholar
Since 1990, Joshua Comenetz has used cartographic methods and geographic information systems software to visualize spatial data, map demographic change and Jewish demographic patterns, and analyze data quality.
Dr. Comenetz authored the forthcoming 11th edition of the Atlas of World Affairs (Routledge) and is one of the editors of Goode's World Atlas (Rand McNally). As a consultant he has solved problems in areas ranging from political redistricting to ethnic and religious mapping, and he has taught geography (including a course in Jewish population geography) and international relations at the university level.
In a recent paper in the journal Contemporary Jewry, he used census data and cartography to derive the most accurate possible estimate of the size of the American Hasidic population. Other projects and papers have mapped and explained demographic trends among African-Americans, American Indians, Czech- and Slovak-Americans, Jews, Muslims, women in Eritrea, and Ethiopian ethnic groups.
Dr. Comenetz earned an AB in geology from Harvard and an MA and PhD in geography from the University of Minnesota.
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Research Scholar
Since 1990, Joshua Comenetz has used cartographic methods and geographic information systems software to visualize spatial data, map demographic change and Jewish demographic patterns, and analyze data quality.
Dr. Comenetz authored the forthcoming 11th edition of the Atlas of World Affairs (Routledge) and is one of the editors of Goode's World Atlas (Rand McNally). As a consultant he has solved problems in areas ranging from political redistricting to ethnic and religious mapping, and he has taught geography (including a course in Jewish population geography) and international relations at the university level.
In a recent paper in the journal Contemporary Jewry, he used census data and cartography to derive the most accurate possible estimate of the size of the American Hasidic population. Other projects and papers have mapped and explained demographic trends among African-Americans, American Indians, Czech- and Slovak-Americans, Jews, Muslims, women in Eritrea, and Ethiopian ethnic groups.
Dr. Comenetz earned an AB in geology from Harvard and an MA and PhD in geography from the University of Minnesota.
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Christopher MacDonald-Dennis, Ph.D.
Research Scholar
Dr. Christopher MacDonald-Dennis is the Assistant Dean/Director of Intercultural Affairs at Bryn Mawr College. He received his doctorate in social justice education in 2005 from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. His dissertation, “Competing narratives: The Interplay between Racial and Ethno-Religious Identity among Ashkenazi Jewish Undergraduate Anti-Racist Peer Educators,” was a finalist for the American Educational Research Association Outstanding Dissertation in Higher Education. He is also the author of Understanding Anti-Semitism and its Impact: A New Framework for Conceptualizing Jewish Identity.
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Research Scholar
Dr. Christopher MacDonald-Dennis is the Assistant Dean/Director of Intercultural Affairs at Bryn Mawr College. He received his doctorate in social justice education in 2005 from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. His dissertation, “Competing narratives: The Interplay between Racial and Ethno-Religious Identity among Ashkenazi Jewish Undergraduate Anti-Racist Peer Educators,” was a finalist for the American Educational Research Association Outstanding Dissertation in Higher Education. He is also the author of Understanding Anti-Semitism and its Impact: A New Framework for Conceptualizing Jewish Identity.
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David Dutwin
Research Scholar
Dr. David Dutwin is Vice President of Social Survey Partners, a major market research and social science research firm located outside of Philadelphia, PA. His primary areas of expertise are in sampling methods, questionnaire development, weighting, and data analysis. Dr. Dutwin has conducted a wide range of studies at Social Survey Partners, mostly pertaining to Jewish demography, Hispanic attitudes, opinions, and behavior, health policy, political tracking, and education policy.
Dr. Dutwin is also an adjunct professor at West Chester University where he teaches research methodology as well as business communication, rhetoric and mass media effects. David holds a Ph.D. from the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania, where his area of study was the formation of mass opinion. He also holds an M.A. from the University of Washington in rhetorical studies. Dr. Dutwin's prior experience was in politics, where he worked for former U.S. Senator Harris Wofford of Pennsylvania and current House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of San Francisco.
