Biographies of Presenters

Rabbi Steven Adams is a native of Chicago. He received a B.A. in Religious Studies from the University of Illinois, an M.A. in Hebrew Letters and Rabinnic Ordination from Hebrew Union College, and a Master of Business Administration from Cardinal Stritch University.

Rabbi Adams published a chapter on Post-Holocaust  Jewish Philosophy in the book Holocaust Literature by Saul Friedman.

The spiritual leader of Congregation Emanu-El of Waukesha, Rabbi Adams is chair of the Waukesha Organization of Religious Leaders in Dialogue, the Catholic-Jewish Conference Board and numerous other interfaith organizations.

Tzipi Altman-Shafer grew up in Milwaukee and has been working in the field of Jewish Education for over eighteen years. She has a Master’s Degree from the Siegal College in Cleveland. She has taught in four different states, countless schools, and to every age group. Tzipi currently teaches Jewish Studies, Hebrew and T’fila to students in third through seventh grades at MJDS.

Jane Avner received her Ph.D. in Library and Information Science from the University of Pittsburgh. She was the archivist for the Seattle and Cleveland Jewish communities and assisted in the content development for the Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage in Cleveland.

Cantor David Barash is currently serving his sixth year at Congregation Emanu-El B’ne Jeshurun in Milwaukee. Previously, he served as Cantor for nine years at Congregation Beth Shalom in Kansas City, Missouri. He studied Hazzanut at the Jewish Theological Seminary, and completed his training at its Cantors Institute in 1992, after receiving a Bachelor of Arts in Music from the University of Wisconsin – Madison in 1987.

David has taught many people to read Torah and Haftarah, and he enjoys leading workshops on various subjects ranging from Prayer Aerobics to “Songs for the Seder.” He is having a lot of fun with “Torahpalooza: Shabbos with an Attitude!”, a monthly all-musical service at CEEBJ highlighting local musicians playing a variety of instruments.

David has created a CD with accompanist Barbara Katz for toddlers and preschoolers entitled, “Big Jewish Songs for Little Jewish Kids.” He is featured on another CD with Kansas City-based Yachad, the Traveling T’fillah Band; and on a CD of Jewish folksongs, “I Can’t Keep the Past Behind Me,” with guitarist Lil’ Rev.

Steven Baruch, Ph.D. is the Executive Director of the Coalition for Jewish Learning, the education program of the Milwaukee Jewish Federation, a position he has held for the past seven years. Previously, he worked for Milwaukee Public Schools for 32 years, serving as a teacher, human relations curriculum developer and coordinator of the Leadership Academy.

 Rachel Baum, Ph.D. is a Senior Lecturer and Coordinator of Hebrew Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, where she teaches courses on Holocaust literature and film, post-Holocaust theology, and Jewish culture. Baum’s research and published essays on the Holocaust concentrate on pedagogy, the role of the emotions in Holocaust memory and post Holocaust Jewish identity. 

Barbara Beckert is the assistant director at the Milwaukee Jewish Council for Community Relations, where she staffs the Council's work on Domestic Public Policy. Current priorities include advocating for Wisconsin’s Medicaid program, as well as leading efforts to address poverty in Milwaukee. Barbara also serves as director of the Jewish Community Mental Health Education Project, a collaborative project of the Greater Milwaukee Jewish Community, coordinated by Jewish Family Services.

Ali Begoun moved to Milwaukee from Deerfield, Illinois, last year, where she and her husband worked together as educational directors of the North Shore Torah Center. Ali is currently the Director of Women’s Programming for Judaism without Walls, teaching Jewish women of all backgrounds the relevance and depth of their Jewish heritage.

Kathie Bernstein received her B.S. in Community Education from UWM. She has been the director of the Milwaukee Jewish Historical Society since its inception in 1986. She was Assistant Director of the Milwaukee Jewish Federation’s Women’s Division and served as the Federation’s General Campaign Director for the 2000, 2001 and 2003 campaigns.

Sherry Blumberg, Ph.D. is adjunct professor in Hebrew Studies at UWM and education Director of Congregation Am Echod in Lindenhurst, Illinois.

