Rabbi Doron Chitiz

Educator

Rabbi Doron Chitiz is the gap-year educator for Ematai. He is a dynamic Jewish educator, speaker, and musician with deep experience teaching Torah, Hebrew, and Jewish thought across Israel and the Diaspora. A graduate of Yeshivat Har Etzion and the Herzog College, he combines rich Torah learning with a warm, engaging presence and previously served as the Mizrachi South Africa Shaliach in Johannesburg.

Robyn Tsesarsky

Robyn Tsesarsky is a dedicated Board Certified Chaplain specializing in palliative care. With a profound commitment to supporting individuals and families during some of life’s most challenging moments, Robyn brings a compassionate approach to help others navigate end-of-life care issues.

Adina Blaustein

Education Program Coordinator

Adina Blaustein is the Education Program Coordinator at Ematai. Based in Silver Spring, MD, Adina is Yoetzet Halacha at Kemp Mill Synagogue and Green Road Synagogue in Beachwood, OH.

Previously, Adina served as Content Team Director at Aleph Beta. Her educational background includes a B.A. in English Literature and an M.A. in Bible from Yeshiva University, an M.A. in English Education from Brooklyn College, and certification as a Yoetzet Halacha from Nishmat’s Miriam Glaubach Center’s U.S. Yoatzot Halacha Fellows Program. She is currently pursuing a PhD at Gratz College as a Walder Fellow.

A recognized educator, Adina has taught students of all ages, including at Ramaz, Ida Crown, Fuchs Mizrachi, Case Western Reserve’s Siegel College and the OU Nach Yomi program and in various communities across North America. Her innovative approach to Tanach education earned her the prestigious Kohelet Prize in 2018. She is currently writing a book about haftorot as part of the Sefaria Word-by-Word fellowship.

Jeffrey Goldberger

Jeffrey Goldberger, MD, MBA, is a cardiologist and cardiac electrophysiologist who is
Professor of Medicine at the University of Miami. He is an eminent clinician and researcher with interests in atrial fibrillation and prevention of sudden cardiac death with over 300 publications. He is the founder and Director of the Path to Improved Risk Stratification, a not-for-profit think tank dedicated to improving risk stratification for prevention of sudden cardiac death. He is also President of the Friends of the Israel Heart Society.

Amy Luksenburg Strachman

Amy Luksenburg Strachman, Esq. received her B.A. with Honors from Brandeis University and her J.D. from Boston University School of Law. She practices law in Rhode Island, specializing in pension and retirement law. She has served on the board for the Providence Hebrew Day School, her local synagogue and the Maimonides School.

Elizabeth Rubin

Dr. Elizabeth Rubin, MD is an attending Emergency Medicine physician at Cedars Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California. Dr. Rubin is board certified in Emergency Medicine and completed a fellowship in Medical Simulation. She is an associate faculty member and the Director of Emergency Medicine Simulation. She is also a published author on topics of women in medicine. Her interests include critical care, patient-centered care, quality safety, psychological safety in medicine, and medical education. She lives with her husband, children, and dogs in Los Angeles.

Reena Gottesman

Reena Gottesman, MD, MS is a behavioral neurologist at the Hackensack Meridian Health Center for Memory Loss and Brain Health in New Jersey. Her clinical practice is focused on the care of adults with dementia and other cognitive disorders. She is also an Assistant Professor of Neurology at the Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine. Her clinical and research interests include the early palliative care needs of patients with dementia, particularly young onset dementia, and communication skills within the context of dementia care.

Beth Taubes

Director of Community Outreach

Beth S. (Bassie) Taubes, RN, is the director of community outreach at Ematai. Beth spent over 30 years as a certified oncology and breast care nurse. Working in the field of oncology allowed her to gain valuable insight into educating, advising, treating, and supporting patients and their families during very challenging times. Beth is also a certified health coach and an active leader in many community health initiatives, including support groups for breast cancer patients. She serves as the long-time Rebbetzin of Congregation Zichron Mordechai in Teaneck, New Jersey.

