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Jan 30 - Rakefet Ginsberg
The new CEO of the Masorti (Conservative Movement in Israel)and the first woman to hold this position. Rakefet Ginsberg, Masorti's incoming Executive Director, served as the Movement's Deputy Director up until four years ago . She joined the Movement's staff immediately following her return as an emissary on behalf of the Jewish Agency in the United States, and took on the challenging role of Director of the Congregations in the Masorti movement. Rakefet was later was promoted to Associate Director of the Movement. She has extensive experience in community work, development and management of community programs and projects, and as a facilitator of processes of change in organizations and communities. Rakefet serves as Chairperson of the "Counseling Center for Women", and she is a member of the Board of Directors of the Schechter Rabbinical Seminary. In recent years, she led a team of therapists and facilitators in developing community resilience and group interventions within the Community Unit at NATAL (Israel Trauma and Resiliency Center). Rakefet holds a bachelor's and master's degree in social work from Tel Aviv University. Rakefet lives with her family in Rosh Ha'ayin.

Feb. 6 - Rabbi Yoav Ende head of the Hannaton Educational Center in Israel

Rabbi Yoav Ende is the Director of the Hannaton Educational Center.  The son of an Iraqi-Jewish mother and the grandson of a Conservative rabbi from Brooklyn, Rabbi Ende was ordained by the Schechter Rabbinical Seminary in Jerusalem in 2008.  He received his B.A. in Jewish Philosophy from Haifa University and an M.A. in Conflict Resolution and Management from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.  He led the revitalization of Kibbutz Hannaton in the Lower Galilee in 2008 and is noted for founding a highly successful pre-army Mechina program (currently in its 9th year), as well as a wide range of educational programming for youth, young adults, and professionals from Israel and the Diaspora.  In 2017, Rabbi Ende was recognized with the Hebrew University's prestigious Flegg Award for Tolerance and Understanding in the Jewish World for his work in the area of pluralism and religious tolerance at the Hannaton Educational Center.  In addition to his role at the Center, Rabbi Ende blogs for the Times of Israel about life in the Galilee and his personal vision for a pluralistic, democratic future, and is on the editorial board of Mitzpe, Hannaton's bi-annual periodiical on Jewish thought.  Rabbi Ende lives on Kibbutz Hannaton with his wife, Shira, and their four children.

 Proud member of USCJ, United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism