Staff

San Francisco

Gary A. Tobin, Ph.D.
President of The Institute for Jewish & Community Research

Dr. Gary A. Tobin is the president of the Institute for Jewish & Community Research, San Francisco. He is also a senior fellow with the Baylor Institute for Studies of Religion. He earned his Ph.D. in city and regional planning from the University of California, Berkeley. He served as Director of the Maurice and Marilyn Cohen Center for Modern Jewish Studies at Brandeis University for 14 years, after 11 years at Washington University, St. Louis. Dr. Tobin has consulted with scores of non-profits and foundations, and speaks on a range of topics, from philanthropy to religious stereotypes.

Having edited two volumes on the effects of the racial schism in America, What Happened to the Urban Crisis? and Divided Neighborhoods, Dr. Tobin has targeted racial and religious prejudice in America as a key concern. He has written books and monographs on anti-Semitism, including Jewish Perceptions of Anti-Semitism and Anti-Semitic Beliefs in the United States. His writings on prejudice in America's education systems include The UnCivil University: Politics and Propaganda in American Education, Profiles of the American University Volume 1: Political Beliefs & Behavior of College Faculty, and Profiles of the American University Volume 2: Religious Beliefs & Behavior of College Faculty. He has just completed a volume, published by Lexington Books, entitled The Trouble with Textbooks, an examination of anti-Semitism and anti-Israelism that saturate elementary and secondary school social studies materials.

Dr. Tobin's Jewish demography and Jewish identity texts include In Every Tongue: The Racial & Ethnic Diversity of the Jewish People, Rabbis Talk About Intermarriage, and Opening the Gates: How Proactive Conversion Can Revitalize the Jewish Community. He also writes about organized religion in America, having completed two works, Church and Synagogue Affiliation and The Decline of Religious Identity in the United States.

His work on philanthropy is extensive. His newest publications include Mega-Gifts in American Philanthropy: Giving Patterns 2001-2003, Mega-Gifts in Jewish Philanthropy: Giving Patterns 2001-2003, and A Study of Jewish Foundations. Among his previous publications are Mega-Gifts in American Philanthropy: General & Jewish Giving Patterns Between 1995-2000 and The Transition of Communal Values and Behavior in Jewish Philanthropy.

Gary and his wife Diane live in San Francisco. They have six children, Adam, 38; Amy, 34; Sarah, 33; Aryeh, 29; Mia, 26; and Jonah, 11.

Diane Tobin
Associate Director

Diane Kaufmann Tobin is the founder and director of Be'chol Lashon (In Every Tongue), a research and community-building initiative of the IJCR that seeks to grow and strengthen the Jewish people through ethnic, cultural, and racial inclusiveness. With personnel and partners across the United States, as well as in Latin America, Europe, and Africa, Be'chol Lashon calls for an intercultural understanding of the Jewish people. Diane Tobin is also the author of In Every Tongue: The Racial & Ethnic Diversity of the Jewish People, which was a 2006 Independent Publisher Book Award finalist.

Ms. Tobin also serves as Associate Director of the Institute for Jewish & Community Research. She manages the Institute's staff and projects, which include research initiatives and collaborative programs with a variety of organizations and institutions. She co-authored Jewish Family Foundations.

Prior to joining the Institute in 1991, she was the president of a design firm for more than fifteen years that specialized in the design and production of corporate and non-profit identity, conferences and events. This included working with many Jewish organizations including Federations, Community Relations Councils, and Family and Children's Services.

She has served as a community leader in a number of Jewish organizations, including president of the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco, 1986 - 1989.

Diane and her husband Gary have six children, Adam, 38; Amy, 34; Sarah, 33; Aryeh, 29; Mia, 26 and Jonah, 11.

Aryeh Weinberg
Research Associate

Aryeh K. Weinberg is a research associate at the Institute for Jewish & Community Research. He is also a research fellow with the Baylor Institute for Studies of Religion. Mr. Weinberg received his B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley, in International Relations and Peace and Conflict Studies, with an emphasis on international freshwater conflict and cooperation.

Mr. Weinberg's research focuses on philanthropy, as well as anti-Semitism and anti-Israelism in American education. His latest publications include The UnCivil University: Politics and Propaganda in Higher Education, "An Exceptional Nation: American Philanthropy Is Different Because America Is Different,"A Profile of American College Faculty vol. 1: Political Beliefs & Behavior, and A Profile of American College Faculty vol. 2: Religious Beliefs & Behavior. He is presently completing two monographs, entitled Mega-Gifts in American Philanthropy vol. 2, and Mega-Gifts in Jewish Philanthropy.

