Klei Kodesh

• Rabbi Michael Stein

  Assistant Rabbi

  [O]718-548-1850 ext118

  [C] 201-575-5691

  Email: mmstein@yu.edu

• Ms. Bracha Rutner

  Yoetzet Halacha

  Email: bracharutner@peoplepc.com

  Bracha Rutner earned her Bachelor’s degree in Judaic Studies from Stern College. She spent three years learning at Midreshet Lindenbaum’s Bruria Scholar program and is completing a Masters Degree in Talmud from Hebrew University. She is a distinguished graduate of the Yoetzet Halacha Program of Nishmat, the Women’s Torah institution in Jerusalem founded by Rabbanit Chana Henkin. She currently works as the Yoetzet Halacha in the Riverdale Jewish Center and teaches Talmud and Halacha at the Yeshiva of Flatbush. Nishmat’s Yoatzot Halacha Program is the most advanced halachik program available to women. Graduates are rabbinically certified as Yoatzot Halacha (women halachik advisers). Upon completion of the two-year course of study, fellows pass a rigorous oral examination before a panel of four rabbinic experts—deans of well-known rabbinical institutions and recognized Poskim— before receiving certification as Yoatzot Halacha. Graduates of the program combine an exceptionally high level of scholarship with related medical knowledge, and an expertise gained in the practical application of halacha. A Yoetzet thus is available for consultation on a wide variety of topics.

• Dr. Jonathan I. Rosenblatt

  

  Senior Rabbi

  [O]718-548-1850 x115

  Email: jir@rjconline.org

  Rabbi Rosenblatt has been the Senior Rabbi of the Riverdale Jewish Center since 1985. A nativeof Baltimore, Rabbi Rosenblatt holds a BA and an MA from the Johns Hopkins University in Comparative Literature and a PhD from Columbia University in the field of Modern British Literature.Rabbi Rosenblatt studied in Israel at Yeshivat Har Etzion and was ordained by the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary of Yeshiva University in 1982. Before coming to Riverdale, he served communities in Seagate, Brooklyn and Teaneck, New Jersey.Rabbi Rosenblatt has been active in a wide range of communal and charitable causes with a special interest in the needs of children. He is an alumnus of the UJA-Federation National Young Leadership Cabinet – the first Orthodox Rabbi toserve on it. He directs Spiritual Care at the newly opened Jack and Mollie Zicklin Jewish Hospice in Riverdale. He has lectured widely in the United States, the United Kingdom, South Africa, and Israel. Rabbi Rosenblatt has a special interest in the training and mentoring of young Rabbis. He is an instructor in the RIETS Rabbinic training program as well as in programs in Israel that train Rabbis for the Diaspora. Under his guidance, the RJC has become a major training center of Rabbinic interns. He is an avid squash player with a keen interest in herpetology and zoos. He and his wife, Tzipporah Twersky Rosenblatt, a trusts and estates attorney, have four children,

• Mr. Shimon Craimer

  

  Chazzan

  [C]

  Email: shimcraimer@gmail.com

  Chazzan Shim comes to us from London, England where he studied classical cantorial style with the Chief Rabbi.  He first came to the attention of the Riverdale Jewish Center as a Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur guest cantor.  Now, as the cantor of the RJC, Shim travels the country performing at various shuls, chagigahs, simchas, concerts and events.

  He has released 2 albums, the most recent of which earned him plaudits from the Jewish music world.

  Shim is married and has 4 kids, all of whom have 3 letter names.