Meet the Fellows

Fellowship for Rabbinic Innovation, Cohort 2

Aaron Levy

Pronouns: he/him

Rabbi Aaron Levy is a leader in the revival of downtown Jewish life in Toronto. He is the founder and spiritual leader of Makom: Creative Downtown Judaism (makomTO.org), a diverse and inclusive community fusing Jewish tradition and progressive values through spirituality, learning, and culture since 2009.

As a descendant of both Sephardic and Ashkenazic immigrants to Turtle Island or North America, Rabbi Aaron personally embodies Jewish multiculturalism and he warmly welcomes diverse Jews and non-Jews to explore their own paths in Jewish life and community. It is in this spirit that he is launching Downtown Jewish Teens to foster peer community, meaningful experiences, and leadership skills among Jewish high school students in downtown Toronto.

Ordained in 2004 in the first graduating class of Yeshivat Chovevei Torah Rabbinical School, Rabbi Aaron is also a drummer, cyclist, hiker, and downtown Toronto enthusiast, where he lives with his partner and two sons.

Abe Friedman

Pronouns: he/him

Rabbi Abe Friedman found his love of Jewish community as a camper, counselor, and Rosh Edah (Division Head) at Camp Ramah in Palmer, Massachusetts. His rabbinic work focuses on community engagement, Jewish learning, and spiritual counseling. He expresses his love of music through electric guitar, piano and the occasional DJ set. He is also the founder of Peddler Effects, designing and building boutique guitar effect pedals.

Originally from Atlanta, Abe lived in Israel for a year as part of USY’s Nativ Leadership Program before attending Boston University. He received his rabbinic ordination from the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies at Los Angeles’ American Jewish University, where he also earned an MBA in Nonprofit Management. He currently lives in Philadelphia with his partner, Rebecca Krasner, and their four children: Odelia, Azzi, Yonah, and Miri. Abe has served as Temple Beth Zion-Beth Israel’s Senior Rabbi since 2015.

Dahlia Bernstein

Pronouns: she/her

Rabbi Dahlia Bernstein is a spiritual leader breaking boundaries and helping others do the same. Dahlia is on a mission to help people reach beyond their limits while also creating more productive and healthy communities. Dahlia’s deep commitment to Jewish education and Yiddishkeit led her to pursue a serious course of Judaic studies in the Joint Program between the Jewish Theological Seminary and Columbia University, earning two bachelor’s degrees in Talmud/Rabbinics and Anthropology. Dahlia completed rabbinic ordination at the Jewish Theological Seminary, where she also pursued a master’s degree in Jewish education.

Dahlia served as the head rabbi of Congregation Beth Ohr, in Bellmore NY for 9 years. After training with the Institute for Professional Excellence in Coaching, Dahlia simultaneously served her congregation and created her own coaching practice to strengthen other Jewish professionals. Dahlia aims to magnetize creativity, abundance, and wisdom in the world, one person at a time and is excited to build Jewish community in Edgewater, NJ where she and her husband, Martín Yafé live with their adorable 15 pound cockerspaniel/cavalier, Vashti.

Heather Miller

Pronouns: she/her

Rabbi Heather Miller founded Keeping It Sacred (KITS), a growing community of people exploring questions of meaning, with dedicated members on six continents. Like her grandma Fruma “Kit” Endler z"l, for whom the KITS community is named, Rabbi Miller exudes a love of bold, joyful, accessible, relevant and empowering Jewish learning. She wrote RE(SOUL)UTIONS: A Practical Guide to Self-Repair, to deepen the introspective days of Elul, and has authored several entries in other publications including Mishkan Ga’avah: A Celebration of LGBTQ Jewish Life and Rituals.

Rabbi Miller hails from an interfaith family with clergy on both sides, and has been recognized for her commitment to social justice as the recipient of the Liberty Hill Foundation Leader to Watch Award (2013), and the CLUE Giant of Justice Award (2018). She was ordained by Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, and is a proud board member of the Women’s Rabbinic Network.

Scott Perlo

Pronouns: he/him

Rabbi Scott Perlo is a leader in the field of Jewish open outreach. He’s taught Torah to thousands of unaffiliated Jews, their partners and those interested in Jewish life of any background. For the last ten years, Scott has worked primarily with Millennials, addressing the specific needs of the next generation of Jewish life. Rabbi Perlo was ordained by the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies in 2008, and is pursuing a doctorate in Jewish Thought. He is a veteran of multiple cutting-edge Jewish communities, having served as a rabbi at the 92nd St. Y Sixth & I Historic Synagogue, rabbi-in-residence at Moishe House and The Professional Leaders Project, and intern at IKAR in Los Angeles. Scott leads trips for Honeymoon Israel, was a founding member of the Jewish Emergent Network and a Wexner Field Fellow. A regular writer, Rabbi Perlo has been published in The Washington Post, The Forward and The Huffington Post, among other publications. A California native, he gets back to his beloved Pacific Ocean to surf and to dive whenever he can. He lives in New York with his partner, Yael, a Constitutional Lawyer, and two sons.

Yonah Berman

Pronouns: he/him

Rabbi Yonah Berman grew up in the United States and Israel. He attended Yeshiva University and served in the IDF prior to receiving Semicha from YCT. Following eight years of rabbinic work in Montreal and Boston, Rav Yonah joined the administration of YCT in 2015, where he serves as Dean of Rabbinic Initiatives. He oversees alumni engagement initiatives and teaches professional rabbinics. In 2019, he took a central role in the founding and building of Rikmah: The YCT Beit Midrash for Rabbinic Leadership in Israel. He plans to use his CRI training to expand Rikmah by broadening and deepening its connections with its stakeholders in Israel, North America and beyond. Rav Yonah and his family are active members of the Riverdale, NY Jewish community where they reside.