Rabbi Yehuda Sarna serves as Executive Director of the Bronfman Center at New York University, where he is also University Chaplain. He co-directs the Dual Degree Program (MPA-MA in Hebrew and Judaic Studies) and is an Adjunct Associate Professor of Public Service at the Robert F. Wagner School for Public Service. Rabbi Sarna is also Chief Rabbi of the Moses Ben Maimon Synagogue at the Abrahamic Family House in Abu Dhabi. Rabbi Sarna was one of the principal subjects of Chelsea Clinton’s 2014 documentary, Of Many, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival and aired nationally on ABC in 2017. The documentary is utilized nationwide as a teaching tool for universities and high schools that seek to establish norms of religious and spiritual diversity within their institutions. The Of Many Institute designed an award-winning training module, “Faith Zone,” to train university students, staff and administrators in religious literacy. In 2016, Rabbi Sarna was appointed to the Muslim Jewish Advisory Council, a project of the American Jewish Committee and the Islamic Society of North America, which successfully lobbied for tougher legislation to address the underreporting of hate crimes. Rabbi Sarna has led or participated in numerous research groups, including Mapping Jewish Chaplaincy Strategic Planning Group (Brandeis University), The Warm Peace Institute (New York University), Countering Violent Extremism Through Arts and Culture (UAE Ministry of Culture and Knowledge Development), The Orthodox Forum Steering Committee (Yeshiva University), The Applied Research Collective for American Jewry (New York University) and the Community Relations Working Group (UJA Federation of New York). In 2007, he founded the Jewish Learning Fellowship, a ten-week course in Jewish thought for college students, which now enrolls thousands of students through local Hillels on hundreds of university campuses. Rabbi Sarna is a member of the Council of European Rabbis, the Rabbinical Council of America, and the International Rabbinic Fellowship. He spearheaded the campaign to build an Eruv in Lower Manhattan and founded the Downtown Va’ad. He is the editor of The Koren Shabbat Evening Siddur (2011) and the Orthodox Forum Series: Toward a Jewish Perspective on Culture (2013). Rabbi Sarna is married to Dr. Michelle Waldman Sarna, a psychologist, and they have six children.

It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more.Sarah Cohen works at the nexus of politics and religion, serving as Managing Director of the Institute at the Bronfman Center, New York University’s premier Jewish research center. Previously, she was Chief of Staff to Rabbi Yehuda Sarna, Chief Rabbi of the Moses Ben Maimon Synagogue of the UAE-based Abrahamic Family House and Executive Director of the Bronfman Center. She is the Editor of Warm Peace: How People-to-People Diplomacy Can Build What Governments Cannot (2021), a collection of research articles that offers a blueprint for building connections between Israelis and Emiratis, arguing that people-to-people relations are the key to ensuring the long-term success and sustainability of the Abraham Accords. Previously, Sarah was Chief Speechwriter for Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, and later Speechwriter for New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo. Sarah has written extensively on topics including Middle East politics, counterterrorism, economic development, gender equality, COVID-19, disarmament and innovation. Sarah consulted to Open Hands Initiative on its Fellowship for Young Women Entrepreneurs, a startup training program and a cultural exchange for American and Jordanian female founders, endorsed by the Jordanian royal family. After, Sarah worked for Raytheon, conducting extensive research for senior leadership on Middle East political and defense climates. Sarah served on Joe Biden’s and Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaigns and, following the 2016 election, she published an op-ed calling for reconciliation among a divided nation. Sarah graduated magna cum laude from Middlebury College with a B.A. in Religion, concentrating in Islam, and a minor in Arabic. Her undergraduate thesis, receiving high departmental honors, examines the Islamic State in the context of fundamentalism, new religious movements and apocalypticism. As an undergrad, Sarah spent a semester abroad in Amman, Jordan.

Dr. Mijal Bitton is a public intellectual and a spiritual leader. Mijal earned her doctorate from New York University, serves as a Visiting Researcher at NYU Wagner and is directing the first national study of Sephardic Jews in the United States. She is the Rosh Kehilla, Spiritual leader, of the Downtown Minyan community in lower Manhattan. Mijal is an alumna of the Wexner Graduate Fellowship and was featured in the New York Jewish Week’s “36 under 36” in 2018 as a “public intellectual” with ‘public values.” Her work has in public and academic outlets and she recently served as the guest editor of a special issue of the Journal of Jewish Education focused on Race, Ethnicity and Immigration. Mijal is a fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute of North America, a Sacks Scholar, a Maimonides Fund fellow and a New Pluralist Field Builder.

