Conferral of Honorary Doctorates to - The Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies Classes of 2000, 2001, and 2002
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Conferral of
Honorary
Doctorates to
The Ziegler School of Rabbinic
Studies
Classes of 2000, 2001, and 2002
MAY 16, 2022
15 IYYAR 5782
The Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies fosters an
unprecedented blend of academic rigor, emotional
warmth and openness, traditional and innovative
spirit in the service of God, Torah, and Israel. The
School fuses the methods and findings of the
academic studies of Judaism with the fervor and
devotion of traditional study and observance. The
school focuses on the journey of each rabbinical
student to produce extraordinary rabbis to lead
American Jewry into a renaissance of talmud Torah
(learning), shmirat mitzvot (observance), and gemillut
hasadim (acts of social justice and personal
compassion). In this way, the School strengthens and
energizes Conservative Judaism and Klal Yisrael.
Hazkarat Neshamot
Rabbi Dr. Ben Zion Bergman
Rabbi Micah Caplan
Rabbi Ronnie Cohen
Rabbi Dr. David L Lieber
Dr. Steven M. Lowenstein
Rabbi Allan Schranz
Dr. Eliezer Slomovic
Abby Spivak
Rabbi David Alan Stein
CLASS OF 2000
Back row (Left to Right): Rabbi Mark Jay Borovitz, Rabbi Daniel Eleazar Mehlman, Rabbi Scott Bolton; Rabbi John Crites-Borak; Rabbi Bradley Shavit Artson (Dean);
Rabbi Tracee Lynn Rosen; Rabbi David Alexander Cantor; Rabbi Jay Allen Strear
Front row (Left to Right): Rabbi Amy Ruth Bolton; Rabbi Richard Flom; Rabbi Carla Howard; Rabbi Hal Greenwald
Not pictured: Rabbi David Stein Z”L
CLASS OF 2001
Back row (Left to Right): Rabbi Mimi Wiesel (Assistant Dean); Rabbi Mark Hyman; Rabbi Bradley Shavit Artson (Dean); Rabbi Robert Judd; Rabbi Lynne A. Appel;
Rabbi Rachel Bovitz
Front row (Left to Right): Rabbi Cheryl Peretz; Rabbi Todd Mathew Doctor; Rabbi Ilana Berenbaum Grinblat; Rabbi Sara Lynn Berman
Not pictured: Rabbi Brian Alan Strauss; Rabbi Rachel Miller
CLASS OF 2002
Back row (Left to Right): Rabbi Barry Leff; Rabbi Mimi Wiesel (Assistant Dean); Rabbi Baruch HaLevi; Rabbi Mark Ankcorn; Rabbi Ranon Teller; Rabbi Cheryl Peretz
(Assistant Dean); Rabbi Eric Rosin
Front row (Left to Right): Rabbi Micah Caplan Z”L; Rabbi Bradley Shavit Artson (Dean); Rabbi Daniel Franklin Greyber
EVENT PROGRAM
WELCOME NORMAN LEVINE
Chair, Ziegler Advisory Board
GREETINGS DR. JEFFREY HERBST
President, American Jewish University
RECOLLECTIONS & LELA JACOBY
Past Chair, Ziegler Advisory Board
REFLECTIONS RABBI DR. BRADLEY SHAVIT ARTSON
Abner & Roslyn Goldstine Dean’s Chair
CONFERRAL OF DR. JEFFREY HERBST
DEGREES RABBI DR. BRADLEY SHAVIT ARTSON
RABBI CHERYL PERETZ
RESPONSE RABBI RACHEL BOVITZ
CONCLUDING RABBI CHERYL PERETZ
Associate Dean, Ziegler School
BLESSINGCLASS OF 2000 BIOS
Rabbi Amy Ruth Bolton
Rabbi Amy Ruth Bolton is a board certified chaplain with over two decades of experience
working in chaplaincy, community outreach, and education. She is currently a Spiritual Care
Counselor with Visiting Nurse Service of New York Hospice. Throughout her career, Rabbi
Bolton has served as a hospice chaplain in home, assisted living, long-term care, residential
hospice, and hospital settings. Her work has also included organizational development and
adult and youth education. She directed a Healing Center at a Jewish Family Service agency,
and served as the founding chaplain and co-bereavement director of a new hospice
program. In 2021 Rabbi Bolton co-founded the LifeStorms project with a social work
colleague, to provide spiritual and psycho-emotional support to individuals dealing with
grief and other life challenges. LifeStorms partners with community organizations to run
bereavement support groups and psycho-educational programs. Rabbi Bolton serves on the
board of Plaza Jewish Community Chapel in NYC, and is the co-founder and Music Director
of Bir’nana: the A Cappella group of Congregation Or Zarua, NYC. Rabbi Amy Bolton is
married to Rabbi Scott Bolton, also Ziegler Ordination Class of 2000, and is the proud Eema
of four children. Her oldest was born during their last year of rabbinical school and learned
with Rabbis Bolton daily in the Beit Midrash.
