Daniella Risman serves as Hazzan (cantor) of The Emanuel Synagogue in West Hartford, CT. She graduated from the H.L. Miller Cantorial School at the Jewish Theological Seminary with a Master of Sacred Music. She also has a Master of Music in Voice from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance from Oberlin Conservatory of Music, and a Bachelor of Arts in Environmental Studies from Oberlin College. 

A lyric soprano, Daniella played the role of the Countess in Mozart’s “Marriage of Figaro” and Micaela in Bizet’s “Carmen.” She enjoys singing varied genres including opera, art song, chazzanut, Yiddishkeit, jazz and liturgical music. Daniella was born in Israel and raised there and in California. She is an avid traveler and lover of languages, having studied seven languages and sung in still more. She enjoys delicious kitchen projects and hiking. She and her husband, Eric Hoffman, are the proud parents of Zehava and Judah.

Daniel Kirzane is the associate rabbi of Oak Park Temple, just outside Chicago. He loves board games, running, and planning vacations. He is also an active member of T'ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights. Daniel’s sermons and other writings are on his website, danielkirzane.com.

Julee Levine is currently the Director of Supplemental Education at Adat Ari El in Valley Village, California. Her passion for education extends across all ages and stages and across many modalities, especially pop culture, as she believes there is Torah in everything!

She is a die-hard Florida Gator, will argue with you about nearly anything, a connoisseur of very spicy foods and a 4-time Game Show contestant.

Geoffrey A. Mitelman is the Founding Director of Sinai and Synapses, an organization that bridges the scientific and religious worlds. He has been an adjunct professor at both the Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion and the Academy for Jewish Religion, An alumnus of Princeton University, Geoff was ordained as a rabbi by Hebrew Union College - Jewish Institute of Religion.

Geoff was a member of the first cohort of Clal’s Rabbis Without Borders fellowship, a national program that seeks to position rabbis as American religious leaders and spiritual innovators who contribute Jewish wisdom to the American spiritual landscape. From 2007 to 2014, he served as Assistant and then Associate Rabbi of Temple Beth El of Northern Westchester, and he appeared on Jeopardy! in March 2016.

Geoff is on Twitter @RabbiMitelman. He lives in Westchester County, New York with his wife Heather Stoltz, a fiber artist, and with their daughter and son.

David Shyovitz is Associate Professor of History and Jewish Studies at Northwestern University and the Director of NU's Crown Family Center for Jewish and Israel Studies. His research and publications focus on pre-modern Jewish cultural and intellectual history, with a particular emphasis on the history of halachah (Jewish law), the development of Jewish theology, and the dynamics of Jewish-Christian and Jewish-Muslim relations. He is the author of A Remembrance of His Wonders: Nature and the Supernatural in Medieval Ashkenaz, which was awarded the John Nicholas Brown Prize by the Medieval Academy of America, and of the forthcoming "O Beastly Jew! Jews, Animals, and Jewish Animals in the Middle Ages.”

David received his BA, MA, and Ph.D. at the University of Pennsylvania and studied for two years at Yeshivat Har Etzion. He lectures extensively throughout the United States, Europe, and Israel. David, his wife Adina, and their four children live in Evanston, IL.

Leah Jones is the host of two podcasts of her own! Finding Favorites with Leah Jones explores guests’ favorite things and recommendations of ay sort without using an algorithm. Leah explores how people found their favorites, why they love it and adventures they’ve had pursuing their favorite thing. She also co-hosts Candy Chat Chicago with Jocelyn Geboy. Leah is on Twitter @chicagoleah and @findingfavspod!

Leah has been a member of the ROI Community since 2007 when she was leading Itza Mitzva. Itza Mitzva aimed to provide a context for adult, Reform Jews to learn about the mitzvot with a rabbi, but outside of a synagogue. Leah co-founded TBD Minyan in 2010 to provide a lay-led, progressive Jewish community on Chicago's Northside. Leah was a member of the Chicago '17 Wexner Heritage Fellowship cohort and is the immediate past president of Emanuel Congregation in Chicago. She is a marketing professional at Mesirow, a financial services firm.

