Ariel Root Wolpe

Ariel Root Wolpe is a third year rabbinical student at the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies at American Jewish University in Los Angeles. She originally hails from Philadelphia, PA, and received her B.A. in religion and music at Emory University, where she was active on the Inter-Faith Council and religious life. Ariel has produced three...
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Nathan Roller

Nathan Roller is a third year rabbinical student at the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies at The American Jewish University in Los Angeles. He is originally from Marin County, CA. He recieved his B.A. in Religion from Whitman College where he also served as co-president of the campus Hillel. Before going to rabbinical school, he...
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Sarah Fort Sholklapper

Sarah Fort Sholklapper is a rabbinical student at the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies at the American Jewish University. A native of the DC area, she graduated from George Mason University with a degree in Government and International Politics, concentrating in the Middle East and North Africa, with the intention of going into foreign service....
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Rachel (Braun) Rubenstein

Rachel Braun is a first year rabbinical student at the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies at American Jewish University. Rachel grew up in the suburbs of Chicago and attended Chicagoland Jewish High School. She then got her BA at Washington University in St. Louis in International Studies with a focus on the Middle East and...
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Rabbi Beni Wajnberg

Rabbi Beni Wajnberg graduated in 2015 from Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion in Los Angeles, where he also earned a Masters in Hebrew Letters. Beni was born and raised in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. As a T’ruah Fellow, Beni interned at Community Voices Heard’s Westchester office.
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Andrew Oberstein

Andrew Oberstein is a rabbinical student at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, where he is a Wexner Graduate Fellow. He previously served as the Director of Jewish Life at URJ Six Points Sci-Tech Academy in Byfield, MA. Before entering rabbinical school, Andrew was the Coordinator for Social Justice and Young Adult Engagement at Temple...
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Ariel Zitny

Ariel Zitny is a rabbinical student at the Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion, where he will be ordained in 2022. While living in Jerusalem, he was the first male intern to work with Women of the Wall, an activist group fighting for women’s right to pray at the Western Wall. Before coming...
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Lilli Shvartsmann

Lilli Shvartsmann (she/her), a Los Angeles native, has always found outlets to further her passion for Jewish education. A rabbinical student at the Jewish Theological Seminary expecting to graduate in 2024, Lilli works as a rabbinic intern at Hillel at Binghamton University, where she provides learning opportunities and pastoral care for students. In 2020, Lilli...
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Ally Karpel

Ally Karpel (she/her) is a rabbinical student at the Los Angeles campus of Hebrew Union College, expecting ordination in 2026. Ally grew up in Dallas, TX and graduated from the University of Texas at Austin in 2018 with a degree in speech-language pathology. There, she served as president of the University Interfaith Council and co-founded...
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Rabbi Matt Dreffin

Matt (he/him) was born and raised on the Gulf Coast of Florida, and he established Southern roots over many summers at URJ Camp Coleman in North Georgia. After receiving a BFA in Studio Art with a concentration in Hot Glass Sculpture at Tulane University, he co-managed a New Orleans glass studio for a few years...
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