Rabbi Scott Nelson Bolton
Scott N. Bolton is Rabbi of Congregation Or Zarua in New York City. Prior to that he served
as head of two Solomon Schechter schools. Favorite endeavors include leading an arts beit
midrash, teaching along the trail as outdoor adventure rabbi at Ramah camps and helping
grow Zionist spirit as an educator-spiritual guide on Israel tours. Serving on the International
Advisory Board of the Auschwitz Institute for the Prevention of Genocide allows him to
support building a global community of practice, to honor the memory of the six million.
Serving on American University's Hillel Board allows him to give back to his college Jewish
address. His own art-making focuses on collages with genizah bound texts learning them to
"bring them back to life hidden in art." "The rabbinate has been the place to best express
my passions and commitments as a Jew and to help fan the flames of others' Jewish souls,"
Scott says. He is married to fellow Ziegler ordained Rabbi Amy Bolton, and they have four
children. Current work includes a project linking NYC museum collections to Jewish texts
and exploring deeper theological questions and reflections on life's meaning in a book
about the weekly parsha.BIOS CONT.
Rabbi Mark Jay Borovitz
After his Ordination in May of 2000, Rabbi Mark Borovitz was the Spiritual Leader of Beit
T’Shuvah, the premiere Jewish Faith-Based Residential Recovery Center and Spiritual
Congregation for 20 years. Rabbi Mark’s Rabbinical Training along with his "street smarts"
and "creds" helped to save thousands of lost souls from death and lives of abject misery as
well as their family members. Rabbi Mark published three books, The Holy Thief with Alan
Eisenstock; Finding Recovery and Yourself through Torah; and Everything Matters with Paul
Bergman. He has lectured across the United States and, over zoom, has taught in Israel as
well as the US and continues to impart the wisdom of Recovery through faith and Judaism to
people across the globe. Rabbi Mark is a devoted student of Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel
and created Beit T’Shuvah’s Spiritual programming using Rabbi Heschel’s teachings and
spirit. Rabbi Mark is married to Harriet Rossetto, founder of Beit T’Shuvah and they continue
to work together to help lost souls find their proper place in the world. Both Rabbi Mark and
Harriet retired from Beit T’Shuvah in 2021. He continues to volunteer at BTS and to be of
service to all who seek him out.
Rabbi David Alexander Cantor
Since his ordination in 2000, David Alexander Cantor has served as a congregational rabbi in
Manitoba, Maine, Connecticut, Tennessee, and California. With Kedma (Christine), he is the
parent of four children: Joash (24), Avniel (21), Shoshana (18), and Devora (16); a fifth child,
Ben Zion, was born in 2003 with Hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS), a fatal congenital
heart defect. Of all his rabbinic roles, David most values his interactions as a pastoral
counselor, and has pursued additional education in the field of Counseling Psychology.
Rabbi John Crites-Borak
Rabbi John Crites-Borak founded and directs Amud ha-Shachar/First Light®, an initiative
created to teach people of all religions how traditional Judaism served as an essential
foundation for ancient civilization and remains absolutely necessary in the modern world.
