NYJA Leaders Network
List information. Current as of January 23, 2025.
All affiliations are for identification purposes only. As a 501(c)(3) non-profit, NYJA is a non-partisan organization and does not endorse candidates for elected office.
Members of the NYJA Leaders Network broadly endorse NYJA’s platform and support our Jewish and democratic values. The Network includes Jewish individuals who hold positions of leadership at synagogues, non-profits, and other communal organizations, or are leaders in their respective professional fields.
Our goal is to build a network that represents the diversity of the New York Jewish community, including Jews of all denominations, ethnicities, genders, races, generations, and regions of New York. Individual members of the Leaders Network may not align with NYJA’s positions and statements in every instance.
Allied Elected Officials:
Assemblymember Harvey Epstein, NY State Assembly, District 74
State Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal, NY State Senate, District 27
State Senator Liz Krueger, 28th District
New York City Comptroller Brad Lander
Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine
Representative Jerrold Nadler, U.S. House of Representatives, NY-10
Assemblymember Linda B. Rosenthal, NY State Assembly, District 67
Rabbis:
Rabbi David Adelson, Dean, Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion
Rabbi Jonathan Blake, Westchester Reform Temple (Scarsdale)
Rabbi Angela Buchdahl, Senior Rabbi, Central Synagogue
Rabbi Ayelet S. Cohen, Senior Director, New York, New Israel Fund
Rabbi Joshua M. Davidson, Senior Rabbi, Temple Emanu-El (Manhattan)
Rabbi Jonah Geffen, Senior Jewish Educator and Campus Rabbi, Hunter Hillel
Rabbi Barbara Goldman-Wartell, Temple Concord (Binghamton)
Rabbi Matt Green, Congregation Beth Elohim (Brooklyn)
Rabbi Steve Gutow, Visiting Scholar and Co-Director of the Religious Leadership and Civic Engagement Project of the Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service of New York University
Rabbanit Bracha Jaffe, Associate Rabbi, Hebrew Institute of Riverdale- the Bayit
Rabbi Stephanie Kolin, Congregation Beth Elohim
Rabbi Amichai Lau-Lavie, Founding Spiritual Leader, Lab/Shul
Rabbi Sam Levine, East Midwood Jewish Center
Rabbi Joy Levitt, Executive Director, Marlene Meyerson Jewish Community Center Manhattan
Rabbi David Evan Markus, Temple Beth El (Bronx) & Board Chair, Bayit: Building Jewish
Rabbi José Rolando Matalon, Congregation B’nai Jeshurun (Manhattan)
Rabbi Dr. Jay Michaelson, Senior Fellow, Center for LGBTQ Studies in Religion
Rabbi Shira Milgrom, Congregation Kol Ami (White Plains)
Rabbi Bethie Miller, Founder, Sanctuary
Rabbi Avram Mlotek, Co-founder and Spiritual Director, Base
Rabbi Joel Mosbacher, Senior Rabbi, Temple Shaaray Tefilah (Manhattan)
Rabbi Mike Moskowitz, Scholar-in-Residence, Congregation Beit Simchat Torah (Manhattan)
Rabbi Scott Perlo, Romemu Brooklyn
Rabbi Isaiah Rothstein, Rabbinic Scholar and Public Affairs Advisor, Jewish Federations of North America
Rabbi Drorah Setel, Temple Emanu-El (Rochester)
Rabbi Felicia Sol, Congregation B’nai Jeshurun (Manhattan)
Rabbi Danny Stein, Director, Base UWS
Rabbi Benjamin H. Spratt, Congregation Rodeph Sholom (Manhattan)
Rabbi Josh Stanton, East End Temple (Manhattan)
Rabbi Abby Stein, Co-Founder, Sacred Space
Rabbi Peter Stein, Senior Rabbi, Temple B’rith Kodesh (Rochester)
Rabbi Lennard R. Thal, Senior Vice President Emeritus, Union for Reform Judaism
Rabbi Burton Visotzky, Professor, Jewish Theological Seminary
Rabbi Josh Weinberg, Vice President of Israel and Reform Zionism, Union for Reform Judaism
Rabbi Irwin Zeplowitz, Senior Rabbi, The Community Synagogue (Port Washington)
Cantors:
Cantor Irena Altshul, Cantor, Temple Israel of the City of New York
Cantor Lisa Arbisser
Cantor Josh Breitzer, Congregation Beth Elohim
Cantor Lori Corrsin
Community Leaders:
Karen Adler, Community Leader and Philanthropist
Anita Altman, Board – YAFFED
Stuart Appelbaum, President, Jewish Labor Committee
Andy Austin, Board Chair, A Wider Bridge
Talia Benamy, Jewish Communal Engagement Chair, J Street NYC
Gabriel Blau, Founder, Equality New York
Kenneth Bob, National President, Ameinu
Yoni Bokser, Executive Director/VP, NYS Governor’s Office of Motion Picture & Television Development / New Media