David lives in the Philadelphia area with his wife Betsy and his two sons, Aidan and Elias.
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Research Scholar
Dr. David Dutwin is Vice President of Social Survey Partners, a major market research and social science research firm located outside of Philadelphia, PA. His primary areas of expertise are in sampling methods, questionnaire development, weighting, and data analysis. Dr. Dutwin has conducted a wide range of studies at Social Survey Partners, mostly pertaining to Jewish demography, Hispanic attitudes, opinions, and behavior, health policy, political tracking, and education policy.
Dr. Dutwin is also an adjunct professor at West Chester University where he teaches research methodology as well as business communication, rhetoric and mass media effects. David holds a Ph.D. from the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania, where his area of study was the formation of mass opinion. He also holds an M.A. from the University of Washington in rhetorical studies. Dr. Dutwin's prior experience was in politics, where he worked for former U.S. Senator Harris Wofford of Pennsylvania and current House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of San Francisco.
David lives in the Philadelphia area with his wife Betsy and his two sons, Aidan and Elias.
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Jane Anna Gordon
Research Scholar
Jane Anna Gordon teaches in the Department of Political Science at Temple University, where she also is Associate Director of the Institute for the Study of Race and Social Thought and the Center for Afro-Jewish Studies. She is the author of Why They Couldn't Wait: A Critique of the Black-Jewish Conflict Over Community Control in Ocean-Hill Brownsville, 1967-1971 (Routledge, 2001), which was listed by The Gotham Gazette as one of the four best books recently published on Civil Rights, and co-editor of A Companion to African-American Studies (Blackwell's, 2006) and Not Only the Master's Tools (Paradigm Publishers, 2006). Gordon's current work focuses on problems of legitimacy in democratic societies: she is currently completing one book that aims to refashion Rousseau's concept of the general will through the resources offered by W.E.B. Du Bois's idea of double consciousness and on another, with Lewis Gordon, that develops a social and political theory of disaster in the modern age. Gordon is particularly interested in how best to measure and count communities that have been designated religiously, about ways in which best to understand members of communities of color who are deliberately returning to Judaism, and in how most accurately and effectively to illuminate, emphasize, and educate contemporary Jews and non-Jews about the creolized past and present of vibrant Jewish communities.
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Research Scholar
Jane Anna Gordon teaches in the Department of Political Science at Temple University, where she also is Associate Director of the Institute for the Study of Race and Social Thought and the Center for Afro-Jewish Studies. She is the author of Why They Couldn't Wait: A Critique of the Black-Jewish Conflict Over Community Control in Ocean-Hill Brownsville, 1967-1971 (Routledge, 2001), which was listed by The Gotham Gazette as one of the four best books recently published on Civil Rights, and co-editor of A Companion to African-American Studies (Blackwell's, 2006) and Not Only the Master's Tools (Paradigm Publishers, 2006). Gordon's current work focuses on problems of legitimacy in democratic societies: she is currently completing one book that aims to refashion Rousseau's concept of the general will through the resources offered by W.E.B. Du Bois's idea of double consciousness and on another, with Lewis Gordon, that develops a social and political theory of disaster in the modern age. Gordon is particularly interested in how best to measure and count communities that have been designated religiously, about ways in which best to understand members of communities of color who are deliberately returning to Judaism, and in how most accurately and effectively to illuminate, emphasize, and educate contemporary Jews and non-Jews about the creolized past and present of vibrant Jewish communities.
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Lewis R. Gordon, Ph.D.
Research Scholar
Lewis Gordon is the offspring of two Jewish communities that converged in his mother.
