Laasok Faculty and Staff
Rabbi Rachael Bregman
(she/her)
Faculty
A passionate teacher and spiritual director, Rabbi Rachael Bregman serves as Director of National Engagement at the Center for Small Town Jewish Life and is based in Charlotte, NC. She previously served as the Rabbi at a small and mighty congregation on the coast of Georgia, where she co-founded Glynn Clergy for Equity. She founded Open Jewish Project in Atlanta, served as a Chaplain Candidate in the US Navy and Marines, hiked the Appalachian Trail, earned a Master’s Degree in Education from Harvard University and received ordination as a Rabbi from Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in New York City. She is a certified spiritual director, a pastry chef, occasional artist and full-time mom.
Study with Rabbi Bregman in: You Shall Be Holy: Jewish Ethics for Real Life
Rabbi Nikki DeBlosi, Ph.D.
(she/her)
Faculty
Rabbi Nikki DeBlosi believes Judaism is lived in all the places we find ourselves, not solely within the walls of a synagogue. In her freelance rabbinate, she connects folks to the breadth and depth of Jewish tradition through inclusive, innovative, and insightful Jewish teaching, speaking, and ritual.
Rabbi Nikki folds her experience as a feminist organizer, queer theorist, and academic into her speaking, teaching, and ritual creation and officiation. She loves Laasok’s open-minded, evolving approach to Jewish values.
A tattooed, polyamorous, queer, suburban, stay-at-home parent, Rabbi Nikki was raised Catholic and converted to Judaism as an adult. She’s an avid reader (especially romance), a fan of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and a choral singer.
Study with Rabbi DeBlosi in Queering the Weekly Parsha
Mel Gilbert
(they/them)
Program and Operations Coordinator
Mel joins us from Cleveland, Ohio, bringing a passion for both thoughtful learning and thoughtful systems. They believe that good systems and genuine human connection grow best together. Mel is completing a master’s degree in Instructional Systems Technology, and has done extensive work in understanding how learner experiences and organizational systems work together in successful study environments.
At Laasok, Mel makes sure the behind-the-scenes details—from registrations to Zoom sessions to learner and teacher communications—run smoothly so we can keep focusing on what we love most: learning together.
When they’re not thinking about learning systems, you’ll probably find Mel listening to jazz, searching for great Japanese food, or hanging out with their cat, Ziggy (who, by all accounts, is the real boss).
Rabbi Micah Streiffer
(he/him)
Founder and Director
Micah is a rabbi, teacher, and lifelong student who is known for his ability to make Jewish texts and ideas come to life. Micah founded Laasok in 2022, after nearly two decades as a congregational rabbi in North Carolina and Ontario.
Ordained a rabbi in 2007 at the Cincinnati campus of the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, Micah lives in the Toronto area with his three sons and his partner Nicole. He teaches at synagogues across North America, and hosts the popular Seven Minute Torah podcast, as well as serving as a member of the Responsa Committee of the Central Conference of American Rabbis. Micah is pursuing a Ph.D. in Jewish Thought at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
Study with Rabbi Streiffer in:
Talmud Study
Parsha Thru Midrash
Exodus Deep Dive
Torah From the Beginning
Digging Deeper into Torah
Reclaiming Shabbat
OUR Jewish Home
Rabbi Barbara Symons
(she/her)
Faculty
Barbara Symons graduated from the University of Michigan and was ordained by Hebrew union College in 1994. She currently serves as the rabbi of Temple Beth-El of City Island and the Reform Temple of Putnam Valley. She is proud to be the Rabbi Emerita of Temple David Temple David in Monroeville, Pennsylvania following her 18 year tenure. She loves to pray with and learn with people of all ages as well as actively work together to repair the world. She is thrilled to have even a small part in raising up prophetic voices through the many diverse voices included in her book Prophetic Voices: Renewing and Reimagining Haftarah (CCAR Press). Barbara met her husband Rabbi Ron Symons during their first week in Jerusalem at Hebrew Union College and is daily and deeply proud of, and inspired by, him and their three children all of whom are not only committed Jews but learned, creative Jewish professionals.
Study with Rabbi Symons in:
Haftarah: Judaism’s Other Sacred Voice
We also regularly welcome guest rabbis and teachers from around the world for drop in classes and Tikvah Through Text.
Laasok Advisory Committee
Rabbi Emily Losben-Ostrov
Rabbi Emily Losben-Ostrov is honored to serve as the spiritual leader of the Temple Sholom in Scotch Plains, New Jersey. of Israel in Wilmington, NC. She originally hails from Bucks County (the suburbs of Philadelphia), and was ordained from Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Cincinnati in 2008.
While at HUC-JIR, Rabbi Losben-Ostrov wrote her Rabbinic Thesis on Naming the Unnamed: Biblical Characters Known only by their Roles or Relationships” She is very proud to have founded the Pesach Project, which has now allowed hundreds of Rabbinical Students to help lead seders and educational opportunities in the Former Soviet Union. Passionate about fighting AIDS and about interfaith and interracial relationships, she serves on the Commission on Social Action of Reform Judaism, and is a member of the Leadership Team for the Every Voice, Every Vote Campaign of the Religious Action Center.
Rabbi Michael Satz
Rabbi Michael Satz is the rabbi of Temple B’nai Or in Morristown, NJ. He brings his passions for teaching, justice, and spirituality to this multi-generational community. Rabbi Satz believes that “Judaism is a dynamic, evolving and pluralistic tradition. Through texts, music, prayer, peoplehood, and personal relationships we experience God’s presence. The rabbi’s calling is to help facilitate these experiences for Jews in sacred community.”
Rabbi Satz is involved in the greater community through the Morris Area Clergy Council and is the president of the New Jersey-West Hudson Valley Association of Reform Rabbis. He was born and raised in St. Louis, MO, and is, of course, a Cardinals fan. He graduated from Tulane University and was ordained at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion. He is married to Rabbi Janice Elster, and they are the parents of Eitan and Ammiel and the owners of Koby, a Havanese. Rabbi Satz loves to play guitar, drink oolong and pu-erh tea, and listen to news and political podcasts.
Rabbi Mark Washofsky, Ph.D.
Mark Washofsky is an emeritus professor of Rabbinics and former Solomon B. Freehof Professor of Jewish Law at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Cincinnati. He specializes in the literature of Jewish law (halakhah) and the application of legal theory to the understanding of the Jewish legal process. His publications deal with such subjects as the history of the halakhah, the nature of rabbinical decision making, and issues of medical ethics in Jewish law.
Rabbi Washofsky served as chair of the Responsa Committee of the Central Conference of American Rabbis from 1996 to 2017. He currently serves as chair of the Solomon B. Freehof Institute of Progressive Halakhah. He is the author of Reading Reform Responsa: Jewish Tradition, Reform Rabbis, and Today’s Issues, and Jewish Living: A Guide to Contemporary Reform Practice.
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