Rabbi Ruth Abusch-Magder Ph.D., is Education Director and Rabbi-in-Residence at Be’chol Lashon, an initiative of the Institute for Jewish and Community Research founded in 2000 as a response to a “Study of Racial & Ethnic Diversity of the American Jewish Community” (www.globaljews.org). Rabbi Ruth has been involved in Jewish education and leadership for over 30 years. A graduate of Barnard College, she received her doctorate from Yale University and was ordained at Hebrew Union College. The recipient of many grants and fellowships for her work on Jewish food and women’s history, in 2006 she was a Jerusalem Fellow at the Mandel Leadership Institute in Jerusalem. A CLAL Rabbi Without Borders fellow, Rabbi Ruth is a writer and teacher who has taught and published throughout the world; she also edits Be’chol Lashon’s publication forum Jewish&. Her home base is San Francisco, CA.
Alessandra Harris is an author, wife, mother of four, and co-founder of the media site, Black Catholic Messenger. She earned degrees in Comparative Religious Studies and Middle East Studies and is currently studying in the Diocese of San Jose’s Institute for Leadership in Ministry. Alessandra loves to encourage people by spreading the Good News, advocating for racial justice, and raising awareness about mental health. She has contributed to publications such as America Magazine, Grotto Network, US Catholic, Critical Theology, and Catholic Worker. Her third novel, Last Place Seen, will be published in September 2022, and her fiction also includes Everything She Lost and Blaming the Wind. Alessandra’s first nonfiction title will be published by Orbis Books in 2023. See www.alessandraharris.net.
Last Updated on October 4, 2023