One was the Solomon family, who migrated to Jamaica in the 19th Century. The other was from Ireland under the name of Finikin, who also immigrated there during the same period. Noticing that admission of his Jewish heritage stimulates discussion and reflection on Jewish diversity and history, Gordon has committed himself to working with fellow scholars and community workers dedicated to the re-appearance of Jewish people who have disappeared either by force or neglect. He is the founder and co-director, with his wife Jane Gordon, of the Center for Afro-Jewish Studies at Temple University, a research institute dedicated to developing reliable sources of information on Afro-Jews and Jewish diversity. He is also a research affiliate of the Institute for Jewish Research and Community. His formal academic appointment is the Laura H. Carnell Professor of Philosophy, Religion, and Judaic Studies at Temple University. Professor Gordon achieved his PhD in Philosophy with distinction from Yale University in 1993. He earned his B.A., with multiple honors, through the Lehman Scholars Program at Lehman College in the Bronx, New York, in 1984, after which he had taught as a Social Studies teacher in the Bronx, where he was also founder of the Second Chance Program at Lehman High School. Professor Gordon is the author of several influential and award-winning books, such as Bad Faith and Antiblack Racism (1995), Her Majesty's Other Children (1997), which won the Gustavus Myer Award for Outstanding Work on Human Rights in North America, Exisentia Africana (2000), Disciplinary Decadence (2006), and his co-edited A Companion to African-American Studies, was chosen as the NetLibrary eBook of the Month for February 2007. His forthcoming books are An Introduction to Africana Philosophy, which will be published by Cambridge University Press, and, with Jane Anna Gordon, Of Divine Warning: Reading Disaster in the Modern Age, which will be published by Paradigm Publishers. He is the author of the foreword to Gary and Diane Tobin and Scott Rubin's In Every Tongue (2005), and he is currently working on a book tentatively titled The Afro-Jewish Question and co-editing an anthology on the study of Jewish diversity. Professor Gordon has received many accolades for his work and has lectured internationally.
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Research Scholar
Lewis Gordon is the offspring of two Jewish communities that converged in his mother.
One was the Solomon family, who migrated to Jamaica in the 19th Century. The other was from Ireland under the name of Finikin, who also immigrated there during the same period. Noticing that admission of his Jewish heritage stimulates discussion and reflection on Jewish diversity and history, Gordon has committed himself to working with fellow scholars and community workers dedicated to the re-appearance of Jewish people who have disappeared either by force or neglect. He is the founder and co-director, with his wife Jane Gordon, of the Center for Afro-Jewish Studies at Temple University, a research institute dedicated to developing reliable sources of information on Afro-Jews and Jewish diversity. He is also a research affiliate of the Institute for Jewish Research and Community. His formal academic appointment is the Laura H. Carnell Professor of Philosophy, Religion, and Judaic Studies at Temple University. Professor Gordon achieved his PhD in Philosophy with distinction from Yale University in 1993. He earned his B.A., with multiple honors, through the Lehman Scholars Program at Lehman College in the Bronx, New York, in 1984, after which he had taught as a Social Studies teacher in the Bronx, where he was also founder of the Second Chance Program at Lehman High School. Professor Gordon is the author of several influential and award-winning books, such as Bad Faith and Antiblack Racism (1995), Her Majesty's Other Children (1997), which won the Gustavus Myer Award for Outstanding Work on Human Rights in North America, Exisentia Africana (2000), Disciplinary Decadence (2006), and his co-edited A Companion to African-American Studies, was chosen as the NetLibrary eBook of the Month for February 2007. His forthcoming books are An Introduction to Africana Philosophy, which will be published by Cambridge University Press, and, with Jane Anna Gordon, Of Divine Warning: Reading Disaster in the Modern Age, which will be published by Paradigm Publishers. He is the author of the foreword to Gary and Diane Tobin and Scott Rubin's In Every Tongue (2005), and he is currently working on a book tentatively titled The Afro-Jewish Question and co-editing an anthology on the study of Jewish diversity. Professor Gordon has received many accolades for his work and has lectured internationally.
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Ephraim Isaac, Ph.D.