Under the banners of One God, Two Faiths® and One God, Many Faiths™ inter-religious
programs, Rabbi Crites-Borak helps people of diverse religious heritages build loving,
trusting and productive relationships based in the divine, eternal values we share as children
of the same Creator. Before his conversion to Judaism as at age 42, Rabbi Crites-Borak
worked as an Air Traffic Controller, a labor organizer, founded a public relations firm
specializing in the unique needs of non-profit organizations, and co-hosted Focus on Labor,
a nationally-syndicated radio program. Since his May, 2000 ordination at the Ziegler School
of Rabbinic Studies, Rabbi Crites-Borak has served in the pulpit, as Director of Inter-religious
Affairs for the Los Angeles office of the American Jewish Committee, and as a popular
Scholar-in-Residence in the U.S. and abroad. His current project is "The Holiness Code:
Ancient Insights for a Modern World." Rabbi Crites-Borak resides with his wife, Sharon, in
Portsmouth, New Hampshire.BIOS CONT.
Rabbi Richard Flom
They used to say, “Join the rabbinate and see the country.” After ordination, Rabbi Richard
Flom and his family spent two years in small-town Massachusetts, then returned to Los
Angeles, and have been happily there ever since. Rabbi Flom has seen quite a bit of the San
Fernando Valley east of the 405, serving congregations in Burbank, Studio City, and
Sherman Oaks. Working for the Rabbinical Assembly in various capacities (board of
directors, batei din for gerut and gittin), he has also spent a fair amount of time at AJU over
the years. His most rewarding rabbinic experiences have been as teacher, primarily for
adults. He has had a weekly Lunch and Learn non-stop for over 20 years. He has also greatly
enjoyed training b’nai mitzvah students, and is grateful that so many of his “kids” have
stayed in contact over the years. Rabbi Flom wants to remember Eliezer Slomovic, the
kindest, gentlest teacher he ever had, with an amazing memory. Dr. Slomovic’s magical
Tanakh, held together with duct tape, was legendary. If someone in the Beit Midrash
mentioned a pasuk, he’d flip it open directly to the verse, stab it with his finger and exclaim,
“Dere it is!” He always knew and he never missed. יהי זכרו ברוך
Rabbi Hal Greenwald
Rabbi Hal Greenwald is a native of Atlanta, Georgia and a graduate of the University of
Georgia. He received a Masters in Social Work from the University of Pittsburgh in 1996 and
Rabbinic ordination from the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies at the American Jewish
University in 2001. Rabbi Greenwald served as the Director of Education at the Jewish
Community Center in West Bloomfield, MI after receiving Smicha and subsequently served
as the School Rabbi at the Abraham Joshua Heschel Day School in Northridge, CA and
teacher of Rabbinic Literature at Sinai Akiba Academy in Los Angeles. Finding common
spiritual ground with interfaith students and teachers through study and travel to Israel has
been his rabbinic focus since 2007. Today he explores Jewish texts with Christian students
and teachers in Los Angeles and leads interfaith trips to Israel.BIOS CONT.
Rabbi Carla Howard
Rabbi Carla Howard is the Founder and Executive Director of Jewish Healing Center of Los
Angeles. Rabbi Howard combines rabbinic ordination with a unique background of pre-
medical studies, clinical work in women’s medicine and midwifery, and success as an
entrepreneur. She served as Rabbi for Gateway’s Beit Tshuvah, a drug and alcohol
residential treatment center, hired to create its Women’s Program. Subsequently she served
as Associate Rabbi of Metivta – A Center for Contemplative Judaism. Rabbi Howard was Co-
Founder and Executive Director of Jewish Hospice Project-Los Angeles, the city’s first Jewish
hospice service, re-organized in 2006 as Jewish Healing and Hospice Center of Los Angeles,
as its founder and Executive Director. Rabbi Howard began her hospice chaplaincy to the
dying and their families immediately following her ordination in 2000 from American Jewish
University (formerly University of Judaism), with Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. Rabbi Howard
is on the faculty of UCLA’s David Geffen School of Medicine and the Academy for Jewish
Religion rabbinical seminary, and has served on the Bio-Ethics Committee of Santa
Monica/UCLA Medical Center. She also writes articles and speaks about spiritual care and
end-of-life issues to both lay and medical organizations here and abroad. She is a member of
the American Academy of Bereavement, National Hospice Foundation and Hospice
Foundation of America.