Danielle Meshorer
Research Associate

Danielle Helene Meshorer is a research associate at the Institute for Jewish & Community Research. She is involved in the Institute’s growth initiatives focusing primarily on ethnic and racial diversity. She is the coordinator of the Health and Development Plan for the Abayudaya Jews in Uganda.

Ms. Meshorer graduated summa cum laude in anthropology and psychology from the University of Vermont and received an M.A. in international and intercultural management from the School for International Training, with a concentration on cross-cultural conflict transformation.

Before coming to the Institute, Danielle worked at the Palestine-Israel Journal in Jerusalem, and the Yitzhak Rabin Center for Israel Studies in Tel Aviv, Israel. She also lived and worked in Cameroon.

Jenna Ferer
Research Associate

Jenna Ferer is a research associate at the Institute for Jewish & Community Research. She conducts research on issues related to anti-Semitism and anti-Israelism in America's educational systems, and on philanthropy. She is the co-author of The UnCivil University: Politics and Propaganda in Higher Education. She also works on IJCR media and publication distribution.

Jenna received a B.A. in Kinesiology from California State University, Northridge, where she returned in 2001 to study print and photojournalism. From 2001 - 2003, while enrolled, Jenna also participated in intensive strategy, communications, and public policy training on issues related to Israel and the media in Washington, D.C. and Los Angeles.

Formerly, Ms. Ferer lived in Jerusalem, where she worked as a news, feature, and photojournalist for The Media Line, a non-profit news agency that specializes in countering media bias against Israel. While there, she produced an independent photographic study on schoolchildren in areas of violence. She has also been an editor and writer for the College Campus Initiative E-News and Information Brief for the Jewish Federation of Los Angeles.

Dennis Ybarra
Research Associate

Dennis Ybarra is a research associate at the Institute for Jewish & Community Research He is the manager of the initiative on anti-Israelism and anti-Semitism in America's K-12 education systems. Ybarra obtained a B.S. in business administration from the University of California Berkeley, accompanied by substantial work in modern and biblical Hebrew. He earned an M.B.A. from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He served as laison to the Jewish community on behalf of the Catholic bishop of Sacramento, CA, 1990-2000, for whom he provided testimony in California History-Social Science adoptions. In 1994, the Sacramento City Council honored him for his work strengthening the ties between the city's Jewish and Catholic communities.

Ybarra is currently completing a volume entitled The Trouble With Textbooks, an examination of anti-semitism and anti-Israelism that saturate elementary and secondary school social studies materials.

Kathy Candito
Financial Manager

Kathy Candito is the financial manager at the Institute for Jewish & Community Research and has been working with the Institute since 1994. Kathy manages grants for the Institute, as well as human resources. She is responsible for all aspects of business management and accounting. She has over 30 years of accounting experience, working for a variety of large and small businesses.

Kathy was born and raised in San Francisco. Kathy and her husband, Steven, have two grown children and one grandchild.

Esther Gibian Fishman
Program Coordinator

Esther Gibian Fishman is the Be'chol lashon program coordinator. She comes to IJCR after two years at the Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco, working in the Campaign Department.

Born and raised in Kansas City, Esther moved to California to attend university in 1999. Graduating magna cum laude, Esther holds her B.A. in Political Science, with an emphasis on City Planning, from San Francisco State University.

Esther spent one semester in Jerusalem and one semester in Amsterdam. In Amsterdam, in addition to attending graduate courses in International Relations, Esther interned for the Anne Frank House, focusing her research on current human rights violations. Upon returning to San Francisco, Esther has continued her volunteerism at various local organizations including Creativity Explored, Planned Parenthood and the SF Food Bank.

Maya Oren
Program Coordinator

Maya Oren is the Be’chol Lashon program coordinator at the Institute for Jewish and Community Research. She was born and raised in Haifa, Israel but has been calling the Bay Area her home for the past 14 years. She received her BA in Political Science with a minor in Geography from the University of California, Los Angeles, and was able to apply her studies while traveling in Southeast Asia and South America for nine months following her graduation.

Before joining the Institute in April, she worked at the Women's Initiative for Self Employment and at the Bureau of Jewish Education.

Ms. Oren is fluent in Hebrew, English, and can converse in Spanish.

Deryck Reed
IT Services

Deryck M. Reed provides IT services for the Institute for Jewish & Community Research. He established Modern Mechanic Computer Services in 1999, which specializes in developing long term relationships based on communication and trust.

