Rabbi Moshe druin

Rabbi Moshe Druin is a renowned public speaker, sought after lecturer and a storytelling educator. His heartfelt, yet dynamic presentations have endeared him to Jews of all affiliations, ages and backgrounds. Rabbi Druin’s exciting and electrifying personality brings the relevance of Torah to life in a most meaningful and inspirational way. Born in New York, his family made Aliyah when he was six. He has been through the three mainstreams of Judaism and has studied in Yeshivot of diverse affiliations in Israel. He was ordained as a Rabbi and Scribe in New York and together with his wife Ahuva, they moved to Johannesburg, South Africa where he served as a Youth Director, Vice-Principal of the Jewish High School and later as pulpit Rabbi. He continued with his higher education in Jewish studies curriculum development at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. Upon returning to the United States in 1998, his scribal expertise and public appearances moved to the forefront. Rabbi Druin has benefited congregations across the country and around the world in developing tailor-made educational, fund raising and community building Torah Projects. Sharing the warmth and inner wonder of Torah with a personalized and engaging approach, he is able to connect with all audiences. Today his company, Sofer On Site International, is distinguished as one of the world’s premier Torah Project developers, working with communities from Omaha to India on all facets of management, marketing, graphic art work, fund raising and programming. Rabbi Druin is currently working on the repair of the Shelter Rock scroll damaged last year. He lives in North Miami Beach, Florida with his wife and children.

Contact: rmd@soferonsite.com

lois roman

Lois Roman is a Trustee of the Memorial Scrolls Trust (MST), and serves as the US Representative based on the East Coast. The Memorial Scrolls Trust is a London based non-profit which oversees the legacy of 1,564 Czech Torah scrolls that survived the Shoah. After a miraculous story of survival, these scrolls arrived in London and were dispersed on permanent loan to caring communities around the world. including two at Shelter Rock Jewish Center. Lois began her involvement with MST several years ago following a long career on Wall Street as a money manager. She has a degree from Brandeis University and an MBA from Columbia Business School.

The Czech Scroll Story: from WWII to the Diaspora. A series of miracles allowed a huge hoard of Czech Torah scrolls to survive the devastation of the Shoah and stand as a testament to the communities that perished. The Memorial Scrolls Trust is committed to maintaining the legacy of these scrolls by dispersing 1400 of them around the world on permanent loan from our collection. To those who were entrusted with the scrolls, they are a symbol of hope as well as sorrow. The hope pushed forward an ongoing mission. We believe these Czech scrolls should be reinstituted in Jewish life as a memorial to the vanished communities which once treasured them. The Memorial Scrolls Trust bears witness to the fulfillment of this hope. Let us teach our children about the world of miracles and let us use the scrolls to remind people about what binds them together everyday.

Contact: info@memorialscrollstrust.org

rabbi martin cohen

Martin Samuel Cohen was born and raised in New York City, and received his B.A. summa cum laude from the City University of New York, ordained as rabbi at the Jewish Theological Seminary in 1978, and earned a Ph.D. in the history of ancient Judaism from JTS in 1982. After teaching at Hunter College, JTS, and the University of Heidelberg in Germany, Rabbi Cohen became pulpit rabbi in 1986 at the Beth Tikvah Congregation in Richmond, British Columbia, followed in 1999 at Congregation Eilat in Mission Viejo, California. In 2002 he came to Shelter Rock Jewish Center. Rabbi Cohen is also an author and has published two scientific studies in the history of pre-kabbalistic Jewish mysticism, four novels and four books of including Sefer Ha‘ikarim Livnei Zemanenu (in Hebrew), Our Haven and our Strength: The Book of Psalms in New Translation, Siddur Tzur Yisrael, Zot Nechemati for the house of mourning, a children’s book called Riding the River of Peace, and The Boy on the Door on the Ox, an exploration of the relationship between Torah study and service in the congregational rabbinate. He has served as chair of the Publications Committee of the Rabbinical Assembly and has chaired the editorial board of Conservative Judaism. Rabbi Cohen served as senior editor of the The Observant Life: The Wisdom of Conservative Judaism for Contemporary Jews, published in 2012, and the is author of the forthcoming Spiritual Integrity: On the Possibility of Steadfast Honesty in Faith and Worship. An avid amateur pianist and a great lover of dogs, Rabbi Cohen is married to Joan Freeman Cohen, the father of two sons and a daughter, and grandfather to three.

Contact: Rabbi@srjc.org

Rabbi aubrey glazer

Aubrey L. Glazer, PhD, (University of Toronto, 2005) is senior rabbi of Congregation Shaare Zion, (Montreal, Canada) and founder of Panui (San Francisco, California), an incubator for contemplative practice and conscious community building. Aubrey has dedicated decades researching, publishing, teaching and performing piyyut (Jewish liturgical poetry) as well as translating and collaborating with contemporary Hebrew poets. Aubrey is a lifelong learner who is a sensitive and gifted teacher in demand in many contexts, from federations to rabbinical school seminaries to universities and Jewish meditation retreats. Aubrey is a fellow of both Hartman and the Institute for Jewish Spirituality. Aubrey’s writing has been featured in popular media like the Montreal Gazette, La Presse, and CJN as well as his most recent books including the acclaimed: Tangle of Matter & Ghost: Leonard Cohen’s Post-Secular Songbook of Mysticism(s) Jewish & Beyond (2017) and God Knows Everything is Broken: The Great (Gnostic) Americana Songbook of Bob Dylan (2019), and other publications here: aubreyglazer.academia.edu/

Aubrey enjoys playing and watching hockey as well as fly-fishing and hiking. He shares a passion for aesthetics as a spiritual path, especially through painting with his wife, Elyssa Wortzman, (D. MN) a Jewish artist and spiritual director who also teaches and consults globally. Their teenage daughter, Talya Sahara, loves dancing, Hebrew hip-hop, good humus, and looks forward to their next journey back to Israel together.

Contact: rabbi@shaarezion.org

Sandra E. Rapoport

Title of presentation: V'eleh ha-devarim - And These are the Words: Moses Lays Down the Law

Sandra E. Rapoport is an attorney, a former Resident Scholar in Law and Bible at Harvard, and is an award-winning author and teacher of Tanach. Her latest book, The Queen & The Spymaster, is a historical novel based on the story of Esther.

Contact: sandra.e.rapoport@gmail.com

Marcus rubenstein

Rabbi Marcus Rubenstein grew up in Manhasset Hills, NY and was ordained from the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies in 2015 with a concentration in Jewish Mysticism. He enjoyed attending synagogue at Shelter Rock Jewish Center on Shabbat when he was home on weekends from rabbinic school. He is currently rabbi at Temple Sinai in Middletown, NY but will soon be rabbi of Temple of Aaron in St. Paul, Minnesota. Rabbi Rubenstein's sermons, commentaries, essays and translations can be accessed at any time at TorahTranslated.Wordpress.com. 

Contact: mrubenstein87@gmail.com