Rabbi Daniel Eleazar Mehlman
Daniel Mehlman is the Rabbi of Temple Ner Tamid in Downey, CA. He is also a prison
chaplain and counsels inmates for the state of California. Born and raised in Buenos Aires,
Argentina, Mehlman was heavily influenced by his mentor, the late Rabbi Marshall Meyer, a
disciple of Heschel. Rabbi Meyer changed the face of Judaism across all of Latin America.
Mehlman studied at the Seminario Rabinico Latinoamericano, founded and led by Rabbi
Meyer, and after one year he moved to Israel, where he lived for 13 years. In Jerusalem he
taught High School P.E. There he met his wife, with whom he moved to the United States.
He returned to rabbinical school in 1996 and completed his S'micha in 2000 at the Ziegler
School of Rabbinic Studies in Los Angeles. He has held pulpits in Reno, Nevada; Jacksonville,
Florida; and Ojai, Studio City, and Downey in California. In his twenty-two years as a rabbi,
Daniel Mehlman has been responsible for approximately 1,000 conversions. More than half
of those converted have been native Spanish speakers. For the past ten years, he has, on his
own time and expense, served the fledgling Jewish community of Mexicali, who could find
no other rabbi willing to make the journey. And for a little over a year he has been leading
Jews in Santa Maria in Santa Barbara county, where he taught and lead services once a
month. Because his Spanish speaking leadership he collaborated with Bechol Lashon, in
Every Tongue, the organization that celebrates diversity in Judaism. In addition to regular
services and classes in Spanish, he lead the second night of Rosh Hashanah service and a
third Passover Seder in Spanish for ten years. Several times, Rabbi Mehlman spoke at the
Crypto-Jews Shabbaton in El Paso; in 2008, he was able to take a group from Mexicali with
him. Currently, Rabbi Mehlman was planning to teach an Introduction to Judaism class in
Spanish and one in English in Downey, that would have lead to the conversion of 20 people
to Judaism in the late spring and early summer.BIOS CONT.
Rabbi Tracee Lynn Rosen
Rabbi Tracee Rosen was raised in Denver, Colorado and attended college at Washington
University in St. Louis, where she received both a bachelor’s in Jewish Study and her MBA
degrees. After a 13 year career in banking, she returned to school, attending the newly
established Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies in Los Angeles. She was ordained in 2000
with multiple academic awards. She served in pulpits in Encino, CA, Salt Lake City, UT, and
Phoenix, AZ for 21 years before retiring from pulpit life. She is currently a part-time hospital
chaplain. After a year-long sabbatical, she hopes to return to offering adult education
classes either locally, on-line, or both. Tracee lives in Phoenix with her wife, Keren, teenage
son, and pets. She serves on the Committee of Jewish Law and Standards, the Rabbinical
Assembly Investment committee, and other RA subcommittees and interest groups. She is
involved in the allocations process of the local Jewish Foundation and Federation, and
enjoys participating in interfaith dialogue opportunities. Her hobbies include family
genealogy research, solving puzzles, and collecting Jewish folktales.
Rabbi Jay Allen Strear
Rabbi Strear joined JEWISHcolorado in 2018 after 23 years at American Jewish University in
Los Angeles, where he served as special assistant to the president, director of development,
chief advancement officer, and senior vice president. Originally from Colorado, he is a
fourth-generation Denver resident. Rabbi Strear received his undergraduate degree from CU-
Boulder and earned his MBA with a focus in non-profit management, and MA in rabbinic
literature, and his ordination from the University of Judaism.
