Peter J. Rubinstein brings decades of experience as a congregational rabbi and as a leader in the Jewish and interfaith communities to his role as 92Y’s director of Jewish Community and the Bronfman Center for Jewish Life. In this capacity, he oversees Jewish content and programming within the Bronfman Center, collaborates with staff throughout the institution on innovative programs related to Jewish themes and forges new collaborations with faith leaders both within and beyond the Jewish community.

Rabbi Rubinstein is also the Rabbi Emeritus of Central Synagogue, a Reform congregation where he served as the Senior Rabbi for 23 years. Prior to his position at Central Synagogue, Rabbi Rubinstein served as the Rabbi of Woodlands Community Temple in White Plains, New York and Peninsula Temple Beth El in San Mateo, California.

He is the immediate past Chair of the Partnership of Faith in New York City, which includes the senior clergy of the city’s major congregations and was co-president of the US Board of the Tony Blair Faith Foundation. He is also immediate past chair of the Board of Auburn Theological Seminary in New York City and is on the Board of the New York Region of the American Jewish Committee and Co-Chair of its Rabbinic Round Table. He is presently the director of the Be Wise Fellowship in Jewish Entrepreneurialism at the HUC-JIR in New York City.

Rabbi Rubinstein is also a founder and chair of the Rabbinic Council of the World Union for Progressive Judaism and a member of the organization’s North American Advisory Board. and he frequently lectures on the evolution of synagogues and the role of a Rabbi now and in the future. He was ranked number three in Newsweek’s 2012 list of “America’s 50 Most Influential Rabbis” and number 5 in 2013. He was named one of the 28 “2014 America’s Most Inspiring Rabbis” by The Jewish Daily Forward.

Rabbi Rubinstein graduated from Amherst College and was awarded an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree by Amherst College in 2017. He was ordained by the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in New York City, where he also received a Master of Hebrew Letters degree with honors. He received a Doctor of Divinity in 1994.

He has taught at Manhattanville College, Colgate University, San Jose State and the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion both in New York and Cincinnati. His essays have been included in Restoring Faith by Forrest Church, How Can I Find God (edited by James Martin), Our Rabbis Taught and Shine by Star Jones. He co-authored an article entitled “Innovation in All Generation” which appeared in the Winter 2017 edition of the The Reform Jewish Quarterly.

Rabbi Joui Hessel is the Vice President of Jewish Life at the Bronfman Center for Jewish Life at 92Y.

Prior to this position, she served Washington Hebrew Congregation for 13 years; first as a pulpit rabbi and then as Rabbi and Director of Religious Education and Jewish Engagement overseeing one of the nation’s largest religious schools. She has also served as an Assistant Director for Recruitment and Admissions at HUC-JIR and as adjunct and clinical faculty for the HUC-JIR NY School of Education.

Rabbi Hessel was ordained from the Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion in New York, NY in June 2001. Rabbi Hessel also received a Masters Degree in Hebrew Letters in 1998 and a Masters Degree in Jewish Education in 1999, both from the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion.

Rabbi Hessel has co-authored The Hanukkah Family Treasury, published by Running Hill Press. She has also been published in the CCAR’s publications The Sacred Encounter (2014) and Mishkan T’fila for Youth (2014), Moment Magazine (June 2007) as well as in a book on parenting young adult children, Mom, Can I Move Back in with You: A Survival Guide for Parents of Twentysomethings, published by Mid-Atlantic Equity Consortium. Rabbi Hessel has offered the opening prayer at the United States House of Representatives and at the White House on the National Day of Prayer. She served as an auxiliary board member of the Central Conference of American Rabbis, representing the Women’s Rabbinic Network.

Rabbi Hessel lives in Greenwich, Connecticut with her sassy and precocious five-year-old daughter. She sits on the Board of Directors for both the United Way of Greenwich and the UJA/JCC Greenwich.

Samantha Gayler Frank was raised in Silver Spring, MD. She graduated from Tufts University, where she earned her B.A. in French and Community Health. Prior to becoming a Rabbi, she taught English in France and worked at the NYU Child Study Center in the field of mental health policy. She served as student rabbi at Temple Beth Am in Monessen, PA, rabbinical intern at Yale Hillel: Joseph Slifka Center for Student Life in New Haven, CT, and as rabbinical intern at Temple Micah in Washington DC. She was honored to be a Bonnie and Daniel Tisch Rabbinical Fellow and recipient of the BeWise Fellowship for entrepreneurship, as well as a Jewish Innovation Fellow at the 92Y!

