Julie Emden (she/her), E-RYT-500, Halprin Practitioner, Founder of EJL & EJW Network infuses her work with exploration, spirit and joy. She is passionate about awakening the body as a gateway to deep inner knowing and guides others in somatic explorations of Jewish wisdom teachings as a resource for living in balance and wholeness. A graduate of five fellowship and teaching certification programs related to her work as a Jewish educator, Iyengar-based yoga instructor and movement/expressive artist, Julie has two decades of experience guiding others in exploring Jewish wisdom, text and practices via the body in a variety of settings. Julie offers classes, workshops, on-line learning, retreats, teacher trainings, individual coaching, and strategic consultation and guidance for Jewish Wellness Initiatives throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. To learn more about Julie and her work, visit www.embodiedjewishlearning.org

Kohenet Aliza Rivka (she/her), EJW Advisory Council & Founding Member brings her training as a Board Certified Dance/Movement Therapist and Kohenet Hebrew Priestess to the Embodied Jewish Wisdom Network. Aliza is passionate about the power and value of embodiment in Jewish spaces. She is honored to serve as Director of the Network during a time when embodiment is greatly needed, both in the Jewish world and at large. Aliza holds a BA in Dance from Columbia University and an MS in Dance/Movement Therapy from Sarah Lawrence College. As a dance/movement therapist, she has worked extensively in eldercare contexts, as well as within the Jewish community. For two years, Aliza served as the Program Director at Romemu, NYC’s largest Jewish Renewal community. Aliza currently lives in Costa Rica, where she hosts embodiment retreats and events. Learn more at www.alizarivka.com.

Barbara Sinton Wilson (she/her), Board Chair

Barbara Sinton Wilson, a proud fourth generation secular Jew in San Francisco, is passionately committed to Jewish continuity and to engaging unattached young Jewish people.  Her extensive education and training informs her Jewish youth organizing work and philanthropic activities in pursuit of this goal. Educated and trained as a Clinical Nurse Specialist in Community Health, Barbara has been active with multiple community health and advocacy organizations. She co-founded The Jewish Teen Alliance, and Youth Quest, a San Francisco city-wide community service program for children and headed up Washington High School's Healthy Start Collaborative and Program. Barbara is particularly inspired by how Embodied Jewish Learning responds to the needs and interests of our millennial generation by supporting them in balancing their hectic lives and by the unlimited intergenerational potential for connecting Jewish learners to the wisdom of their tradition, to their roots, and to one another.

Bri Rubin (she/her), EJW Advisory Council & Founding Member is a Human Design specialist, artist, yoga teacher (kundalini and vinyasa), and coach. She first connected with Embodied Jewish Wisdom in Summer 2019 at the Gather & Grow convening. At this time, she was working as an Innovation Specialist at Long Beach Hillel, as part of Hillel International's Springboard Fellowship. In 2020, she shifted gears in her career- she left her full-time role in the Jewish nonprofit sector in order to focus on Human Design. She now works close to the source at MyBodyGraph and the Jovian Archive, and also offers readings, group workshops, and integrative coaching. She is grateful for the EJW Teacher's network as it grounds her, and connects her to her roots!

Deb Fink (she/her), Board Member

Deb has helped to shape the vision of Embodied Jewish Learning since 2001 when she participated alongside Julie in educator fellowships at the Institute for Jewish Spirituality and the Bureau of Jewish Education (now Jewish LearningWorks). She has continued to serve as an advisor, colleague and sounding board for EJL as it has grown and evolved. Deb has a Masters in Counseling and over 25 years of experience in a variety of Jewish communal organizations, She serves as Counseling Services Manager at Shalom Bayit where she provides support to victims and survivors of domestic abuse in the San Francisco Bay Area. Deb is passionate about opportunities that inspire others to uncover the spiritual sparks inherent in Jewish life and practice. 

