About Our FACULTY

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Rabbi Stephanie Alexander earned her ordination, as well as Masters degrees in Hebrew Literature and Religious Education, from Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in 2003.  Throughout her training and practice as a rabbi and educator, she has sought out institutions that value creativity in programming—from an experimental Shabbat family school to multi-generational social justice organizing, to a supplemental congregational high school program over 120 teenagers strong.

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Robert A. Cohn, Editor-in-Chief Emeritus of the St. Louis Jewish Light and leader of the National Jewish Press is a highly respected writer and commentator on a wide span of topics of Jewish interests This year for the first time Bob will also be offering his very popular Current Events course on Monday evenings in addition to Thursday mornings.
Rabbi Yosef David, originally from New Jersey, is new to St. Louis. He moved here in August 2007 from Memphis where he served as Executive Director of Torah Education Association of Memphis (TEAM). He brings a great sense of humor and a personal style to his learning experiences.

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Rabbi Ryan Dulkin is an advanced doctoral candidate in the field of Midrash at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America. Rabbi Dulkin is focusing his academic research on the development of Rabbinic Judaism in the context of the Christianization of the eastern Roman Empire. Rabbi Dulkin has served as an educator in a variety of settings. Rabbi Andrea Goldstein was ordained from the Hebrew Union College - Jewish Institute of Religion in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1998. For the past nine years she has held the position of Associate Rabbi at Congregation Shaare Emeth. Rabbi Goldstein has made the call for justice, peace, and equality a focal point of her rabbinate.

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Rabbi James Stone Goodman, information coming soon.

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Rabbi Seth Gordon serves as rabbi at Traditional Congregation. His class on the prophets last year proved to be an informative and thought provoking course. In addition to his class on the Prophets, this year he has developed a course that will delve into the content of the great Midrash. He is also one of our Melton faculty members.
Felicia Graber who survived the Holocaust in Poland has a B.A and a Master of Arts in Teaching. She taught French and German languages and literature for 26 years. She taught Literature of the Holocaust at the Central Hebrew High School and the Adult Jewish Institute. Since 1998 she has been a docent and speaker at the St. Louis Holocaust Museum and Learning Center and speaks about the Holocaust in area colleges, schools and community agencies.

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Felicia Graber who survived the Holocaust in Poland has a B.A and a Master of Arts in Teaching. She taught French and German languages and literature for 26 years. She taught Literature of the Holocaust at the Central Hebrew High School and the Adult Jewish Institute. Since 1998 she has been a docent and speaker at the St. Louis Holocaust Museum and Learning Center and speaks about the Holocaust in area colleges, schools and community agencies.

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Rabbi Elizabeth Hersh taught Melton and the new Melton Scholars Series course, Bereshit I, last year to rave reviews. This year she will be teaching Part II of the Bereshit Melton Scholars Series. She will also be teaching a course on Women in the Tanach and a course based upon Eli Wiesel’s Messengers of God.

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Rabbi Brad Horwitz, information coming soon.

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Dr. Naomi Jacobs, information coming soon.

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Cyndee Levy is the Director of Adult Jewish Education at CAJE and a veteran Melton faculty member. Her students enjoy the breadth of her Jewish knowledge and her personable style.

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Don Makovsky, information coming soon.

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Ofira Melnick was born and raised in Jerusalem. She graduated from Hebrew University with a degree in Jewish History and Geography and a teaching certificate in Hebrew as a Second Language. A long-time educator, she has taught Hebrew and Judaic studies to American children and adults for 20 years. Ofira's love of Judaism, Hebrew and Israel infuses all her classes.

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Rabbi Mordecai Miller of Brith Sholom Kneseth Israel Congregation continues his class, Exploring Genesis. He emulates Rashi, the man Joseph Telushkin called “medieval Judaism’s greatest teacher,” by focusing on the three C’s: clarity, cogency and coherence.

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Marcia Moskowitz spent 25 years teaching Advanced Placement English at Parkway West High School. Since retiring, she has led numerous classes about Jewish literature at Congregation Shaare Emeth and CAJE. Marcia once again brings her expertise to the classroom this year with her extremely popular Contemporary Jewish Writers course she developed. She will also be offering an evening class, Contemporary Jewish Short Stories.

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Chani Pinsberg has taught the Hebrew language in our community for the past 35 years.  She is currently the Hebrew Coordinator at Solomon Schechter Day School.

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Rabbi Chaim Possick attended high school in Karnei Shomron before enlisting in the Yeshivat Hesder program in Ma'ale Adumin. Chaim worked inthe I.D.F. Intelligence Corps for his military service. He then received a B.Ed. and Teaching Certification for Bible and Talmud. Most recently, Chaim has been a Talmud teacher and English teacher  at Kiryat Ya'akov Herzog High School in K'far Saba.  Chaim also continued his studies in the Bar Ilan University Kollel and recently completed a Masters degree in Public Administration.

Michael Raileanu is a speaker, educator and storyteller. His respect and understanding for our ancient texts combined with an engaging sense of humor adds a wonderful dimension to his teaching style. Although new to the St. Louis Melton faculty, he is a veteran Melton teacher. He serves as the new Director of the religious school, Shaare Shalom.

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Miryam Ronen has been teaching Biblical Hebrew at CAJE for many years. The poet Bialik called Hebrew a “fixture of the Jewish soul.” As all who have learned this sublime language from Mrs. Ronen will attest, she’s made it a fixture of countless Jewish souls throughout St. Louis.

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Rabbi Brigitte Rosenberg is Associate Rabbi at United Hebrew Congregation. She earned an undergraduate degree from Boston University, and was ordained at Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati. An avid student of the Bible and passionate teacher; she plans on bringing both enthusiasms to the Melton classroom.

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Michelle Rubin, information coming soon.

Rabbi Hyim Shafner is the rabbi of Bais Abraham and a man who loves to teach. We welcome him back as a member of our CAJL staff. He will be offering a Torah portion of the week course, lunch-and-learn style on Thursdays. Join this exciting learning group every week or whenever you can fit it in your schedule; this is a “pay as you go” style course.

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Rabbi Lane Steinger, information coming soon.

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