Limmud FSU Boston

Meet some of our 2022 Presenters...

• 

  Alex Yentin

  Non-Partisan Clinical Psychotherapist with a Sense of Humor

  Session:
  Parents’ relaxation without guilt in unstable times (RU)

  

  Alex Yentin

  Alex Yentin is a New York State licensed clinical psychotherapist and certified group psychotherapist with a BA from Ben Gurion University and Bar Ilan University and an MA from New York University, with three years of postgraduate studies in clinical psychotherapy and two years of studies for group psychotherapy in the Selig Institute in NYC. He works as a senior psychotherapist at the counseling center of the Jewish Board of Family and Children’s Services in Brooklyn. He also maintains a caseload of private clients and is an active presenter in the NY Russian Jewish community and in Jewish communities around the world including Limmud conferences.

• 

  Joshua Rubenstein

  Associate, Harvard's Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies

  Session:
  The Last Days of Stalin

  

  Joshua Rubenstein

  Working as an independent scholar, Joshua Rubenstein has written or edited a number of path-breaking books on Soviet-Jewish history, including biographies of Ilya Ehrenburg and Leon Trotsky; books on the Soviet human rights movement; and books on the Holocaust in German-occupied Soviet territory. “The Last Days of Stalin” is his tenth book.

• 

  Inna Lomanov

  Fruitarian, founder of the MFT21 Day Program

  Session:
  Exotic Fruit Discovery Session (RU and ENG)

  

  Inna Lomanov

  Inna Lomanov is the founder of the MFT21 Day Program. She is a fruitarian, exotic fruit connoisseur, fruit hunter, plant based/raw vegan, lifestyle expert, chef, and health coach from Long Island, NY. Mother to three toddlers, Inna helps and inspires people around the world to eat more fruit. In addition to blogging, coaching and creating fruit events in the New York and Miami area, Inna envisioned and developed the MFT21 Day Program. MFT21 includes practices such as face-fitness, yoga and meditation. Inna does not believe in diets but rather helps people to change their lifestyle. Inna is always on the lookout for exotic, unique, and rare fruits. Her passion is introducing people to exotic fruits and the fruit-based lifestyle. Inna was born in Odessa, Ukraine and came to the USA when she was 16. Aged 26 Inna went to Israel on Birthright, and since then she has taken five groups to Israel. For years, Inna was involved in the local Jewish youth community in Brooklyn as a leader. She taught in the Aviv School for Leadership, and took groups of students on educational visits to Poland and Israel. Inna dreams to inspire Jewish people to eat healthier, take better care of their bodies, be mindful of what they put into their bodies and how what they eat can affect their mood and sense of well-being.

• 

  Mark Novikov

  Дежурный по Израилю

  Session:
  Israel 2022. The Challenges of the Past and the Future (RU)

  

  Mark Novikov

  Mark Novikov has a PhD in Constitutional Law, and is the founder of the telegram channel "Duty for Israel", t.me/israeltoday. He has been engaged in political consulting, strategic communications and journalism. Author of numerous journalistic and scientific articles. Recently changed career direction and currently works in high-tech.

• 

  Tinatin Japaridze

  Vice President of Business Development and Strategy at The Critical Mass

  Session:
  Internet vs. RuNet: The Fall of the Digital Iron Curtain

  

  Tinatin Japaridze

  Tinatin Japaridze is the Vice President of Business Development and Strategy at The Critical Mass, a Virginia-based Woman-Owned, Service-Disabled Veteran Small Business. She previously worked for the City of New York and the United Nations as Bureau Chief for Eastern European media. In 2019, she became a Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs Ambassador on Cyber Ethics and Digital Leadership. A graduate of the Harriman Institute at Columbia University, Tinatin served as a “Go Big” Officer at the European Leadership Network focusing on the extension of the New START Treaty, and later became a member of the Younger Generation Leaders Network. Her debut monograph, Stalin’s Millennials: Nostalgia, Trauma, and Nationalism was published to critical acclaim by Rowman & Littlefield in 2022.

