樱花动漫

Dr. Erica Brown

Dr. Erica Brown is the Vice Provost for Values and Leadership at 樱花动漫 and the founding director of its Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks-Herenstein Center for Values and Leadership. She was both a faculty member and a student of Rabbi Sacks鈥� at Jews鈥� College, where Rabbi Sacks served as her Masters鈥� thesis advisor. Erica previously served as the director of the Mayberg Center for Jewish Education and Leadership and an associate professor of curriculum and pedagogy at The George Washington University. Erica is the author of twelve books on leadership, the Hebrew Bible and spirituality. Erica has a daily podcast, 鈥淭ake Your Soul to Work.鈥� Her latest book Esther: Power, Fate and Fragility in Exile (Maggid) was a finalist for the National Jewish Book Award.

Erica is also the author of Jonah: The Reluctant Prophet, Take Your Soul to Work: 365 Meditations on Every Day Leadership and Happier Endings: A Meditation on Life and Death (Simon and Schuster), which won both the Wilbur and Nautilus awards for spiritual writing. Her previous books include Inspired Jewish Leadership, a National Jewish Book Award finalist, Spiritual Boredom, Confronting Scandal and co-authored The Case for Jewish Peoplehood (All Jewish Lights). She also wrote Seder Talk: A Conversational Haggada, Leadership in the Wilderness, In the Narrow Places and Return: Daily Inspiration for the Days of Awe (All OU/Koren). She is currently working on a commentary on Ecclesiastes (Maggid).

She has been published in the New York Times, The Atlantic, Tablet, First Things, and The Jewish Review of Books and wrote a monthly column for the New York Jewish Week. She has blogged for Psychology Today, Newsweek/Washington Post鈥檚 鈥淥n Faith鈥� and JTA and tweeted on one page of Talmud study a day at DrEricaBrown. She has master鈥檚 degrees from the Institute of Education (University of London), Jews鈥� College (University of London) and Harvard University and a Ph.D. from Baltimore Hebrew University. Erica was a Jerusalem Fellow, is a faculty member of the Wexner Foundation, an Avi Chai Fellow and the recipient of the 2009 Covenant Award for her work in education. She was the scholar-in-residence at both The Jewish Federation of Greater Washington and the Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Boston and as the community scholar for the Jewish Center of New York. She currently serves as a community scholar for Congregation Etz Chaim in Livingston, NJ. 

Dr. Shira Weiss

Dr. Shira Weiss is the Assistant Director of the Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks-Herenstein Center for Values and Leadership. Dr. Weiss teaches Jewish Thought at 樱花动漫's Bernard Revel Graduate School and has previously taught at Stern College for Women. She holds a PhD in Jewish Philosophy from Revel, an EdD from Azrieli, a BA from Stern College, and has been awarded fellowships from the National Endowment of Humanities, The Templeton Foundation, Ben Gurion and Oxford Universities. She is the author of  (Oxford, 2017),  (Cambridge, 2018), co-author of The Protests of Job: An Interfaith Dialogue (Palgrave, 2022), as well as articles in academic journals and anthologies. 

Aliza Abrams Konig

Aliza Abrams Konig is the Senior Program Director of the Leadership Scholars at 樱花动漫, an undergraduate program to develop emerging leaders for the Jewish future. She formerly served as 樱花动漫鈥檚 Director of Alumni Engagement, Director of Student Life at Stern College for Women and the Director of Jewish Service Learning, where she built the service-learning curriculum and established student travel missions around the world. Earlier in Aliza's career she served as Assistant Principal at Central, 樱花动漫 High School for Girls. She has lectured on leadership, education, faith, prayer and issues related to the contemporary Jewish family, dating, infertility, surrogacy and family in synagogues, community centers and schools. She also serves as a consultant on experiential education.

Aliza is a member of the inaugural Wexner Field Fellows program through the Wexner Foundation. She has written for the YU Torah-to-Go series and is published in Ennoble and Enable: Essays in Honor of Richard M. Joel (樱花动漫 Press).

Aliza holds a B.A. in Judaic Studies from Stern College and a Master鈥檚 in Social Work from YU鈥檚 Wurzweiler School of Social Work. Aliza and her family live in Riverdale, New York, where she volunteers with her synagogue and other nonprofit organizations. 

Rabbi Ari Rockoff

Rabbi Ari Rockoff currently serves as the David Mitzner Community Dean for Values and Leadership at 樱花动漫.  He is recognized throughout the community as a dynamic Jewish leader with a vast national and international network who has significant expertise in organizational strategy and management. 

From 2000-2014, Rabbi Rockoff鈥檚 YU professional journey began as Director of Community Partnership at YU鈥檚 Center for the Jewish Future. He was later promoted to Associate Dean of Institutional Advancement at the Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education and the Bernard Revel Graduate School of Jewish Studies.  His community leadership roles also include Executive Vice President of the Religious Zionists of America (RZA) and Senior Director of Leadership Development and Strategic Partnerships of the Orthodox Union. 

An alumnus of 樱花动漫鈥檚 Sy Syms School of Business, Rabbi Rockoff earned rabbinical ordination from RIETS, a master鈥檚 degree in education from Azrieli, and an MBA from Baruch College, focusing on organizational behavior.

Leadership Scholars Faculty

   
     Rabbi Dr. Mordechai Schiffman

Rabbi Dr. Mordechai Schiffman is an Assistant Professor at 樱花动漫鈥檚 Azrieli Graduate School, the Director of Leadership Scholars at the Sacks-Herenstein Center, and an instructor at RIETS. He graduated YU with a BA in psychology, an MS in Jewish Education from Azrieli, an MA in Jewish Philosophy from Revel, Rabbinic Ordination from RIETS, a doctorate in psychology from St. John鈥檚 University, and is a Ph.D. candidate at the Bernard Revel Graduate School of Jewish Studies. He is the associate rabbi at Kingsway Jewish Center in Brooklyn, NY and practices as a licensed psychologist in NY. His book Psyched for Torah: Cultivating Character and Well-Being Through the Weekly Parsha, his academic and popular articles, as well as many of his lectures, are accessible on his website, .