CLASS OF 2001 BIOS
Rabbi Lynne A. Appel
As a rabbi for 21 years, Rabbi Lynne Appel has always tried to focus her rabbinate on the
women in Judaism, both ancient and contemporary. It has been her mission, both as a pulpit
rabbi at Temple Beth Haverim, in Agoura Hills, California, and by combining her skills as
journalist/rabbi to help Jewish women and young Jewish children and teens to see the
relevancy of Judaism in today's chaotic world. For four years, she and her creative partners
travelled the world interviewing women rabbis in North and South America, Israel, Britain
and Europe. From those interviews came a play called Stories From the Fringe: Women
Rabbis, Revealed, which was produced in theaters from New York to the Museum of
Tolerance in Los Angeles. Thousands of hours of video and audio tape was then donated to
the Jewish Archives in Philadelphia, to compile an extensive, permanent exhibit on Women
in the Rabbinate. As a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, a teacher, writer, rabbi, wife, mother
and grandmother, her life is full and blessed.BIOS CONT.
Rabbi Sara Lynn Berman
Sara Berman is a Board Certified Chaplain with NAJC and works as a chaplain at Kaiser
Permanente in Woodland Hills. She also serves as a mentor to future chaplains and CPE
students. She is an adjunct professor at Ziegler teaching the chaplaincy class. Sara is a
mental health advocate and wrote a book, Ben'Oni L'Benyamin: From Sorrow to Strength:
My Journey with Depression, which draws from her history of clinical depression and her
work as a rabbi in a series of accessible reflections on Jewish traditions through the lens of
mental illness. The book explores the Jewish holidays along with parsha haShavua. By
drawing parallels between these important elements of Judaism and the devastating effects
depression has on its sufferers, the reader can gain a deeper understanding of what it is like
to live with this condition. Rabbi Berman is a public speaker, sharing her story to various
communities throughout the country. She is a certified grief specialist and has led many
grief support groups. Sara is married with two kids, two dogs, and a cat.
Rabbi Rachel Bovitz
Rabbi Rachel Bovitz is the Executive Director of the Florence Melton School of Adult Jewish
Learning. She most recently served as the organization’s Chief Strategy Officer. From 2007-
2010, Rachel served as the founding director of the Melton partnership in the Conejo/West
Valley of Southern California. In the intervening years, Rachel taught as an adjunct professor
of Jewish Studies at American Jewish University, became a passionate student and teacher
of the spiritual practice of mussar through The Center for Contemporary Mussar, and served
as the Director of Millennial Engagement at the Jewish Theological Seminary. Rachel began
her rabbinic career in 2001 as a congregational rabbi at Temple Aliyah in Woodland Hills,
California. Rachel received her B.A. in Jewish Studies from UCLA (Phi Beta Kappa, Magna
Cum Laude) and was ordained from the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies at the University
of Judaism (now, American Jewish University) with distinction in Talmud. Rachel, her
husband, and their three teenage children live in NYC.BIOS CONT.
Rabbi Todd Mathew Doctor
Rabbi Todd Doctor, a Houston native, is a dedicated educator who passionately believes that
knowledge empowers individuals and shapes lives. Rabbi Doctor earned his Rabbinical
Ordination and Master of Arts Degree in Rabbinic Studies from Ziegler School of Rabbinic
Studies in 2001. He simultaneously was awarded his Master of Arts Degree in Education
from the University of Judaism (AJU). Rabbi Doctor has served as a teacher, consultant, and
educational leader for several Jewish schools and agencies across the country. Rabbi Doctor
founded Minds of Tomorrow, a service to mentor and offer life-coaching to youth of a
variety of ages and those of diverse religious backgrounds. He is committed to creating
innovative approaches to enable all to achieve their full potential by becoming their best
selves through this coaching. At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Rabbi Doctor
established the Galveston Beit Midrash, an online community, where he leads an Erev
Shabbat service, teaches classes on Torah, Mussar, and Jewish thought. Rabbi Doctor also
serves as a Chaplain for the Galveston Police Department and lectures locally on Violence in
Sacred Spaces. He and his wife Sarah are currently living in Galveston, TX. They have 2
lovely children (Caleb and Jacob).
Rabbi Ilana Berenbaum Grinblat
Rabbi Ilana Berenbaum Grinblat serves as the Vice-President of Community Engagement for
the Board of Rabbis of Southern California where she provides support and educational
programs for 200 rabbis of all denominations. In July, she will become the rabbi of Temple
Har Shalom in Idyllwild, CA. She was ordained by the Ziegler School in 2001, and taught
midrash to and mentored Ziegler rabbinical students from 2002 to 2018 . She is the author of
two books: Blessings and Baby Steps: The Spiritual Path of Parenthood (Behrman House,
2011) and Castles and Catch: Spiritual Lessons Children Teach Us (Author House, 2015) She
is also a regular columnist for the Jewish Journal. Previously, she has served as a
congregational rabbi at Temple Beth Shalom in Long Beach, CA and Temple Ner Ma’arav in
Encino. She and her husband Tal are blessed to raise two children, Jeremy and Hannah.BIOS CONT.
Rabbi Mark Hyman
Moving to California from Mt. Vernon, New York in 1951, Rabbi Mark Hyman has served the
Los Angeles Jewish community for decades. He is a graduate of the Los Angeles Hebrew
High School in 1965, UCLA and the University of Judaism in 1969 with AA and BA degrees in
Hebrew Literature. He received rabbinical ordination from the Ziegler School of Rabbinic
Studies in 2001. He has studied at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the Jewish
Theological Seminary, and for many years was involved in the Los Angeles Jewish
community as a USY Youth Director, and a Judaica teacher at the Los Angeles Hebrew High
School. He has always had a passion for travel as well, and is the owner and manager of
Shalom Travel Consultants (STC) since 1971. Rabbi Hyman is currently the Rabbi Emeritus of
Congregation Tikvat Jacob Beth Torah in Manhattan Beach, California, where he has served
for over 35 years. He is a member of the boards of directors of the Rabbinical Assembly
Pacific Southwest Region, the Los Angeles Hebrew High School, the Sandra Caplan
Community Beit Din, and on the Funeral Practices Committee of the Board of Rabbis of
Southern California. Rabbi Hyman was also the Chaplain of Manhattan Beach Police
Department for over 14 years. In alleged retirement, he continues his active involvement in
his synagogue, while also very engaged in arranging global corporate and leisure travel. He
is overwhelming proud of his wife Risa, their daughter Marissa who made Aliyah in 2016, of
their son Jonathan, daughter-in-law Morgan, and their beautiful 2 year-old grandson,
Joshua who was Mark’s 73rd birthday present. Mark loves jazz, cooking, old Cadillacs and
motorcycles, and his wonderful extended family.
Rabbi Cheryl Peretz
Since ordination in 2001, Rabbi Cheryl Peretz has served as one of the deans of the Ziegler
School of Rabbinic Studies, teaching, counseling, advising and programming. In addition to
her work at American Jewish University, Rabbi Peretz has served as a pulpit rabbi in
synagogues such as Los Angeles’ Sinai Temple, Adat Shalom, and Burbank Temple Emanuel
El and has been a High Holiday guest rabbi in synagogues in Florida, California, and Texas.
She teaches the broader community through in-home study groups, Adult Education, Talmud
classes, and world-wide scholar-in-residence programs. Rabbi Peretz is a graduate of the
double degree program between Barnard College and the Jewish Theological Seminary
where she earned degrees in Mathematics and Jewish Philosophy. She also holds a Master’s
in Business Administration degree from Baruch College. Rabbi Peretz is known for creating
individually expressive lifecycle rituals, offering interactive and lively teaching, listening
compassionately to facilitate insight and meaning in times of transition, and for guiding
personal and professional development, integrating corporate principles with spiritual
dialogue. She also brings experience from her MBA and years of corporate professional
experience in marketing, creating safe space work environments, vision and planning,
organizational leadership, personnel supervising, budget and finance, and staff/board
development, consulting with both rabbis and congregations to create healthy, productive
relationships.BIOS CONT.
Rabbi Brian Alan Strauss
After serving for 18 years as one of Congregation Beth Yeshurun’s associate rabbis, Rabbi
Brian Strauss became the new senior rabbi on August 1, 2018. Rabbi Strauss is a graduate of
the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies in Los Angeles and the University of Texas at Austin.
