FACULTY
Rabbi Bluth
Rabbi Bluth runs a Jewish Creative Studio, which is dedicated to elevating, teaching and beautifying Jewish Ritual. Always designing for meaning, she specializes in Ketubahs, art, and Jewish learning that is rooted in ritual, holidays and lifecycle. Ordained at Beit Midrash Har El, Bluth then spent much time traveling around the world connecting with devotional communities - weaving ancient tradition with contemporary experiences, and connecting across cultures. Her undergrad degree was in Buddhism and Environmental studies, and she founded Achvat Amim's Ruchani program for Israeli Palestinian peace and justice work, and was trained as a Soferet (Hebrew Scribal Arts). Bluth teaches with Jewish Learning Collaborative, consults with At The Well, built the innovative curriculum for the School of Living Jewishly, and is trained in interfaith dialogue with KAICIID and Religions for Peace. Bluth leads life cycle rituals and retreats internationally. She is currently based in Toronto, and spends winters where the weather is warmer and she can be barefoot.
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Rabbi Dr. Ariel Burger
Rabbi Ariel is the author of Witness: Lessons from Elie Wiesel's Classroom, which was an Indie Next List Pick, A Publishers Lunch Buzz Book, and which won the 2019 National Jewish Book Award in Biography. He is also an artist and teacher whose work integrates education, spirituality, the arts, and strategies for social change. Ariel received Orthodox semicha from Yeshivat Bat Ayin, and his PhD in Jewish Studies and Conflict Resolution under Elie Wiesel. A lifelong student of Professor Wiesel, Ariel served as his Teaching Fellow from 2003-2008, after which he directed education initiatives at Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston. A Covenant Foundation grantee, Ariel develops cutting-edge arts, storytelling, and educational programming for adults, facilitates workshops for educators, consults to nonprofits, and serves as scholar/artist-in-residence for institutions around the U.S. When Ariel's not learning or teaching, he is creating music, art, and poetry. He lives outside of Boston with his family. Visit him at www.arielburger.com.
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Sabrina Burger
A dynamic educator and attentive listener, Sabrina Burger combines her love for Jewish learning with her sensitivity as a psychotherapist to facilitate learning experiences that weave the wisdom of traditional Jewish texts with relevant issues particular to our lives. Sabrina lived in Israel for 12 years where she studied traditional Jewish texts at the Nishmat Center for Advanced Jewish Studies. With more than 20 years of teaching experience, Sabrina has developed an ability to engage with a wide range of denominations in the Jewish community. Sabrina Burger is a long time student of R’ Nachman of Breslov. She and her husband just embarked on an adventure and are living in Jerusalem and Boston.
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Sarah Chandler
Sarah Chandler aka Kohenet Shamirah is a Brooklyn-based Jewish educator, artist, activist, healer, and poet. She teaches, writes and consults on issues related to Judaism, earth-based spiritual practice, respectful workplaces, mindfulness, and farming. An ordained Kohenet with the Hebrew Priestess Institute and Taamod trainer since 2018, she is also is an advanced student of Kabbalistic dream work at The School of Images. Previously, Sarah served as the Director of Romemu Yeshiva, Chief Compassion Officer of Jewish Initiative for Animals, and Director of Earth Based Spiritual Practices at Hazon's Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center. Currently she is the CEO of Shamir Collective, as a coach and consultant to high profile artists and authors to launch new music and books.
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Rabbi Ruth Gan Kagan
Rabbi Ruth is a dynamic and innovative teacher of Torah, who teaches Kabbalah and Chasidut in Israel and internationally. She is the founder and spiritual leader of Nava Tehila, a Jewish Renewal community in Jerusalem and is deeply interested in the field of prayer, whether private of communal. Ruth has co-authored, with Rabbi Zalman Shachter-Shalomi, the Hebrew book Jewish Renewal - Integrating Heart and World (2006), and is especialy grateful for the technology that allows her to teach students from all over the world from her Jerusalem home.
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Rabbah Dr. Mira Neshama Weil
Rabbah Dr. Mira Neshama is a Paris -born scholar and teacher of Torah and Jewish Meditation. She received her Doctorate in Sociology of Religion from the Ecole de Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales in Paris and learned Torah at the Drisha Institute for Jewish Studies in New York, at Matan and at the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem, where she earned a certificate of Experiential Jewish Education. A certified Jewish Mindfulness Teacher , she received rabbinic ordination from Beit Midrash Har’El, teaches Torah and Jewish meditation at the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies, Or HaLev, Applied Jewish Spirituality (AJS), and the Institute for Jewish Spirituality (IJS), and chairs the Academic Council of Roots, an NGO promoting peace between Israelis and Palestinians. A Jewish Educator for Moishe House Europe and a contributor to French Jewish medias Akadem, Tenou’a, JewPop and L’Arche , she travels internationally to lecture on Jewish Spirituality.
