

Joshua Schon Wirtschafter has founded two Reconstructionist havurot: Or Zarua Havurah in Berkeley and Mayim Rabim Congregation in Minneapolis. He is a semi-professional klezmer violinist and mandolinist, who collaborates frequently with his wife, Yiddish singer Diane Schon Wirtschafter, and most recently with the Kehilla Klezmer Band of the Kehilla Community Synagogue in Piedmont, CA. He has studied klezmer at KlezCamp in New York and KlezCalifornia in the Bay Area, and in private lessons with violinists Michael Alpert and Alicia Svigals. Beyond these extra-curricular passions, Josh currently holds two day jobs: enforcing environmental law for the United States Environmental Protection Agency and teaching at Golden Gate University Law School.