Research Scholar
Dr. Ephraim Isaac is Director, Institute of Semitic Studies, Princeton, NJ; Fellow, Butler College, Princeton University (1994 –); Fellow, The Dead Sea Scrolls Foundation.
Born in Ethiopia, where he got his early education, Dr. Isaac holds a B.A. in philosophy, chemistry and music (Concordia College); an M. Div. (Harvard Divinity School); a Ph.D. in Near Eastern languages (Harvard University); a D.H.L. (honorary, John Jay /CUNY). He was Professor at Harvard (1968 – 1977). The first professor hired in Afro-American Studies at Harvard, he was voted the best teacher each year by the students and the department. In addition to Harvard (which endowed the Ephraim Isaac Prize? in African Studies in 1998), Dr. Isaac has lectured at Hebrew U. (ancient Semitic languages), Princeton U. (Near Eastern studies, religion); V. Prof. (religion & African American studies 1995 – 01) and U. of Pennsylvania (religion, Semitic languages), Howard U (Divinity School), Lehigh U. (religion), Bard College (religion, history), and other institutions of higher learning. His subjects range from those mentioned above to biblical Hebrew, rabbinic literature, Ethiopian history, concept and history of slavery and ancient African civilizations. He has been a Fellow, National Endowment for the Humanities and the Institute for Advanced Studies. He has received many awards and honors including an honorary D.H.L. (John Jay College, CUNY), and the 2002 Peacemaker Award? of the Rabbi Tanenbaum Center for Interreligious Understanding.
Dr. Isaac is author of numerous articles and books on (Late Second Temple) Jewish and (Ancient Ethiopic) Ge’ez literatures. Three of his recent works pertain to the oldest known manuscripts of The Book of Enoch (Doubleday, 1983). He has also completed An Ethiopic History of Joseph (Sheffield Press, 1990) and did Proceedings of Second International Congress of Yemenite Jewish Studies (ISS & U. of Haifa, 1999). An expanded definitive version of his The Ethiopian Orthodox Church is in print (Africa World Press, 2001.) He is currently working on a new edition of the Dead Sea Scrolls Fragments of The Book of Enoch (Princeton Theological Seminary), A History of Religions in Africa?, and A Cultural History of Ethiopian Jews. He is on editorial boards of two international scholarly journals on Afroasiatic languages and Second Temple Jewish literature respectively.
Dr. Isaac has diverse accomplishments. He knows seventeen languages. He is the first translator of Handel’s Messiah into Amharic, the official Ethiopian language. He is widely known in Ethiopia as founder of the National Literacy Campaign that made millions literate in the late sixties. He is currently the international chair of the Horn of Africa Board of Peace and Development Organization (Addis Ababa, Asmara) and the president of The Yemenite Jewish Federation of America. He is on the board of many charitable and educational organizations. Sought after nationally and internationally, he is widely acclaimed as a public lecturer on religion, literature, ancient history, peace and conflict resolution, and various other subjects listed above.
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Research Scholar
Dr. Ephraim Isaac is Director, Institute of Semitic Studies, Princeton, NJ; Fellow, Butler College, Princeton University (1994 –); Fellow, The Dead Sea Scrolls Foundation.
Born in Ethiopia, where he got his early education, Dr. Isaac holds a B.A. in philosophy, chemistry and music (Concordia College); an M. Div. (Harvard Divinity School); a Ph.D. in Near Eastern languages (Harvard University); a D.H.L. (honorary, John Jay /CUNY). He was Professor at Harvard (1968 – 1977). The first professor hired in Afro-American Studies at Harvard, he was voted the best teacher each year by the students and the department. In addition to Harvard (which endowed the Ephraim Isaac Prize? in African Studies in 1998), Dr. Isaac has lectured at Hebrew U. (ancient Semitic languages), Princeton U. (Near Eastern studies, religion); V. Prof. (religion & African American studies 1995 – 01) and U. of Pennsylvania (religion, Semitic languages), Howard U (Divinity School), Lehigh U. (religion), Bard College (religion, history), and other institutions of higher learning. His subjects range from those mentioned above to biblical Hebrew, rabbinic literature, Ethiopian history, concept and history of slavery and ancient African civilizations. He has been a Fellow, National Endowment for the Humanities and the Institute for Advanced Studies. He has received many awards and honors including an honorary D.H.L. (John Jay College, CUNY), and the 2002 Peacemaker Award? of the Rabbi Tanenbaum Center for Interreligious Understanding.