Rabbi Jay Brickman was ordained and granted the Master of Hebrew Literature degree from the Jewish Institute of Religion in 1947. He also holds an M.A. degree in Bible from the University of Wisconsin – Madison and an honorary Doctor of Hebrew Letters degree from the Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion. In 1947, Rabbi Brickman studied at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, then served Temple Israel of Staten Island, New York, from 1948-1955. He came to Milwaukee in 1955 as the first rabbi of Congregation Sinai. He was retired in 1994 and granted the title of Rabbi Emeritus. Rabbi Brickman continues to teach Bible and Biblical Hebrew at Congregation Sinai. He also teaches classes on Dream Interpretation at the Jewish Center under the auspices of UWM extension. Each summer he offers a one-week class at Bjorklunden, a residential adult education center in Door County.

Rabbi David Cohen serves as rabbi and spiritual leader of Congregation Sinai in Milwaukee. He was ordained at the Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion in New York, where he received awards for academic distinction, sermon quality, and service to small congregations. An honors graduate of Brandeis University, he also holds a master’s degree in Education from Stanford University.

Rabbi Baruch Comrov received his rabbinical ordination and bachelor’s degree in Hebrew Letters from Yoshivas Brisk of Chicago. He then completed his post-rabbinical studies at Yeshiva Aish Hatorah in Jerusalem. Rabbi Comrov has since done extensive work with the poor and poverty-stricken including managing the Edward and Honofa Singer Transitional Residence (the Midwest’s only Jewish homeless shelter) and the Rhea Segal Kosher Food Pantry. Rabbi Comrov was the first Bader Resident for Clinical Pastoral Education at Sinai Samaritan Hospital and worked as Director of Pastoral Care for the Jewish Home and Care Center. He is currently the Hospice Chaplain for Horizon Hospice and Home Care.

Tim Crain, Ph.D. received his BA and MA from Marquette University, specializing in modern European history. He earned his Ph.D. in Modern British and Irish and Modern Jewish History from Arizona State University. His area of specialization is conflict studies, particularly the Arab-Israeli Conflict, the Middle East, and Northern Ireland. He is presently working on a book that focuses on the British press response to the Holocaust. He teaches at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in the Center for Jewish Studies in the Department of History.

Therese Dorfman has taught at Congregation Emanu-El B’ne Jeshurun and Temple Menorah. She has also been the “Cooking Healthy Foods” instructor at UW-Milwaukee. Currently she is co-coordinator at Jewish Family Service’s Pathways to Healing program and Director of Education at Chavurah Or Tikvah in Oconomowoc.

Cantor Miriam Eskenasy came to the Cantorate after a 20+ year career in business and raising her family. She earned a Master of Sacred Music and was invested as Cantor from the Hebrew Union College in 2002. After serving congregations in New York and New Jersey, Cantor Eskenasy is now the Cantor at Congregation Sinai in Milwaukee.

Rabbi Dena Feingold is the rabbi of Beth Hillel Temple in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

Rabbi Ayson Ganeles studied in Yeshivah in Baltimore, Israel, and Lakewood. He has taught a wide range of Jewish topics in the Milwaukee community for 16 years. He is also a community-certified mohel. He resides on the west side with his wife and four children.

JoAnne Gaudynski, a Master’s Degree candidate at Siegel College and former high school English teacher, has been involved in Jewish education for the last seven years. She currently teaches at Congregation Emanu-El B’ne Jeshurun and has taught at Beth Torah Religious School and Beth El Ner Tamid Synagogue. She is the former Administrative Coordinator of Merkaz and the present Teen Programming Coordinator for the Coalition for Jewish Learning. She has presented on the subject of teen education at the national convention of the Coalition for the Advancement of Jewish Education (CAJE) and for the American Library Association’s Jewish Literature series.

Rakefet Ginsberg is the community shlicha from Israel. She moved from Rosh Ha’ayim with her husband Ariel and their three boys. She established and managed the social services office for citizens who work in the IDF for six years. The last several years have been spent working with women’s organizations. Rakefet has a master’s degree in social work.

Pnina Goldfarb has a doctorate in special education in the area of emotional disturbance. She has 30 plus years of experience in the educational arena including direct instruction, school administration, evaluation and teacher training. She is presently Assistant Executive Director at the JCC, as well as Director of Gan Ami, the JCC preschool.

Dr. David Gutterman is a cardiologist and Senior Associate Dean for Research at the Medical College of Wisconsin. He taught a course in vascular biology at the Technion Medical School in Israel.

Rabbi Jacob Herber became the spiritual leader of Congregation Beth Israel in August 2003. Prior to coming to Milwaukee, he served as both the Assistant and Senior Rabbi of Har Zion Temple in Penn Valley, PA. Rabbi Herber was ordained in 1996 by the Theological Seminary of America, where he also earned a Master of Arts degree in the Rabbinical School, and was a recipient of the Seminary’s Joseph Zubow Memorial Prize in Codes. He is a cum laude graduate of the University of California, Davis, where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in History.

