Finding Light in a Time of Darkness

Rabbi Rebecca Rosenthal is the Director of Youth and Family Education at Central Synagogue, where she oversees programming for families and children of all ages, including a Nursery School, religious school, and teen programming. Prior to Central, Rabbi Rosenthal was the Director of Children and Family Education at IKAR in Los Angeles, and before that she held positions at Congregation B’nai Zion in El Paso, TX and at B’nai Jeshurun in New York City. Rabbi Rosenthal received a bachelor’s degree from Yale University and was ordained as a rabbi from the Jewish Theological Seminary in 2009.  She also received a master’s degree in Jewish education and was a Wexner Graduate Fellow. She lives on the West Side with her husband, Dr. Adam Arenson, a professor of American History at Manhattan College, and their three children, Simon, Leo, and Maddie.  

It is Rabbi Jodie's life’s mission to guide individuals to create meaning through a Jewish lens, within the context of community. Jodie works with the synagogue’s children beginning in the Gan Shalom nursery school and reaching into the senior adult community. At the core of her work is creating and implementing inter-generational experiences that inspire meaningful connections. A Registered Yoga Teacher, RYT® 200, Jodie brings in Shabbat with congregants of all ages with Shabbat Yoga. 

Jodie is an active member of local Interfaith Clergy associations where they engage in interfaith study, social action, and worship. A mentor through the Elaine Breslow Institute at Beit T’Shuvah, she works to support Jewish professionals and individuals who are yearning to create sacred space and build sacred relationships in their work as in their lives. Jodie embraces and expounds the concept, you don’t have to be an addict to be in recovery and she works to help others create a daily practice of reflection and integration. 

Rabbi Jodie Siff grew up right here at RSNS, and she has been serving the RSNS community as their Rabbi for 23 years. Jodie graduated from Lehigh University and then continued her studies at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College. Jodie and her husband Peter are the proud parents of four young adults.

Ivy Schreiber is the Managing Director, Professional Learning and Growth at The Jewish Education Project. Her current work focuses on supporting Jewish educators towards adopting new models that lead to thriving and are responsive to today’s learners and families. Prior to The Jewish Education Project, Ivy worked at B’nai Jeshurun (BJ) in NYC for a decade, where she served as the Education Director, and also has experience in Jewish camping and as a consultant to synagogues. Ivy holds an MA in Jewish Education from the Davidson School at JTS, is an alum of the Leadership Institute, and is a Wexner Field Fellow. Ivy lives in Westchester with her husband and three children.