Debra Kolodny, Executive Director

Debra Kolodny joined Nehirim as its Executive Director in March of 2013. She brings over thirty years of local and national leadership in LGBT organizations, including: six years as National Coordinator for BiNet USA, six years facilitating NGLTF’s National Religious Leadership Roundtable and publishing the anthology, “Blessed Bi Spirit: Bisexual People of Faith” in 2000,. Deb has also published dozens of articles on religion and sexuality and taught in hundreds of venues on the topic of Judaism, sexual orientation and gender identity. In addition to her work with Nehirim she serves as rabbi of P’nai Or of Portland, is active in interfaith social justice work and is a frequent guest speaker, ritualist, and teacher. Prior to joining P’nai Or she served as Executive Director of ALEPH: Alliance for Jewish Renewal for nine years. Rabbah D’vorah has been practicing taiji since 1995, meditation for almost as long, and is passionate about ecstatic dance.

Rabbi David Ingber

Named by Newsweek as one of 2013’s top 50 most influential rabbis in the United States as well as by The Forward as one of the 50 most newsworthy and notable Jews in America, Rabbi David promotes a renewed Jewish mysticism that integrates meditative mindfulness and physical awareness into mainstream, post-modern Judaism. A major 21st Century Jewish thinker and educator, his rich perspective, open heart and mind, and full-bodied approach to Jewish learning has brought him to speak throughout the United States and worldwide throughout Canada, Europe and Israel. Rabbi David Ingber is the founder and Spiritual Director of Kehilat Romemu, NYC’s Transformative Synagogue. An explorer and integrator, Rabbi David has a wide range of experience - from training in the orthodox world to renewal Judaism; from teaching Pilates and Gyrotonics to meditating under the guidance of great Zen teachers. Rabbi David’s practices also include tai chi, yoga, and astrology. His inspiration comes from the great Jewish mystics as well as western philosophy. Rabbi David’s vision is to bring together all he has learned, renewing his Jewish heritage and revealing a Judaism that is truly Integral. www.romemu.org

Rabbi David Dunn Bauer

Rabbi David Dunn Bauer serves on the Board of Directors for Nehirim and is the Director of Social Justice Programming for Congregation Beth Simchat Torah (CBST) in NYC. David brings to his work over 20 years of professional theater experience, nine years in the congregational rabbinate, and 20 years of yoga practice, as well as academic study on sexuality and spirituality and many years of work as a touch healer and sacred intimate. David earned his B.A. in Theatre Studies and English Literature at Yale University, studied Talmud at the Conservative Yeshiva in Jerusalem, and received his rabbinical ordination from the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College. In 2011, he became the first Jew to earn the Certificate in Sexuality and Religion from Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley, California, writing on “Blessings for the Erotic Body” and “Jewish Queer Sexual Ethics.” Along with Michael Cohen, he created Body Electric’s first ever Jewish retreat (“Celebrating the Body Judaic”) in 2006. David interned at CBST in 2000-2001 and from 2003 to 2010 he served as the rabbi of the Jewish Community of Amherst, in Amherst, Massachusetts. Based until recently in San Francisco, he maintains a private practice in Queer Spiritual Counseling. Sought after as a scholar-in-residence, has taught about Queer Theology around the United States and Canada.

Chani Getter, Director of Women’s & Family Programming

Chani Getter, is a Motivational Speaker, Certified Holistic Life Coach, and Ritual Creator. She leads informational and support groups in parenting, single-motherhood, domestic violence, cross cultural integration, issues of sexuality, and identity. She coaches individuals and offers workshops in the areas of life-balance, self-acceptance, transition, spirituality, and living your dreams. In addition to creating spiriutal and creative ceremonies, Chani follows an eclectic spiritual path that allows her to connect to the source of life within.

