Jewish Futures 2025

Jon Polin and Rachel Goldberg-Polin’s son, Hersh, was taken hostage by Hamas on October 7, 2023, after having his dominant forearm blown off. Since then, the couple, who are dual American-Israeli citizens, have become full-time hostage advocates. They have been speaking worldwide about Hersh's abduction and fighting for all of the hostages to be freed. Almost a year after being stolen, on day 330, the IDF announced that Hersh had been murdered by Hamas, in a tunnel in Gaza, along with 5 other young people with whom he was being held. Despite the devastating loss of their son, Jon and Rachel remain steadfast in their quest for the freedom of every hostage held by Hamas.

Oded Adomi Leshem, PhD, is a political psychologist who has been fascinated by the concept of hope for at least a decade. His interest in hope (and its absence) began in 2012 with his first experimental studies on hope inducement. Since then, he’s published numerous articles and book chapters on hope and despair as political phenomena and lectured on hope to a wide range of academic and non-academic audiences. In 2024 he founded the International Hub for Hope Research (ReHOPE) at the Hebrew University's PICR Lab, serves as a Senior Research Associate at the Hebrew U, and teaches BA, MA, and PhD-level courses, including a new graduate-level course titled: Theoretical, Emiprical, and Applied aspctes of Hope. Oded was born and raised in Jerusalem and currently resides with his family in Tel Aviv. Before turning to research and teaching, he worked as a documentary filmmaker and news cameraman covering conflict and war. 

Rabbi Marc Margolius is a Senior Core Faculty member and Senior Advisor for the Institute for Jewish Spirituality, where he directs programming for lay leaders as well as the alumni of its Clergy Leadership Program. He hosts the “Daily Sit,” IJS’s online daily mindfulness meditation sessions, and teaches courses for IJS, including Awareness in Action: Cultivating Character through Mindfulness and Middot, its online program in tikkun middot practice, integrating Jewish mindfulness with attention to core middot, character traits. Previously, Rabbi Margolius served as spiritual leader at West End Synagogue in Manhattan and Congregation Beth Am Israel in Penn Valley, PA, where he pioneered a Shabbat-centered model of congregational engagement. He developed and led the Legacy Heritage Innovation Project at the Legacy Heritage Fund from 2005-2010, an initiative to promote systemic educational change in congregations around the globe. Long active in social justice activism, Rabbi Margolius is a graduate of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College and of Yale Law School and lives in New York City.

Jimmie Briggs is an author, journalist and lecturer who co-founded the Man Up Campaign, a global initiative to activate youth to stop violence against women and girls, in 2010. As a journalist, he has written for scores of publications following staff tenures at The Washington Post, The Village Voice, LIFE magazine, and others. His 2005 book Innocents Lost: When Child Soldiers Go To War took readers into the lives of war-affected children around the world in half a dozen countries. His next book project is an exploration of manhood and masculinity in the 21st century. He currently contributes to Vanity Fair, AARP Magazine, and The New York Amsterdam News.

Mollie is the Senior Program Director of Fellowships at M²: The Institute for Jewish Experiential Education. She has over 18 years of experience teaching in a variety of Jewish educational settings – from formal classroom teaching to nature education, from theatre education to collaborative philanthropy education. Mollie enjoys being in the field as well as building programs and trainings to support others. She holds a double Master's in Midrash and Jewish Experiential Education from the Jewish Theological Seminary, a BA in Religion from Bard College and is a graduate of M²’s Senior Educators Cohort. Mollie lives in Brooklyn, NY with her husband and children.

Rabba Yaffa Epstein is the Senior Scholar and Educator in Residence at the Jewish Education Project. Formerly, she served as the Director of the Wexner Heritage Program at the Wexner Foundation. Epstein has also served as the Director of Education, North America for the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies and was a member of the faculty. She has served on the faculties of Yeshivat Maharat and the Drisha Institute. Epstein has served as an Educator and Scholar in Residence for the Dorot Fellowship, Moishe House, Jewish Federation of North America, the Covenant Foundation, the Nahum Goldmann Fellowship, Repair the World, the Meorot Fellowship, and the KADIMA Fellowship. She has lectured at numerous Limmud events around the globe, has written curriculum for the Global Day of Jewish Learning and has created innovative educational programming for Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life. She received Rabbinic Ordination from Yeshivat Maharat, earned an additional private Ordination from Rabbi Daniel Landes, holds a Law Degree from Bar-Ilan University, and studied at the Talmud Department at Hebrew University.

Rabba Epstein is passionate about making Jewish learning accessible and exciting, and creating learning environments that are welcoming, diverse, and inclusive to all who wish to participate. She has taught educators, rabbis and lay leaders from across the spectrum of Jewish denominations. Rabba Epstein is the winner of the prestigious Covenant Award.

Dr. Samantha Vinokor-Meinrath, Ed.D., is the Senior Director of Knowledge, Ideas and Learning at The Jewish Education Project. A lifelong Jewish educator and learner, Samantha has lived and worked in Jewish communities in Israel, Washington DC, Cleveland, and New York. Samantha is a recognized expert on Israel education, Jewish teens, antisemitism education, and Jewish peoplehood. She is the author of #antisemitism: Coming of Age During the Resurgence of Hate, a finalist for the National Jewish Book Award in the category of Education and Jewish Identity. She is an alumna of the University of Pittsburgh, the Jewish Theological Seminary, and Gratz College. Samantha lives in Westchester with her husband, two children, and two beloved rescue dogs.