Rabbi Erin Hirsh is JRF Director of Education. A 2000 graduate of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, she spent ten years working as an Education Director in the Reconstructionist movement at congregations Kehilat HaNahar and Mishkan Shalom. She also served as a consultant to Reconstructionist congregations during that time. Rabbi Erin has taught in a variety of supplementary school settings, including Reform and Reconstructionist congregations. She is the author of Etz Hayim We, a series of text study curricula based on the megillot. Rabbi Erin has also helped write the curricula for Camp JRF for the past five years. She and her partner, Ezra Sherman, are blessed with a 6 year old daughter, Zoe.

Rabbi Erin Hirsh is JRF Director of Education. A 2000 graduate of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, she spent ten years working as an Education Director in the Reconstructionist movement at congregations Kehilat HaNahar and Mishkan Shalom. She also served as a consultant to Reconstructionist congregations during that time. Rabbi Erin has taught in a variety of supplementary school settings, including Reform and Reconstructionist congregations. She is the author of Etz Hayim We, a series of text study curricula based on the megillot. Rabbi Erin has also helped write the curricula for Camp JRF for the past five years. She and her partner, Ezra Sherman, are blessed with a 6 year old daughter, Zoe.

Marion Gribetz is on the faculty of the Shoolman Graduate School of Jewish Education at Hebrew College in Newton, Massachusetts.  She is also managing director of Gribetz Mencow Consultants, an independent consulting firm specializing in improving Jewish Education.  She has published, researched, taught and consulted in all areas of Jewish Education.  She is a  member of the management team of JData and works with communities across the country to maximize the utility of JData and encourage data driven decision making.

A 1976 graduate of RRC, Rabbi Jeffrey Eisenstat is JRF Director of Special Initiatives and Founding Director of Camp JRF and No'ar Hadash. He holds a bachelor of arts from Pennsylvania State University and a master's in education from Temple University. He has served as a congregational rabbi in State College, PA; Philadelphia; and Plantation, FL; and as Hillel director at Penn State, where he taught in the religion department. In the early 1990s, Eisenstat was congregational services director at the Jewish Reconstructionist Federation and also was an instructor in education at RRC. Over the past 30 years, he has been involved in directing numerous schools and camps. He helped create the first North American family camp, Israel family education trips and youth programs for the Reconstructionist movement. He is a recipient of the Rabbi Ira Eisenstein Lifetime Achievement Award and is the director of youth and camping for Noar Hadash and Camp JRF. His publications include Reconstructing Jewish Education: A Process Guide, The Reconstructionist Teaching Model and Family Davening, as well as several musical albums.

Ariel Zaslav is the Youth Program Coordinator at JRF.  She also teaches in the religious schools of several reconstructionist congregations in the philadlephia area.  Prior to moving to Philadelphia she served as education director at JRF affiliate Temple Beth Hatfiloh in Olympia, Washington where she also founded and ran a summer day camp program for six years. 

Rabbi Jeffrey Eisenstat, A 1976 graduate of RRC,  is JRF Director of Special Initiatives and Founding Director of Camp JRF and No'ar Hadash. He holds a bachelor of arts from Pennsylvania State University and a master's in education from Temple University. He has served as a congregational rabbi in State College, PA; Philadelphia; and Plantation, FL; and as Hillel director at Penn State, where he taught in the religion department. In the early 1990s, Eisenstat was congregational services director at the Jewish Reconstructionist Federation and also was an instructor in education at RRC. Over the past 30 years, he has been involved in directing numerous schools and camps. He helped create the first North American family camp, Israel family education trips and youth programs for the Reconstructionist movement. He is a recipient of the Rabbi Ira Eisenstein Lifetime Achievement Award and is the director of youth and camping for Noar Hadash and Camp JRF. His publications include Reconstructing Jewish Education: A Process Guide, The Reconstructionist Teaching Model and Family Davening, as well as several musical albums.