Rabbi Diane Elliot (she/her), EJW Advisory Council & Founding Member is a spiritual teacher, ritual leader, dancer, writer, somatic therapist, and spiritual director based in the San Francisco Bay Area. She inspires her students to become clearer channels for Presence through awareness and movement practices, chant, and nuanced interpretations of Jewish sacred text. From 2011-2018 Diane directed ALEPH’s Embodying Spirit, En-spiriting Body training in embodied Judaism, and she continues to teach embodied approaches to Judaism nationally. Rabbi Diane currently serves as a member of the stewardship team of Taproot, a multi-generational community of Jewish artists, activists, and changemakers, and on the faculty of Moving On Center, a somatic training program in Berkeley, CA. She is the author of two volumes of sacred poetry, This Is the Day (Hadassa Word Press, 2017) and Unbounded Heart (Hadassa Word Press, 2019). www.whollypresent.org.

Gavriel Strauss (he/him), Board Member

Having lived in the mountains of Tsfat for 6 years and studying with some of the great modern Kabbalists, Gavriel is steeped in the mystical tradition of Judaism. He weaves this knowledge together with progressive spiritual and therapeutic methods to form a comprehensive Jewish educational model of personal growth and tikkün olam called Path of Tikkün.

Gavriel is a Spiritual Counselor and Relationship Coach who supports people in a somatic process of healing the barriers to accessing and actualizing their Life Vision. Gavriel works with his clients on meeting personal traumas, woundings and daily challenges of life and relationship as sacred opportunities for healing and growth. Gavriel's counseling works towards honoring all of our inner parts, the important roles they play in our lives and the information they have to share helping us on our journey of healing and integration. Gavriel lives with his wife and 2 daughters in beautiful British Columbia. www.gavrielstrauss.com

Ilene A. Serlin (she/her), Ph.D, BC-DMT, EJW Advisory Council & Founding Member, licensed psychologist and registered dance/movement therapist in San Francisco and Marin county, is the past president of the San Francisco Psychological Association, a Fellow of the American Psychological Association, Past-President of the Division of Humanistic Psychology. Ilene Serlin is Associated Distinguished Professor of Psychology at the California Institute of Integral Studies, has taught at Saybrook University, Lesley University, UCLA, the NY Gestalt Institute and the C.G. Jung Institute in Zurich. She is the editor of Whole Person Healthcare (2007, 3 vol., Praeger), co-editor of Integrative Care for the Traumatized, over 100 chapters and articles on body, art and psychotherapy, and is on the editorial boards of PsycCritiques, the American Dance Therapy Journal, the Journal of Humanistic Psychology, International Journal: Creative Arts Education and Therapy. Arts & Health: An International Journal of Research, Policy and Practice, Journal of Applied Arts and Health, and The Humanistic Psychologist.

Jamie McHugh (he/him), MA, RSMT, Advisor

Jamie McHugh, MA, RSMT is a Registered Somatic Movement Therapist (ISMETA), somatic movement specialist, and interdisciplinary artist living on the northern California coast. He is the creator of Somatic Expression® - Body Wisdom for Modern Minds, and has been teaching movement-based work for four decades.  From his early beginnings in 1978 as a creative dance specialist and community artist in public schools to his many years teaching somatic movement practice in the San Francisco Bay Area, most notably at Anna Halprin’s Tamalpa Institute and at John F. Kennedy University (Holistic Health Education MA Program), McHugh’s consistent mission has been to explore the intelligence and humanity of the body by making dance/movement accessible to every-body. As well as being a consultant for the Swiss AIDS Federation and directing a Healing Arts Training in Germany for 10 years, McHugh has been a guest teacher in diverse educational, artistic and healthcare settings, including L’Atelier de Paris, the Bristol Cancer Center, Esalen Institute, Kobe University, and Stanford University. www.somaticexpression.com

McHugh has been exhibiting his abstract contemplative photography of the natural environment since 2007 as well as curating two online collections of motional art for “soul-settling”: 7 Days of Beauty Project and The Breathing Room Series. www.naturebeingart.org

Karen Erlichman (she/her), D.Min, LCSW, Advisor

Karen Lee Erlichman, D.Min, LCSW provides psychotherapy, spiritual direction, So(U)L coaching and mentoring in San Francisco, employing a mind-body-spirit approach to wellness. Most recently Dr. Erlichman has been exploring embodied leadership and transformation, and she has trained with the Sensorimotor Psychotherapy Institute, the Strozzi Institute, the Jewish Studio Project Facilitator Network and the Center for Courage and Renewal. Karen’s writing has been published in numerous journals, blogs and anthologies, including Feminist Studies in Religion, Presence: An International Journal of Spiritual Direction, ritualwell, Tikkun, and in the interfaith anthology Spiritual Guidance Across Religions. She is passionate about creating diverse and welcoming spaces for exploring embodied identity, spirituality and community. www.karenerlichman.com