• 

  Lincoln Mitchell

  Political analyst, pundit and writer based in New York City and San Francisco

  Session:
  Where Do We Go Now: The War in Ukraine, the Crisis of American Democracy and the Midterms

  

  Lincoln Mitchell

  Lincoln works on democracy and governance related issues in the former Soviet Union, Eastern Europe, the Caribbean, the Middle East, Africa and Asia. He also works with businesses and NGOs globally, particularly in the former Soviet Union. Lincoln writes and speaks about US politics as well. He is a frequent contributor to CNN Opinion, NBC News, Brussels Morning and the San Francisco Examiner, and was the national political correspondent for The New York Observer from 2014-2016.

• 

  Ronit Asheri

  A professional actress and singer, Star of a popular Netflix show "UNORTHODOX"

  Session:
  The journey of an international actress in the shows around the world

  

  Ronit Asheri

  Ronit has been performing theatre, film and television for over 17 years, from Israel to New York, from Hebrew to English to Yiddish, from straight plays to clown shows to musicals to "Unorthodox." Her experience with "Unorthodox" has been one of the most exhilarating and fulfilling experiences not only because of the richness of the material and the cast but also because of the inspiring women she got to work with. Ronit is involved in a number of projects and is happy to return to acting.

• 

  Ilya Kolmanovsky

  (PhD) is a science journalist, writer, lecturer, communicator

  Session:
  Naked mole rat: superpowers in the Nature and why should we care (RU)

  

  Ilya Kolmanovsky

  Science columnist, journalist and lecturer, lead author of the Direct Speech lecture hall, author of the Naked Moleman podcast about scientific discoveries and the people who make them. After completing a PhD in evolutionary physical anthropology and several years of teaching comparative anatomy at Moscow State University, he analyzes new research from scientific centers around the world, constantly interviewing leading scientists in the field of neuroscience, experimental psychology, evolutionary biology, molecular genetics, and other fields. Among them, it is worth noting interviews with Nobel laureates B. Marshall, J. Watson, J. Hall, M. Rozbash, J. Gurdon; reporting from Karolinska Institute and Johns Hopkins University. For several years he was a permanent member of the jury of the Enlightener award. For many years he has been writing articles and hosting various TV and radio programs, online and offline meetings, lectures, and discussions.

• 

  Pamela Cohen

  Doctor of Humane Letters degree, author of “Hidden Heroes”

  Session:
  Hidden Heroes: One Woman’s Story of Resistance and Rescue in the Soviet Union

  

  Pamela Cohen

  Haunted by the legacy of the Holocaust, Pamela Braun Cohen became an activist in the Soviet Jewry movement in the early 1970s. She served as co-chair of Chicago Action for Soviet Jewry from 1978 until 1986, when she became the national president of the Union of Councils for Soviet Jews (UCSJ). Her leadership role took her to the halls of Congress and the White House and on frequent trips to the Soviet Union. Cohen received the Humanitarian Award from the Raoul Wallenberg Committee of Chicago; the Medal of Honor from refuseniks; and a Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Spertus College of Judaica. She now lives in Jerusalem with her husband Leonard.

• 

  Sofia Kapkova

  MART Foundation (Modern Artlife Foundation) — Founder and CEO

  Session:
  Challenges of producing cultural projects in the time of war (RU)

  

  Sofia Kapkova

  Sofia Kapkovawas born in Chita, USSR. Upon graduation from Moscow State University with a degree in journalism in 2001, Sofia worked as a producer for major Russian TV channels, she produced documentaries and was a chief news editor for Channel One TV.

  Sofia is the founder and CEO of MART Foundation (Modern Artlife Foundation), a non-profit, non-governmental foundation that supports Russian culture abroad. Mart curates an innovative and varied arts program, showcasing the very best of contemporary dance, music, and cinema. In collaboration with leading international art institutions, Mart commissions and produces new artworks and introduce emerging and established Russian artists to a global audience.

