Speakers & Presenters

Rabbi Aaron Weininger

Rabbi Aaron Weininger is an assistant rabbi at Adath Jeshurun Congregation in Minnetonka, Minnesota. He earned his BA from Washington University in St. Louis (2007) and received ordination and his MA in Hebrew Letters from the Jewish Theological Seminary (2012), where he concentrated in pastoral care and studied as a Schusterman Rabbinic Fellow. As the first openly gay person to enroll in the JTS rabbinical school, Rabbi Weininger believes community can be transformed when the wisdom of inherited tradition encounters the depth of lived experience. He trained as a chaplain for two summers at Bellevue Hospital and for one summer at the Educational Alliance with isolated and homeless older adults. In his final year at JTS, he served the Bible Belt Jewish community as the Legacy Heritage Rabbinic Fellow at Congregation Emanuel in Statesville, North Carolina. He was also a rabbinic intern at congregations in Brooklyn, Sag Harbor and White Plains, New York and Portland, Maine. An alumnus of Clal’s Rabbis Without Borders Fellowship, Rabbi Weininger founded Makom, Adath’s spiritual community of 20s & 30s.

Rabbi Rachel Ain

Rabbi Rachel Ain became the Rabbi of Sutton Place Synagogue in New York City in the Summer of 2012. Most recently, Rabbi Ain was the Senior Director for National Young Leadership of the Jewish Federations of North America, where she worked closely with lay leaders and professionals to engage the next generation of leaders for the Jewish community, Prior to that, she was the Senior Rabbi of Congregation Beth Sholom-Chevra Shas, a Conservative Synagogue in Syracuse, NY, from her ordination in 2004 until 2011. Rabbi Ain’s other experience includes serving as a commissioned Lieutenant (JG) for the US Navy Chaplains Corps, and as part of an inaugural year-long fellowship at CLAL, called Rabbis Without Borders. Keep up with Rabbi Ain on Twitter @RabbiRachelAin.

Rabbi Daniel Burg

Daniel Cotzin Burg has been Rabbi of Beth Am Synagogue since July of 2010. Prior to his position at Beth Am, he served at Anshe Emet Synagogue in Chicago. Ordained by the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies at the University of Judaism in Los Angeles (now American Jewish University), he also holds an M.A. in Jewish Education. Rav Daniel is recipient of the STAR PEER Rabbinic Fellowship and is a contributing author to Celebrating the Jewish Year: The Spring and Summer Holidays. He serves on the board of the Institute for Christian and Jewish Studies and Rabbinic Cabinet of the United Synagogue for Conservative Judaism.  He works closely with the Reservoir Hill Improvement Council, particularly in the areas of housing and development.  He is founder of the New Jewish Neighborhood Project and blogs at www.theUrbanRabbi.org. Rabbi Burg lives in the Reservoir Hill neighborhood of Baltimore City with his wife Rabbi Miriam Cotzin Burg and their two children, Eliyah and Shamir.

Jennifer Stofman

Jennifer Stofman is the Senior Kehilla Relationship Manager for USCJ’s Mid-Atlantic District.  Before coming to USCJ, Jennifer was the Program Director and Associate Executive Director of  Temple Beth Sholom in Cherry Hill, New Jersey.   Prior to her work at Temple Beth Sholom, Jennifer was the founding Director of the Philadelphia area Ramah Day Camp.  Jennifer earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Jewish Studies and English Literature from Drew University and her Master’s Degree in Jewish Education and Jewish Communal Studies from Gratz College.

Rabbi Joel Roth

Joel Roth is Louis Finkelstein Professor of Talmud and Jewish Law at The Jewish Theological Seminary. Rabbi Roth also serves as Rosh Yeshiva of the Conservative Yeshiva in Jerusalem. The yeshiva, founded and maintained by United Synagogue for Conservative Judaism, is under the academic auspices of JTS. In addition to his teaching post, Rabbi Roth has held four key administrative positions at JTS, serving as dean of students of the Albert A. List College of Jewish Studies (then called Seminary College), director of the Melton Research Center for Jewish Education, and associate dean and dean of The Rabbinical School. An expert in halakhah, Dr. Roth was appointed to the Rabbinical Assembly’s Committee on Jewish Law and Standards in 1978 and served on it until December 2006, including a period of eight years as chairman. In addition to articles and responsa for the committee, Rabbi Roth has written The Halakhic Process: A Systemic Analysis and Sefer ha-Mordecai: Tractate Kiddushin. Dr. Roth received a bachelor’s degree from Wayne State University in his hometown of Detroit. He also participated in the Herbert H. Lehman Institute of Talmudic Ethics, a special-studies program. He received his master’s degree at JTS, where he was ordained in 1968. That same year, Rabbi Roth was appointed to the faculty of JTS, as he continued his studies toward a PhD in Talmud, which he received in 1973.