Harry Peled

Harry Peled, MD MA FACC, is the medical director of cardiology and critical care at St. Jude Medical Center in Fullerton, California. He is board-certified in cardiology, critical care, palliative care, geriatrics, and neurocritical care and has a masters in bioethics from Loyola. He has published multiple articles in the New England Journal of Medicine and other high-impact journals.

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Jonah Rubin

Jonah (Yonah) Rubin, MD is an attending physician in Pulmonary & Critical Care Medicine and Cardiac Surgical Critical Care at the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), with specific clinical expertise in respiratory failure, shock, extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), and mechanical circulatory support (MCS). He is board certified in internal medicine, pulmonary medicine, critical care medicine, and critical care echocardiography, completed a fellowship in bioethics at Harvard Medical School (HMS), and is certified in healthcare ethics consultation (HEC-C) and ECMO (E-AEC). He is also an Instructor in Medicine at HMS, a member of the HMS Center for Bioethics, and a member and consultant on the MGH Ethics Committee. He writes and presents on numerous secular and halachic issues surrounding end-of-life care including organ donation, euthanasia, surrogate decision-making, withdrawal of care, and ECMO.

Dr. Beth Popp

Dr. Beth Popp MD FACP, HMDC, FAAHPM is an internal medicine subspecialist at Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York City. She has started and led palliative care programs at three NYC teaching hospitals. She has served on hospital ethics committees for most of her career, and on the ethics committee of The American Society of Clinical Oncology. She currently serves on the Public Policy committee of the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine. She has been involved in educating rabbinic leaders about the medical aspects of serious illness and end-of-life care. Her clinical interests include early palliative care for cancer patients, providing palliative care in the outpatient setting, communication skills for serious illness care and the unique palliative care needs of patients from religious and cultural minorities in the US. She has lived in New York since 1993 with her husband and four sons.

Dayan Yehoram Ulman

Rabbi Yehoram Ulman is a senior Dayan on the Sydney Beth Din and founder and Rabbi of Chabad of Bondi (F.R.E.E.).

Tzivia Moreen

Tzivia Moreen, MD, FACP is a geriatrician and director of the inpatient geriatrics consultation service at Stamford Hospital in Stamford, CT. A major focus of her practice is caring and compassionate communication with older adults and their families, with the goal of engaging in shared decision making and advance care planning. She is honored to join Ematai in promoting advance care planning and end of life education in the Jewish community.

Avi Traum, M.D.

Avi Traum, M.D., is a Pediatric Nephrologist at Boston Children’s Hospital. He is the physician quality director for the hospital’s Pediatric Transplant Center and for the Division of Nephrology. His clinical practice is heavily focused on the care of children with kidney transplants and end stage kidney disease. He is passionate about improving the care of children with kidney disease and with organ transplants.

Rabbi Mordechai Torczyner

Rabbi Mordechai Torczyner is the Rosh Beit Midrash of Beit Midrash Zichron Dov in Toronto and directs its Nusbaum Family Medical Halachah and Ethics Institute. He previously served as rabbi of Young Israel of Pawtucket, Rhode Island and Congregation Sons of Israel in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Rabbi Torczyner has delivered bioethics classes for medical professionals at Lehigh Valley Hospital (Pennsylvania) and, for over a decade, Continuing Education classes for medical professionals with accreditation by the University of Toronto. The Ontario Medical Association recognized Rabbi Torczyner with its Community Service Award in 2019.

Rachel Secunda

Rachel Secunda is the associate director of Ematai. Rachel was previously a Physician Assistant at Ascension Michigan Providence Hospital and Thomas Jefferson University Methodist Hospital, where she was very involved in end-of-life care. She is passionate about patient education and advocacy. Rachel received her BA from Yeshiva University and MS from Thomas Jefferson University.

