Orthodoxy in the 21st Century

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Speaker Bios

Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz,
Founder & President, Uri L’Tzedek

Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz has twice been named one of America’s Top Rabbis by Newsweek and has been named by The Forward as one of The Most Inspiring Rabbis in America as well as one of America’s 50 most influential Jews. Rabbi Yanklowitz is the author of seventeen books on Jewish ethics and his writings have appeared in outlets as diverse as the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, the Guardian, and the Atlantic among many other secular and religious publications. He has served as speaker at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland and a Rothschild Fellow in Cambridge, UK.

Rav Shmuly received a Masters from Harvard University and his Doctorate from Columbia University. He serves as the President & Dean of Valley Beit Midrash (Torah learning center), the Founder & President of Uri L’Tzedek (the Orthodox Social Justice movement), the Founder and CEO of Shamayim (Jewish animal advocacy), and the Founder and President of YATOM, (Jewish foster and adoption network). Rabbi Shmuly, his wife Shoshana, and their four children live in Scottsdale, Arizona. They are also foster parents.

Rabbi Maccabee Avishur,
Senior Director Prizmah Services
Academic Dean and Principal of General Studies, Yeshivat Heichal HaTorah, Teaneck, NJAs Senior Director of Prizmah Services Rabbi Avishur leads Prizmah’s approach to providing services to schools in the areas of leadership and governance, strategic planning and educational excellences.  He consults with schools on board development, placement, school culture, curriculum, educational excellence and 21^st century learning.

Rabbi Aaron Frank
Head of School, Kinneret Day School, Riverdale, NY
Prior to coming to Kinneret, Rabbi Frank was the Associate Principal at SAR High School. Before moving to New York, he worked at the Beth Tfiloh Dahan Community School in Baltimore for twelve years, serving as Lower School and then High School Principal. In addition to his work in education administration, Rabbi Frank has served as a High Holidays rabbi at Beth Sholom Congregation in Potomac, Maryland since 2001. A graduate of the Jerusalem Fellows program at the Mandel Leadership Institute in Jerusalem as well as of the Principals’ Center at Harvard Graduate School of Education, Rabbi Frank serves on the board of the International Rabbinic Fellowship and on the Rabbinic Advisory Board of Yeshivat Maharat. He served as Associate Rabbi of the Hebrew Institute of Riverdale under the mentorship of Rabbi Avi Weiss from 1996 until 2000 and was a founding member of Congregation Netivot Shalom in Baltimore. A musmakh of Yeshivat Chovevei Torah, Aaron holds a B.A. in Philosophy from the University of Michigan and an M.S. from Columbia University School of Social Work. Rabbi Frank is married to Laura Shaw Frank. They have four children; Ateret, Yanniv, Elinadav, and Neri.

Mindy Sager Dickler,
Co-Founder JPride Baltimore & Eshel Baltimore
Mindy Sager Dickler refers to herself as the “proud Jewish mother of a gay son.” Soon after her son came out in 2011, Mindy co-founded JPride Baltimore, an organization devoted to LGBTQ outreach and support, through education and advocacy. Mindy was also instrumental in the formation of a local Eshel monthly meet-up group, which supports people who identify as Orthodox and LGBTQ and parents of LGBTQ children. Mindy was the co-chair of JPride for many years and was instrumental in creating a new awareness in Jewish Baltimore about the needs of its LGBTQ members. As the co-leader of the local Eshel group, Mindy offers support to parents at various points in their journeys of having their children come out, and how to navigate that in the Orthodox community.

Rabba Rachel Kohl Finegold,
Director of Education and Spiritual Enrichment, Shaar Hashomayim, Westmount, Quebec
Rabba Rachel Kohl Finegold is the first female member of the Clergy at Congregation Shaar Hashomayim. Rabba Rachel (pronounced “Rakhel”) focuses on engaging young families, supporting youth educational programming, working with the congregation’s schools, and connecting with young professionals in addition to a wide array of pastoral duties and lifecycle events. Rabba Rachel is one of the inaugural graduates of Yeshivat Maharat, the first institution to train Orthodox women as spiritual leaders. She received her B.A. in Religion from Boston University, and she completed the Scholars’ Circle program at the Drisha Institute in New York. Rabba Rachel is a board member of the Bronfman Jewish Education Centre (BJEC) and is active in the International Rabbinic Fellowship (IRF) and the Jewish Orthodox Feminist Alliance (JOFA). She previously served for six years as the Education & Ritual Director of Anshe Sholom B’nai Israel Congregation in Chicago. Originally from New York, Rabba Rachel lives in Montreal with her husband, Rabbi Avi Finegold, a native Montrealer, and their three daughters, Kinneret, Nedivah and Hadar.