Rosh Hashanah During a Pandemic Bios

Rabbi Lauren Berkun is a Vice President of the Shalom Hartman Institute of North America, where she directs Rabbinic Initiatives and is a member of the senior executive team. She also oversees curriculum development, staff education and leadership training for Hartman’s iEngage project. She is a summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Princeton University with a B.A. in religion and was ordained at the Jewish Theological Seminary. Rabbi Berkun was a Wexner Graduate Fellow, a CLAL Rabbinic Intern and a Rabbinic Fellow in the Shalom Hartman Institute’s Rabbinic Leadership Initiative. She has also served as the JTS Midwest KOLLOT Rabbinic Scholar, Director of Lifelong Learning at Congregation Shaarey Zedek in Southfield, Michigan, and frequent scholar-in-residence for leadership seminars organized by The Jewish Federations of North America. Lauren has written and taught extensively on the topics of mikveh, sexual ethics and body image. She is also a certified Sivananda yoga instructor. She lives in Aventura, Florida, with her husband, Rabbi Jonathan Berkun of Aventura Turnberry Jewish Center, and their three children.

Rabbi Rachel Greengrass believes that Judaism is a beautiful tool through which we can live spiritual lives of meaning and heal the world. She was ordained from HUC-JIR in 2008. She holds a Master of Arts in Hebrew Literature (HUC), a Master of Religious Education (HUC) and is a certified PREPARE/ENRICH counselor. In 2011, she was granted the title of Reform Jewish Educator (RJE) by the Reform Jewish Educator Title Granting Commission. She serves as chair of the CCAR Resolutions Committee, is a RAC Balfour-Brickner Fellow, a Rabbis Without Borders Fellow, a member of Hartman’s first all-female Rabbinic Fellowship, a founding member of RAC-FL and is currently the President of the Rabbinical Association of Greater Miami. Rabbi Greengrass is a Mussar instructor and practitioner. Her words, both spoken and written, have been published in a wide range of mediums, including a chapter entitled “The Planet in Peril” in Moral Resistance and Spiritual Authority: Our Jewish Obligation to Social Justice. She has been a featured panelist twice on NPR’s All Things Considered, as well as the Miami Herald, Jerusalem Post, Time magazine and other periodicals. She has written prayers and created rituals that are featured both in the CCAR Rabbi’s manual as well as ritualwell.com. Rabbi Greengrass is safe zone certified, which means she is an official advocate for the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Community. She also is an avid reader, plays the guitar, bakes challah every week and loves her family.

Adina Stilerman is the Co-founder of YEHUDI Florida, a unique outreach organization taking the Florida Jewish communities by storm. YEHUDI started as a small operation in the basement of her home and is now located in six cities across the state with thousands of participants. Adina’s real passion is teaching. She has been motivating and inspiring communities across three countries with a decade and a half of teaching experience. She is best known for her passion and ability to entertain and inspire audiences of all ages and backgrounds. Her refreshing speaking style includes traditional Jewish sources, modern science and research and powerful stories that leave her crowd motivated to bring out the best in themselves. Stilerman’s newest project called WISDOM WORKSHOPS, a TedTalk-style presentation that allows the audience to enter a different world of learning as it brings Jewish wisdom to life. She also is a featured speaker for My Gift of Mikvah and travels around the country to educate and inspire women of all backgrounds to unwrap and embrace their powerful gift of mikvah. Adina resides in Miami Beach with her husband and six children.

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. 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 Melton School grew to the largest in the United States and was chosen from among more than 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. She has led Jewish educational outreach to interfaith couples and families and held significant roles in teacher professional development and Israel education. In addition, she designs and facilitates core and integral leadership and Jewish learning programs and classes for the Greater Miami Jewish Federation and the broader community. She is also a very proud Lion of Judah.