Faculty 2008-09
Heidi Aycock is a long time 7th grade teacher at Judea Reform Religious School. She has also served in various capacities on the Board of Trustees of Judea Reform and is a Midrasha parent.
Rabbi Leah R. Berkowitz is the Assistant Rabbi at Judea Reform Congregation in Durham. She grew up in Broomall, PA, and earned her B.A. in Near Eastern and Judaic Studies and Journalism from Brandeis University. She was ordained in 2008 at Hebrew Union College - Jewish Institute of Religion, where she also earned masters' degrees in Hebrew Literature and Religious Education. During her studies at HUC-JIR, Rabbi Berkowitz served as a rabbinic intern at hospitals and Hillels, camps and congregations throughout the Northeast. She has had stories and essays published in God: Jewish Choices in Struggling with the Ultimate , Jewish Women’s Literary Annual , and Spirituality 101: The Indispensible Guide to Keeping- or Finding- Your Spiritual Life on Campus, and also contributed to the creation of The Torah: A Women’s Commentary. Rabbi Berkowitz is excited to be a part of the Midrasha team and the Jewish community in the Triangle. It is her goal as a Jewish professional to empower the members of this community to lead their best Jewish lives.
David Bernay recently moved to Durham after spending two years in Israel, where he completed an MA in Jewish History at Hebrew University. Originally from Upstate NY, David received an undergraduate degree in German from Middlebury College in Vermont. David is looking forward to connecting with the Jewish community in NC, and as an avid musician and concert-goer, he hopes to explore new musical offerings in the triangle area!
Rabbi Zalman and Yehudis Bluming - Rabbi Zalman is the Rabbi and Director of the Chabad of Durham/Chapel Hill. He grew up in Atlanta and enjoyed a diverse educational background studying in Manchester Eng.& Melbourne, Australia, Jerusalem, Israel & The Far East .His classes have been among the most popular classes in his 5 years thus far teaching at the Midrasha.
Yehudis is the co-director of the Chabad of Durham/Chapel Hill and has traveled around the country running various Chabad youth and teen programs. She's been a counselor, head counselor and the director for Jewish camps for teenagers and has been the teen program coordinator for a high school of 600 teens. She then ran a young adult-teen program for a year in Melbourne Australia.
They spend their summers leading Birthright Israel trips for college students.
Matt Diamond is the Director of the Community Midrasha. He recently helped found the North American Association of Community Hebrew High Schools - a network of 70 schools serving over 11,000 Jewish teens, and served on the Mazkirut and Programming Vaad for the CAJE 31 Jewish education conference.
Matt lived in Israel for 8 years where he worked for USY and NFTY, went to Hebrew U for grad school in political science, and served in the IDF. He has taught "Israeli Politics" at Duke and has published several academic articles about Israel, the Middle East, and Jewish law.
Rabbi John Friedman is the Rabbi of Judea Reform Congregation. He has been teaching the Midrasha 10th graders for many years with his very popular course "Introduction to Plurality and Diversity within the Community at Large
He was born in Kansas City and studied at the Hebrew Union College - Jewish Institute of Religion in Jerusalem and Cincinnati where he was ordained in 1976. He has received the Martin Luther King Jr. Keeper of the Dream Award, the Durham Better Human Relations Award and the Elna Spaulding Medal for Social Justice awards for his work in our community. In 1994, Rabbi Friedman was a Charles Merrill Fellow at Harvard University, and he was recently awarded an honorary doctorate from the Hebrew Union College. Rabbi Friedman has served as president of Durham Congregations in Action and the Mid-Atlantic Association of Reform Rabbis, and has been a popular speaker for many civic and religious groups. He has also served as chair of the Interreligious Affairs Committee of the Central Conference of American Rabbis. Rabbi Friedman has written articles that have been published in "The Journal of Reform Judaism," "Brotherhood Magazine," "Judaism," "Compass" and others.
Rabbi Michael Goldman is the Rabbi for the Freeman Center for Jewish Life. Michael graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Russian from Reed College and his Master’s Degree in Russian from Columbia University. Recently, he received his Rabbinical Ordination and his Master’s in Jewish Philosophy from the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York City. While pursuing ordination, Michael served as the Jewish Chaplain at Terence Cardinal Cooke Health Care Center in New York City, and as a congregational rabbi in Beacon, New York.
Itzik Lebovich has taught Israeli dancing in the Triangle for many years. His students have performed at the International Festival at Dorton Arena and at the Triangle-wide Yom Haatzmaut celebration.
Rabbi Steve Sager is the Rabbi of Beth El Congregation. He is a graduate of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College. He earned a Ph.D. in Jewish Studies from Duke University in 1989.
In addition to his duties as Rabbi of Beth El Synagogue, Rabbi Sager serves as a lecturer on the faculty of the Duke Divinity School.
Rabbi Sager has taught many classes including a Sunday evening text-study class for Midrasha students for many years.
Ariel Krusch graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a B.A. in International Studies and a double minor in Hebrew and Jewish Studies. During her time at UNC, Ariel founded Sigma Rho Lambda, Carolina 's first Jewish sorority. Ariel grew up in Raleigh and has always been active in the Jewish communities in the Triangle area. Ariel is returning for her second year at Midrasha. She is currently teaching at the Lerner School.
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Carly Shubitz is moved here from upstate NY in November 2005 after graduating from S.U.N.Y. Oneonta and is a now a teacher at the Lerner School and was a counselor at the JCC Camp. A trip to Poland and Israel with the March of the Living in 2000 gave Carly a new outlook on herself as a young Jewish woman of the 21st century. She had a great time teaching at Midrasha last year and looks forward to another fantastic year.
Judith Roth is a newcomer to Durham. Judith has an MS in Library Science, an MSW, and is working towards a Masters in Judaic Studies from the Siegel College of Jewish Studies. She taught high schoolers for over 8 years at several Reform synagogues outside Cleveland and in Reston, VA. She is married with a 20-year old daughter. She has two dogs, a golden retriever and a scrappy chihuahua. She is looking forward to teaching in a new Jewish environment and making new friends!
Dr. Margarita Suarez is Assistant Professor in the Department of Religion and Philosophy at Meredith College in Raleigh. Her area of concentration is Theology and Culture, specializing in Global Liberation Theologies. The Rev. Dr. Suarez teaches courses in global liberation theologies, women in Christianity, and courses in religion and culture. This is her third year working with Rabbi Friedman on the course for the 10th grade students at Midrasha.