Michelle Brody

Michelle Brody, PhD, is a clinical psychologist and executive coach with 25 years of experience in corporate, community and family settings. Dr. Brody has worked with teams at global companies like Meta (Facebook), Siemens, and Alcoa, as well as startups, partnerships, non-profits and community groups. She has also served as a master trainer of psychologists, executive coaches, and human resource and corporate learning professionals. Dr. Brody is the author of two books: Stop the Fight! An Illustrated Guide for Couples and Own Your Armor: Revolutionary Change for Workplace Culture.

Avraham Steinberg

Rabbi Prof. Avraham Steinberg is a pediatric neurologist who serves as the director of the Medical Ethics Unit at Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem and the Editor-in-Chief of the Talmudic Encyclopedia. Rabbi Prof. Steinberg was the chairman of the Israeli national committee that drafted Israel’s Dying Patient Act (2005). He is the author of The Encyclopedia of Jewish Medical Ethics (3 Volumes) and Ha’Refuah Ka’Halakha (6 volumes) along with many articles and essays. He is the recipient of Israel’s most distinguished honors including the Israel Prize and Yakir Yerushalayim (Distinguished Citizen of Jerusalem) award.

Jason Weiner

Rabbi Dr. Jason Weiner, BCC, serves as the senior rabbi and executive director of the Spiritual Care Department at Cedars – Sinai in Los Angeles as well as the rabbi of Knesset Israel Synagogue of Beverlywood. Rabbi Weiner previously served as the assistant rabbi at Young Israel of Century City. He has earned two rabbinic ordinations, as well as a Doctorate in clinical bioethics from Loyola University (Chicago) in addition to a master’s degree in Jewish history from Yeshiva University. Rabbi Weiner is a member of the executive committee of the Cedars – Sinai Bioethics Committee. He is past president of the Southern California Board of Rabbis and has been honored with Rabbinic Leadership Awards from the Orthodox Union and Chai Lifeline. He is the author of Care and Covenant: A Jewish Bioethic of Responsibility (Georgetown), Jewish Guide to Practical Medical Decision – Making (Urim Press), and Guide to Observance of Jewish Law in a Hospital (Kodesh Press).

Howard Weiner

Howard L. Weiner, MD is Chief of Neurosurgery and the George A. Peterkin Jr. Endowed Chair at Texas Children’s Hospital (TCH), where he leads a team of eight pediatric neurosurgeons, the largest group of its kind in the nation, and is Professor and Vice Chair of Neurosurgery at Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) in Houston, Texas. Prior to this, he was Professor of Neurosurgery at NYU Langone Medical Center for 27 years. A graduate of the Ramaz School, he received his BA from the University of Pennsylvania, his MD from Cornell University Medical College, and was a research fellow in the lab of Nicole Le Douarin, PhD, in Paris. Howard has an international surgical practice in pediatric epilepsy and brain tumor surgery, has served on the editorial board of several leading medical journals, and has been a visiting professor both in the US and abroad

Ellen Warner

Dr. Ellen Warner is a medical oncologist specializing in breast cancer at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre and a Professor of Medicine at the University of Toronto. Her many research interests include hereditary breast cancer and fertility preservation for young breast cancer patients. Since Canada’s legalization of euthanasia in 2016, she has been a vocal advocate for conscience protection for health care professionals.

Brad Somer

Brad Somer, MD, MBA is a medical oncologist in Memphis, Tennessee. He is the President of the West Cancer Center and Research Institute, a renowned multi-disciplinary comprehensive cancer center servicing the mid – south. He also serves as an assistant professor of hematology/oncology at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center. Dr. Somer is actively involved in clinical research in the gastrointestinal/genitourinary clinical trials program. Dr. Somer earned his medical degree from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York with a Distinction in Research. He completed his internship and residency at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. He received his MBA at U Mass Amherst with a healthcare focus in conjunction with the American Association of Physician Leadership.

Tamar Rubinstein

Dr. Tamar Rubinstein MSc, MD, is an emergency medicine specialist at the Rabin Medical Centre. Additionally, she works for Sabar Health, doing palliative and home hospice care. She is involved in medical education and training for ER residents, and lectures at Tel Aviv University. Tamar is passionate about improving communication between doctors and patients in all areas of medicine, and is currently pursuing a master’s degree in clinical social work at TAU. She is an active board member of the Public Forum for Youth Villages and Foster Care in Israel. Tamar and her husband Jonathan Koschitzky have six children and live in Ra’anana, Israel.

