Simchafest at Isabella Freedman

Rabbi Menachem Creditor serves as the Pearl and Ira Meyer Scholar in Residence at UJA-Federation New York and was the founder of Rabbis Against Gun Violence. An acclaimed author, scholar, and speaker with over 4 million views of his online videos and essays, he was named by Newsweek as one of the fifty most influential rabbis in America. His numerous books and 6 albums of original music include the global anthem “Olam Chesed Yibaneh” and the COVID-era 2-volume anthology “When We Turned Within.” He and his wife Neshama Carlebach live in New York, where they are raising their five children.

Rabbi Eliezer Lawrence is a popular NYC-area Mohel, Jewish educator and Hebrew language specialist whose Rabbinate is centered on enriching identity and instilling meaning to Jewish texts, language, and ritual. Alongside his Mohel practice, Rabbi Lawrence is a faculty member at multiple institutions of higher learning, including Yeshiva University, and has taught in Jewish day school, yeshiva and adult educational settings across the denominational spectrum. Rabbi Lawrence studied at Yeshivat Ma’ale Gilboa in Israel and was granted rabbinic ordination from its Rosh HaYeshiva, Rabbi David Bigman. Rabbi Lawrence studied linguistics and Yiddish at Columbia University and holds MAs in Teaching Hebrew as a Second Language from Middlebury College, and in Bible and Semitic Languages from the Kekst School of Jewish Studies. Rabbi Lawrence has served as guest scholar in various communities and retreats and has written about halacha, language and Jewish identity for publications including Tablet Magazine and The Jewish Link.

Rabbi Ezra Weinberg is a shaliach tzibur, officiant and Jewish educator dedicated to creating connection and community. He is a native Philadelphian and holds an MA in Conflict Transformation. Reb Ezra officiates weddings and Bnai Mitzvot, teaches a University course called, “One G-d, Three Paths”, alongside a priest and Imam. He currently works with individuals and families within the Jewish community and founded ReVoice, a network of resources for Jewish going through divorce.

Rabbi David Kalb is the Rabbi of Ohr Torah Stone’s Jewish Learning Center where he is responsible for the creative, educational, spiritual and programmatic direction of the organization. Rabbi Kalb served on the educational advisory board of the WNET/BBC documentary ‘The Story of the Jews.’ He was adjunct faculty at Touro College. He has lectured at many institutions including the Chautauqua – Everett Jewish Life Center, Samuel Bronfman Foundation, the Wexner Alumni of Metro North New Jersey, the Skirball Center, 92nd Street Y, JCC of Manhattan, Limmud NY, Limmud UK, Florence Melton School, Abyssinian Baptist Church Adam Clayton Powell State Office Building in Harlem, and the Hudson River Museum in Westchester.  Rabbi Kalb received his rabbinic ordination from Rabbi Shlomo Riskin, Chief Rabbi of Efrat and Rosh HaYeshiva of Yeshivat HaMivtar.

Dr. Sara Rozner Lawrence is a psychologist whose professional and personal work focus on the intersection between mental health, sexuality, and Jewish identity. She founded a project called “Monologues from the Makom,” a platform for Jewish women to share their personal narratives about sexuality, gender, and body image. The project was featured in the 2017 JOFA conference and was published as an anthology in 2020 by Ben Yehudah Press. In her role as a clinician, Sara works at the New Jersey VA with veterans who experience PTSD; she is especially passionate about serving LGBTQ veterans.

Jakir Manela, CEO of Adamah was trained as a Teva educator in 2004, established Kayam Farm at Pearlstone in 2006, and served as the Executive Director of Pearlstone and as a Hazon board member from 2012-2021. In 2022, he became the CEO of Hazon-Pearlstone, leading the merger into Adamah. Jakir is deeply inspired by Adamah’s amazing team and holy work happening every day.

Rabbanit Talia Weisberg is a connector, passionate about facilitating rich Jewish experiences and helping people make informed Jewish decisions. She received semicha from Yeshivat Maharat, where she completed internships at Congregation Sherith Israel, Beth David Synagogue, MIT Hillel, and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. She earned her AB at Harvard University and wrote a senior honors thesis about the Bais Yaakov girls’ school movement, of which she is an alumna, and its role in the evolution of Orthodox women’s formal religious education. She is currently pursuing a PhD in religion at Boston University. As a Va’Tichtov fellow, she is writing a book about animals in the Torah. She and her husband Rabbi Evan Crane served on the faculty at Isabella Freedman for Pesach 5784, and they are excited to be back for Simchafest 5785! 

Rabbi Evan Crane is an accomplished Jewish leader who is passionate about building community. He is an experienced baal tefillah and baal kriah who believes in facilitating davening that is participatory and meaningful. Originally from the Boston area, Evan is an alum of MIT and the Sloan School of Management. He learned at Yeshivat Yesodei HaTorah and received semicha from Rabbi Chaim Brovender. He has held various roles in the Orthodox Minyan at Harvard Hillel, which serves as the primary Orthodox shul in Cambridge, MA, including four years as president and two as gabbai. Outside of the Jewish community, Evan works on the business side of the biotech industry. He and his wife, Rabbanit Talia Weisberg, served on the faculty for the 5784 Pesach Program at Isabella Freedman earlier this year, and they are excited to be returning for Simchafest 5785!

Laynie Soloman is a teacher and Torah-lover who seeks to uplift the piously irreverent, queer, and subversive spirit of rabbinic text and theology. They serve on the faculty at SVARA: A Traditionally Radical Yeshiva, where they co-founded the Trans Halakha Project, which seeks to create new forms of halakhic expression shaped by trans & non-binary Jews. Laynie has studied and taught Torah for over a decade in a wide range of learning spaces, including Yeshivat Hadar, UnYeshiva, and the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College. When they’re not learning Talmud, you can find Laynie reading about liberation theology, laying in their hammock, and spending time with the partner, Zahara, and their little one, Remez.

Rabbi Etan Mintz is spiritual leader of B’nai Israel Congregation, where he is spearheading the revitalization of Baltimore’s oldest continually active Synagogue.  A vibrant, welcoming and historic congregation near Baltimore’s Harbor, the shul has been an anchor downtown since 1873.

A Senior rabbinic fellow of the Shalom Hartman Institute, he is a sought-after educator, who lectures widely throughout the community.  He previously served as Associate Rabbi at the Hebrew Institute of Riverdale, summer rabbi at The Hampton Synagogue, and day school and informal Jewish educator. He and his wife, Dr. Tammy Mintz, met and got engaged at Isabella Freedman and are excited to share the magic of Freedman with their six nature loving children.

Dr. Tammy Mintz is a clinical psychologist with expertise in the assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of children, adolescents, and adults. She holds a doctorate in Clinical and School Psychology from the University of Virginia and completed doctoral and post-doctoral fellowships at the Kennedy Krieger Institute of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. She previously worked as a school psychologist for the Baltimore County Public Schools, a researcher for Georgetown University, an adjunct Professor at Towson University, and is currently in private practice. She lectures widely throughout the community on topics relating to children and families.

Dena Levie, of Teaneck, New Jersey, designs and creates beautiful, personalized papercut artwork. Dena has always had a love for the arts. At Stern College (Yeshiva University) she received degrees in both Computer Science and Fine Art. After a short stint as a graphic designer she worked as a computer programmer for a financial firm. However, art was always her passion and she began to experiment with papercutting when her oldest daughter was born thirty years ago. Since then, she has made this her full-time passion creating over 2500 paper cuts.