Mr. Reed has an A.S. Degree in Computer Networking and System Administration Skills from Cabrillo College in Aptos, California (1997-2000). His certifications include RHCE RedHat Linux Certified Engineer (1999), Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (2002), and California C7 (low voltage) Contractors License (2005). Deryck is fluent in Spanish.

Chicago

Rabbi Capers Funnye
Senior Research Associate

Rabbi Capers Funnye is spiritual leader of Beth Shalom B’nai Zaken Ethiopian Hebrew Congregation, Chicago and the Associate Director of Be’chol Lashon. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in Jewish Studies and a Master of Science in Human Services Administration from Spertus Institute of Jewish Studies, Chicago and rabbinic ordination from the Israelite Board of Rabbis, New York.

Rabbi Funnye is involved in many community organizations. He serves on the boards of the Chicago Board of Rabbis, American Jewish Congress, Jewish Council on Urban Affairs, Boys-To-Men and the South Chicago Chamber of Commerce. Rabbi Funnye has served as a consultant to the DuSable Museum of African American History, Chicago Historical Society, Spertus Museum of Judaica, and the Afro-American Museum, Los Angeles. Rabbi Funnye has appeared on numerous television and radio programs, including: Our Voices, BET, The Jerry Springer Show, WMAQ-TV, Common Ground, WBBM-TV, Talking With Aaron Freeman and WPWR-TV.

Rabbi Funnye and his wife, Mary, have four children.

RESEARCH FELLOWS

Uganda

Gershom Sizomu
Research Fellow

Rabbi Gershom Sizomu is a Be'chol Lashon Rabbinic Fellow at the Institute for Jewish & Community Research and the spiritual leader of the Abayudaya Jews of Uganda. Rabbi Sizomu earned a Bachelor of Arts in education from Islamic University, Uganda. As an IJCR fellow, Gershom Sizomu attends the Zeigler School of Rabbinic Studies at the University of Judaism, Los Angeles. After he completes the 5-year rabbinic program in 2008, he will return to Uganda to start a yeshiva in Uganda to train African rabbis.

Abayudaya is a local term that means "the people of Judah.” The Jews of Uganda trace their roots to Semei Kakungulu, a local leader and missionary for the British, who favored the Hebrew bible and spread its teachings at the turn of the 20th century. Today, approximately 800 members of the Abayudaya community live in Eastern Uganda near Mbale. In 2002, at the community´s request, a Conservative Bet Din supervised the conversion of most of the Abayudaya community members.

Rabbi Sizomu plays guitar and writes music for the community. He and his wife Tziporah perform Ugandan Jewish music and lecture about Jews in Uganda. They have three children, Igaal, Dafnah, and Navah.

South Africa

Rabson Wuriga
Research Fellow

Rabson Wuriga holds a Ph.D. in Philosophy from the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa. Rabson Wuriga is a post-doctoral research fellow of the Institute for Jewish Community and Research, San Francisco, and Center for Afro-Jewish Studies, Temple University.

Rabson was born and raised in Zimbabwe. He belongs to the Hamis (or Hamish) clan of the Lemba community. He is married to Eveline with two children.

He works with the Lemba community in Zimbabwe (as a National Coordinator), and in South Africa, and Mozambique (Coordinator). Currently he is involved in community building through research work under the Institute for Jewish & Community Research funded project on Lemba traditions, and promoting dialogue with other Jewish groups; participating in mainstream Jewish circles through the help of the Centre for Afro-Judeo Studies; facilitating a computer equipping project for Mapakomhere High School in Zimbabwe together with Dr. Carolivia Herron, representing Tifereth-Israel Synagogue; facilitating the building of a community medical clinic in Tadzembwa, Zimbabwe.

New York

Rigoberto Emmanuel Viñas
Research Fellow

Rabbi Rigoberto Emmanuel Viñas, 39, is a Sephardic Rabbi and founder of El Centro de Estudios Jud'os Torat Emet, a Spanish language House of Study (Bet Midrash) of Jewish Spirituality and Learning. The Center's mission is to provide a home for Latinos to engage in Jewish life by serving as a congregation for prayer and learning and as a resource for those of converso (Anusim) background who wish to return to Judaism. Additionally,he seeks to serve as a bridge for improved cooperation, knowledge and understanding between the Hispanic community and the Anglo Jewish community in the U.S. The Center combines Latin culture and Jewish culture into a vibrant community that reflects the lifestyle, values and history of our congregation's members. Members of the congregation include Cubans, Dominicans, Guatemalans, Peruvians, Ecuadorians, Mexicans, Argentineans, Colombians, Hondurans, Puerto Ricans, Jamaicans, and Anglo Jews who speak Spanish and like being part of the Latino Jewish community.