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Rabbi Ami Silver
Rabbi Ami is a teacher, therapist and writer living in Jerusalem. Ami is devoted to the experiential dimension of the Jewish spiritual tradition. His teaching focuses on the interface between Jewish text, practice and personal transformation, and he leads groups in text study and contemplative, experiential Jewish practice. Ami received ordination from Yeshivat Sulam Yaakov and is a Clinical Social Worker (MSW) with a background in mindfulness and body-centered, experiential therapy modalities. His teachings can be found on the “Awakening”podcast and on YouTube. He also offers one-on-one therapy and support in Jerusalem and online.
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Rabbi Daniel Raphael Silverstein
Rabbi Daniel is founder and director of AJS. Daniel is a spiritual seeker and artist whose journey of healing, creativity, studying and teaching has brought him to Buddhist retreat centers, Chi Kung courses and six years of study in Orthodox yeshivot (rabbinical seminaries). He received rabbinic ordination from Yeshivat Chovevei Torah Rabbinical School in New York. He has completed the Jewish Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Training Course, which is a collaboration between the Institute for Jewish Spirituality and the Awakened Heart Project. Daniel is a faculty member at the Conservative Yeshiva and regularly teaches for IJS and RitualWell. He is also an MC and spoken word artist who channels his experiences and teachings into poetry and music.
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Nadav Slovin
Nadav is a passionate seeker and educator. Founder of Lech Lecha, Transformative Outdoor Adventures, and teacher of Torah at Yeshivat Orayta in Jerusalem, Nadav strives to live and teach a Torah of symbiotic wholeness, synthesizing the many facets of our generation's complex identities. On his journey toward purposeful living, Hashem guided Nadav through thick forests, abundant farms, diverse modes of spiritual practice, and ultimately back into the richness of Jewish text and tradition. He studied for his BA in Philosophy from McGill University and subsequently received his degree in education from Herzog College in Israel. Over the last seven years Nadav has learned in a variety of Yeshivot including Yeshivat Ma'aleh Gilboa, Hadar, Har Etzyon, and Bat Ayin, and is currently studying for Rabbinic ordination at Yeshivat HaKotel. Nadav finds deep meaning in facilitating genuine encounters with self and others, creation and Hashem, and looks forward to continuing his work with AJS.
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Yiscah Smith
Yiscah is a spiritual activist, educator, mentor, and meditation guide, who addresses the spiritual practice of encountering the Divine spark within and beyond.
She relies on Jewish spiritual teachings to inspire her students, acting as a compass, gently guiding them to their unique inner selves. As a spiritual trailblazer, Yiscah exemplifies what it means to carve one’s own path, as she has grappled with the entanglements at the intersection of her spirituality, Jewish tradition and passionate desire to live a life of truth and integrity. She encourages, empowers and ennobles others to remain faithful to their unique spiritual paths.
Yiscah teaches Jewish contemplative practice and spiritual texts at the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies and at Applied Jewish Spirituality. She has also founded Conscious Community Nachlaot, an organization in Jerusalem that hosts Shabbat spiritual gatherings. In addition, Yiscah works with individuals in her private spiritual mentoring practice.
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Rabbi Lauren Tuchman
Rabbi Lauren is a sought after speaker, spiritual leader and educator. Ordained by The Jewish Theological Seminary in 2018, she has taught at numerous synagogues and other Jewish venues throughout North America. She was named to the Jewish Week’s 36 under 36 for her innovative leadership concerning inclusion of Jews with disabilities in all aspects of Jewish life. In 2017, she delivered an ELI Talk entitled We All Were At Sinai: The Transformative Power of Inclusive Torah. She has trained and continues to teach with Rabbi David Jaffe and the Inside Out Wisdom and Action Project, which provides a space for Jewish spiritual and contemplative practice for individuals involved in social change work. She is a participant in the Institute for Jewish Spirituality’s Clergy Leadership Program. In 2020, she was honored by the Jewish Orthodox Feminist Alliance (JOFA). Her WhatsApp group, in which she offers short, powerful teachings on the weekly Torah portion, can be joined here.
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Rabbi Mordechai Zeller
Rabbi Mordechai is an educator and clinical and educational psychologist, who has served in the past as Rabbi at Cambridge University and at Maaleh Gilboa Yeshiva. For the last twenty years, Mordechai has been teaching Jewish thought with a focus on Hassidic philosophy, Jewish Mysticism and Hebrew Mythology, combining his love of Torah with his therapeutic understanding. He has taught at the LSJS in London, Mechinat Ha'Emek and Beit Midrash Petichta In Israel, has served as scholar in residence at Zenith Sufi camp in the Swiss Alps and the Abode in the USA . He currently practices as a Psychologist, treating a wide array of patients and couples as well as offering systemic therapeutic support to families, teachers and schools. He lives in Kibbutz Maaleh Gilboa with his wife, Dr. Lea Taragin Zeller and their three children.
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