JPRO Honorees

Rabbi Efrat Zarren-Zohar

Rabbi Efrat Zarren-Zohar is the Executive Director of the Center for the Advancement of Jewish Education (CAJE), the nonprofit that catalyzes and accelerates the advancement of Jewish education in Miami. Her peers elected her co-chair of the Association of Directors of Central Agencies (ADCA) in 2022.

Prior to assuming this position, she served as the Director of Adult Learning & Growth for CAJE and the Director of The Florence Melton School of Adult Jewish Learning of Miami. Under Rabbi Zarren-Zohar’s leadership, the school grew to the largest in the United States and was chosen from among 50+ schools internationally to receive The Florence Award for Outstanding School of the Year in January 2015. 

Throughout her long career as a prominent figure in Miami’s Jewish education arena, she has advanced, expanded and enhanced educational opportunity across the spectrum.

Rabbi Efrat grew up in Belmont, Massachusetts, graduated with Honors from The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and served as the first Program Director at The University of Michigan Hillel. She went on to study at the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute for Religion, where she was ordained in 1992, following an additional year of study at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem. She worked for one year as an Assistant Rabbi at Temple Solel of Hollywood, Florida, before working at CAJE-Miami. Rabbi Efrat is married to Avi Rosenberg, a commercial real estate manager, and has one son, Matan Zohar and three stepchildren, Tali, Gabi and Eli Sage Rosenberg.

Dror Gershoni

Dror Gershoni is the Chief Operating Officer (COO) of the Michael-Ann Russell JCC. (MARJCC). He has a BA in Sociology & Anthropology, a BA in Middle-East Studies and a Master’s Degree in Social Psychology, all from Bar Ilan University in Israel.

Dror focused his career on strengthening the connection between Israel and Diaspora Jewry. He began his career in Jewish communal service as a Shaliach in South London and as a Jewish educator with Maccabi World Union and the Jewish Agency for Israel.

In 2007 Dror was engaged by the Greater Miami Jewish Federation and the MARJCC to serve as its Community Shaliach, Director of the Israel Program Center, engaging the community with Israel through a variety of new programs and projects as well as establishing meaningful connections with Yerucham — Miami’s partnership community in Israel. Recognized for his tireless efforts, the Jewish Agency for Israel awarded Dror as its Shaliach of the Year.

After five years in Miami, Dror returned to Israel where he served as the Partnership Director of the Jewish Federation of Cleveland and the Beit Shean region in Israel. Prior to becoming COO at MARJCC, Dror worked as the Family, Youth and Children’s Program Director.

Dror and his wife Sigal are proud parents of four children. They enjoy volunteering, as well as coordinating events that continue to strengthen the ties between South Florida and Israel.