Rabbi Manny Viñas is a first generation Cuban American. He was born and raised in Miami, Florida, after his parents had emigrated to the United States as part of the large Cuban exile in 1960 following Castro's revolution. Manny's family was of converso background, practicing in Cuba many of the Jewish traditions that had been "secretly" handed down from generation to generation. In Miami, the family rediscovered its Jewish roots and formally returned to Judaism. His studies of Torah, Kabbalah and Judaism led to his ordination as a Master Torah Scribe by Yeshiva University in New York City and ordination as an Orthodox Rabbi (Yoreh Yoreh) by Kollel Agudath Achim in Boro Park, Brooklyn, New York and another ordination (Yoreh Yoreh) from Yeshiva VeKollel Zichron Chizkiahu Yoel of Boro Park Brooklyn. He also has a Master's Degree in Social Work from Hunter College in New York City and is also a Master Herbalist and healer, combining his family's Caribbean herbalist traditions and traditional Chinese medicine. He is the Rabbi of the Lincoln Park Jewish Center in Yonkers, a Modern Orthodox congregation that is multi-racial and multiethnic. He is also an adjunct lecturer at City College where he teaches in the Jewish Studies Department courses about the Jews of Latin America. Rabbi Vinas is also a professor of scribal arts (Sofrut) at Yeshiva University's Belz School of Jewish Music.

He is married to Erica, a nutritionist, and has three daughters, Gila (15), Penina (13) and Aviva (8).

San Francisco

Rabbi Shlomo Zarchi
Research Fellow

Rabbi Shlomo Zarchi is a research fellow at the Institute for Jewish & Community Research. He received his rabbinic ordination from the Rabbinical Academy in Jerusalem and New York. Rabbi Zarchi is the rabbi of Congregation Chevra Thilim, the oldest Orthodox synagogue in San Francisco.

Rabbi Zarchi comes from a Hasidic family of rabbis that goes back six generations. Growing up in Brooklyn, he learned Hebrew and Aramaic as soon as he was able to read. He began studying Kabbalah shortly thereafter, at the age of five. He has studied under some of the great Hasidic and Kabbalistic masters. He is one of the foremost experts on the Kabbalah on the West Coast and is a frequent lecturer. Rabbi Zarchi currently teaches classes at the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco.

Rabbi Zarchi has traveled to many parts of the world through his involvement in outreach programs. He spent significant time in the Former Soviet Union participating in the synagogue recovery program in the early 1990s.

He presently serves on the Vaad Hakashrus of Northern California.

Rabbi Zarchi lives in San Francisco with his wife Chani and their five children.

Research Scholars

Tobin Belzer, Ph.D.

Tobin Belzer PhD is a Research Associate at the Center for Religion and Civic Culture at the University of Southern California, and a Senior Research Associate at the Berman Center for Research and Evaluation at JESNA. With Rabbi Julie Pelc, she is the co-editor of Joining the Sisterhood: Young Jewish Women Write Their Lives (State University of New York Press, 2003). Belzer received her PhD in Sociology in 2004 and has a joint master's degree in Sociology and Women's Studies from Brandeis University. As a doctoral candidate, she was awarded the Joshua Venture Fellowship for Young Jewish Social Entrepreneurs. Belzer was recently awarded the Hadassah Award for Excellence in Writing about Women from the American Jewish Press Association. She is a 2007-08 Fellow of the Congregational Studies Team's Engaged Scholars Program, funded by the Lilly Endowment.

Joshua Comenetz, Ph.D.

Since 1990, Joshua Comenetz has used cartographic methods and geographic information systems software to visualize spatial data, map demographic change and Jewish demographic patterns, and analyze data quality.

Dr. Comenetz authored the forthcoming 11th edition of the Atlas of World Affairs (Routledge) and is one of the editors of Goode's World Atlas (Rand McNally). As a consultant he has solved problems in areas ranging from political redistricting to ethnic and religious mapping, and he has taught geography (including a course in Jewish population geography) and international relations at the university level.

In a recent paper in the journal Contemporary Jewry, he used census data and cartography to derive the most accurate possible estimate of the size of the American Hasidic population. Other projects and papers have mapped and explained demographic trends among African-Americans, American Indians, Czech- and Slovak-Americans, Jews, Muslims, women in Eritrea, and Ethiopian ethnic groups.

Dr. Comenetz earned an AB in geology from Harvard and an MA and PhD in geography from the University of Minnesota.

Stephen Mark Dobbs, Ph.D.