A 1976 graduate of RRC, Rabbi Jeffrey Eisenstat is JRF Director of Special Initiatives and Founding Director of Camp JRF and No'ar Hadash. He holds a bachelor of arts from Pennsylvania State University and a master's in education from Temple University. He has served as a congregational rabbi in State College, PA; Philadelphia; and Plantation, FL; and as Hillel director at Penn State, where he taught in the religion department. In the early 1990s, Eisenstat was congregational services director at the Jewish Reconstructionist Federation and also was an instructor in education at RRC. Over the past 30 years, he has been involved in directing numerous schools and camps. He helped create the first North American family camp, Israel family education trips and youth programs for the Reconstructionist movement. He is a recipient of the Rabbi Ira Eisenstein Lifetime Achievement Award and is the director of youth and camping for Noar Hadash and Camp JRF. His publications include Reconstructing Jewish Education: A Process Guide, The Reconstructionist Teaching Model and Family Davening, as well as several musical albums.

David Basior, in his second year of study at RRC, moved to Philadelphia from Seattle, WA where he lived for six years working for Jewish community organizations such as BBYO and Hillel as well as a secular independent elementary school and the local food co-op. In college, David was a founding father of a non-Jewish fraternity, a leader in the campus' Dance Marathon, in the marching band, and came into his Judaism at Hillel where he produced such programs as Sukkot Survivor. Raised in the Reform Movement, David is excited about being a part of the Reconstructionist Movement now and the possibilities for expansion and new projects. He currently is working with students at Brandeis University involved with the Brandeis Reconstructionist Organization (BRO.)  David is also working to gather data about how our congregations connect with their students who have left for college.   In addition, he has played alto and baritone saxophone in Disco Stu and the Fabulous Horn Kings, a ska band of the 1990s, and The Soul Pistols, a soul cover band.

Rabbi David Teutsch has been a builder of religious community since becoming a congregational rabbi thirty years ago. He is the Wiener Professor of Contemporary Jewish Civilization and director of the Levin-Lieber Program in Jewish Ethics at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, where he served as president for nearly a decade. The editor in chief of the groundbreaking Kol Haneshamah prayer book series published by JRF’s Reconstructionist Press, he has also authored several other books including Imagining the Jewish Future and titles in the series A Guide to Jewish Practice published by RRC Press.

Rabbi Mordechai Liebling holds a Bachelor of Arts in government from Cornell University and Master of Arts in the history of American civilization, specializing in American progressive movements, from Brandeis University. Rabbi Liebling is a 1985 graduate of RRC.
He has published articles in many publications, including Tikkun, Israel Horizons, Jewish Currents and The Reconstructionist.  Currently, he serves as the Director of the newly created Social Justice Organizing Program at RRC.  He has served on the boards of various national and international non-profit organizations; currently he serves on the boards of the Faith and Politics Institute and Rabbis for Human Rights-North America. Liebling also is the president emeritus of the Shalom Center.

Rabbi David Teutsch has been a builder of religious community since becoming a congregational rabbi thirty years ago. He is the Wiener Professor of Contemporary Jewish Civilization and director of the Levin-Lieber Program in Jewish Ethics at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, where he served as president for nearly a decade. The editor in chief of the groundbreaking Kol Haneshamah prayer book series published by JRF’s Reconstructionist Press, he has also authored several other books including Imagining the Jewish Future and titles in the series A Guide to Jewish Practice published by RRC Press.

Rabbi Mordechai Liebling holds a Bachelor of Arts in government from Cornell University and Master of Arts in the history of American civilization, specializing in American progressive movements, from Brandeis University. Rabbi Liebling is a 1985 graduate of RRC.
He has published articles in many publications, including Tikkun, Israel Horizons, Jewish Currents and The Reconstructionist.  Currently, he serves as the Director of the newly created Social Justice Organizing Program at RRC.  He has served on the boards of various national and international non-profit organizations; currently he serves on the boards of the Faith and Politics Institute and Rabbis for Human Rights-North America. Liebling also is the president emeritus of the Shalom Center.

Rabbi Shawn Israel Zevit, www.rabbizevit.com is a congregational consultant and Director of Outreach and Tikkun Olam for the Jewish Reconstructionist Federation. He is the Co-Director of the award-winning Davennen Leaders Training Institute and is a spiritual director for many clergy. A recording artist he has also written and developed resources in the areas of Community Building, Leadership, Prayer, Contemporary views of GOD, Jewish Men's issues ("Brother Keepers: New Essays in Jewish Masculinity), and Money and Jewish values ("Offerings of the Heart: Values-Based Approaches to Money in Faith Community". Rabbi Zevit moved to Cleveland in 2009 to be with his wife Simcha and family, continuing his work for JRF from there.