Dr. Nir Tsuk is a seasoned practitioner, academic and facilitator with over 25 years of international experience in the fields of social capital, entrepreneurship and culture of innovation. Serving as a Visiting Professor of Entrepreneurship at University of Osaka, and New York University’s Global Distinguished Scholar, Nir is the founder NYU’s Institute for Impact and Intrapreneurship. Prior to this, Nir served as the head of growth at Idealist.org – the world’s largest social online talent acquisition platform, and brought Ashoka – the world’s largest social entrepreneurship organization – to Israel, after serving as an Ashoka’s Global Fellowship Director in Washington DC, connecting more than 3000 social entrepreneurs in 72 countries. Nir holds a PhD from Cambridge University in social and political sciences – where he wrote his dissertation on social networks, social capital and intentional communities.

Gabriel Slamovits is the Resident Scholar and co-founder of the Downtown Minyan. An attorney and communal leader, Gabe promotes a Judaism that is relevant, diverse, halakhic, and engaged with the world. He works to make The Downtown Minyan a warm and vibrant community of millennials that embodies these ideals. Gabe serves as gabbai and frequent hazzan (cantor) for the minyan, contributing his love for and knowledge of the intricacies of Jewish liturgy to help create an inspiring and uplifting prayer environment. Gabe enjoys teaching at the Minyan and is invested in exploring the intellectual Jewish tradition to help apply Jewish ideas to our increasingly complex world. Gabe is a graduate of NYU Law, where he was a Casebook Research & Writing Editor of the Moot Court Board and President of the Jewish Law Students Association. Prior to law school, Gabe attended medical school at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. As an undergraduate, he served as President of Hillel at NYU and Vice Chair of Jewish life for NYU AEPi.

Sophie Gray serves as Communications and Research Associate at the Institute at the Bronfman Center. She worked previously as a speechwriter for Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations, primarily focused on issues of international security and foreign affairs. In addition to drafting speeches for the ambassador, Sophie also helped edit English language communications including diplomatic letters, press releases, and social media posts and developed profiles in advance of meetings between the ambassador and international leaders. Prior to her time at the Permanent Mission of Israel to the UN, Sophie taught fifth grade English Language Arts at Success Academy Midtown West Middle School. She helped to incorporate initiatives to increase reading retention and monitor academic progress. At the end of the school year, Sophie was awarded the 2022 ETHOS Teachers Excellence Award for Success Academy.  Sophie graduated with honors from the University of Michigan with a B.A. in Political Science and a minor in History. During her undergraduate experience, Sophie worked on the Legislative Team for Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer, performing constituent service work assisting individuals and small businesses in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. Sophie also worked as an Administrative Assistant for NYU’s Institute of Judicial Administration & Center for Labor and Employment Law. Sophie spent a semester abroad in Florence, Italy studying politics and government.  Sophie is committed to service work, specifically volunteering for the Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center.

Sarah Brill is the Graduate Associate at the Institute where she works under Rabbi Yehuda Sarna and Sarah Cohen. She is currently a second year Master of Arts degree candidate in the department of Media, Culture, and Communication at the Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development. In the university, Sarah serves as NYU’s first Jewish Graduate Student President, where she aims to foster a cohesive and collaborative atmosphere amongst like-minded graduate students. To date, Sarah has done course research on photographic interiors concerning the Jewish population of India; a community which she is proudly a part of. This pride was showcased in The Forward where her op-ed article detailing her multi-cultural family is depicted. In the wider scope of NYU, Sarah is the President of NYU Steinhardt’s Graduate Student Organization, acting and overseeing all graduate student life on campus whilst liaising with the overarching student government (SGA). To gain relevant experience in the marketing and communications world, Sarah took an internship at NBC Universal during the summer of 2023, where she participated in a rotational program in the CNBC Events department. Sarah has also worked for the Jewish Graduate Student Initiative as their Media Relations Manager (current), the Tribeca Festival as a Technical Liaison (Summer 2022 and Summer 2023), and the Major League Baseball Network as a Content Associate (2022). Prior to NYU, Sarah received her Bachelor of Arts in Biology and Associate of Arts in Jewish Studies from Yeshiva University and graduated with Dean’s honors. Aside from her academic and work experiences, Sarah has volunteered at NYU’s Hassenfeld Children’s Hospital and the Rubin Museum of Art. In her free time, Sarah is a creator on TikTok. On her page, she analyzes movies and tv and advocates for minority groups using film as a medium to do so. Sarah is passionate about her community, education, and looks forward to continuing her work at the Institute.