Dr. Isaac is author of numerous articles and books on (Late Second Temple) Jewish and (Ancient Ethiopic) Ge’ez literatures. Three of his recent works pertain to the oldest known manuscripts of The Book of Enoch (Doubleday, 1983). He has also completed An Ethiopic History of Joseph (Sheffield Press, 1990) and did Proceedings of Second International Congress of Yemenite Jewish Studies (ISS & U. of Haifa, 1999). An expanded definitive version of his The Ethiopian Orthodox Church is in print (Africa World Press, 2001.) He is currently working on a new edition of the Dead Sea Scrolls Fragments of The Book of Enoch (Princeton Theological Seminary), A History of Religions in Africa?, and A Cultural History of Ethiopian Jews. He is on editorial boards of two international scholarly journals on Afroasiatic languages and Second Temple Jewish literature respectively.
Dr. Isaac has diverse accomplishments. He knows seventeen languages. He is the first translator of Handel’s Messiah into Amharic, the official Ethiopian language. He is widely known in Ethiopia as founder of the National Literacy Campaign that made millions literate in the late sixties. He is currently the international chair of the Horn of Africa Board of Peace and Development Organization (Addis Ababa, Asmara) and the president of The Yemenite Jewish Federation of America. He is on the board of many charitable and educational organizations. Sought after nationally and internationally, he is widely acclaimed as a public lecturer on religion, literature, ancient history, peace and conflict resolution, and various other subjects listed above.
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Helen Kim
Research Scholar
Helen K. Kim is an assistant professor at Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington. She earned her B.A. from the University of California at Berkeley, her M.A. from the University of Chicago, and her Ph.D. in social work and sociology from the University of Michigan. Helen is broadly interested in race and ethnicity, gender, second generation Asian Americans and interracial/interfaith marriages among American Jews.
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Research Scholar
Helen K. Kim is an assistant professor at Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington. She earned her B.A. from the University of California at Berkeley, her M.A. from the University of Chicago, and her Ph.D. in social work and sociology from the University of Michigan. Helen is broadly interested in race and ethnicity, gender, second generation Asian Americans and interracial/interfaith marriages among American Jews.
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Rabbi Irwin Kula
Research Scholar
Rabbi Irwin Kula is an eighth-generation rabbi, nationally known speaker and teacher, and the president of the National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership. A regular guest on Oprah and The Today Show, he is also the host of the public television broadcast called The Wisdom of Our Yearnings.
Irwin Kula is the author of author of Yearnings: Embracing the Sacred Messiness of Life (Hyperion 2006). In his new public television special, based on his book Yearnings: Embracing the Sacred Messiness of Life, the acclaimed educator, speaker, and author discusses the powerful positive energy of our yearnings. Our everyday lives are driven by deep and profound yearnings for happiness, for certainty, for love and meaningful relationships. By understanding the “hidden wisdom” of our desires, Kula maintains, an individual can transform their life into one of greater meaning, passion and love. Drawing upon ancient wisdom texts, Old Testament and Talmudic teachings, Buddhism, modern literature and contemporary life stories, Kula explains how to celebrate, embrace and grow from the paradoxes, contradictions and “sacred messiness” of life.
Rabbi Kula lives with his wife and daughters in New York City.