Avi Z. Rosenberg

Rabbi Avi Z. Rosenberg MD, PhD is a pathologist at The Johns Hopkins University with a focus on kidney, pediatrics and autopsy and is the Director for the Division of Autopsy Pathology. In addition, he directs the Renal PathoBiology laboratory, a translational research effort focused on mechanisms of primary kidney diseases. As an active clinical scientist he has co-authored over 160 original papers. He received his MD from Stony Brook University and PhD from Stony Brook University/Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, the latter with a focus on genetic models of breast cancer. Growing up in Brooklyn, NY he received his yeshiva education at Yeshivas Chasan Sofer and Rabbinic education under the mentorship of the late Tenke Rav, Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Friedman, among others. He lives with his family in the Pikesville area of Baltimore, MD and is a member of the Chabad Community.

Edward Reichman

Rabbi Edward Reichman, MD is a Professor of Emergency Medicine at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and holds the Rabbi Isaac and Bella Tendler Chair in Jewish Medical Ethics at Yeshiva University. He received his rabbinic ordination from the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary and writes and lectures internationally in the fields of Jewish medical ethics and Jewish medical history. He is the author of The Anatomy of Jewish Law: A Fresh Dissection of the Relationship Between Medicine, Medical History and Rabbinic Literature (Koren Publishers/OU Press/YU Press, 2022), and Pondering Pre – Modern(a) Pandemics in Jewish History: Essays Inspired by and Written during the Covid – 19 Pandemic by an Emergency Medicine Physician (Shikey Press, 2022).

Ernest Mandel

Ernest Mandel, M.D., S.M. is a nephrologist and the Chief Medical Officer at Hebrew SeniorLife (HSL), a geriatrics care institution in Boston, Massachusetts, where he also serves a member and past chair of its ethics committee. Dr. Mandel is also as an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. His research interests focus on aging, geriatric nephrology, serious illness communication with dialysis patients, and renal palliative care. Dr. Mandel lives with his family in Newton, MA and is the past chair of the Maimonides School board of directors.

Frank Lieberman

Frank Lieberman, MD, is the director of the adult neurooncology program and Professor of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Medical Oncology at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. Dr. Lieberman has a long interest in the intersection between religion and medical practice, and the application of the principles of Jewish religious law to clinical bioethics. He is a member of faculty in the growing Program in Religion and Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh that brings together members of the medical school, law school, and Religious Studies Program. Frank has served as part of a Pittsburgh Jewish Aging Association working group addressing palliative care needs in the Jewish community and as the chair of the Kollel Learning Center’s Society for Halachic Bioethics.

Sharon Galper Grossman

Sharon Galper Grossman, MD, MPh, is a Harvard – trained radiation oncologist with a masters in Public Health. She is a graduate of the Morot L’Halakha program for women’s advanced halakha learning at Matan Hasharon. She writes and lectures on topics in halakha and medicine for Machon Puah, the Eden Center, and Matan where she is a Kitvuni Fellow writing on halacha’s approach to disease prevention.

Judah Goldberg

Rabbi Judah Goldberg, MD, MBE, teaches Talmud at Michlelet Mevaseret Yerushalayim and practices emergency medicine at Shaare Zedek Medical Center (Jerusalem) and Memorial Hospital West (Pembroke Pines, FL). He received a B.A. from Yeshiva University and an M.D. and an M.A. in Bioethics from the University of Pennsylvania. Rabbi Dr. Goldberg studied for several years at Yeshivat Har Etzion in Alon Shevut, Israel and under its auspices received semikha from Rabbi Zalman Nechemiah Goldberg.

