Rabbi Philip Gibbs was ordained by the Jewish Theological Seminary in 2017. He is originally from Marietta, Georgia. At Washington University in St. Louis, he participated in the Interdisciplinary Project in the Humanities–an intense academic program that gives students the analytical tools to understand a topic in a fuller historical and philosophical context. Through this…

Rabbi Elana Friedman graduated from the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College. Before entering rabbinical school in 2010, Elana spent seven years working for the Fund for the Public Interest, a nonprofit organization that runs campaigns for environmental and progressive causes. She graduated from Washington University in St. Louis with a BA in Environmental Studies. As a rabbinical…

Dan Slipakoff, of Philadelphia, PA, is thrilled to begin his rabbinic studies at Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion. Dan has a Master’s in Social Work from Temple University and has spent the last year interning with POWER, an interfaith community organizing group focused on making Philadelphia a city of equal opportunity for…

Sarah Krinsky is a second year rabbinical student at the Jewish Theological Seminary. She grew up in Los Angeles, California and went to Yale University, where she graduated with a Bachelor’s of Arts in 2012. At Yale, she was very involved in the Slifka Center for Jewish Life (which houses Yale’s Hillel), serving as the…

Shelley Goldman is entering her fifth year as a rabbinical student at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College. Before entering rabbinical school she was a community organizer with youth at the LGBT Community Center in Manhattan and with Jews for Racial and Economic Justice. She graduated from Oberlin College with a BA in history with minors in…

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….

Lexi Erdheim is a rabbinical student at HUC-JIR. She is originally from Livingston, NJ and attended Barnard College, where she majored in religion. She wrote her senior thesis on media representations of Mormons during the 2002 Salt Lake Olympics. Lexi is excited to be working with T’ruah again after serving as their Israel Advocacy Intern…

Entering his fifth year at the Rabbinical School of Hebrew College, Nate DeGroot finds himself, more than ever, sustained and motivated by moments of connection – be it in conversation, song, dance, nature, sport, food, activism, or anything else. Nate is on his rabbinic journey with the continued goal of being a part of and…

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…

Leora Kling Perkins, from Needham, MA, is a second year Rabbinical Student at the Jewish Theological Seminary. Prior to enrolling at JTS, she spent three years working at the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Boston as Program Coordinator for the Greater Boston Jewish Coalition for Literacy, training and connecting nearly 400 tutors each year…