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Research Scholar
Rabbi Irwin Kula is an eighth-generation rabbi, nationally known speaker and teacher, and the president of the National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership. A regular guest on Oprah and The Today Show, he is also the host of the public television broadcast called The Wisdom of Our Yearnings.
Irwin Kula is the author of author of Yearnings: Embracing the Sacred Messiness of Life (Hyperion 2006). In his new public television special, based on his book Yearnings: Embracing the Sacred Messiness of Life, the acclaimed educator, speaker, and author discusses the powerful positive energy of our yearnings. Our everyday lives are driven by deep and profound yearnings for happiness, for certainty, for love and meaningful relationships. By understanding the “hidden wisdom” of our desires, Kula maintains, an individual can transform their life into one of greater meaning, passion and love. Drawing upon ancient wisdom texts, Old Testament and Talmudic teachings, Buddhism, modern literature and contemporary life stories, Kula explains how to celebrate, embrace and grow from the paradoxes, contradictions and “sacred messiness” of life.
Rabbi Kula lives with his wife and daughters in New York City.
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Shawn Landres
Research Scholar
Shawn Landres is the founding CEO & Director of Research of Jewish Jumpstart (http://www.jewishjumpstart.org), a nonprofit incubator/think tank focused on community-building and organizational development at the nexus of spirituality, learning, social activism, and culture. He has extensive experience in academic and nonprofit leadership, peer network development, and grant management, including projects funded by the U.S. State Department and the British government. A member of the Selah Leadership Program 2007 National Cohort, Shawn chairs the advisory board of Jewish Mosaic: The National Center for Sexual and Gender Diversity and is a member of J Street's national Advisory Council. In Los Angeles, Shawn chairs the Tikkun pillar on IKAR's Leadership Council, serves on the Los Angeles Steering Committee for AJC ACCESS, and advises the Muslim- Jewish NewGround Project. He is certified by 21/64 as a consultant/trainer in multigenerational family philanthropy.
A respected author and editor, and a popular lecturer both in the United States and abroad, Shawn has taught at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion; the University of Judaism; Matej Bel University in Banská Bystrica, Slovak Republic; and the University of California, Santa Barbara. He holds degrees in Religious Studies and Social Anthropology from Columbia University, UCSB, and the University of Oxford. Previously he served as Director of Research for Synagogue 3000, where he managed the launch of the S3K Synagogue Studies Institute, launched the widely read S3K Reports series and Synablog, and conceived S3K’s Initiative. In 2007, he coauthored the widely discussed S3K-Mechon Hadar report, "Emergent Jewish Communities and their Participants: Preliminary Findings from the 2007 National Spiritual Communities Study" (with Steven M. Cohen, Rabbi Elie Kaunfer, and Michelle Shain).
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Research Scholar
Shawn Landres is the founding CEO & Director of Research of Jewish Jumpstart (http://www.jewishjumpstart.org), a nonprofit incubator/think tank focused on community-building and organizational development at the nexus of spirituality, learning, social activism, and culture. He has extensive experience in academic and nonprofit leadership, peer network development, and grant management, including projects funded by the U.S. State Department and the British government. A member of the Selah Leadership Program 2007 National Cohort, Shawn chairs the advisory board of Jewish Mosaic: The National Center for Sexual and Gender Diversity and is a member of J Street's national Advisory Council. In Los Angeles, Shawn chairs the Tikkun pillar on IKAR's Leadership Council, serves on the Los Angeles Steering Committee for AJC ACCESS, and advises the Muslim- Jewish NewGround Project. He is certified by 21/64 as a consultant/trainer in multigenerational family philanthropy.