Thomas Hubka is a professor of Architecture at UWM’s Department of Architecture. He is author of the book, “Resplendent Synagogue: Architecture and Worship in a Polish Community,” which is based on 20 years of research including two years in Israel and two years in Poland.

Bob Kuhn is a retired statistician and secretary of the Milwaukee Chapter of PEACE NOW.

Ivan M. Lang is Associate Professor of Medicine and Director of the Dysphagia Research Laboratory at the Medical College of Wisconsin, and sole proprietor of Glendale In-Home Veterinary Service. Dr. Lang received a B.S. in mathematics from University of Pittsburgh, M.S and Ph.Ds in Physiology and Biophysics from Temple University, and a DVM from University of Wisconsin.

Dr. Lang is one of the founding members of Advocates for Israel of Milwaukee and was one of the primary organizers of the recent visit to Milwaukee of Nonie Darwish. Dr. Lang has had over 50 Letters to the Editor advocating for Israel published in the Wisconsin Jewish Chronicle, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Investors Business Daily, Popular Science, Vanity Fair, Texas Tech University Daily, Lubbock Avalanche Journal, The Scientist, and Shepherd Express.

Rabbi Melech (Mark) Lensky, a former lawyer, is an ardent student of Judaism, private Jewish educator, Chaplain at Froedtert Hospital, and Executive Director of Beth Hamedrosh Hagodel Cemetery. The Lenskys moved to Milwaukee in 2003 and have felt nurtured by the genuineness and warmth of the community.

Rabbi Isaac Lerer has been the Senior Rabbi of Temple Menorah for 39 years and is the author of numerous scholarly works. He has an M.A. in Jewish Studies (1960) and a Ph.D. in Hebrew Literature (1964). In addition, Rabbi Lerer has lectured at the University of Wisconsin Jewish Studies Department and at LaFarge College.

Rabbi Shlomo Levin joined Lake Park Synagogue as its full-time Rabbi in September of 2003. He received his Rabbinic ordination from the Israeli Chief Rabbinate and from Rabbis Shlomo Riskin and Chaim Brovender of Yeshivat Hemivtar in Efrat, Israel. He is also a graduate of the Sha’al and Amiel Rabbinic training programs. Prior to coming to Lake Park Synagogue, Rabbi Levin served as the Rabbi of Congregation Temple Beth El of Rutherford, NJ, taught Talmud at the Ramaz Upper School in New York and served as the first director of the Omaha Center for Jewish Learning in Omaha, NE.

Leah Levine is the Rebbetzin of Anshe Sfard Kehillat Torah. She is known in the community for leading discussions on many topics, and positively touching the lives of those she meets. As busy as she is, Leah makes time for social activism. She is a founding board member of CHAI, the Jewish Coalition on Family Violence.

  Dana Margolis is a lecturer in the Hebrew Studies Department at UWM. She specializes in teaching Hebrew language and Basic Judaism to diverse groups of students. She lives on the West Side of Milwaukee.

Darcy McDaniel joined JFS in 2000 as a Clinical Case Manager and worked with a varied population ranging from work with children, families, older adults, and individuals with serious and persistent mental illness. She currently works as a clinician in the Clinical Counseling Department and also coordinates the Kids In the Middle program. Darcy holds a Master of Science in Social Work from the University of Louisville.

Andrew Muchin is director of the Wisconsin Small Jewish Communities History Project, a research, preservation and educational effort of the Wisconsin Society for Jewish Learning in Milwaukee. He writes about Jewish culture for national Jewish publications. He recently was named a member of the Speakers Bureau of the Wisconsin Humanities Council for 2006-2007.

Marybeth Murphy has been with Jewish Family Services for thirteen years and is currently a case manager in the Exceptional Needs Program. She coordinates the JFS Adoption Services Program, which reaches out and provides services to potential adoptive parents in the Jewish community. Information and referral for families exploring adoption options have been provided by JFS over the course of our history. A recent grant from the Bader Foundation has allowed us to increase our programming. Marybeth holds a Bachelor of Science degree from UWM.

Rabbi Menachem Rapoport served as a rabbi and schochet for the largest United States producer of kosher meat and poultry for several years. He is the Director of the Peltz Center for Jewish Life.