Elliot Goldberg is a rabbi and CTI trained coach and consultant working with Jewish professionals and non-profits to align their personal or institutional mission with their day to day practice. His work is informed by more than two decades of experience in Jewish day schools and a lifetime of summers at Camp Ramah. He is a regular contributor to MyJewishLearning.com's Daily Dose of Talmud (https://www.myjewishlearning.com/get-your-daily-dose-of-talmud/). Follow Elliot on Twitter @elliot_goldberg!

While his beliefs about the afterlife are still developing, he did get a taste of Heaven when the Chicago Cubs won the World Series in 2016.

Marc Israel is the rabbi at Tikvat Israel Congregation in Rockville, MD. He previously served as associate rabbi of Temple Beth Hillel–Beth El in Wynnewood, PA and as the rabbi educator at Ohr Kodesh Congregation in Chevy Chase, MD. Rabbi Israel graduated from the University of Michigan with a bachelor’s degree in political science in 1992. He earned his rabbinic ordination in 1998 from the Hebrew Union College’s Jewish Institute of Religion, and he joined the Conservative Movement’s Rabbinical Assembly in 2007. 

Marc is married to Abbey Frank and they have three children. He is a sports fan, an avid supporter of all things University of Michigan and has taught classes to teens and adults on the Jewish connection in The Good Place. Connect with him on Facebook @marcdisrael, follow him on Twitter @RabbiIsrael and Instagram @marc_israel.

Shmuly Yanklowitz serves as president and dean of Valley Beit Midrash, a global Jewish learning and action center. He is founder and president of Uri L’Tzedek, an Orthodox social justice organization; Shamayim, which does Jewish animal advocacy; and Yatom: The Jewish Adoption Network. Shmuly is the author of 22 books on Jewish ethics, and his writings have appeared in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, The Guardian, and The Atlantic among many other secular and religious publications. He has served as speaker at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland and a Rothschild Fellow in Cambridge, UK.

Shmuly received masters degrees from Harvard University and Yeshiva University, as well as a doctorate from Columbia University. He was ordained as a rabbi by Yeshivat Chovevei Torah, along with two private ordinations in Israel. His wife Shoshana, and their four children live in Scottsdale, Arizona. They are also foster parents. Through Valley Beit Midrash you can listen to Shmuly’s podcasts, and you can follow Shmuly on Facebook, Twitter (@RavShmuly), Instagram (@rabbi_shmuly) and LinkedIn!

Leora Kling Perkins serves as Associate Rabbi at Temple Emunah in Lexington, Massachusetts. She is a graduate of Brandeis University and earned rabbinic ordination and an M.A. in Jewish education from the Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS) in New York. She was the Secretary for the Conservative Movement’s Committee on Jewish Law and Standards from 2017-2019, and during her JTS year in Israel in 2015-2016, she was a T’ruah Israel Fellow.

In Boston Leora was a fellow with JOIN for Justice, a national organization dedicated to training, supporting, and connecting Jewish organizers and their communities. She worked as a program coordinator for the Greater Boston Jewish Coalition for Literacy, where she trained and connected nearly 400 tutors each year to public school students.

Leora blogs frequently for the Times of Israel. She is married to Matthew Goldstone and enjoys cooking local vegetarian food, hiking, crocheting, swimming, listening to podcasts, and learning how to garden.

Savannah Lipinski is a recent graduate of the University of Wisconsin – Madison with degrees in Jewish Studies, Environmental Geology, and Physics and a rising first-year rabbinical student at the Jewish Theological Seminary. She has centered her work in the Jewish community around making Jewish life more inclusive and accessible, and she aspires to continue this work in her rabbinic career in the future. In her free time, Savannah enjoys being outside with her partner, Sophie, and dogs, Denver and Pico, hiking, running, or climbing.