Meet Our Director

The Office of Alumni Affairs is here to support and connect JTS alumni with one another and with the many opportunities and resources JTS offers. We hope you’ll stay in touch, share news, and contact us at any time. 

Joel Alter

Joel Alter

JTS Alum (Rabbinical School), Rabbi, Congregation Beth Israel Ner Tamid (Milwaukee, WI); Former Director of Admissions, The JTS Rabbinical School and H. L. Miller Cantorial School

Director of Admissions, The Rabbinical School and H. L. Miller Cantorial School

Rabbi Joel Alter earned a BA in Jewish History from Columbia University, an MA from The Davidson School of Education, and rabbinic ordination from The Rabbinical School. Rabbi Alter previously served pluralistic day schools in Washington, DC, Baltimore, and Boston over 16 years as a teacher, assistant head of school, and Rav Beit haSefer.

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Mitchell Cohen

Mitchell Cohen

JTS Alum (Rabbinical School), National Director, Ramah Camps and Israel Programs (Retired)

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Dianne Cohler-Esses

Dianne Cohler-Esses

JTS Alum (Rabbinical School), Adjunct Lecturer and Associate Rabbi, Romemu

Rabbi Dianne Cohler-Esses, Adjunct Lecturer and Associate Rabbi, Romemu

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Abby Eisenberg

Abby Eisenberg

JTS Alum (Kekst Graduate School), Founder & Lead Educator, ExploreJewish & Judaics Tutoring NYC

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Yedida  Eisenstat

Yedida Eisenstat

JTS Alum (Kekst Graducate School), Editorial Associate, Posen Library of Jewish Civilization and Culture

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Jenna Ferman

Jenna Ferman

JTS Alum (Davidson School, List College), Former Director of Admissions, List College

Director of Admissions, List College

As director of List College admissions, Jenna Ferman facilitates the admissions process for all prospective undergraduate students. She works closely with List College’s deans and the admissions team to provide a seamless and personalized enrollment process.

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Edna Friedberg

Edna Friedberg

JTS Alum (Kekst Graduate School), Historian, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum; JTS Fellow

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Melissa Friedman

Melissa Friedman

Director of Alumni Affairs

Director of Alumni Affairs

As director of the Office of Alumni Affairs, Melissa Friedman works closely with JTS’s senior leadership and drives JTS’s alumni relations efforts. In her time as director, Melissa has revitalized JTS’s relationship with alumni spanning more than six decades. She engages alumni through social and professional networking opportunities nationwide, and welcomes the opportunity to hear from alumni who want to plan a reunion. Melissa continues to cultivate relationships between alumni and current students. She collaborates with student group leaders and deans to create and provide meaningful encounters between the two. Melissa strives to develop and maintain close relationships between alumni from all of our schools—degree and non-degree programs—and JTS. 

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Chaim Galfand

Chaim Galfand

Alum (Rabbinical School), School Rabbi for Perelman Jewish Day School (Philadelphia, PA)

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Jason Gitlin

Jason Gitlin

JTS Alum (Rabbinical School), Former Project Manager, ReFrame: Experiential Education in Congregational Schools

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Israel Gordan

Israel Gordan

JTS Alum (Rabbinical School, Cantorial School, Davidson School, Center for Pastoral Education)

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Edward L. Greenstein

Edward L. Greenstein

JTS Alum (Rabbinical School, Teacher’s Institute), Professor Emeritus of Biblical Studies, Bar Ilan University

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Reuven Greenvald

Reuven Greenvald

JTS Alum (Rabbinical School), Former Director of Israel Engagement JTS and Director Year-in-Israel Programs, HUC-JIR (NY)

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Yael Hammerman

Yael Hammerman

Alum (List College, Rabbinical School, Davidson School); Associate Rabbi, Ansche Chesed (New York, NY)

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David Hoffman

David Hoffman

JTS Alum (Rabbinical School)

Vice Chancellor and Chief Advancement Officer

In his role as vice chancellor and chief advancement officer, Rabbi David Hoffman is a member of the senior administration, working closely with many of JTS’s major supporters, including the Board of Trustees, and serving as an ambassador for JTS to the many communities we serve. David is an assistant professor in the fields of Talmudic Studies and Jewish Law.

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Alison L. Joseph

Alison L. Joseph

JTS Alum (List College) PhD, Director of Digital Projects, The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization

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Rachel Kahn-Troster

Rachel Kahn-Troster

JTS Alum (Rabbinical School), Adjunct Instructor in Professional and Pastoral Skills; Deputy Director of T’ruah

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Talia Kaplan

Talia Kaplan

JTS Alum (Rabbinical School), Assistant Rabbi , Congregation Beth Shalom (Overland Park, KS)

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Ashira Konigsburg

Ashira Konigsburg

JTS Alum (Rabbinical School, Kekst Graduate School); Chief Operating Officer, The Rabbinical Assembly

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Rabbi Annie Lewis

Rabbi Annie Lewis

Director of Recruitment and Admissions for Religious and Educational Leadership and Assistant Dean of First Year Rabbinical Students

Rabbi Annie Lewis serves as the Director of Recruitment and Admissions for Religious and Educational Leadership and Assistant Dean of First Year Rabbinical Students. In this role, she is the lead ambassador for The Rabbinical School, The H. L. Miller Cantorial School, and the William Davidson Graduate School of Jewish Education and oversees the planning, execution, and oversight of the full life cycle of the professional admissions operation.