A respected author and editor, and a popular lecturer both in the United States and abroad, Shawn has taught at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion; the University of Judaism; Matej Bel University in Banská Bystrica, Slovak Republic; and the University of California, Santa Barbara. He holds degrees in Religious Studies and Social Anthropology from Columbia University, UCSB, and the University of Oxford. Previously he served as Director of Research for Synagogue 3000, where he managed the launch of the S3K Synagogue Studies Institute, launched the widely read S3K Reports series and Synablog, and conceived S3K’s Initiative. In 2007, he coauthored the widely discussed S3K-Mechon Hadar report, "Emergent Jewish Communities and their Participants: Preliminary Findings from the 2007 National Spiritual Communities Study" (with Steven M. Cohen, Rabbi Elie Kaunfer, and Michelle Shain).
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Noah Leavitt
Research Scholar
Noah S. Leavitt is a teacher, author, community organizer and attorney. He serves as President of Congregation Beth Israel in Walla Walla, Washington. He is also a Research Associate with Whitman College.
He earned his B.A. from Haverford College, his J.D. from the University of Michigan, and his M.A. in Social Sciences from the University of Chicago, where his thesis, "The Ends of Ethnicity," analyzed the shifting perceptions of identity among leaders of interethnic networks in the Midwest.
He served as the Advocacy Director for the Jewish Council on Urban Affairs, directing numerous campaigns to carry out the organization’s mission to combat poverty, racism and anti-Semitism in partnership with Chicago’ s diverse communities.
Leavitt’s writings analyzing contemporary legal, cultural and political events have appeared in a wide range of print and online publications including The Forward, Slate, Michigan Journal of International Law, CNN, The Housing Law Bulletin, FindLaw, the International Herald Tribune, Jurist, and the blog of the American Constitution Society.
He is currently working on a project with his wife, Helen Kim, to understand how American Jews and Asian-Americans who are married to each other think about their racial, religious and ethnic identities.
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Research Scholar
Noah S. Leavitt is a teacher, author, community organizer and attorney. He serves as President of Congregation Beth Israel in Walla Walla, Washington. He is also a Research Associate with Whitman College.
He earned his B.A. from Haverford College, his J.D. from the University of Michigan, and his M.A. in Social Sciences from the University of Chicago, where his thesis, "The Ends of Ethnicity," analyzed the shifting perceptions of identity among leaders of interethnic networks in the Midwest.
He served as the Advocacy Director for the Jewish Council on Urban Affairs, directing numerous campaigns to carry out the organization’s mission to combat poverty, racism and anti-Semitism in partnership with Chicago’ s diverse communities.
Leavitt’s writings analyzing contemporary legal, cultural and political events have appeared in a wide range of print and online publications including The Forward, Slate, Michigan Journal of International Law, CNN, The Housing Law Bulletin, FindLaw, the International Herald Tribune, Jurist, and the blog of the American Constitution Society.
He is currently working on a project with his wife, Helen Kim, to understand how American Jews and Asian-Americans who are married to each other think about their racial, religious and ethnic identities.
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Jamie J. Wilson
Research Scholar
Jamie J. Wilson is Assistant Professor of Modern United States and African American History at Salem State College in Salem, Massachusetts. He earned his B.A from the University of Delaware and his M.A and Ph.D. in History from New York University. Jamie is the author of scholarly and popular articles published in numerous places including the International Social Science Review, Afro-Americans in New York Life and History, the History Teacher, and the Negro History Bulletin. His most recent book is Building a Healthy Black Harlem: Health Politics in Harlem New York from the Jazz Age to the Great Depression (Cambria Press, 2009).
A Jew by Choice, Jamie converted to Judaism under the tutelage and direction of Rabbi Arnold Rachlis at University Synagogue, a Reconstructionist shul in Irvine, California. His research interests include twentieth century African American Urban History and African American religious history. He lives in Boston, Massachusetts with his partner Staci.
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Research Scholar
Jamie J. Wilson is Assistant Professor of Modern United States and African American History at Salem State College in Salem, Massachusetts. He earned his B.A from the University of Delaware and his M.A and Ph.D. in History from New York University. Jamie is the author of scholarly and popular articles published in numerous places including the International Social Science Review, Afro-Americans in New York Life and History, the History Teacher, and the Negro History Bulletin. His most recent book is Building a Healthy Black Harlem: Health Politics in Harlem New York from the Jazz Age to the Great Depression (Cambria Press, 2009).