He has been a member of the United Jewish Communities Rabbinic Cabinet and the United
Jewish Communities National Young Leadership Cabinet. Rabbi Strauss has also served on
the Texas State Commission on Holocaust and Genocide. He is also a member of the
prestigious program Rabbis Without Borders, sponsored by the National Jewish Center for
Learning & Leadership (CLAL). In 2021, he was appointed to the Joint Placement
Commission of the Rabbinical Assembly. A past president of the Houston Rabbinical
Association, he is also the author of the book, To Life, To Family, To Me: 6 Keys to a Good
Family Life. Rabbi Strauss is married to Lisa Shapiro Strauss, a practicing attorney and a
previous fellow in the Wexner Heritage Program. They have three children.
CLASS OF 2002 BIOS
Rabbi Mark Ankcorn
Prior to his ordination in 2002, Rabbi Mark Ankcorn was a Deputy District Attorney for
Orange County, California. He was the 26th Rabbi of Congregation Shaare Zedek, the third-
oldest synagogue in New York City, for three years and then served a Conservative
congregation in Orlando, Florida. In 2008, Rabbi Ankcorn moved back to California where he
grew up and went to school, opening a law firm in San Diego to help struggling consumers
fight foreclosure and predatory lending practices in the wake of the Great Recession. He met
his wife Jennifer z”l in early 2010 and they were thrilled when Rabbi Brad Artson agreed to
serve as their mesader kiddushin later that year, together with classmates Baruch HaLevi and
Daniel Greyber. Mark and Jennifer raised three children together — Abigail, Ethan, and Ava
— until her tragic passing after a long battle with ovarian cancer on Hanukkah in 2019.
Mark left private practice in 2018 and is now the Senior Chief Deputy City Attorney for the
City of San Diego. He heads up the Affirmative Civil Enforcement division, which enforces
laws that protect consumers, employees, and the environment, and advocates for change
when existing laws fall short. He has served on the Ziegler Board of Advisors since 2014 and
is a member of Congregation Beth El in La Jolla, led by his former teacher at ZSRS Ron
Shulman and former classmate Avi Libman.BIOS CONT.
Rabbi Daniel Franklin Greyber
Daniel Greyber is Rabbi at Beth El Synagogue in Durham, NC and currently a fellow in cohort
VII of the Rabbinic Leadership Initiative at the Shalom Hartman Institute. Author of Faith
Unravels: A Rabbi’s Struggle with Grief and God, Greyber served as Team USA Rabbi at the
2013 and 2017 World Maccabiah Games in Israel. He was a Jerusalem Fellow at the Mandel
Leadership Institute from 2010-11, served as an adjunct faculty member at the Ziegler
School, and from 2002 to 2010, Greyber served as the Executive Director of Camp Ramah in
California and the Zimmer Conference Center. While a student at Ziegler, Greyber founded
the Neshama Minyan at Temple Beth Am, in Los Angeles, and started Lishma, an egalitarian
yeshiva study summer program for young adult Jews co-sponsored by the Ziegler School and
Camp Ramah in California. He is grateful for his time at Ziegler and remembers teachers Ben
Zion Bergman, Baruch Link, Allan Schranz, and Elieser Slomovic, ז"ל, and his dear talmid
haver, Joel Shickman, all of whose memories are a blessing. Rabbi Greyber is happily
married to Jennifer and is the proud father to Alon, Benjamin and Ranon.
Rabbi Baruch HaLevi
Rabbi Dr. Baruch HaLevi, is a Logotherapist, Enneagram coach, Kabbalah teacher,
motivational speaker, author of multiple books including, Revolution of Jewish Spirit and
Spark Seekers: Mourning with Meaning, and co-founder and Executive Director of Soul
Centered, a Denver, CO based center for spirituality, meaning and healing. Synthesizing his
training and expertise in Logotherapy (meaning-centered psychotherapy), the Enneagram (an
ancient, spiritual personality and energy system), and Kabbalah (Jewish mysticism), Baruch
guides his clients to find deeper meaning and greater purpose through all of life’s transitions,
traumas and tragedies. Baruch is an ordained rabbi, earned a doctoral degree in ministry,
holds a diplomate in Logotherapy, and is a certified Enneagram coach. You can learn more
about Baruch at www.mysoulcentered.org.BIOS CONT.