Rabbi Mordechai Liebling holds a Bachelor of Arts in government from Cornell University and Master of Arts in the history of American civilization, specializing in American progressive movements, from Brandeis University. Rabbi Liebling is a 1985 graduate of RRC.
He has published articles in many publications, including Tikkun, Israel Horizons, Jewish Currents and The Reconstructionist.  Currently, he serves as the Director of the newly created Social Justice Organizing Program at RRC.  He has served on the boards of various national and international non-profit organizations; currently he serves on the boards of the Faith and Politics Institute and Rabbis for Human Rights-North America. Liebling also is the president emeritus of the Shalom Center.

Rabbi Shawn Israel Zevit, www.rabbizevit.com is a congregational consultant and Director of Outreach and Tikkun Olam for the Jewish Reconstructionist Federation. He is the Co-Director of the award-winning Davennen Leaders Training Institute and is a spiritual director for many clergy. A recording artist he has also written and developed resources in the areas of Community Building, Leadership, Prayer, Contemporary views of GOD, Jewish Men's issues ("Brother Keepers: New Essays in Jewish Masculinity), and Money and Jewish values ("Offerings of the Heart: Values-Based Approaches to Money in Faith Community". Rabbi Zevit moved to Cleveland in 2009 to be with his wife Simcha and family, continuing his work for JRF from there.

Rabbi Shawn Israel Zevit, www.rabbizevit.com is a congregational consultant and Director of Outreach and Tikkun Olam for the Jewish Reconstructionist Federation. He is the Co-Director of the award-winning Davennen Leaders Training Institute and is a spiritual director for many clergy. A recording artist he has also written and developed resources in the areas of Community Building, Leadership, Prayer, Contemporary views of GOD, Jewish Men's issues ("Brother Keepers: New Essays in Jewish Masculinity), and Money and Jewish values ("Offerings of the Heart: Values-Based Approaches to Money in Faith Community". Rabbi Zevit moved to Cleveland in 2009 to be with his wife Simcha and family, continuing his work for JRF from there.

Rabbi Jacob Staub, Ph.D., graduated from RRC in 1977. Staub has served on the RRC faculty since 1983; he served as the College’s vice president for academic affairs and academic dean from 1989 to 2004. He was instrumental in developing RRC’s Spiritual Direction Program  and has taught Jewish spiritual direction across North America, including at Spiritual Directors International and the Spirituality Institute of Metivta. He is also a faculty member at Nehirim: GLBT Jewish Culture and Spirituality, and he directs Nehirim’s Shalshelet Mentoring Program.

His prior teaching experience includes appointments as assistant professor of religion at Lafayette College and as a Mellon Fellow in Jewish Philosophy at Washington University. He has served as rabbi of Bristol Jewish Center in Bristol, PA, and of Congregation Beth Shalom in Arlington, TX. Staub has served as chair of the Academy for Jewish Philosophy, of which has been a fellow. He has been vice president of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association and currently serves on its board. Jacob also has chaired the RRA’s Gevulot Committee and its Committee on Intermarriage.

Staub earned a Bachelor of Arts in English from the State University of New York at Buffalo and a Master of Arts and doctorate in religion from Temple University, where he specialized in medieval Jewish philosophy. He trained as a spiritual director at the Shalem Institute for Spiritual Formation. He completed certification in Mindfulness Leadership Training with Sylvia Boorstein and teaches meditation and contemplative practice at RRC.

Staub served as editor of The Reconstructionist from 1983 to 1989. He is the author of The Creation of the World According to Gersonides (1982) and of numerous articles, poems and essays. He is co-editor with Jeffrey L. Schein of Creative Jewish Education: A Reconstructionist Perspective (1985) and co-author with Rebecca T. Alpert of Exploring Judaism, A Reconstructionist Approach (1985, revised edition 2000).

