Spend Shabbat diving into Jewish texts with Hadar faculty and community members, learning new soul-stirring melodies, and connecting with hundreds of people of all ages and Jewish backgrounds.
President and Dean
Rabbi Shai Held–theologian, scholar, and educator–is President and Dean at Hadar. He has taught both theology and Halakhah at the Jewish Theological Seminary and also served as Director of Education at Harvard Hillel. A 2011 recipient of the prestigious Covenant Award for excellence in Jewish education, Rabbi Held has been named multiple times to Newsweek’s list of the 50 most influential rabbis in America. He holds a doctorate in religion from Harvard; his main academic interests are in modern Jewish and Christian thought, in biblical theology, and in the history of Zionism. Rabbi Held's first book, Abraham Joshua Heschel: The Call of Transcendence, was published by Indiana University Press in 2013; The Heart of Torah, a collection of essays on the Torah in two volumes, was published by JPS in 2017.
Executive Vice President
Rabbi Avi Killip is the Executive Vice President at Hadar. A graduate of Hebrew College Rabbinical School, Avi also holds Bachelors and Masters from Brandeis University. She was a Wexner Graduate Fellow and a Schusterman Fellowship. Avi teaches as part of Hadar's Faculty and is host of the Responsa Radio podcast. Avi lives in Riverdale, NY with her husband and three young children.
Faculty
Rabbi Micha'el Rosenberg is faculty at Hadar. He received rabbinic ordination both from the Chief Rabbinate of Israel and from his teacher, Rav Elisha Ancselovits. He also holds a PhD in Talmud and Rabbinics from the Jewish Theological Seminary of America. Micha’el has served as associate professor of rabbinics at Hebrew College, and as the rabbi of the Fort Tryon Jewish Center in Washington Heights. He is the author of Signs of Virginity: Testing Virgins and Making Men in Late Antiquity (Oxford University Press, 2018), and with Rabbi Ethan Tucker, he is the co-author of Gender Equality and Prayer in Jewish Law (Ktav, 2017).
Faculty
Jeremy Tabick is the Content Manager and faculty at Hadar, where he teaches, curates, and edits Hadar's content—both online and in print—and Project Zug courses. Jeremy is also pursuing a PhD in Talmud at JTS. He graduated from the University of Manchester (in the UK) with a Masters in Physics, and is an alumnus of Yeshivat Hadar and the Conservative Yeshiva in Jerusalem. He is a member of the Steering Team of Kehilat Hadar.
Founder and Director, Hadar's Rising Song Institute
The author of The Torah of Music, winner of the National Jewish Book Award, and Building Singing Communities, Joey Weisenberg is a multi-instrumental musician, singer, and composer whose nigunim, published in six albums and a songbook, have become popular worldwide.
Director of Maimonides Moot Court Competition
Yitzhak is the director of Maimonides Moot Court Competition at Hadar, overseeing programming at the high school and collegiate levels. Previously, he lived in Chicago as a Jewish educator for Moishe House, working with young adult leaders to strengthen educational experiences in their peer-led communities. He is a 2019 FASPE Ethics fellow (Fellowship at Auschwitz for the Study of Professional Ethics) and traveled to Germany and Poland with FASPE. Originally from New York, Yitzhak has studied at the University of Chicago Divinity School and Yeshiva University. He lives in Washington DC and is excited to be part of Hadar's growing presence in the cit
President of Hadar Israel
Rabbi Avital Hochstein is President of Hadar in Israel. Avital is the former rosh kollel at the Pardes Institute. A research fellow at Mechon Shalom Hartman, she has taught Talmud for several years at both institutions and was rosh beit midrash at the new Hartman High School for Girls. Avital is a graduate of Hebrew University with a BA in Talmud, and is pursuing her doctorate at Bar Ilan University. She is the co-author of The Place of Women in Midrash (Yedioth Ahronoth 2008). Avital is also a founder of Kehilat Shirah Hadashah in Jerusalem.
Director of Hadar Boston
Rabbi Elie Lehmann is Director of Hadar Boston. He studied for two years as a fellow at Yeshivat Hadar and has served as Campus Rabbi and University Chaplain at Boston University Hillel since graduating from Hebrew College Rabbinical School in 2017. Elie served as the Inaugural Director of Kulanu’s Global Teaching Fellows, with whom he taught and built curricula for Jewish communities in Kenya, Ghana, India and beyond. While in Rabbinical School, Elie co-founded Matchme, an online crowdfunding platform, was a Wexner Graduate Fellow and an American Jewish World Service Rabbinical Fellow. Elie spent his undergraduate years at Columbia University and The Jewish Theological Seminary. Elie lives in Cambridge, MA with his wife, Anya, and their sons, Razi and Shalev.