Dr. Stephen Dobbs is a native San Franciscan and received his B.A. and Ph.D. from Stanford University. His first career was as a university professor in the humanities. He is currently an adjunct professor at San Francisco State University and an adjunct faculty at the Institute for Jewish & Community Research.

His second career has been in the foundation world. He was a former program analyst for the John D. Rockefeller III Fund and a senior program officer at the J. Paul Getty Trust. He served as CEO of the Koret Foundation and the Marin Community Foundation. Dr. Dobbs is currently the executive director of the John & Lisa Pritzker Family Fund, the Nancy & Stephen Grand Philanthropic Fund, and Taube Philanthropies which includes the Taube Foundation for Jewish Life & Culture.

His third career has been in Jewish community organizations. He is a former president of the Brandeis-Hillel Day School, vice president of the Bureau of Jewish Education, and vice president of Congregation Emanu-El. He was the founding director of the Jewish Community Federation Leadership Institute. He was President of Mount Zion Health Fund and served on the board of the Jewish Community Federation. In the general community, Dobbs serves as a director of Guide Dogs for the Blind, and San Francisco State University Foundation. He and his wife, Victoria, have four sons.

Marc Dollinger, Ph.D.

Dr. Marc Dollinger holds the Richard and Rhoda Goldman Endowed Chair in Jewish Studies and Social Responsibility at San Francisco State University.

He has served as Research Fellow at Princeton University's Center for the Study of Religion as well as the Andrew W. Mellon Post-Doctoral Fellow and Lecturer in the Humanities at Bryn Mawr College, where he coordinated the program in Jewish Studies. He currently serves on the academic advisory council of the American Jewish Historical Association.

His first book, Quest For Inclusion: Jews and Liberalism In Modern America, was published by Princeton University Press in 2000. His second book, California Jews, co-edited with Ava Kahn, was published in 2003 by Brandeis University Press. Dr. Dollinger has also contributed entries on American Jewish life to the Encyclopedia Judaica and the Dictionary of American History. He is currently at work on two projects, Is It Good for the Jews? and Power, Politics, and the 1960s and American Jewish History: A Documents Reader, which will be published by Brandeis University Press.

Dr. Dollinger is the former educational director of URJ's Camps Newman and Swig, and is the recipient of UCLA's distinguished teaching award.

He serves on the California advisory committee to the United States Commission on Civil Rights, the board of the Bureau of Jewish Education, Camp Newman-Swig, and is board president of Brandeis-Hillel Day School.

David Dutwin, Ph.D.

Dr. David Dutwin is Vice President of Social Survey Partners, a major market research and social science research firm located outside of Philadelphia, PA. His primary areas of expertise are in sampling methods, questionnaire development, weighting, and data analysis. Dr. Dutwin has conducted a wide range of studies at Social Survey Partners, mostly pertaining to Jewish demography, Hispanic attitudes, opinions, and behavior, health policy, political tracking, and education policy.

Dr. Dutwin is also an adjunct professor at West Chester University where he teaches research methodology as well as business communication, rhetoric and mass media effects. David holds a Ph.D. from the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania, where his area of study was the formation of mass opinion. He also holds an M.A. from the University of Washington in rhetorical studies. Dr. Dutwin's prior experience was in politics, where he worked for former U.S. Senator Harris Wofford of Pennsylvania and current House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of San Francisco.

David lives in the Philadelphia area with his wife Betsy and his two sons, Aidan and Elias.

Jane Anna Gordon

Jane Anna Gordon teaches in the Department of Political Science at Temple University, where she is also Associate Director of the Institute for the Study of Race and Social Thought as well as the Center for Afro-Jewish Studies. She is the author of Why They Couldn't Wait: A Critique of the Black-Jewish Conflict Over Community Control in Ocean-Hill Brownsville, 1967 - 1971 (Routledge, 2001), which was listed by the Gotham Gazette as one of the four best books recently published on civil rights, and is co-editor of A Companion to African-American Studies (Blackwell's, 2006) and Not Only the Master's Tools (Paradigm Publishers, 2006). Gordon's current work focuses on problems of legitimacy in democratic societies: she is completing one book that aims to refashion Rousseau's concept of the general will through the resources offered by W.E.B. Du Bois's idea of double consciousness, and on another, with Lewis Gordon, that develops a social and political theory of disaster in the modern age. Gordon is particularly interested in how best to measure and count communities that have been designated religiously, about ways in which best to understand members of communities of color who are deliberately returning to Judaism, and in how most accurately and effectively to illuminate, emphasize, and educate contemporary Jews and non-Jews about the creolized past and present of vibrant Jewish communities.

