Rabbi Laura J. Abrasley joined the Temple Shalom clergy team in July 2015. She grew up in Houston and graduated from Texas A&M University with a degree in psychology. Her path to becoming a rabbi began with many summers spent as a camper and then counselor at the URJ Greene Family Camp in Texas. After…
Sarah (she/her) became a community organizer because she loves building collective power to improve people’s lives and make societal structures and systems more just and fair. She is honored to be T’ruah’s Chief Programs Officer after having served as the organization’s Director of Organizing. Before T’ruah, Sarah led Jews United for Justice and the JUFJ…
Rabbi Aliza Schwartz (she/her) graduated from the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College in 2024. She is an incoming Cooperberg-Rittmaster Rabbinical Intern at Congregation Beit Simchat Torah (CBST) in New York City. Before rabbinical school, Aliza was based in Boston. Her spiritual and political home in Boston is Kavod, a multi-ethnic, multi-racial community led by young Jews that…
Dvir Cahana (he/him) was born in Sweden and grew up in Canada. He received a B.A. in Political Science with a minor in Israel Studies from Concordia University, where he played varsity basketball as a 3-time Academic All-Canadian. He earned his M.A. in Jewish Studies from McGill University, representing McGill in the East Coast Consortium…
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…
Adam Gillman (he/him) is a rabbinical student at The Jewish Theology Seminary (class of 2023). A native of Seattle, he is passionate about creating intentional spaces in which spiritual practice, environmental and racial justice, and egalitarian leadership can play grounding roles in letting learners discover how they can contribute to their communities, especially among those…
Danny Stein (he/him) is a rabbinical student at Hebrew College (Class of 2023). He grew up in the Chicagoland Reform movement, spending many summers at Camp OSRUI in Wisconsin. Graduating American University with a degree in public communication and marketing, he moved on to Hebrew University in Jerusalem, which together with Svara in Chicago ignited…
Yedidah Bat Aaron (she/they) is a rabbinical student at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, expecting to graduate in 2025. They grew up between the Reform & Conservative movements, and is passionate about Hebrew School and the inter-generational project of passing down Jewish traditions l’dor v’dor—from generation to generation. Yedidah’s extensive work centers on exile and teshuva,…
Julia Knobloch is a poet and rabbi-in-training, expected to graduate from the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies in 2025. She has worked for UJA-Federation of New York, where she managed large-scale volunteer events like MLK Day and 9/11 Day, as well as being a documentary filmmaker for European and US broadcasters. During her years as…
As Grants Officer, Caryn Fliegler (she/her) works closely with T’ruah’s Director of Development and leadership to manage a growing profile of institutional giving supporters. Prior to T’ruah, Caryn was Grants Manager at Josselyn, a Community Mental Health Center serving 3,600 people in the Chicago area. She is an active community volunteer, serving as a Board…