A Jew by Choice, Jamie converted to Judaism under the tutelage and direction of Rabbi Arnold Rachlis at University Synagogue, a Reconstructionist shul in Irvine, California. His research interests include twentieth century African American Urban History and African American religious history. He lives in Boston, Massachusetts with his partner Staci.
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Gary A. Tobin
1949-2009 | GaryTobin.org
Founder, The Institute for Jewish & Community Research
Dr. Gary A. Tobin was the founder and president of the Institute for Jewish & Community Research, San Francisco. He was also a senior fellow with the Baylor Institute for Studies of Religion. He earned his Ph.D. in city and regional planning from the University of California, Berkeley. He served as Director of the Maurice and Marilyn Cohen Center for Modern Jewish Studies at Brandeis University for 14 years, after 11 years at Washington University, St. Louis. Dr. Tobin consulted with scores of non-profits and foundations, and speaks on a range of topics, from philanthropy to religious stereotypes.
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1949-2009 | GaryTobin.org
Founder, The Institute for Jewish & Community Research
Dr. Gary A. Tobin was the founder and president of the Institute for Jewish & Community Research, San Francisco. He was also a senior fellow with the Baylor Institute for Studies of Religion. He earned his Ph.D. in city and regional planning from the University of California, Berkeley. He served as Director of the Maurice and Marilyn Cohen Center for Modern Jewish Studies at Brandeis University for 14 years, after 11 years at Washington University, St. Louis. Dr. Tobin consulted with scores of non-profits and foundations, and speaks on a range of topics, from philanthropy to religious stereotypes.
Having edited two volumes on the effects of the racial schism in America, What Happened to the Urban Crisis? and Divided Neighborhoods, Dr. Tobin targeted racial and religious prejudice in America as a key concern. He wrote books and monographs on anti-Semitism, including Jewish Perceptions of Anti-Semitism and Anti-Semitic Beliefs in the United States. His writings on prejudice in America's education systems include The UnCivil University: Politics and Propaganda in American Education, Profiles of the American University Volume 1: Political Beliefs & Behavior of College Faculty, and Profiles of the American University Volume 2: Religious Beliefs & Behavior of College Faculty. He completed a volume, published by Lexington Books, entitled The Trouble with Textbooks, an examination of anti-Semitism and anti-Israelism that saturate elementary and secondary school social studies materials.
Dr. Tobin's Jewish demography and Jewish identity texts include In Every Tongue: The Racial & Ethnic Diversity of the Jewish People, Rabbis Talk About Intermarriage, and Opening the Gates: How Proactive Conversion Can Revitalize the Jewish Community. He also wrote about organized religion in America, having completed two works, Church and Synagogue Affiliation and The Decline of Religious Identity in the United States.
His work on philanthropy was extensive. His publications include Mega-Gifts in American Philanthropy: Giving Patterns 2001-2003, Mega-Gifts in Jewish Philanthropy: Giving Patterns 2001-2003, and A Study of Jewish Foundations. Among his previous publications are Mega-Gifts in American Philanthropy: General & Jewish Giving Patterns Between 1995-2000 and The Transition of Communal Values and Behavior in Jewish Philanthropy.
Though the Jewish community lost a great leader in July 2009, Dr. Tobin left a gift in both the work he completed and the work he initiated for others to complete. Dr. Tobin worked tirelessly to coach his team of colleagues at IJCR. He wanted his work to live beyond him, not for the sake of his own legacy, but for the sake of the greater good he always pursued. The Institute for Jewish & Community Research will continue to pursue Dr. Tobin’s vision, inspired by his passion, courage, professionalism, and optimism.
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