Rabbinic Advisory Council

Annie Prusky — Rabbinical Student Intern 2025-26

Annie is an educator, storyteller, community builder, and rabbinical student at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College. For the past five years, Anne has also served as a full- and part-time educator including at OneTable, Hillel, Abrahamic House, the Center for Small Town Jewish Life, and various synagogues, working with people of all ages to inspire a love of tradition and ritual made modern. Annie grew up in Philadelphia and received her A.B. in Sociocultural Linguistics from Brown University. Outside of work, you can find her color-coding spreadsheets, planning her next trip, and dancing to musical theatre soundtracks. Annie lives with her husband, Dayton, their son Zev, and their cats, Schlimazel and Thibodeaux.

Rabbi David Lazar

Rabbi Lazar lives with his wife Sascha in Palm Springs, California, where he serves as spiritual leader of Or Hamidbar. Having lived most of his life in Israel, he studied and fulfilled his army obligations at Yeshivat Kerem B’Yavneh, his BA in Bible Studies is from the Hebrew University and rabbinic ordination and MA in Jewish Studies (1993) are from the Schechter Institute. Rabbi Lazar was a Jerusalem Fellow at the Mandel School for Educational Leadership; a founder of Moshav Gan Or in the Gaza Strip; and served congregations Mevakshei Derech and Ya’ar Ramot in Jerusalem and Tiferet Shalom in Tel Aviv. He has been active in many non-profit organizations such as the Israel AIDS Task Force, the Jerusalem Open House and the Rabbinical Assembly. From 2010 to 2013, Lazar was the rabbi of the Jewish Community of Stockholm, Sweden and has been active in LGBTQ advocacy and interfaith dialogue throughout his career.

Rabbi Michal Loving

Rabbi Loving received her rabbinical ordination from the Reform Jewish seminary, Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion. She is the recipient of numerous education awards and is currently faculty for the Union for Reform Judaism’s Introduction to Judaism program. When not reading, writing, or watching Star Trek, you’ll find her baking a cake, playing Minecraft, or tripping over the LEGO pieces of her three young sons. She resides in Southern California.

Rabbi Stephen Roberts

Rabbi Roberts is one of the world’s leading professional multi-faith chaplains. He has authored/co-authored the three major textbooks in in the field of multi-faith chaplaincy including: Professional Spiritual and Pastoral Care: A Practical Clergy and Chaplain’s Handbook. Rabbi Roberts was one of the first three openly gay students admitted to Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion in 1990. He knows first hand the power of both inclusion and exclusion based upon arbitrary perceptions of who should and should not be part of the Jewish world. He strongly believes in an inclusive, open, welcoming Jewish world.

Rabbi Lori Shapiro

Rabbi Shapiro founded Open Temple in Venice, CA, with the desire to create an open door for everyone to go on their Jewish Soul Journey. Her transdenominational rabbinate was informed by her studies at the American Jewish University, years studying in Israel within an Orthodox Jewish framework and graduation from the Academy for Jewish Religion/California and the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College. She is a proud Lion of Judah philanthropist and holds membership in the Interfaith Inclusion Leadership Initiative, the Board of Rabbis of Southern California and the Sandra Caplan Beit Din.

Rabbi Elyse Wechterman

Rabbi Wechterman was ordained at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College in 2000 and earned a Certificate in Jewish Leadership from the Spertus Institute in 2016. Most recently, she served as CEO of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association (RRA). During her tenure, the RRA redefined itself as an organization dedicated to supporting rabbis in all the diverse ways they “rabbi.” Raised in Port Jefferson, Long Island, Rabbi Elyse has lived and helped build Jewish communities in Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., Austin, and Attleboro. She now resides in Abington, Pa., with her husband, and is the proud mother of two adult children. Beyond the rabbinate, she is a visual artist, organic gardener, and accomplished vegetarian cook.

Rabbi Dr. Tzemah Yoreh

Rabbi Yoreh, leader of The City Congregation, is one the intellectual leaders of Jewish humanism. His newest book is Why Abraham Murdered Isaac: The First Stories of the Bible Revealed (2021). He has been a student of the Bible since his earliest days, winning the Diaspora Division of the International Bible Contest in childhood. He attended the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where he obtained his Ph.D. in biblical criticism in record time. He earned a second Ph.D. in Ancient Wisdom Literature at the University of Toronto for the joy of studying ancient text.