At 92Y, Rabbi Frank is delighted to serve as the Director of Jewish Education. In her role, she oversees ATiD, our Jewish afterschool program, as well as teaching and leading holiday celebrations and classes. She also serves as Rabbinic Fellow at Temple Micah in Washington, DC. Rabbi Frank is co-creator of the Jewish educational resource, @Modern_Ritual (on Instagram and at www.modernritual.org). In addition to thinking creatively about how to share the beauty and meaning of Jewish tradition, Samantha loves all pasta. She lives in Brooklyn.

Rebecca Schoffer is the Director of Jewish Family Engagement and the leader of the Shababa community at 92nd Street Y. She is a musical and experiential Jewish educator, a singer songwriter, cantorial soloist and a playwright of Jewish family theater. Rebecca is a recent recipient of the 2019 Young Pioneers Award from The Jewish Education Project, which celebrates forward thinking innovative educators.

Before her 92Y days, Rebecca worked at the Atlantic Theater Company, where she also taught children’s theater classes and performed in theater for young audiences. She is a alumna of Tufts University and the Atlantic Acting Conservatory. Rebecca brings her background in theater, acting, music and improvisation to her work, creating spaces where hundreds of kids, parents, caretakers and grandparents come together every week to celebrate Jewish life through music, movement and play!

In addition to her weekly Shabbat celebrations, Rebecca also leads 92Y’s Family High Holiday services, baby naming ceremonies, holiday & Shabbat dinners, concerts and many other joyful Jewish celebrations for families. She sings as a cantorial soloist during the 92Y High Holiday season. As a songwriter, Rebecca weaves psalms, prayers and Jewish concepts into contemporary melodies. Her album Shababa of the Heart recorded in collaboration with Karina Zilberman and Toby Singer in 2015, is available on iTunes and Spotify. You can also check out Shababa concerts on 92Y On Demand and YouTube and sing along at home!

Rebecca is a theater director and playwright of family musicals, including Bagels from Benny the Musical and Sammy Spider’s First Mitzvah the Musical! co-written with Joel Esher and based on the beloved PJ Library books by Aubrey Davis and Sylvia Rouss.

Born and raised in Margate, NJ, Rebecca now lives in New York City with her husband Jonathan and son, Sam.

Sharon Kaufman is joining the 92Y as the Program Manager, Events, after spending 7 years working in synagogues in Virginia and Michigan. As the Program Manager, Events, Sharon will be managing both virtual and in person events.

Sharon grew up in the Hudson Valley, and graduated with her undergraduate degree in Political Science from the University at Buffalo and received her Master of Arts in Teaching from SUNY New Paltz. She was the Assistant Educator and Youth Director for a Reform synagogue in Fairfax Station, Virginia, and most recently was the Program and Synagogue Manager for a Conservative synagogue in Kalamazoo, Michigan.

Jason Rosenberg is a New York native, who has always had a passion for growing community. As Program Manager, Communications for the Bronfman Center for Jewish Life, Jason works on education programs, special initiatives, and other global innovative projects. He most recently was the Project Coordinator for a video called "Reset" for the Jewish New Year and created a queer Shabbat series called "Fierce Fridays" bringing LGBTQ+ Jews together.

Prior to joining the Bronfman Center for Jewish Life, Jason worked in 92Y’s Belfer Center for Innovation and Social Impact on projects such as the Ford Motor Company International Fellowship of 92nd Street Y, Ben Franklin Circles and #GivingTuesday. He is an Americorps VISTA alumna and has served in previous roles at Amnesty International USA and Urban Dove. He has an undergraduate degree from SUNY, University at Buffalo in Political Science and African Studies, where he explored LGBTQ+ rights in Ghana, West Africa. Jason also volunteers as a leading facilitator and social media manager at ACT UP NY, a direct-action advocacy group working to impact those living with HIV/AIDS, and is a co-founder of the group PrEP4All.