Aaron E. Glatt

Rabbi Dr. Aaron E. Glatt, MD, MACP, FIDSA, FSHEA is the Chair of the Department of Medicine at Mount Sinai South Nassau. He also serves as the Chief of Infectious Diseases and is the Hospital’s Epidemiologist, and is in charge of its Infectious Diseases Society of America Designated Center of Excellence in Antimicrobial Stewardship. He also serves as the Associate Rabbi at the Young Israel of Woodmere and is the author of Visiting the Sick(Artscroll)

Deena Levine Davidovics

Dr. Deena Levine Davidovics is a pediatric palliative oncologist and bioethicist at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Dr. Levine is triple boarded in pediatrics, hematology/oncology, hospice and palliative medicine, and has also completed a bioethics fellowship. She is an associate member of the oncology faculty, medical direct or of the Quality of Life Service, and chair of the St. Jude ethics committee. Her research focuses on symptom assessment, management, and support, through early integration of palliative care in oncology, specifically in hematopoietic cell transplantation . She lives with her family in Memphis, TN and is the chair of the Margolin Hebrew Academy Board of Trustees.

Moshe Cohn

Dr. Moshe Cohn is a pediatrician specializing in palliative medicine for children and adults as well as pediatric critical care medicine. He is fellowship – trained in hospice and palliative medicine and a certified healthcare ethics consultant, with expertise in issues relating to complex chronic conditions, terminal illness and end-of-life care. Dr. Cohn is a faculty affiliate in the Division of Medical Ethics at the NYU – Grossman School of Medicine in New York. He sits on multiple working groups and advisory boards relating to organ transplantation and pediatric gene therapy for rare diseases.

Kenneth Prager

Kenneth Prager, M.D., F.A.C.P. is a pulmonologist and Professor of Medicine, Director of Clinical Medical Ethics, and Chairman of the Medical Ethics Committee at Columbia University Medical Center. He is a member of the Ethics, Professionalism and Human Rights Committee of the American College of Physicians and was a regular guest lecturer in Israel for the Ben Gurion University MD Program in International Health and Medicine. His writings on medicine and medical ethics have appeared in medical journals and textbooks as well as on the Op-Ed pages of The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal.

Kim Jensen Pimley

Kim Jensen Pimley is a heart transplant recipient, business person, and community leader. She is the Chairman of Pimley & Pimley, a financial education firm that provides credit and corporate finance training to commercial and investment banks around the world. Kim served as Chairman of the Princeton Healthcare System, and currently serves on the Penn Medicine Board. She was president of her synagogue, and executive board officer at the American Jewish Committee. Kim received a B.A. and M.A. from Emory University, and completed PhD coursework at the University of Chicago.

Harold Perl

Harold Perl MD, FAAP is a neonatologist and Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at the Hackensack School of Medicine. He recently retired from Hackensack University MedicalCenter (HUMC) where he served as Director of Neonatology and Senior Neonatologist. He also served as a founding member of the Bioethics Committee for over 35 years. Harold was the Co-Medical Director of the SIDS Center of New Jersey. He also served as President and Chairman of the Board of Directors for The Partnership for Maternal Child Health of New Jersey, a consortium composed of the twenty-four hospitals in northern New Jersey that provide maternal and pediatric care.

Jeffrey Goldberger

Jeffrey Goldberger, MD, MBA, is a cardiologist and cardiac electrophysiologist who is
Professor of Medicine at the University of Miami. He is an eminent clinician and researcher with interests in atrial fibrillation and prevention of sudden cardiac death with over 300 publications. He is the founder and Director of the Path to Improved Risk Stratification, a not-for-profit think tank dedicated to improving risk stratification for prevention of sudden cardiac death. He is also President of the Friends of the Israel Heart Society.

Mark (Moshe) Wertenteil

Treasurer

Mark (Moshe) Wertenteil, M.D. is a graduate of the NYU School of Medicine and completed his Residency in Internal Medicine at the University Hospitals of Cleveland at Case Western Reserve University. He has been caring for patients since 1997 in Bergen County, New Jersey. He lives in Teaneck, NJ with his wife and together they raised three sons. He has served on the board of the Halachic Organ Donor Society for over 15 years.