Lewis R. Gordon, Ph.D.

Lewis Gordon is the offspring of two Jewish communities that converged in his mother.

One was the Solomon family, who migrated to Jamaica in the 19th Century. The other was from Ireland under the name of Finikin, who also immigrated there during the same period. Noticing that admission of his Jewish heritage stimulates discussion and reflection on Jewish diversity and history, Gordon has committed himself to working with fellow scholars and community workers dedicated to the re-appearance of Jewish people who have disappeared either by force or neglect. He is the founder and co-director, with his wife Jane Gordon, of the Center for Afro-Jewish Studies at Temple University, a research institute dedicated to developing reliable sources of information on Afro-Jews and Jewish diversity. He is also a research affiliate of the Institute for Jewish Research and Community. His formal academic appointment is the Laura H. Carnell Professor of Philosophy, Religion, and Judaic Studies at Temple University. Professor Gordon achieved his PhD in Philosophy with distinction from Yale University in 1993. He earned his B.A., with multiple honors, through the Lehman Scholars Program at Lehman College in the Bronx, New York, in 1984, after which he had taught as a Social Studies teacher in the Bronx, where he was also founder of the Second Chance Program at Lehman High School. Professor Gordon is the author of several influential and award-winning books, such as Bad Faith and Antiblack Racism (1995), Her Majesty's Other Children (1997), which won the Gustavus Myer Award for Outstanding Work on Human Rights in North America, Exisentia Africana (2000), Disciplinary Decadence (2006), and his co-edited A Companion to African-American Studies, was chosen as the NetLibrary eBook of the Month for February 2007. His forthcoming books are An Introduction to Africana Philosophy, which will be published by Cambridge University Press, and, with Jane Anna Gordon, Of Divine Warning: Reading Disaster in the Modern Age, which will be published by Paradigm Publishers. He is the author of the foreword to Gary and Diane Tobin and Scott Rubin's In Every Tongue (2005), and he is currently working on a book tentatively titled The Afro-Jewish Question and co-editing an anthology on the study of Jewish diversity. Professor Gordon has received many accolades work his work and has lectured internationally.

Ephraim Isaac, Ph.D.

Dr. Ephraim Isaac is Director, Institute of Semitic Studies, Princeton, NJ; Fellow, Butler College, Princeton University (1994 –); Fellow, The Dead Sea Scrolls Foundation.

Born in Ethiopia, where he got his early education, Dr. Isaac holds a B.A. in philosophy, chemistry and music (Concordia College); an M. Div. (Harvard Divinity School); a Ph.D. in Near Eastern languages (Harvard University); a D.H.L. (honorary, John Jay /CUNY). He was Professor at Harvard (1968 – 1977). The first professor hired in Afro-American Studies at Harvard, he was voted the best teacher each year by the students and the department. In addition to Harvard (which endowed the Ephraim Isaac Prize? in African Studies in 1998), Dr. Isaac has lectured at Hebrew U. (ancient Semitic languages), Princeton U. (Near Eastern studies, religion); V. Prof. (religion & African American studies 1995 – 01) and U. of Pennsylvania (religion, Semitic languages), Howard U (Divinity School), Lehigh U. (religion), Bard College (religion, history), and other institutions of higher learning. His subjects range from those mentioned above to biblical Hebrew, rabbinic literature, Ethiopian history, concept and history of slavery and ancient African civilizations. He has been a Fellow, National Endowment for the Humanities and the Institute for Advanced Studies. He has received many awards and honors including an honorary D.H.L. (John Jay College, CUNY), and the 2002 Peacemaker Award? of the Rabbi Tanenbaum Center for Interreligious Understanding.

Dr. Isaac is author of numerous articles and books on (Late Second Temple) Jewish and (Ancient Ethiopic) Ge’ez literatures. Three of his recent works pertain to the oldest known manuscripts of The Book of Enoch (Doubleday, 1983). He has also completed An Ethiopic History of Joseph (Sheffield Press, 1990) and did Proceedings of Second International Congress of Yemenite Jewish Studies (ISS & U. of Haifa, 1999). An expanded definitive version of his The Ethiopian Orthodox Church is in print (Africa World Press, 2001.) He is currently working on a new edition of the Dead Sea Scrolls Fragments of The Book of Enoch (Princeton Theological Seminary), A History of Religions in Africa?, and A Cultural History of Ethiopian Jews. He is on editorial boards of two international scholarly journals on Afroasiatic languages and Second Temple Jewish literature respectively.