Rabbi Shawn Israel Zevit, www.rabbizevit.com is the Director of Congregational Service, Outreach and Tikkun Olam for the Jewish Reconstructionist Federation. Rabbi Zevit graduated with a BFA, Theatre Honors, from York University in Toronto (1982), Canada, RRC in 1998, and is currently pursuing a Doctorate in Spiritual Direction and Liturgical Arts from the New York Theological Seminary. He is the Co-Director of the award-winning Davennen Leaders Training Institute and is a spiritual director for many clergy and on core faculty of the ALEPH Hashpa’ah (Spiritual Direction) Clergy Training Program. A recording artist with 5 CD’s of original music and the Shabbat Unplugged “A Night of Questions” CD, he has also written and developed resources in the areas of Community Building, Leadership, Prayer, Contemporary views of GOD, Jewish Men's issues ("Brother Keepers: New Essays in Jewish Masculinities, 2010, http://www.mensstudies.com), and Money and Jewish values ("Offerings of the Heart: Values-Based Approaches to Money in Faith Community", Alban, 2005). Rabbi Zevit moved from Philadelphia to Cleveland in 2009 to be with his wife Simcha and family, continuing his work for JRF from there.

Rabbi Shawn Israel Zevit, www.rabbizevit.com is the Director of Congregational Service, Outreach and Tikkun Olam for the Jewish Reconstructionist Federation. Rabbi Zevit graduated with a BFA, Theatre Honors, from York University in Toronto (1982), Canada, RRC in 1998, and is currently pursuing a Doctorate in Spiritual Direction and Liturgical Arts from the New York Theological Seminary. He is the Co-Director of the award-winning Davennen Leaders Training Institute and is a spiritual director for many clergy and on core faculty of the ALEPH Hashpa’ah (Spiritual Direction) Clergy Training Program. A recording artist with 5 CD’s of original music and the Shabbat Unplugged “A Night of Questions” CD, he has also written and developed resources in the areas of Community Building, Leadership, Prayer, Contemporary views of GOD, Jewish Men's issues ("Brother Keepers: New Essays in Jewish Masculinities, 2010, http://www.mensstudies.com), and Money and Jewish values ("Offerings of the Heart: Values-Based Approaches to Money in Faith Community", Alban, 2005). Rabbi Zevit moved from Philadelphia to Cleveland in 2009 to be with his wife Simcha and family, continuing his work for JRF from there.

Rabbi Richard Hirsh is the Executive Director of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association, and teaches future rabbis at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College. He was the editor of the journal The Reconstructionist from 1996-2006. He has previously served congregations in Chicago, New York, New Jersey and Toronto, was the Executive Director of the Philadelphia Board of Rabbis and Jewish Chaplaincy Service (1988-1993) and was on the staff of the Philadelphia Jewish Community Relations Council (1987-1988).

Rabbi Hirsh received his BA in Jewish Studies from Hofstra University (1975), his MA in religion with a specialization in the New Testament from Temple University (1981), and was graduated as a rabbi from the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College (1981). Rabbi Hirsh was the chair of the “Reconstructionist Commission on the Role of the Rabbi” and the author of its report, The Rabbi-Congregation Relationship: A Vision for the 21st Century. His commentaries are featured in A Night of Questions, the Reconstructionist Haggadah and the Reconstructionist High Holiday prayerbook.
He is also the author of the books The Journey of Mourning and Welcoming Children in the Reconstructionist Guide to Jewish Practice series. His articles have appeared regularly in the magazines The Reconstructionist and Reconstructionism Today, as well as in many other Jewish and general publications. For over a dozen years he has contributed commentary on the weekly Torah portion for the Jewish Exponent and the New Jersey Jewish News.

Rabbi Rachel,  is soon to be the new chaplain at Georgetown University.  Rabbi Rachel is an author, educator, spiritual director and chaplin, who has many years of experience in the rabbinate.

Ordained by the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College in 2002, with awards in Practical Rabbinics and Spiritually Motivated Social Action, Rabbi Rachel has served a range of Jewish populations from the elderly to the very young: She co-authored the nationally acclaimed “Rosh Hodesh: It's A Girl Thing - Sourcebook for Leaders”, the signature project of Moving Traditions. Through this program, 6,000 adolescent Jewish girls from across denominations have experienced how Jewish teachings can enable them to make more positive choices in a culture steeped in pressures related to school, relationships, body image, sexuality, drugs and alcohol. Rabbi Rachel has worked with other populations as well. She was a student chaplain at a life care center for Jewish elderly in Philadelphia for many years ,where she produced a theatrical piece with holocaust survivors about their lives; she served as a rabbinic intern at Congregation Beth Simchat Torah which serves the gay and lesbian NY Jewish community, and she is a fellow in the prestigious Marshall T. Meyer Fellowship of Congergation Bnai Jeshurun of New York City. She was a pulpit rabbi in Montclair, New Jersey for three years before turning her sites on campus work.