Jessica R. Brown, Co-Chair, J Street NYC Chapter
Dina B. Charnin, Former Director of Israel Policy and Programs, National Council of Jewish Women
Alan Cohen, Chief Program Officer, JASA
Daniel Marks Cohen, Democratic State Committeeman & District Leader Part A (AD 69)
Kobi Cohen, Co-Founder, Israel Shelanu
Lori L. Cohen, Executive Director, ECPAT-USA
Steven Cohen, Trustee, New York University
Victoria Cook, Founder, Torah Trumps Hate
Ami Dar, Executive Director, Idealist.org
Alan Divack, Program Director, The Lucius N. Littauer Foundation
Aaron Dorfman, Executive Director, A More Perfect Union
Allison Fine, Past President, Temple Beth Abraham (Tarrytown)
Dan Fleshler, Board Member, New Jewish Narrative
Peter Frey, Board Chair, J Street
Jennifer Friedlin, Principal and Strategy Director at Lizanne Hart Consulting
Gili Getz, Programming Chair, J Street NYC; Board Chair, American Friends of Combatants for Peace
Brenda Gevertz, Executive Director Emerita, JPRO Network
Paul Golin, Executive Director, Society for Humanistic Judaism
Phyllis T. Goldman, Consultant & Board Member, Bend the Arc
Melanie Roth Gorelick, CEO, Elluminate
Jack Gorman MD, President and Co-founder, Critica
Michele Gregson, Founder, Jewish Women of Westchester
Jessica Haller, Board of Directors, JCRC NY
Stuart Himmelfarb, CEO and Co-Founder, B3/ The Jewish Boomer Platform, Inc.
Rabbi Margo Hughes-Robinson, Executive Director, Partners for Progressive Israel
Melissa Iachan, Deputy General Counsel, NYC Dept. of Consumer and Worker Protection
Rae Janvey, Founder, The Conversation: Jewish in America
Peter Joseph, Chairman Emeritus, Israel Policy Forum
Karen Spar Kasner, Board Member, JCRC-NY
Zachary Katznelson, Executive Director, Independent Rikers Commission
Andrea Salwen Kopel, Executive Director, National Council of Jewish Women New York
Jonathan Kopp, Chair, J Street NYC
Gil Kulick, Board Member, Partners for Progressive Israel
Arieh Lebowitz, Executive Director, Jewish Labor Committee
Alisa F. Levin, Chair, Honeymoon Israel; Board Member, Israel Policy Forum, Executive Committee, JCRCNY
Stephen Levin, Former Council Member, NYC Council, District 33
Dr. Rachel Lissy, Director, New York Jewish Coalition for Criminal Justice Reform
Stu Loeser, Founding Principal, Stu Loeser & Co.
Noemi Masliah, Co-Founder, Immigration Equality
Ruth Messinger, Former Manhattan Borough President and AJWS President
Talia Milgrom-Elcott, Co-Founder, 100Kin10
Jo-Ann Mort, CEO, ChangeCommunications
Udi Ofer, John L. Weinberg Visiting Professor and Founding Director, Princeton Policy Advocacy Clinic, Princeton SPIA
Sheryl Parker, Director, The Joseph Stern Center for Social Responsibility, Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan
Margo Paz, Senior Advisor, UJA-Federation of New York
Judith Stern Peck, Former Board Chair, UJA-Federation of NY
Letty Cottin Pogrebin, Writer & Activist, Founding Editor, Ms. Magazine
Harry Reis, Former Director for Policy and Strategy, New Israel Fund
Marcia Riklis, Chair, Jewish Funders Network
Josh Rolnick, Founding Director, Lippman Kanfer Foundation for Living Torah
Eric Rosenbaum, President and CEO, Project Renewal
Rabbi Jennie Rosenn, Founder & CEO, Dayenu
John Ruskay, Executive Vice President Emeritus, UJA-Federation Of New York
Johanna Sanders, Director of Policy and Organizing, The Vaid Group
Nigel Savage, Former CEO, Hazon
Zachary Schaffer, Co-Founder and VP Community Engagement, Project Shema
Jeff Schoenfeld, Past President, UJA-Federation Of New York
Jodi Schwartz, Vice Chair, Board of Trustees of The Jewish Federations of North America
Abe Silberstein, Associate Director, The Abraham Initiatives
Jill Smith, Vice Chair, Board of Directors, Moishe House
Susie Stern, Vice Chair, Jewish Federations of North America
Meg Sullivan
Rachel Tiven, Former CEO, Lambda Legal
Ann Toback, CEO, The Workers Circle
Alan van Capelle, Executive Director, Friends of the High Line
Simone Weichselbaum, Co-Founder, Kugel Jews
Randi Weingarten, President, American Federation of Teachers
Chesky Wertman, Director, Jewish Alliance for Dialogue and Engagement
Jeffrey M. Wice, Executive Director, National Association of Jewish Legislators
Evan Wolfson, Founder, Freedom to Marry
Michael Young, Board of Directors, J Street
Isaac Zablocki, Director, Israel Film Center, Marlene Meyerson Jewish Community Center Manhattan