PRESENTERS

Dennis Ross

What’s Next for Israel? The Future of Peace and War in the Mideast

Ambassador Dennis Ross is the counselor and William Davidson Distinguished Fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. He also teaches at Georgetown University’s Center for Jewish Civilization. For more than twelve years, Ambassador Ross played a leading role in shaping U.S. involvement in the Middle East peace process, dealing directly with the parties as the U.S. point man on the peace process in both the George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton administrations. He served two and half years as special assistant to President Obama and as National Security Council senior director for the Central Region, spending the first six months of the administration as the special advisor on Iran to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Kenneth Stern

Why Do People Hate Jews and Will Antisemitism Ever End?

Kenneth S. Stern is the director of the Bard Center for the Study of Hate. Mr. Stern is an award-winning author and attorney and the former director of the division on antisemitism and extremism at the American Jewish Committee, where he worked for 25 years. He has argued before the United States Supreme Court, testified before Congress (as well as before committees of parliamentarians in Canada and the U.K.), was an invited presenter at the White House Conference on Hate Crimes, and served as a member of the U.S. Delegation to the Stockholm Forum on Combating Intolerance. Mr. Stern was the lead drafter of the “working definition” of antisemitism. He was also an integral part of the defense team in the historic London Holocaust denial case of David Irving vs. Deborah Lipstadt.).

Rabbi Margie Cella

My Story: From Convert to Rabbi

Before beginning studies at JTS, Rabbi Cella had a successful 30-year career as a high school math teacher. As a commuter student, she traveled roughly five hours round trip daily from her home in Port Jefferson to Manhattan during her five-year program of study. She currently serves as Educator for Women’s League for Conservative Judaism, as well as the part-time rabbi of the Jewish Center of the Moriches in Center Moriches on Long Island.

Rabbi Joshua Gray

Through a Jewish Lens: Mental Health and Wellness

Rabbi Joshua Gray (Rabbi Josh) is thrilled to be a part of the Temple Isaiah family. After settling down in Joshua’s hometown in Upstate New York, Joshua began full time work as a Director in the Mental Health field. As a nationally certified trainer in Mental Health First Aid, Trauma-informed Care, and many other programs, Joshua has designed and delivered an array of wellness and mental health training and education to a vast assortment of audiences, including school administration, college students, primary and high school students, social services, clergy, and law enforcement, among many others. Rabbi Josh has created various educational programs, including Through a Jewish Lens: Mental Health and Wellness, which has been delivered at a variety of congregations that span denominations.

Rabbi Josh believes that every person was created B’Tzelem Elohim (in the image of God), and that there are many pathways to religion and spirituality. Rabbi Josh seeks to help you deepen your personal connection with Divinity, and is open to officiating and guiding people regardless of age, gender, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, etc. Rabbi Josh happily caters to interfaith, and LGBTQIA+ celebrations and events.

When not studying Torah, Rabbi Josh loves to spend time with his family, exercise, and stream a good movie or television series. Rabbi Josh is also an avid sports fan with a particular affinity for the New York Jets.

Rabbi Josh earned his Bachelor of Arts in psychology from The Pennsylvania State University, graduating summa cum laude. He earned Semicha (Ordination) through Rabbinical Seminary International, and is a member of the Rabbinical Fellowship of America, International.

Rabbi Joseph S. Topek

A Rabbi at Gettysburg: ’German Jews’, the Civil War, and the American Rabbinate

Rabbi Joseph S. Topek is Jewish Chaplain at Stony Brook Medicine, the Stony Brook University medical center, serving the Long Island State Veterans Home and University Hospital. He is Director Emeritus of the Hillel Foundation for Jewish Life at Stony Brook University, Chaplain Emeritus in the University Interfaith Center, where he also served as Chairman, and is currently an adjunct faculty member in the University Undergraduate Colleges.

Rabbi Topek holds academic degrees from the University of Texas at Austin and Brandeis University and Rabbinic Ordination from the Academy for Jewish Religion. He previously directed the Hillel Foundation at Virginia Commonwealth University from 1979- 1982, and at Stony Brook University from 1982-2019. He has served on the National Board of the Association of Hillel and Jewish Campus Professionals, is Past President of the Suffolk County Board of Rabbis, an officer of the Harry G. Friedman Society, a member of the Long Island Board of Rabbis, the New York Board of Rabbis, the Association for Jewish Studies, and the Society for Military History.

Rabbi Topek's area of academic interest is American Jewish history with a subspecialty in American Jewish military history 1860-1945. During his graduate work at Brandeis University he was a student of some of the luminaries of American Jewish history and sociology including Leon Jick, Marshall Sklare, Leonard Fine, and Bernard Reisman. He has written and lectured widely on this subject for the Jewish Museum, the Center for Jewish History, the Yeshiva University Museum, the Holocaust Memorial & Educational Center, the National Museum of American Jewish Military History, the Department of the Interior, U.S. Park Service, the Jewish Historical Society of New York, the Association for Jewish Studies, and many others. In addition he has lectured on topics in Jewish ethics and contemporary society and taught courses at Stony Brook University in leadership development, religion and society, and American Jewish history. He is also a member of Stony Brook University’s Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee.

Joseph Berger

The Evolution of Elie Wiesel

Joseph Berger was a New York Times reporter, columnist, and editor for over 30 years, writing about religion, education, and the colorful kaleidoscope that is New York City as well chronicling many of the events that have shaken Israel and the Middle East. For the previous 14 years he had been a reporter for the New York Post and Newsday. He retired from The Times in December 2014 and two years later began working on a biography of Elie Wiesel that was published by Yale University Press in May 2023.

Berger was born in 1945 in the Ural Mountains region of Russia, where his parents had fled to escape the Nazis. He and his parents and brother Joshua spent four years in refugee camps in Germany and immigrated to New York in 1950 when Berger was five. He grew up on the Upper West Side of Manhattan and the Grand Concourse area of the Bronx.

Dr. Sarit Kattan Gribetz

The Story of Queen Helena

Dr. Sarit Kattan Gribetz is a JTS Fellow and associate professor in the Theology Department at Fordham University. Her areas of research and teaching include rabbinic literature, the history of Jews in the Roman Empire, the city of Jerusalem, conceptions of time and time-keeping, and gender and sexuality. Sarit received her B.A. and Ph.D. from the Religion Department at Princeton University, studied Talmud and Archaeology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem as a Fulbright Fellow, and served as a research fellow at the Israel Institute for Advanced Study and the Einstein Center Chronoi in Berlin.

Dr. Alan Singer

How We Got Here: The History of Antisemitism and Intolerance on Long Island

Dr. Alan Singer is a social studies educator and historian in the Department of Teaching, Learning and Technology at Hofstra University. Dr. Singer is a graduate of the City College of New York and has a Ph.D. in American history from Rutgers University. He is the author of numerous books including New York and Slavery, Time to Teach the Truth (SUNY, 2008), and New York’s Grand Emancipation Jubilee (SUNY, 2018). He is the co-author of Supporting Civics Education with Student Activism (Routledge, 2021). He was a participating historian in “Defining Moments: The Civil Rights Movement in North Hempstead,” co-director of the New York State Great Irish Famine Curriculum Guide, and the editor of the “New York and Slavery: Complicity and Resistance” curriculum guide. Both curriculum projects were recipients of National Council for the Social Studies Program of Excellence Awards.

Brad Kolodny

101 Notable Long Island Jews: Do You Know Who They Are?

Brad Kolodny has photographed more than 600 synagogues in 13 countries over the last 30+ years including every synagogue building from Great Neck to Montauk. He has worked for The New York Times since 1996, is president of the Jewish Historical Society of Long Island and an active member at Midway Jewish Center in Syosset, NY. Brad's second book, The Jews of Long Island 1705-1918 published by SUNY Press, was released in March 2022.

Rabbi Deborah Prinz

On the Chocolate Trail: A Delicious Adventure Connecting Jews, History, Travel, Rituals and Recipes to the Magic of Cacao

Rabbi Deborah Prinz authored On the Chocolate Trail: A Delicious Adventure Connecting Jews, Religions, History, Travel, Rituals and Recipes to the Magic of Cacao, now in its 2nd Edition. Her newest book, The Boston Chocolate Party, melds themes of Jews in the chocolate trade, the American fight for independence, and Hanukkah’s messages of freedom. On the Chocolate Trail formed the basis for “A Sweet Treat! Chocolate and the Making of American Jews,” an exhibit earlier this year at Central Synagogue in Manhattan. Rabbi Prinz also co-curated “Semi[te] Sweet: On Jews and Chocolate” which was exhibited at the Bernard Museum of Temple Emanuel, and now travels around the world.

Rabbi Prinz has held a number of leadership positions in the national and regional Reform movement, having served the Central Conference of American Rabbis (CCAR) as Director of Program and Member Services and the Director of the Joint Commission on Rabbinic Mentoring, as well as serving almost thirty years in congregational work. 

Kosha Dillz

Beats and Beyond: Diving Into the World of Hip-Hop with Rapper-Jewish Activist Kosha Dillz

Kosha Dillz was born Rami Matan Even-Esh to Israeli Parents. He returned later in life to his craft of hip hop as an artist who was proud to represent who he truly is. Best described as a mix of influences from the Beastie Boys to Matisyahu and Wu Tang Clan, he can be compared to acts like Macklemore, Lil Dicky and Mac Miller with a hint of more culture and realism. His ability to intertwine with reggae and rock acts to hard core rap acts has earned him spots on the legendary Vans Warped Tour as well as his own solo headlining tours across America. He is best known for his uncanny free styling ability and ability to rap in Spanish, Hebrew, English, and even Yiddish. His most recent album What I do all Day and Pickle charted on 6 different Billboard charts in August of 2016. He has toured the world with Matisyahu and performed with the most current acts from Wiz Khalifa , Travis Scott, Lil Dicky, Anderson Paak and more.

Tina Malka

Panelist: Why Do People Hate Jews and Will Antisemitism Ever End?

Tina Malka is the Director of Antisemitism Education, Israel Action and Addressing Antisemitism Program (IAP). She works directly with 32 Hillels regionally on the West Coast and supports them in navigating and responding to anti-Israel activity, antisemitic incidents and BDS as well as proactive Israel education that celebrates Israel in all its uniqueness. Tina co-wrote Hillel International’s “Understanding Antisemitism on Campus” videos and educational curriculum on antisemitism and facilitates the implementation of trainings across the country.

Tina has a BA from UCLA in Political Science and a Master’s in Human Development and Israel Education from George Washington University. She worked for 15 years at the Anti-Defamation League as the Associate Director of the San Diego office and developed and ran Jewish student leadership programs for High School students and taught new recruits at the San Diego Police Academy about hate crimes for ten years.