Rabbi Joel Alter, Board Secretary

Rabbi Joel Alter serves as the Nehirim Board of Directors Secretary. He is Director of Admissions for JTS’ Rabbinical and Cantorial schools. He took up this role after sixteen years of service in pluralistic Jewish day schools as a teacher, rabbinic leader, and administrator. His commitments to advancing institutions organized around Torah study and Jewish living inform his past and present roles. Having been a closeted rabbinical student at JTS in the ‘90’s, Joel is particularly proud to be the first out director of admissions for the now inclusive Rabbinical and Cantorial programs at JTS. Joel earned his BA in Jewish History at Columbia University; his rabbinic ordination and an MA in Jewish Education are from JTS. He received additional training at the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem. Shabbat, Torah, Hebrew, hiking, good friends, and good food are among the things that bring him joy.

Rabbi Julia Watts Belser

Rabbi Julia Watts Belser is a professor at Georgetown University, where she works in Jewish Studies, with a focus in Talmud, rabbinic literature, and Jewish ethics. Her work focuses on classical Jewish responses to drought and disaster, portrayals of sexual violence in rabbinic responses to enslavement and empire, as well as gender, disability, and the dissident body in late antiquity. An ordained rabbi, Professor Belser also writes queer feminist Jewish theology and brings disability culture into conversation with Jewish tradition. Before joining the Theology Department at Georgetown, Professor Belser held a research fellowship in Women’s Studies and Religion at Harvard Divinity School and taught in the Religious Studies Department at Missouri State University. She serves on the board of the Society for Jewish Ethics and holds leadership positions in the American Academy of Religion.

Bronwen Mullin

Bronwen Mullin is a playwright, composer and rabbinical student at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America. She holds from Sarah Lawrence College in Theater and Religious Studies and was an Arts Fellow in musical theater composition at the Drisha Institute for Jewish Education. Bronwen’s work employs a reverent yet often haunting exegetical entrance into the world of Jewish text. Bronwen is the co-founder of MetaPhys Ed, a multi-disciplinary performance based collaborative which asserts and exercises the inseparable relationship between spirituality and human creativity.

Rabbi Jill Hammer, Ph.D.

Rabbi Jill Hammer, PhD, is the Director of Spiritual Education at the Academy for Jewish Religion. She is also the director of Tel Shemesh, a website and community celebrating earth-based Jewish traditions, and the co-founder of Kohenet Hebrew Priestess Institute, a training program in women’s spiritual leadership. Rabbi Jill Hammer was ordained at the Jewish Theological Seminary in 2001. She also holds a Ph.D. in social psychology from the University of Connecticut. She is the author of The Jewish Book of Days: A Companion for All Seasons (Jewish Publication Society, 2006) and Sisters at Sinai: New Tales of Biblical Women (Jewish Publication Society, 2001).

Jase I. Schwartz, Transgender Programs Organizer

Jase Schwartz fell in love with Nehirim in 2007 and has been to well over 10 retreats since. He directed the 2013 Winter Gathering and is a frequent workshop facilitator. Jase is a 6th grade Math Teacher in NYC. He also is a Licensed Master Social Worker and a community organizer. Jase is a board member of Congregation Beit Simchat Torah, and the Co-Chair for the Trans Empowerment Committee. Jase is passionate about creating and building safe spaces for academic and personal growth, community building, and self expression.

Amichai Lau-Lavie

Amichai Lau-Lavie is the Founder, Executive and Artistic director of Storahtelling. An Israeli-born teacher of Judaic Literature and performance artist, he is described as “one of the most interesting thinkers in the Jewish world” by the NY Jewish Week. Amichai has studied at the Shalom Hartman Institute and the Elul Center in Jerusalem and he has directed the summer programs at Melitz: the Jewish Zionist Centers in Jerusalem (1992-6), focusing on the integration of Jewish education via the arts. His theatrical experience as a writer and performer includes the Theatre Company Jerusalem, The Acco Theatre Group in Israel and the Avodah Dance Ensemble in the U.S. He has also served as Artist-in-Residence at Congregation B’nai Jeshurun in New York City (1997-2000). Amichai is a Jerusalem Fellow at the Mandel Leadership Institute in Israel (2008-2009) and is a consultant to the Reboot Network and a member of the Synagogue 3000 Leadership Network, and serves on the Advisory Council for the Six Points Fellowship, the Advisory Board for faithhouse manhattan , and the Board of Directors of Zeek Magazine.