• 

  Masha Faynberg

  Interior designer

  Session:
  How to Choose Colors that Strike the Perfect Chord with your Interior's Proportions (RU)

  

  Masha Faynberg

  Maria Faynberg is an award winning interior designer with 14 years of experience in residential and commercial design in Russia, Canada and the USA. Aged 16, she worked for the Moscow Jewish Community Center as a graphic designer, for Hillel as a designer of Jewish books and later as an interior designer. Since moving to Canada Maya has created new Jewish connections. She believes that this workshop could be interesting and helpful for everyone, for attention to our homes, family, traditions and ability to design houses as a reflection of our souls can help us create the best possible atmosphere. Learn more about Maria on www.instagram.com/masha.faynberg.design or www.design-fm.com

• 

  Vladimir Foygelman

  Center Makor, president. Jewish educator, Holocaust research specialist

  

  Vladimir Foygelman

  Vladimir Foygelman was born in Kiev, Ukraine (former USSR). He graduated from Kiev State Institute of Culture (now Kyiv National University of Culture and Arts) in 1989 with a Master’s Degree in choreography and administration for community and sport centers. As his Diploma project Vladimir choose to choreograph dance “Shtetl”, the first Jewish theme choreography composition since creation of the University.

  In 1990, Vladimir founded The Children’s Jewish Dance Group, Yonteff (Holiday), which was the first Jewish children’s dance group in the former Soviet Union. He directed Jewish festivals, concerts and Jewish holiday celebrations in Ukraine.

  In 1993, with a group of Jewish young adults, he started the congregation of Reform Judaism, Ha-Tikvah.

  As Program Coordinator for the AMERICAN JEWISH JOINT DISTRIBUTION COMMITTEE office in Kiev, he developed the Kiev City Jewish Club for Young Adults. At JOINT he planned and coordinated the Jewish Folk and Israeli Dance seminars as well as the educational and cultural programs.

  He was the Founder and Executive Director of the Jewish Art and History School at the Israel Informational and Cultural Center for the Embassy of the State of Israel to Ukraine. (Kiev, Ukraine). Vladimir developed the school’s curriculum in collaboration with Congregation Ha-Tikvah, with support from the Israel Folk Dance Institute in London, and educational programs from the Jewish Agency for Israel, and JOINT.

  Since 1997, after his arrival in the United States in 1996, he founded and produced the Annual Artistic Hanukkah Festival in Boston, which has become a successful annual cultural event in the Russian-Speaking Jewish Community and continued to be the oldest Russian Jewish Festival in North America.

  In 1999, Vladimir was invited to work at the Synagogue Council of Massachusetts as Director of Programs for Russian-Speaking Jews. In 2001, after support from the Synagogue Council of Massachusetts the Russian Jewish Community School (RJCS) was open, Vladimir became its Principal.

  In 2005, with the help of CJP, SCM, JCC and other Jewish organizations in Boston, Vladimir established the Jewish Educational & Cultural Center Makor, and became its President and CEO.

• 

  Vladi Bleiberg

  Israeli singer, actor, and TV personality

  

  Vladi Bleiberg

• 

  Polina Dorosinskaya

  LMHC, ATR-BC, Artist

  Session:
  Paint Night

  

  Polina Dorosinskaya

  Polina Dorosinskaya is a Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor and Board Registered Art Therapist who lives in Boston, MA. Polina works at an inpatient psychiatric hospital and is engaged in her private practice. In addition to her clinical degree, Polina holds a BA in Fine Art and she loves to introduce people to creativity and self expression by offering group art making sessions. On Shabbat and weekends Polina likes to spend time with her friends and community, create art and travel. Polina was born in Moscow, Russia and raised in Baku, Azerbaijan. She spent a year of high school in Israel and immigrated into the US when she was 19 years old. Polina leads the Russian Jewish Social Club in Boston, MA and organizes creative events for her community.

• 

  Sara Rodkin

  Jewish educator, teacher

  Session:
  What does creation of the first person have to do with my marriage and relationship with G-d?

