This July, I will be joining the TBE team to serve as the Director of Young Family Learning and Engagement, shaping the Jewish journeys of our youngest learners and their families. In this position, I will be building relationships with families of all shapes and sizes, seeking to understand their stories and how TBE can better serve as their social, educational, and spiritual home.

My own Jewish journey began in Bethesda, MD, where I grew up constantly singing, surrounded by music, but I kept my Judaism at arm’s length. I attended the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY, where a mentor kindled my Jewishness by asking me to lead High Holiday services in my freshman year. After graduation, I returned to Bethesda to work as an Elementary music teacher, and also sought out opportunities as a cantorial soloist and teacher in the Jewish world.

Vanessa and I met and married in Washington, DC. Destined to be a rabbi, Vanessa shepherded me into a renewed joy for Jewish learning and living, culminating in our year living in Jerusalem where she officiated my bar mitzvah ceremony at age 26. When we moved to New York City, I sought to combine my lifelong musical pursuits with my newfound zeal for Judaism. As Cantorial Fellow at Park Avenue Synagogue for the past four years, I have created joyful, educational, and spiritual experiences with learners of all ages with music, singing, and prayer at their core. Alongside this work, I enrolled in an independent study program to become certified as a cantor, deepening my own personal and professional relationship with Jewish music.

Now my journey takes me to TBE, where I am tremendously excited to bring my passion for education, connection, and music to serve our newborns through third graders and the grownups who love them. We all have our own stories, and I can’t wait to hear yours.