Joshua Richman is Executive Director of Ruach, Inc., a Milwaukee-based, Jewish arts organization. Son of Stephen and Frances Richman, Joshua graduated from Whitefish Bay High School in 1994, and he was awarded a B.A. in Music, magna cum laude, in 1998 from Yale College, where he was Assistant Conductor and Principal Trombone of the Yale Symphony Orchestra. Following graduation, he traveled to Jerusalem, where he began studying Torah intensively at Machon Shlomo, a yeshiva.  Since returning to Milwaukee in 2000, Joshua served as Coordinator of the successful, “A Season of Jewish Music in Milwaukee,” and he currently serves as Treasurer/Board Member of Congregation Beth Jehudah and as an Executive Board member of the Coalition for Jewish Learning. Joshua has a significant interest in the Torah's mystical teachings about the nations of the world and their relationship to Israel in modern times and in time-to-come.

Rabbi Yoseph Samuels is the Director of Chabad of Milwaukee. Born in New York City, he comes from a family whose rabbinical lineage has been traced to the 15^th century. He attended the Lubavitch Yeshiva in New York where he graduated in 1969. Since then, he has worked for Lubavitch in Miami and Seattle prior to coming to Milwaukee. He holds a special interest and degree in Jewish mysticism and Chassidism. Rabbi Samuels has taught Jewish mysticism, philosophy and history at the University of Washington and other colleges.

Karen Schapiro is a partner in the Milwaukee office of DeWitt, Ross & Stevens, where she focuses her practice on environmental law. She is a 2005 recipient of the Wisconsin “Leader of the Law Award,” and is also included among lists of Wisconsin super lawyers (environmental law) and America’s Best Lawyers (environmental).

Karen earned her B.A. in Religion from Oberlin College and has also studied at the Pardes Institute in Jerusalem. She received her J.D. from Northwestern University School of Law.

Yoni Schlussel, OTR, is the Director of Special Projects for Judaism Without Walls. She has lectured on a variety of topics, drawing from her experiences as an occupational therapist, community educator, high school teacher and mother of three.

Bonnie Shafrin is the director of the Nathan and Esther Pelz Holocaust Education Resource Center and is currently pursuing a master’s degree in Jewish education. She has been a teacher in public schools, at the Milwaukee Jewish Day School, and has taught Hebrew and Jewish Studies at Congregation Shalom. She is the immediate past chair of the Coalition for Jewish Learning.

Rabbi Shari Shamah is the Associate Rabbi at Congregation Shalom. She was ordained by the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Cincinnati and graduated from Michigan State University with a double major in Psychology and Community Relations. She also holds an M.A. in Hebrew Letters from HUC-JIR.

Shira Speiser, a former Jewish day school teacher for twenty years, is presently employed at JFS as a clinical social worker. Throughout her professional career, she has worked extensively with children, adolescents and families. She has facilitated parenting workshops in Cleveland and Milwaukee. Shira received her Bachelors degree from Cleveland State University and Masters in Social Science Administration from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio.

Rabbi Michael Stern has over 17 years of experience in Jewish educational outreach. He was the founder of Aish HaTorah Philadelphia which he helped to build from a one-room office to one of the most successful Jewish educational organizations in Philadelphia. Currently, Rabbi Mike is the Director of a new outreach initiative by the Milwaukee Kollel named Judaism Without Walls (JWW) – whose mission is to help bring Judaism into our hearts, homes and lives. In just the first year JWW has had over 2,000 in total attendance, and over 500 unique individuals who have participated in their programs.

Rabbi Shais Taub is the rabbi of The Shul East and Associate Director of the Lubavitch of Wisconsin’s Institute for Jewish Literacy.

Melanie Wasserman, MSW, LCSW, is a licensed independent clinical social worker and psychotherapist. She is employed by Jewish Family Services where she facilitates psycho-educational classes for divorcing parents, bereavement groups for individuals suffering from a tragic loss, as well as support groups for parents of children with special needs. In addition to having extensive experience working with older adults, Melanie provides psychotherapy to individuals and couples.

Nancy Weiss-McQuide, M.S. is a performer and instructor of theater and dance with the Milwaukee Repertory Theater Education Department, Nicolet High School, UW-M, and others, and also teaches throughout Wisconsin. She has written and performed commissioned works for Summerfest, The Milwaukee Symphony, The Y.W.C.A., the Wisconsin Humanities Council, etc. When not teaching, directing, choreographing, or studying Yiddish, her efforts go toward producing community education programs for Israel, as a member of AIM, Advocates For Israel of Milwaukee.