Rabbi Laurie Matzkin (she/her), RYT-200, EJW Advisory Council & Founding Member has led and designed Jewish educational experiences for all ages. She studied Music (Flute Performance) and Jewish Studies at Indiana University, Bloomington, and received both her M.A.Ed. and Rabbinic Ordination from the Ziegler School in Los Angeles. From 2009-2016, she served as Director of Lifelong Learning at Congregation Kol Emeth in Palo Alto. She founded her current role as the Mindful Jewish Journeys Educator at the Addison-Penzak JCC in Los Gatos in 2017. Rabbi Laurie continues to inspire others through her Makom Yoga classes, her seminars on Jewish liturgical music, insightful text study sessions and PJ Library Jewish family connection groups. She is a member of the Institute of Jewish Spirituality Hevraya clergy leadership program. With her rich background in creativity, spirituality, and mindfulness, Rabbi Laurie helps learners of all ages feel an increased sense of purpose, vibrancy and depth on their own Jewish journeys. For more on Makom Yoga and beyond, please visit www.rabbilauriematzkin.com.

Meg Oberhand (she/her), CYT-200, Marketing Director

Meg is a Creative Director and has been working in digital design and marketing for over 15 years. She has provided operational and marketing support to Embodied Jewish Learning since 2013.  While she originates from Virginia, Meg enjoyed 5 years in San Francisco and then 4 years in Moab, Utah where she held the Arts & Special Events Director position with the CIty of Moab. Through this role Meg built a public art program from the ground up, ran a full service arts and recreation center, organized arts festivals, live music events, and supported local artists daily.  Meg received a BA in Video, Animation, and Design which she has utilized throughout her professional career.  Inspired by her work with EJL, she completed Yoga Teacher Training in 2022 and holds a CYT 200. Lately, Meg enjoys time outside with her new baby Theo, gardening and tending the animals at her homestead in Aylett, VA, stewarding Powhatan land. See more about Meg and her work at: oberartcreative.com

Kohenet Nancy Wolfson-Moche, CHHC, RYT-200, Advisory Council & EJW Founding Member seeks to empower people to listen to their bodies through yoga, mindful cooking and eating, and other embodied practices. Nancy is the founder of you are because you eat, counseling and teaching health, wellness and life skills to students of all ages through cooking, culinary medicine and sacred culinary arts. Previously an editor and writer on lifestyle magazines, Nancy’s articles have appeared in scores of magazines and newspapers. For more about Nancy visit youarebecauseyoueat.com.

Rishe Groner, Advisory Council & EJW Founding Member is the creator of The Gene-Sis, a post-Hasidic movement toward embodied experience and personal growth through Jewish mystical texts. Rishe has over 20 years of experience in Jewish education, specializing in informal environments such as festivals, retreat centers and immersive experiences. Born in Australia, Rishe graduated from Monash University in Melbourne, Australia specializing in marketing and writing. She worked for over a decade as a senior marketing strategist across a variety of non-profits and corporate clients. In 2019, Rishe was named to the Forward’s “36 Under 36” for her work bringing Jewish ceremonies and workshops to the arts and nightlife scene. As a freelance writer, her work has appeared in Lilith, Tablet, Alma, The Times of Israel, and on www.thegene-sis.com. Her meditation series “Soulhacks” based on the practice of Sefirat Haomer is currently being prepared for publication in 2020. Rishe is an experienced prayer leader and focuses on creating unique immersive ceremonies utilizing dance, music and meditation, including “Ecstatic Mincha”, “Embodied Shabbos”, and “Niggun as Meditation”. She has studied with prayer pioneers Nava Tehila in Jerusalem and Joey Weisenberg in New York City, and carries the lineage of the Chabad-Chassidic tradition of meditative song and prayer. She has been featured educator at Jewish retreats including Moishe House, Isabella Freedman, Pearlstone Center and Limmud NYC. Rishe is currently studying for Rabbinic ordination at the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York City.