Dr. Isaac has diverse accomplishments. He knows seventeen languages. He is the first translator of Handel’s Messiah into Amharic, the official Ethiopian language. He is widely known in Ethiopia as founder of the National Literacy Campaign that made millions literate in the late sixties. He is currently the international chair of the Horn of Africa Board of Peace and Development Organization (Addis Ababa, Asmara) and the president of The Yemenite Jewish Federation of America. He is on the board of many charitable and educational organizations. Sought after nationally and internationally, he is widely acclaimed as a public lecturer on religion, literature, ancient history, peace and conflict resolution, and various other subjects listed above.

Byron Johnson

Byron Johnson is Professor Sociology and Co-Director of the Institute for Studies of Religion (ISR) as well as director of the Program on Prosocial Behavior, both at Baylor University. He is also a Senior Fellow at the Witherspoon Institute in Princeton, New Jersey. He has a Ph.D in Criminology from Florida State University (1984), a M.S. in Criminology from University of Tennessee (1980), a M.A. in Psychology/ Sociology from Middle Tennessee State University (1980), and a B.A. in Psychology/Sociology from Minot State University (1977).

Johnson is currently completing a series of studies for the Department of Justice on the role of religion in prosocial youth behavior. Recent publications examined the impact of faith-based programs on recidivism reduction and prisoner reentry. Johnson is currently completing an evaluation examining academic outcomes among public high school students enrolled in elective courses in comparison with those taking a course on the Bible. Along with other ISR colleagues he is completing a series of groundbreaking empirical studies on religion in China. Johnson's research has been used in consultation with the Department of Justice, Department of Defense, Department of Labor, and the National Institutes of Health.

Helen Kim

Helen K. Kim is an assistant professor at Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington. She earned her B.A. from the University of California at Berkeley, her M.A. from the University of Chicago, and her Ph.D. in social work and sociology from the University of Michigan. Helen is broadly interested in race and ethnicity, gender, second generation Asian Americans and interracial/interfaith marriages among American Jews.

Rabbi Irwin Kula

Rabbi Irwin Kula is an eighth-generation rabbi, nationally known speaker and teacher, and the president of the National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership. A regular guest on Oprah and The Today Show, he is also the host of the public television broadcast called The Wisdom of Our Yearnings.

Irwin Kula is the author of author of Yearnings: Embracing the Sacred Messiness of Life (Hyperion 2006). In his new public television special, based on his book Yearnings: Embracing the Sacred Messiness of Life, the acclaimed educator, speaker, and author discusses the powerful positive energy of our yearnings. Our everyday lives are driven by deep and profound yearnings for happiness, for certainty, for love and meaningful relationships. By understanding the "hidden wisdom" of our desires, Kula maintains, an individual can transform their life into one of greater meaning, passion and love. Drawing upon ancient wisdom texts, Old Testament and Talmudic teachings, Buddhism, modern literature and contemporary life stories, Kula explains how to celebrate, embrace and grow from the paradoxes, contradictions and "sacred messiness" of life.

Rabbi Kula lives with his wife and daughters in New York City.

Shawn Landres

Shawn Landres is the founding CEO & Director of Research of Jewish Jumpstart (http://www.jewishjumpstart.org), a nonprofit incubator/think tank focused on community-building and organizational development at the nexus of spirituality, learning, social activism, and culture. He has extensive experience in academic and nonprofit leadership, peer network development, and grant management, including projects funded by the U.S. State Department and the British government. A member of the Selah Leadership Program 2007 National Cohort, Shawn chairs the advisory board of Jewish Mosaic: The National Center for Sexual and Gender Diversity and is a member of J Street's national Advisory Council. In Los Angeles, Shawn chairs the Tikkun pillar on IKAR's Leadership Council, serves on the Los Angeles Steering Committee for AJC ACCESS, and advises the Muslim- Jewish NewGround Project. He is certified by 21/64 as a consultant/trainer in multigenerational family philanthropy.

A respected author and editor, and a popular lecturer both in the United States and abroad, Shawn has taught at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion; the University of Judaism; Matej Bel University in Banská Bystrica, Slovak Republic; and the University of California, Santa Barbara. He holds degrees in Religious Studies and Social Anthropology from Columbia University, UCSB, and the University of Oxford. Previously he served as Director of Research for Synagogue 3000, where he managed the launch of the S3K Synagogue Studies Institute, launched the widely read S3K Reports series and Synablog, and conceived S3K’s Initiative. In 2007, he coauthored the widely discussed S3K-Mechon Hadar report, "Emergent Jewish Communities and their Participants: Preliminary Findings from the 2007 National Spiritual Communities Study" (with Steven M. Cohen, Rabbi Elie Kaunfer, and Michelle Shain).