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Jonathan Lipnick

Jonathan Lipnick

JTS Alum (Rabbinical School), Former Rabbi-in-Residence at the William Davidson Graduate School of Jewish Education, JTS

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Orlea Marlin

Orlea Marlin

Alum (Davidson School), Associate Dean, List College and Gershon Kekst Graduate School, Director of Kekst Graduate Admissions

As associate dean of Graduate and Undergraduate Studies, Orlea Marlin provides academic advising and general guidance to students in List College and the Gershon Kekst Graduate School

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Tamar Marvin

Tamar Marvin

JTS Alum (Kekst Graduate School), Adjunct Professor of Medieval and Early Modern Jewish Studies

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Andrea Merow

Andrea Merow

JTS Alum (Rabbinical School, List College), Rabbi, The Jewish Center (Princeton, NJ)

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Deborah Miller

Deborah Miller

JTS Alum (Davidson School), Former Program Coordinator, Fellowship for Applied Jewish Wisdom

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Daniel Nevins

Daniel Nevins

JTS Alum (Rabbinical School), Former Pearl Resnick Dean of The Rabbinical School and the Division of Religious Leadership

Pearl Resnick Dean of The Rabbinical School and the Division of Religious Leadership, Senior Lecturer of Professional and Pastoral Skills

Rabbi Daniel Nevins is the Pearl Resnick Dean of The Rabbinical School and dean of the Division of Religious Leadership of The Jewish Theological Seminary. He represents JTS on the Leadership Council of Conservative Judaism and the Executive Council, Joint Placement Commission, and Committee on Jewish Law and Standards (CJLS) of the Rabbinical Assembly. He has written responsa on the halakhic topics of personal status, disabilities, bioethics, technology, and homosexuality. His responsa may be read at the CJLS website and on his personal web page, rabbinevins.com.

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Shay Pilnik

Shay Pilnik

JTS Alum (Kekst Graduate School), Director, Emil A. and Jenny Fish Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies, Yeshiva University

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Kendell Pinkney

Kendell Pinkney

JTS Alum (Rabbinical School)

Kendell Pinkney, Student, The Rabbinical School of JTS (Class of 2022)

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William Plevan

William Plevan

JTS Alum (Rabbinical School, Kekst Graduate School), Adjunct Professor of Jewish Thought

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Ora Horn Prouser

Ora Horn Prouser

JTS Alum (Kekst Graduate School, List College), CEO and Academic Dean, Academy of Jewish Religion

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Michal Raucher

Michal Raucher

JTS Alum (List College), Assistant Professor of Jewish Studies, Rutgers University; JTS Fellow

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Jonathan Ray

Jonathan Ray

Samuel Eig Associate Professor of Jewish Studies in the Department of Theology and a faculty fellow at the Berkley Center at Georgetown University, JTS Alum (Kekst Graduate School)

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Rachel Rosenthal

Rachel Rosenthal

JTS Alum (Kekst Graduate School), Gemara Faculty and Director of External Affairs, Yeshivat Maharat

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Craig Scheff

Craig Scheff

JTS Alum (Rabbinical School), Adjunct Lecturer of Professional and Pastoral Skills

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E. Noach Shapiro

E. Noach Shapiro

JTS Alum (Rabbinical School), Mental Health Program Coordinator, Adjunct Faculty in the Center for Pastoral Education at JTS

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Nancy Sinkoff

Nancy Sinkoff

JTS Alum (Kekst Graduate School), Associate Professor of Jewish Studies and History, Rutgers University

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Mychal  Springer

Mychal Springer

Adjunct Instructor of Professional and Pastoral Skills

Director of the Center for Pastoral Education

Rabbi Mychal B. Springer founded the Center for Pastoral Education at JTS in 2009, establishing relationships with hospices, Jewish social service agencies, and—most recently—prisons and reentry facilities, allowing students to learn the art of pastoral care as they serve marginalized populations. 

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Jeremy Tabick

Jeremy Tabick

JTS Alum (PhD in Rabbinic Literature, Kekst Graduate School), Content Manager, Hadar

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Sarah Tauber (z”l)

Sarah Tauber (z”l)

JTS Alum (Davidson School)

Sarah Tauber was an assistant professor at the William Davidson Graduate School of Jewish Education of JTS. She graduated from Yale University with a bachelor’s degree magna cum laude in history, University of California at Berkeley with a secondary school teaching certification in English, and JTS with an EdD in Jewish education. She also studied Jewish history in Paris at l’Écoledes hautes études en sciences sociales. She has taught in a variety of secondary school settings in the Jewish and general educational world, both in the United States and in Europe, and was the education director of Congregation Beit GIL in Geneva, Switzerland. Before coming to JTS she taught Judaic studies, history, and tefillah at the High School of the Solomon Schechter School of Westchester. Dr. Tauber is also the book review editor of the Journal of Jewish Education. Dr. Tauber is passionate about teaching and mentoring JTS students on their journeys. 

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