Rabbi Andrea Dobrick Haney
Andrea Haney is a Rabbi, teacher, activist, philanthropist, survivor, mother, wife, daughter,
sister, and friend. She has focused on kiruv and helping people connect to Judaism in ways
which are authentic, comfortable, and meaningful to them. Andrea has had the privilege of
learning and teaching in the United States, Costa Rica, and Israel and with organizations as
diverse as Chabad, Young President’s Organization, the US State Department, the White
House and various bar and bat mitzvah preparatory programs. During her time in Costa Rica,
and as a survivor of advanced breast cancer, she launched a foundation focused on
educating women on the importance of early detection and the provision of screening to
Costa Rican women. Andrea has also been an advocate for women’s access to traditional
Jewish learning, texts, and tradition especially at the middle school and early high school
years. Andrea holds a BA in Near Eastern and Jewish Studies from Brandeis University, a
Masters in Rabbinic Studies from the University of Judaism (American Jewish University) and
a Masters in Jewish Education from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. She lives in
Ra’anana, Israel with her husband Ambassador S. Fitzgerald Haney and their four children
(Asher a paratrooper in the IDF; Nava in 11th grade; Eden in 8th; and Shaia in 4th).
Rabbi Barry Leff
Rabbi Barry Leff was ordained at ZSRS in 2002. After ordination he served congregations in
Vancouver, BC and Toledo, Ohio. He made aliyah in 2007, and went back to work in the
business world in Israel until 2015. Since then, he has served as interim rabbi for
congregations in Birmingham, Alabama and Mercer Island, Washington. Rabbi Leff is the
author of numerous responsa on both ethical and ritual matters, and has served on the
Rabbinical Assembly’s Committee on Jewish Law and Standards since 2021. He is on the
board of the Schechter Rabbinical Seminary in Jerusalem, and has served as chairman of
Rabbis for Human Rights. Prior to becoming a rabbi, he had a 20-year long career in high-
tech in Silicon Valley. He started a high-tech manufacturing company, and earned M.B.A.
and D.B.A. degrees from Golden Gate University in San Francisco. Rabbi Leff has a lot of
hobbies: he’s a flight instructor, SCUBA divemaster, rides motorcycles, runs marathons,
mountain bikes, and plays the piano. He has five daughters, the youngest of which is about
to complete her service in the IDF. When he’s not doing interim work he divides his time
between Las Cruces, New Mexico, and Jerusalem.BIOS CONT.
Rabbi Ranon Teller
Rabbi Ranon Teller was born and raised in a traditional Jewish home in Southfield,
Michigan. After high school, Rabbi Teller spent two years of intense yeshiva study in Israel.
He has always been a creative soul, passionate about Judaism and the field of education.
Although both his parents are Jewish educators, Rabbi Teller initially pursued scriptwriting
as a career. His writing career began in Chicago, led him to Los Angeles, and then continued
in Jerusalem. As he continued to write, Rabbi Teller enrolled part-time at Machon Shechter,
the Conservative rabbinical school in Israel. Finally, he embraced his calling and enrolled in a
joint rabbinic and education program at the University of Judaism. Rabbi Ranon Teller began
his career in the pulpit as an Assistant Rabbi at Congregation B’nai Amoona in St. Louis,
Missouri. He joined the Brith Shalom family in 2005. Rabbi Teller's wife, Vicki, is actively
involved with our synagogue. Rabbi Teller and Vicki have four beautiful children, Ariella
Pearl, Maya Naima, Jake Aaron, and Nava Liba, and one very happy dog, Jessie Afikoman
Teller.
15600 Mulholland Drive
Los Angeles, California 90077
(310) 476-9777 x248
ziegad@aju.edu
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