Director of Tefillah and Music
Rabbi Deborah Sacks Mintz is Hadar's Director of Tefillah and Music. An educator, practitioner, and facilitator of Jewish communal prayer, Deborah serves and supports communities and individuals who seek to deepen, sharpen, and unlock their practice of empowered song and tefila. As a musician, Deborah has partnered creatively with a diverse array of voices in the Jewish soundscape; in addition to collaborating on over two dozen albums, she released her first record of original spiritual music, The Narrow and the Expanse, in 2020. Beloved ongoing artistic projects include Joey Weisenberg’s Hadar Ensemble, R’ Josh Warshawsky’s Chaverai Nevarech, and New Moon Rising with Elana Arian and Chava Mirel. Deborah received rabbinic ordination from the Jewish Theological Seminary, where she also earned her MA in Women and Gender Studies. She holds degrees in music and religious anthropology from the University of Michigan. Learn more about Deborah's work at www.deborahsacksmintz.com
President and Rosh Yeshiva
Rabbi Ethan Tucker is President and Rosh Yeshiva at Hadar and chair in Jewish Law. Ethan also directs Hadar’s Center for Jewish Law and Values. Ethan was ordained by the Chief Rabbinate of Israel and earned a doctorate in Talmud and Rabbinics from the Jewish Theological Seminary and a B.A. from Harvard College. A Wexner Graduate Fellow, he was a co-founder of Kehilat Hadar and a winner of the first Grinspoon Foundation Social Entrepreneur Fellowship. He serves on the board of the Harold Grinspoon Foundation and the Ramaz School. He is the author, along with Rabbi Micha'el Rosenberg, of Gender Equality and Prayer in Jewish Law (2017).
Rosh Beit Midrash / Senior Faculty
Dena Weiss is Rosh Beit Midrash and Senior Faculty at Hadar, where she teaches Talmud, Midrash and Hasidut. Dena earned a BA in Religious Studies from New York University and an MA in Theology from Harvard Divinity School. She has studied and taught in a variety of Jewish educational settings including Drisha, Midreshet Lindenbaum, and Pardes. She currently serves as the editor-in-chief of the Mima'amakim journal of Jewish religious art.
Director of Hadar Chicago
Rabbi Goldie Guy is Director of Hadar Chicago. She was ordained by Yeshivat Maharat in 2017, where she was also an instructor of Beginner’s Talmud and a UJA fellow. She previously served as Director of Religious Engagement at Anshe Sholom B’nai Israel Congregation in Chicago. Goldie has also been an educator at SAR High School, Columbia/Barnard Hillel, and Carmel Academy Upper School, and served as a chaplain intern at North Shore University Hospital. She has also taught at the Yeshivat Hadar Summer Beit Midrash. Goldie is an alumna of Barnard College, and has studied at a number of yeshivot including the Graduate Program in Advanced Talmudic Studies of Yeshiva University, Drisha, and the SKA Beit Midrash for Women at Migdal Oz. Goldie lives in the Lakeview neighborhood of Chicago.
President and CEO
Rabbi Elie Kaunfer is President and CEO of the Hadar Institute. Elie has previously worked as a journalist, banker, and corporate fraud investigator. A graduate of Harvard College, he completed his doctorate in liturgy at the Jewish Theological Seminary, where he was also ordained. A Wexner Graduate Fellow and Dorot Fellow, Elie is a co-founder of the independent minyan Kehilat Hadar and has been named multiple times to Newsweek’s list of the top 50 rabbis in America. He was selected as an inaugural AVI CHAI Fellow, and is the author of Empowered Judaism: What Independent Minyanim Can Teach Us About Building Vibrant Jewish Communities (Jewish Lights, 2010). Elie serves on the board of Natan and on the advisory board of Upstart. Click to watch a short video of Elie as scholar- in-residence at the General Assembly of the Jewish Federations of North America.
Rosh Yeshiva
Rabbi Aviva Richman is a faculty member at Yeshivat Hadar, and directs the Manger Winter Learning Seminar. Aviva has taught at the American Jewish University in Los Angeles, and is a past Rosh Kollel of the Bet Midrash at Camp Ramah in Wisconsin. She has also taught at the National Havurah Institute. She studied in the Pardes Kollel and the Drisha Scholars' Circle and was ordained by a private teacher. Particular interests include Halakhah, gender and sexuality in Judaism and niggunim. A Wexner fellow, Aviva is currently pursuing a doctorate in Rabbinics at NYU.
Director of National Learning Initiatives
Rabbi Avi Strausberg is the Director of National Learning Initiatives at Hadar, and is based in Washington, DC. Previously, she served as the Director of Congregational Learning of Temple of Aaron in St. Paul, Minnesota. Avi studied at Hadar as a year fellow, and served on our summer faculty in 2014. She received her rabbinic ordination from Hebrew College in Boston and is a Wexner Graduate Fellow. She also holds a Masters in Jewish Education. While pursuing her studies, Avi was honored to serve as a rabbinic intern at Kehillath Israel and Temple Sinai. She has taught students of different ages and backgrounds at Kehillath Israel, Temple Sinai, Makor, and Hadar. Additionally, Avi has worked as a chaplain intern at Hebrew Senior Life and organized an anti-trafficking campaign as a rabbinic fellow at T’ruah. Energized by engaging creatively with Jewish text, she has written several theatre pieces inspired by the Torah and maintains a Daf Yomi haiku blog in which she writes daily Talmudic haikus. Avi is most grateful for her wife, Chana, and two children, Ori and Niv.
