Staff

Stephanie’s background in event planning and management spans conferences, galas, fundraising events, and so much more. Prior to ALEPH, Stephanie worked as an Event Support Specialist with the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, organizing and overseeing fundraisers to raise funds to find a cure for cystic fibrosis. Stephanie is also incredibly passionate about securing equitable educational opportunities for all, having spent time working with Repair the World, an organization which seeks to engage young Jews and their peers around volunteering in the areas of education and food justice. When not busy working, Stephanie can be found spending time with her loving husband, Aaron, and their rescue dog, Katonah.

Kohenet Keshira haLev Fife (she/they) sprinkles sparkles, disrupts expectations, and offers blessings wherever she goes. She serves as Oreget Kehilah (Executive Director) of the Kohenet Hebrew Priestess Institute, founder/co-leader of Kesher Pittsburgh, Program Director of the ALEPH Kesher Fellowship, Lead Facilitator for Keshet’s GLBTQ+ Jewish Youth of Colour programming, and member of the leadership team of the JOC Mishpachah Project. Additionally, she delights in serving as a shlichat tzibbur, life spiral ceremony/ritual creatrix, liturgist, songstress, teacher, and public speaker. Her work in these realms is informed by her lived experience as a queer Jewish Woman of Colour and the quandaries she encounters as a scholar of the Orphan Wisdom School. Keshira received Kohenet smicha in 2017 and earned her BS 2000 and MS 2001 at Carnegie Mellon University. Dual-citizens of the USA and Australia and avid travelers, she and her beloved are currently leaning into stillness and sheltering-in-peace on Osage and Haudenosaunee land also called Pittsburgh, PA.

Shelby brings varied backgrounds in corporate law, restorative practices, mediation and non-profit leadership to the position of Operations Manager for the Aleph Ordination Program. During her three decades of legal practice, Shelby also worked as a community mediator for the Good Shephard Mediation Center and as an Executive Committee member of Artwell, a non-profit focused on violence prevention and healing through the arts. She later transitioned professionally to promoting educational access, working as a college advisor at Martin Luther King High School and as an academic advisor at Temple University, both in Philadelphia Pennsylvania. She holds a J.D. from Georgetown University, an M.S. in Restorative Practices from the International Institute for Restorative Practices and a B.A. from Wesleyan University. Throughout her career, Shelby has had the great fortune to learn with exceptional Jewish teachers, many of whom grew out of the Renewal movement.

Rabbi Marcia Prager, MFA, MHL, D.Min.h.c., is the founding Dean of the ALEPH Ordination Program. She serves as Director of the AOP Rabbinic Program where she also teaches Jewish spiritual practice and the Jewish Lifecycle Training sequence of courses and practica. She co-directs and teaches in the prize-winning Davvenen’ Leadership Training Institute, and serves as rabbi of the P’nai Or Jewish Renewal Congregation of Philadelphia, PA. She is a graduate of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College and also received personal smicha from Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi z”l. She is the author of The Path of Blessing, a contemporary hasidic text exploring the Jewish practice of blessing, published by Bell Tower and later by Jewish Lights, and has created the P’nai Or Siddurim for Shabbat and other innovative compilations of prayer and liturgy. In 2010, she was selected by the Jewish Daily Forward as one of the Top Fifty American Female Rabbis.

Jake (Ya’akov) Sapon is fascinated by how we can build a Judaism that is both deeply rooted in Jewish wisdom and relevant to the most pressing issues of our own time. In particular, he is interested in how ancient Jewish texts can illuminate problems like climate change and environmental degradation: how Jewish wisdom can shift our contemporary paradigm from independence and isolation to interdependence and connection. Studying music, mindfulness, and religious studies at Brown University, Jake’s professional background is in experiential education, holistic wellness, communication, and community building. Born and based in Philadelphia, PA, Jake loves soulful davenen, exploring nature, and meeting new cats.

Lynda believes that one of the greatest blessings in life is to love what you do, and for her it’s accounting – the precision of her work and the knowledge that it’s making a difference makes her happy. After beginning college expecting to become an engineer, she spent many years in different industries as a full charge bookkeeper, freelance bookkeeper, CFO and business manager before finding her home in the non-profit finance world working with a variety of different religious, educational, historical and arts organizations. She has helped to build several businesses from the ground up, including being an integral part of setting up systems and technology. Her goal is always to ensure that all accounts reconcile and all accounting is compliant with the letter of the law. Of course, the greatest gifts she’s been given are her two children, who are an accountant and an engineer! When she’s not engrossed in spreadsheets and accounting software, you’ll find her running trails, hiking up tall mountains, or riding her motorcycle into the sunset.