WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

Chaviva Galatz (’11) moved to Denver, where she works for the Colorado Agency for Jewish Education as the social media and website manager. She was named a Top 10 Jewish Influencers on Twitter by NJOP.

Yael Shy (’10) is currently the director of The Center for Spiritual Life at New York University and runs The Spirituality Project, NYU’s first campus-wide mindfulness initiative. She is a certified Jewish Meditation Teacher through the Institute for Jewish Spirituality and, in addition to NYU, leads regular retreats and workshops at Romemu (NYC) and at the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies (Jerusalem).

Zoya Raynes Friedman (’08) was appointed chair of the Council of Young Jewish Presidents, and is among first cohort of the Wexner Heritage Program for Russian-Speaking Jews.

Matt Bar (’11) project, Bible Raps, was hired by the San Diego Federation to train National Council of Synagogue Youth (NCSY) youth directors on how to lead their Hip Hop Midrash workshop.

Naomi Less (’08) has created two original music videos related to holidays — “Shout ’em Out” (an animated song about the Ten Commandments produced by www.g-dcast.com) and “8 Nights” (a Chanukah tour through the Global Jewish Community via the ROI Network).

Zachary Thacher (’08) launched a social media agency: www.thacherinteractive.com. The downtown minyan he helped start, Kol haKfar (www.kolhakfar.org), recently held its first cultural event at the Museum of Jewish Heritage.

Jessica Balaban (’10) is now senior vice president at the Andrea and Charles Bronfman Philanthropies.

Evonne Marzouk (’09) continues to direct Canfei Nesharim, which is running a “Year of Jewish Learning on the Environment” (www.canfeinesharim.org/learning), offering a wealth of resources for synagogues and schools, as well as individual learning on Torah and the environment.

Rabbi Yehuda Sarna (’09) edited the Koren Shabbat Evening Siddur and became an adjunct assistant professor at NYU’s Wagner School for Public Service. He was mentioned by Former President Bill Clinton on “The View” for interfaith work with the imam at NYU.

Daniel Sieradski (’08) spent the fall of 2011 mobilizing Jewish participation in Occupy Wall Street under the umbrella of Occupy Judaism, most notably coordinating High Holiday services for hundreds of Jewish activists and erecting the first structure that went up in Zuccotti Park: A sukkah. He recently moved to Syracuse, NY, where he is working on a book about “Occupying Judaism” and doing freelance digital strategy consulting.

Susanne Goldstone Rosenhouse (’10) moved to Dallas, where she continues to work as the social media coordinator for the National Jewish Outreach Program (NJOP) which is based in New York. She and her husband, Evan, welcomed a daughter, Rebecca Noa, in February.

Dani Klein (’08) is currently the senior director of social media at American Express Vacations. He also runs YeahThatsKosher.com, the No. 1 site for Jewish & Kosher travel and restaurant information.

Elana Stein Hain (’09) welcomed the birth of a son, Azzan, in April 2011.

Biana Shilshtut (’09) was selected for the first-ever cohort of the Wexner Heritage Program for Russian-Speaking Jews. She is the co-founder of MyRussianDeal.com, the first and only daily deal site (like Groupon) for the Russian-Jewish community in the United States.

Bram Weber (’09) completed a two-year term as chairman of the Council of Young Jewish Presidents earlier this year. In 2011, he was awarded the inaugural Larry A. Silverstein Real Estate Executives Award by UJA-Federation of NY.

JT Waldman (’10) recently completed a second graphic novel — a collaboration with the late Harvey Pekar. The book is titled, “Not The Israel My Parents Promised Me,” and will be published by Hill & Wang in July 2012.

Rachel Neima Chasky (’10) graduated NYU’s Wagner/ Skirball dual master’s program in May 2011. She is now leading the effort at Changing Our World to build the firm’s Jewish philanthropic consulting business. Over the past two years, she participated in a triathlon, finished her first half-marathon, and discovered yoga during a summer in Tel Aviv.

Ari Teman (’08) launched the “12gurus: Health” conference featuring innovators in health delivery and technology.

Rabbi Yael Buechler (’10) launched a website for Midrash Manicures, featuring manicure designs for the weekly Torah portion and holiday. She will become the rabbi in residence at Solomon Schechter School of Westchester’s Lower School this summer.

Eric Schorr (’11) recently graduated from Columbia University and JTS. He was awarded the Campus Leadership Award by the Anti-Defamation League in New York. He was also honored as “Campus Activist of the Year” by AIPAC at its annual Policy Conference.

Rabbi Joshua Strom (’11) was incredibly humbled and honored to offer the closing benediction at the Port Authority’s Memorial Service on the 10th anniversary of 9/11.

Sheva Tauby (’12) has opened two additional branches of iVolunteer: one in Sunny Isles, Fla., and the other in Toronto.

Jordan Rosenberg (’08) founded www.MyAgingFolks.com, a network that connects families with caregivers and senior-care professionals like geriatric care managers, elder law attorneys, social sorkers, and geriatricians.

Rabbi Elie Kaunfer (’08) served last year as scholar-in-residence at the Jewish Federation of North America’s General Assembly in Denver. Mechon Hadar, which he continues to serve as executive director, continues to grow, launching a summer Pre-Collegiate Program and accredited classes.

Rabbi Jill Jacobs (’08) completed her first year as executive director of Rabbis for Human Rights-North America.

Adam Gaynor (’08) is a consultant with The Whelan Group, a firm that provides planning, advisory and capacity building services to non-profit organizations and foundations. His portfolio includes projects with Jewish educational organizations.

Gilah Kletenik (’10) was a recipient of The Covenant Foundation’s inaugural Pomegranate Prize for emerging Jewish educators in 2011.

Leah Larson Caras (’11) gave birth to a baby girl, Chaya, a month ago. YALDAH magazine is expanding from a quarterly magazine to a monthly magazine.

Ronit Avni (’08) and Just Vision recently released a new short documentary film titled “My Neighbourhood,” which had its world premiere at the 2012 Tribeca Film Festival.

Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg (’10) will serve as campus rabbi at Northwestern University Hillel this summer. She recently gave birth to a second son, Shir.

Elke Reva Sudin (’11) exhibited at the Madden Museum in Colorado, the Mandell JCC gallery in Connecticut, and the Greenstein Gallery in Long Island, among others.

Ben Hyman (’08) is working on a benefit concert involving 15 musicians ages 10-17 to raise money to provide the children at Bet Elazraki with a music therapy program. The concert will take place on June 19 at Beth Sholom Synagogue in Teaneck, N.J.

Leslie Ginsparg Klein (’09) has expanded Girls’ Night On! to Baltimore, Maryland, where she is currently living. She also teaches Jewish history and Jewish studies at the Beth Tfiloh Dahan Community High School.

Simcha Gross (’10) just completed the first year of Ph.D. studies in the department of religion at Yale University, focusing on Ancient Judaism. He was also awarded a Wexner Fellowship.

Elisabeth Samson (’09) is a visiting fellow at the Hudson Institute. Her latest article will be published this spring by the Cardozo Journal of International and Comparative Law; it is entitled “The Burden to Prove Libel: A Comparative Analysis of Traditional English and U.S. Defamation Laws and the Dawn of England’s Modern Day.”

Jennie Rosenfeld (’08) co-authored “Et Le’ehov: The Newlywed’s Guide to Physical Intimacy” with David S. Ribner (Gefen Publishing, 2011)