Henry Hasson

President

Rabbi Dr. Henry Hasson is an Assistant Professor of Neurology and Pediatrics and practices pediatricneurology in Brooklyn, NY and in Herzliya, Israel. He received his rabbinic ordination from Yeshivat Pirchei Shoshanim and lectures at Congregation Ohel David & Shlomo.

Rabbi Shimshon Nadel

Educator

Rabbi Shimshon Nadel serves as the rabbi of Kehilat Zichron Yosef and Rosh Kollel of the Sinai Kollel in the Har Nof neighborhood of Jerusalem. He previously served as a rabbi in Nebraska and Connecticut and lectures in congregations around the world. He studied at Yeshiva University under Rabbi Moshe Dovid Tendler zt”l, a pioneer in the field of medical halacha.

Rabbi Dr. Shlomo Brody

Executive Director

Rabbi Dr. Shlomo Brody is the executive director of Ematai. He previously served as the co-dean of Tikvah Online Academy, a senior instructor at Yeshivat Hakotel, and as a junior research fellow at the Israel Democracy Institute.  

Rabbi Brody’s career has focused on making Jewish texts accessible to broader audiences while applying them to contemporary social and ethical dilemmas. His award-winning essays have been cited in Israeli Supreme Court decisions and have appeared in The Wall Street Journal, Public Discourse, City Journal, Mosaic, First Things, Tradition, The Jerusalem Post, Tablet, The Forward, Hakirah, Jewish Review of Books, and other popular and scholarly publications.

He is the author of two award-winning books, A Guide to the Complex: Contemporary Halakhic Debates (Maggid) and Ethics of Our Fighters: A Jewish View on War and Morality, which was also published in Hebrew as Musar ve-Milchama.  

A summa cum laude graduate of Harvard College, he received rabbinic ordination from the Israeli Chief Rabbinate, an MA in Jewish philosophy at the Hebrew University, and his PhD from Bar Ilan University Law School. Rabbi Brody has been an invited scholar-in-residence at over 60 distinguished congregations and campuses in the United States, Canada, England, and Israel.

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Inaugural Ematai Fellows

ADVANCED TORAH STUDY IN END-OF-LIFE CARE

Ditza Berger

Adina Blaustein

Rachel Cohen

Aliza Feder

Briana Friedman

Adira Hulkower

Leonie Jacob

Meira Wolkenfeld

Atara Kelman

Chaya Lasson

Deena Levine Davidovics

Blima Marcus

Beth Popp

Chana Ringel

Yaffa Setton

Sara Verschleisser-Pittinsky

Generously supported by:

Faculty

Rabbi Dr. Shlomo Brody

Rabbi Dr. Jason Weiner

Rabbi Doron Chitiz

Educator

Robyn Tsesarsky

Adina Blaustein

Education Program Coordinator

Jeffrey Goldberger

Amy Luksenburg Strachman

Elizabeth Rubin

Reena Gottesman

Beth Taubes

Director of Community Outreach

Harry Peled

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Jonah Rubin

Dr. Beth Popp

Dayan Yehoram Ulman

Tzivia Moreen

Avi Traum, M.D.

Rabbi Mordechai Torczyner

Rachel Secunda

Michelle Brody

Avraham Steinberg

Jason Weiner

Howard Weiner

Ellen Warner

Brad Somer

Tamar Rubinstein

Avi Z. Rosenberg

Edward Reichman

Ernest Mandel

Frank Lieberman

Sharon Galper Grossman

Judah Goldberg

Aaron E. Glatt

Deena Levine Davidovics

Moshe Cohn

Kenneth Prager

Kim Jensen Pimley

Harold Perl

Jeffrey Goldberger

Mark (Moshe) Wertenteil

Treasurer

Henry Hasson

President

Rabbi Shimshon Nadel

Educator

Rabbi Dr. Shlomo Brody

Executive Director

Ditza Berger

Adina Blaustein

Rachel Cohen

Aliza Feder

Briana Friedman

Adira Hulkower