In 2017, Central launched a downtown religious school to serve the growing number of members living downtown. What began as a modest offering has grown organically each year and we are proud of the wonderful community you have all built. All of us at Central are honored to support and nurture it.

As our Downtown community continues to grow, we are deepening our investment in clergy leadership who will be focused on building this community. I am pleased to share that, effective July 1, two new rabbis will join our clergy team.

Rabbi Rena Rifkin will join Central as our Downtown Rabbi, responsible for leading our downtown satellite community. Following an extensive national search, Rabbi Rifkin distinguished herself with her wisdom, thoughtfulness, educational vision, and proven leadership as a rabbi and educator.

Rabbi Rifkin joins us from Stephen Wise Free Synagogue, where she has served as Director of Youth Education for the past decade. She previously held positions at Temple Emanu-El and the North Shore Synagogue. Ordained at Hebrew Union College–Jewish Institute of Religion, she also earned a Master’s degree in Education from the Rhea Hirsch School of Education at HUC-JIR.

A lifelong Reform Jew, Rabbi Rifkin is a proud product of URJ Eisner Camp, which she considers her true home. A second-generation camper, she now serves on Eisner’s board as well as on the board of the Association of Reform Jewish Educators. (She even adopted her family dog, Oogie, through Eisner’s puppy program!). Rabbi Rifkin’s interests include reading historical fiction, exploring New York’s bakeries, theater, shoe shopping, and cheering on the New York Yankees. She and her husband live with their children closer to downtown than uptown, making this role a particularly meaningful next chapter.

We are equally delighted to welcome Rabbi Brooklyn Michalowicz, who will serve as a rabbi and as Director of 20s & 30s Programming. Based downtown, she will continue to build a vibrant community of young professionals while serving congregants across both locations.

Rabbi Michalowicz has been a beloved rabbinic intern at Central for the past three years and will be ordained by Hebrew Union College–Jewish Institute of Religion in May. During her time at HUC-JIR, she received the Tisch and BeWise Fellowships and earned awards in Midrash, Hebrew, Jewish Scholarship, Hebrew Literature, and Community Service.

As an intern, Brooklyn has led worship, taught numerous Adult Education courses, and deeply engaged our 20s & 30s community. She has consistently impressed our clergy and lay leadership with her creativity, warmth, soulful teaching, and extraordinary ability to connect with young adults.

Brooklyn holds a B.A. in Sociology from UCLA (Go Bruins!), an M.A. in Hebrew Literature from HUC-JIR, and a certificate in Experiential Jewish Education from the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem. She has served small congregations in Wyoming and Pennsylvania during the High Holy Days and trained as a chaplain intern at NYU Langone Hospital, providing spiritual care in the Neurology Department. She also volunteers weekly at the HUC Community Kitchen, offering meals and pastoral presence to neighbors facing food insecurity. Prior to rabbinical school, she served as Birthright Israel Coordinator at Columbia/Barnard Hillel. In her free time, Brooklyn enjoys crafting, hosting friends old and new, live jazz, and yoga.

I want to extend heartfelt thanks to the members of our search committee — Ben Lawsky (chair), Alison Berke, Dorit Corwin, Alan Herman, Karen Picquet, Abby Pogrebin, Zach Pomerantz, and Sara Tranter — as well as to Rabbis Buchdahl and Lorge and Marcia Caban for their partnership and dedication throughout this process.

We understand that these hires may raise some questions. I want to assure you that the rest of the Central clergy will also maintain a presence downtown, visiting LCLJ and participating in lifecycle moments and programming. These new hires will help us enhance our programming and maximize our ability to support our community. Additionally, the people you have come to know, including Rina Bergman, Cantor Mia Davidson, and Lexi Weakly remain an important part of our staff.

We also want to update you on our location planning for next year. Thanks to some extremely hard work by a number of our lay leaders, we are close to securing a space and we hope to be able to share more information soon. This space will allow us to continue our current program offerings while supporting new opportunities for engagement. 

Please feel free to reach out to me or any of our Downtown team if you have any questions. We look forward to welcoming Rabbis Rifkin and Michalowicz to Central this summer.

With gratitude,

Rabbi Rebecca Rosenthal 
Senior Director of Youth and Family Education