Noah Leavitt

Noah S. Leavitt is a teacher, author, community organizer and attorney. He serves as President of Congregation Beth Israel in Walla Walla, Washington.

He earned his B.A. from Haverford College, his J.D. from the University of Michigan, and his M.A. in Social Sciences from the University of Chicago, where his thesis, "The Ends of Ethnicity," analyzed the shifting perceptions of identity among leaders of interethnic networks in the Midwest.

He recently served as the Advocacy Director for the Jewish Council on Urban Affairs, directing numerous campaigns to carry out the organization’s mission to combat poverty, racism and anti-Semitism in partnership with Chicago.

Leavitt’s writings analyzing contemporary legal, cultural and political events have appeared in a wide range of print and online publications including The Forward, Slate, Michigan Journal of International Law, CNN, The Housing Law Bulletin, FindLaw, the International Herald Tribune, Jurist, and the blog of the American Constitution Society.

He is currently working on a project with his wife, Helen Kim, to understand how American Jews and Asian-Americans who are married to each other think about their racial, religious and ethnic identities.

Christopher MacDonald-Dennis, Ph.D.

Dr. Christopher MacDonald-Dennis is the Assistant Dean/Director of Intercultural Affairs at Bryn Mawr College. He received his doctorate in social justice education in 2005 from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. His dissertation, “Competing narratives: The Interplay between Racial and Ethno-Religious Identity among Ashkenazi Jewish Undergraduate Anti-Racist Peer Educators,” was a finalist for the American Educational Research Association Outstanding Dissertation in Higher Education. He is also the author of Understanding Anti-Semitism and its Impact: A New Framework for Conceptualizing Jewish Identity.

Kenneth L. Marcus

Kenneth L. Marcus holds the Lillie and Nathan Ackerman Chair in Equality and Justice in America at the Bernard Baruch School of Public Affairs, City University of New York, where he teaches public administration, education law, and civil rights. Before joining Baruch, Marcus served as the Staff Director at the United States Commission on Civil Rights. Appointed by the President of the United States, Marcus served as the Civil Rights Commission’s chief executive officer, overseeing all programs and operations. For this work, Marcus was named the first recipient of the Justice and Ethics Award for Outstanding Work in the Field of Civil Rights. Shortly before his departure, the Wall Street Journal observed that “the Commission has rarely been better managed,” and that it “deserves a medal for good governance.” Earlier, Mr. Marcus was delegated the authority of Assistant Secretary of Education for Civil Rights. As head of the Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights, Mr. Marcus oversaw the resolution of approximately 10,000 civil rights cases; executed nationwide enforcement initiatives to address discrimination against racial and ethnic minorities, women, and persons with disabilities; and issued new directives regarding anti-Semitic and anti-Sikh harassment and the Boy Scouts’ Act. While at the Education Department, Mr. Marcus also served as a Commissioner on the U.S. Commission on Brown v. Board of Education. Previously, Mr. Marcus served as the General Deputy Assistant Secretary of Housing and Urban Development for Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity. Before entering public service, Mr. Marcus was a litigation partner in two major law firms, where he conducted complex commercial and constitutional litigation. Mr. Marcus also publishes and speaks widely in the areas of constitutional, civil rights, and education law, and religious discrimination. Mr. Marcus is a graduate of Williams College, magna cum laude, and the University of California at Berkeley School of Law (Boalt Hall). He and his wife and daughter live in Leesburg, Virginia.

Rodney Stark

Rodney Stark is the co-director of the Baylor Institute for Studies of Religion, University Professor of the Social Sciences. He earned a B.A. in Journalism from the University of Denver (1959), M.A. in Sociology from the University of California, Berkeley (1965), and a Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of California, Berkeley (1971).

Rodney Stark grew up in Jamestown, North Dakota, and began his career as a newspaper reporter. Following a tour of duty in the U.S. Army, he received his Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley, where he held appointments as a research sociologist at the Survey Research Center and at the Center for the Study of Law and Society. He left Berkeley to become Professor of Sociology and of Comparative Religion at the University of Washington. In 2004 he joined the faculty of Baylor University. He has published 27 books and more than 140 scholarly articles on subjects as diverse as prejudice, crime, suicide, and city life in ancient Rome. However, the greater part of his work has been on religion. He is past president of the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion and of the Association for the Sociology of Religion. He also has won a number of national and international awards for distinguished scholarship. Many of his books and articles have been translated and published in foreign languages, including Chinese, Dutch, French, German, Greek, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Spanish, and Turkish.