Faculty
Rabbi Miriam-Simma Walfish is faculty at Hadar and a Senior Coach for Pedagogy for Partnership. She is completing her PhD in Rabbinics at Harvard University. Her interests include rabbinic approaches to gender, parenting, and education. She has published several articles, including, "Upending the Curse of Eve: Reframing Maternal Breastfeeding in BT Ketubot" (2017). Rabbi Walfish has taught Tanakh, Talmud, and Jewish Law in numerous settings including the Conservative Yeshiva, Hadar, Harvard University, Hebrew College, and the National Havurah Committee's summer institute. She revels in the process of learning Torah with and from her students.
We welcome people from all walks of Jewish life – teens to great-grandparents, people of all denominational backgrounds, from around the country and around the world. Join us!
Hadar Community Members
Hadar Community Members
Prepare for Shabbat with art, a shiur, or an opportunity to meet fellow Shabbaton attendees through icebreakers and energizers. Our Children & Families team will also be available to greet families and show kids around our kids space.
Hadar Faculty & Staff
Candle Lighting Stamford: 4:20 pm
Hadar Community Members
Families with Young Children
Hadar Community Members
Hadar Faculty & Staff
Explore the Torah that has sustained us over Jewish history, and in particular, over the past three years of uncertainty and upheaval. These shiurim will include highlighted sessions from our Virtual Beit Midrash. If you have been learning online with us, this is your chance to learn with your favorite teacher in-person or discover someone new. Shiurim include: *The Covenantal Process - Rabbi Yitz Greenberg *The Transformative Power of Torah and Personal Revelation - Rabbi Avi Strausberg *Unlikely Origins of Prayer - Rabbi Aviva Richman *Empathy and Imagination: Can we really understand the pain of others? - Dena Weiss *Perhaps the Matter is For Me: Why Do We Learn Torah? - Rabbi Tali Adler Plus shiurim from Rabbi Elie Kaunfer, Rabbi Shai Held, and Rabbi Avital Hochstein
Hadar Community Members
Hadar Community Members
Hadar Community Members
Hadar Community Members
Hadar Community Members
Hadar Community Members
Hadar Community Members
Hadar Community Members
In pre-assigned small groups facilitated by Hadar Faculty and Kollel members, we will all explore the same passage from Pirkei Avot. You’ll have a chance to meet someone new through havruta learning, and discuss your findings with friends, family, or someone new over lunch.
Hadar Community Members
Hadar Community Members
The Hadar community has incredibly deep roots and broad branches, and these sessions are an opportunity to explore the depth and breadth of the Hadar community. *'That Place:' Initial Perspectives On Queer Moments in Hilchot Niddah - Avigayil Halpern, Hadar Kollel *Tell Wisdom, You Are My Sister: Divine Sisterhood in Midrash - Yael Jaffe, Hadar Kollel *Hillel on the Roof (Talmud Yoma 35b) - Allison Cook & Orit Kent, Founders & Directors, Pedagogy of Partnership And more!
Hadar Community Members
Schmooze with old friends, meet a new friend, play a board game, learn in the Beit Midrash, or take a nap!
Hadar Community Members
Hadar Community Members
Hadar Community Members
Hadar Community Members
Hadar Community Members
Led by Hadar faculty and community members, these sessions are a chance to discuss issues on your mind with like-minded individuals, debate in a Mini Moot-Beit Din, move your body with Israeli dance and more.
Hadar Community Members
Hadar Community Members
Hadar Community Members
Families with Young Children
Hadar Community Members
Sing, move your body, or learn in one of these early morning sessions.
Hadar Faculty & Staff
Hadar Community Members
Hadar Community Members
“Our Broad Branches” Keynote Address from Rabbi Aviva Richman and Breakout Sessions What does Jewish community look like when our most deeply-held values can strike deep roots in Jewish texts and tradition? We’ll explore where Torah can take us through breakout panels on a variety of topics, facilitated by Hadar faculty members. Breakout sessions include explorations of Tefillah, Halachah, Social Justice, and more.
Hadar Community Members
Hadar Community Members
As a community, we will join in both joyful prayer and meditative song throughout the Shabbaton as a way of connecting to our spiritual selves and to each other.
Stamford, CT 90001
The hotel is reachable by Metro North train from New York City’s Grand Central and 125th St Stations, as well as by Amtrak train to Stamford. Directions from major airports can be found on the hotel website.
