ALEPH: Alliance for Jewish Renewal welcomes Hazzan Stephanie Weishaar as our new Board Chair.

“I’m honored by this opportunity to bring my skills and training to the organization that has fueled my reconnection with Judaism and continues to inspire me. With so many brilliant teachers, musicians, and ritual artists in Jewish Renewal, ALEPH is the best kept secret in Judaism. It is time to bring this joyful Judaism to the wider world.” says Hazzan Stephanie.

Since 2014, Hazzan Stephanie has served as the Spiritual Leader of Kol Nefesh congregation in Columbia, Maryland. Prior to her work as a Jewish professional, she earned a degree in international relations and spent many years in nonprofit development in Ukraine, Russia, and the US. Stephanie’s volunteer work has centered around interfaith collaboration, education, and the arts. After raising two wonderful children, she followed her dream to study in seminary and was ordained by ALEPH in 2021. She joined the ALEPH Board of Directors in December 2022. Stephanie lives on a farm in Maryland with her husband and their two dogs.

ALEPH’s new Board leadership heralds a significant period of capacity building over the next few years. As part of our participation in PRESIDE, a highly selective leadership and governance program now in its fourth cohort, ALEPH has the opportunity to raise matching funds that will help propel the organization forward. The matching funds are available as part of a challenge grant from a well-respected national foundation. The funds will be used over the next three years to increase our impact on the Jewish community with several new initiatives central to our mission that we will share later in the fall. In addition, our participation in PRESIDE will have a positive impact on our professional leadership with ongoing training in governance infused with Jewish values.

All new initiatives will be aligned with ALEPH’s current strategic plan which focuses on the following priorities: (1) Emphasizing spiritual development and embracing a culture of experimentation and learning; (2) Establishing financial sustainability; (3) Expanding Renewal’s connective tissue; (4) Establishing pathways for new leadership and teachers; and (4) Ensuring the legacy of Reb Zalman and the teachings of other Jewish Renewal founders.

ALEPH would like to honor and thank departing Board member Douglas Chermak, who completed six years (two terms) of service. Rabbi Jeremy Parnes, who served as Board Chair this past year, has moved into the Vice Chair position. 

ALEPH: Alliance for Jewish Renewal envisions a spiritual renewal of Judaism that is joyous, love- and justice-centered, earth-aware, and rooted in the legacy of our tradition. We serve as a leading edge of consciousness, culture, spiritual innovation, and social action to heal ourselves and our world.

ALEPH’s mission is to educate, train and ordain leaders, build communities of spiritual practice, and co-create transformational experiences that build a global movement to reveal God’s presence in the daily lives of all humanity. ALEPH’s Ordination Program (AOP) has trained and ordained more than 200 clergy over the past 20 years and is currently one of the largest progressive seminaries in the world.