Rabbi Michael Knopf

Rabbi Michael Knopf, a Rabbi Without Borders, is the Assistant Rabbi of Har Zion Temple. He is dedicated to engaging and supporting spiritual seekers; communicating the transformative power of Torah and prayer; and building welcoming, supportive, and inspiring community. These passions inspired him, prior to his ordination from the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies in 2011, to help coordinate the Louis and Judith Miller Introduction to Judaism Program, the nation’s largest preparatory program for conversion to Judaism; to work as a spiritual counselor at Beit T’Shuvah, a Jewish addiction treatment facility; and to serve several congregations and educational institutions in the U.S. and Canada. Rabbi Knopf is a regular contributor to Haaretz‘s “Rabbi’s Roundtable” blog, The Huffington Post, The Jewish Exponent, Jewish Values Online, and other publications. He has a weekly podcast, “The Tisch,” featured on the JCast Network that illuminates Jewish ethical, spiritual, and legal issues. Rabbi Knopf shares his love of movies, traveling, and pizza with his wife and best friend, Adira. They live in Penn Valley, PA with their daughter, Lilah.

Rabbi Jeremy Fine

Rabbi Fine became the Assistant Rabbi at Temple of Aaron in St. Paul MN in the Summer of 2012 after finishing Rabbinical School at the Jewish Theological Seminary, where he also received a Masters in Jewish Education. While at JTS, Rabbi Fine received the William H. Lebeau Book Award and the Rabbi Morris Silverman Award in Liturgy. He also has a BA from the University of Illinois in Champaign/Urbana and a Certificate in Fundraising from New York University. Rabbi Fine served as the student Rabbi at Congregation Sons of Israel in Amsterdam, NY, and the Rabbinic Assistant and Director of Congregational Learning at Beth El Synagogue Center in New Rochelle, NY. Rabbi Fine writes various columns for several online outlets  including “Beyond the Bimah,“  which examines rabbinic issues off the pulpit and “Pop Parsha,” which looks at the weekly Torah portion with a twist of pop culture. He is also the creator of a nationally recognized Jewish sports blog.  In 2009 he married his amazing wife Jessica and they have a beautiful daughter Annie. Rabbi Fine is known for his creative adult education courses, his ability to engage young professionals, and his accessibility to Jews of all ages.

Dr. Erica Brown

Dr. Erica Brown is a writer and educator who works as the scholar-in-residence for The Jewish Federation of Greater Washington and consults with for the Jewish Agency and other Jewish non-profits. Erica’s books are Happier Endings: A Meditation on Life and Death (Simon & Schuster) and Leadership in the Wilderness: Authority and Anxiety in the Book of Numbers; Inspired Jewish Leadership, a National Jewish Book Award finalist; Spiritual Boredom; Confronting Scandal; In the Narrow Places; Return and co-author of The Case for Jewish Peoplehood. Erica writes a monthly column for The New York Jewish Week and the website Psychology Today and writes a weekly column for JTA on Jewish leadership.

She was a Jerusalem Fellow, is a faculty member of the Wexner Foundation, an Avi Chai Fellow, winner of the Ted Farber Professional Excellence Award, recipient of the 2009 Covenant Award for her work in education, and winner of the 2011 Bernie Reisman Award for Jewish Communal Service (Hornstein Jewish Professional Leadership Program, Brandeis University). Erica has degrees from Yeshiva University, University of London, Harvard University and Baltimore Hebrew University. She lectures widely on subjects of Jewish interest and leadership and writes a weekly internet essay called “Weekly Jewish Wisdom;” she tweets also daily on one page of the Talmud at @DrEricaBrown. She resides with her husband and four children in Silver Spring, Maryland.

Rabbi Morris Allen

Morris Allen is a pulpit rabbi (Beth Jacob Congregation; Mendota Heights, Minnesota) who has worked with many people to put into place the most comprehensive set of standards for insuring compliance with the ethical norms of Judaism in relationship to kosher food production.

Rabbi Cara Weinstein Rosenthal

Rabbi Cara Weinstein Rosenthal is an acclaimed Jewish adult and family educator and consultant who teaches and works throughout the New York metropolitan area. Rabbi Rosenthal has served as an education and outreach consultant to the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism’s METNY District and has taught for the Jewish Education Project, Chai Mitzvah, J Learn, and the Florence Melton Adult Mini-School. She has also appeared as a teacher, guest lecturer, and scholar-in-residence at synagogues, Jewish Community Centers, and chavurot across the New York area. As the PJ Library Coordinator for United Synagogue, Rabbi Rosenthal coaches synagogues to think critically and creatively about how to engage young families in Jewish life and community. Rabbi Rosenthal was ordained by the Rabbinical School of the Jewish Theological Seminary and is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania. She resides in East Hills, NY with her husband David and their children Sara and Eli.