  

  Sara Rodkin

  Born in Latvia, a mother of 8, the oldest of which is in the IDF, married to the same rabbi for 25 years. Currently teaches Math at Shaloh House school. Sara's passion is learning and teaching Torah. Sara runs a weekly Challah / Parsha class every Thursday night at Shaloh House.

• 

  Misha Rubin

  Career educator

  Session:
  Era of Unprecedented Career Opportunities: Changing Industries, Roles or Both

  

  Misha Rubin

  Misha Rubin is CEO of Leap By Design and mastermind of The Career Leap method. Misha facilitates meaningful intentional life changes. As one aspect of his expertise, he works with mid-career professionals, executives and leaders who are interested in initiating and implementing meaningful and intentional career changes and/or expanding their leadership impact.

  Until not long ago he was a Partner at Ernst & Young, one of the biggest management consulting firms in the world, where he spent 15 fruitful years of his career. He sold and managed hundreds millions worth of projects and guided careers of hundreds of people. His corporate experience, personal quest for meaning and work with hundreds of professionals, birthed the The Career Leap method, a guided actionable inquiry that is structured for you to discover and pursue your next career move as well as expand your impact as a leader.

  Born and raised in Ukraine, Misha is on the board of Worldwide Orphans (WWO), a non-profit that supports children at risk globally, and in 2022 he founded Children of Ukraine to support children with trauma during and post Russian invasion.

  Additionally, Misha is an adoptive parent of 3. He is a recorded artist; Are We Ready, an album of his original songs, was released in 2013 under the artist name Misha Lyuve.

• 

  Roman Freud

  Playwright, actor

  Session:
  Solomon Mikhoels - life and art in the Jewish Theater.
  The central character of the new play "The Singing Windmills" by Roman Freud (RU)

  

  Roman Freud

  Roman is a graduate of The Schukin Theater School in Moscow. He directed and performed in Shakespeare’s Hamlet (Claudius), Twelfth Night (Orsino), Salinger’s Franny (Lane), and other plays. Roman worked at the Moscow Jewish Chamber Musical Theater as a musical actor and throughout his six years there starred in all of the company’s productions. Tango of Life, Lomir Ale Ineynem and Fiddler on the Roof among them. As a company member, Mr. Freud toured and performed in New York Melbourne, Milan, Rome, Budapest and dozens of cities in the former Soviet Union. Mr. Freud moved to the United States in 1991. His New York stage credits include Russian and English versions of Enemy, Love story by I.B. Singer/Herman Broder (Steps Theater), Unhappy Happiness by Chekov’s Lady with a dog/Gurov (Steps Theater), No Day, No Month, No Year by Gogol’s Dairy of a Madman/Medgy (Steps Theater), Vasily and Federico/multiple parts (Steps Theater). Three Sisters/Vershinin (Russian Arts Theater and Studio), Devil’s come to Moscow by Bulgakov’s Master and Margarita/Woland (Russian Arts Theater and Studio), Lady with a lapdog and other stories by A. Chekov/multiple characters (Russian Arts Theater and Studio), Passions by Mikhail/Ivan Vasilievich (Steps Theater). Raise and fall of Macondo/Jose Arcadio Buendia (Russian Arts Theater and Studio), Overcoat by N. Gogol/Petrovich and other characters (Russian Arts Theater and Studio), Gamblers by N. Gogol/Shvokhnev (Russian Arts Theater and Studio)

  Mr. Freud has been writing film and theatrical scripts in English and Russian since 2004. His Theater play (co-authored with Slava Stepnov) Ask Joseph based on life and art of poet, Nobel Prize laureate Joseph Brodsky, was staged in Steps Theater in 2013. Roman Freud played a main character (Joseph).

  The most recent dramatic work of Mr. Freud is The Singing Windmills – a play about life and art of the great Russian-Jewish actor/director Solomon Mikhoels, which have been stage by New York theatre PM in 2022

  Two of his short movie scripts were filmed – Encounter (2009) and Déjà vu (2010) and nominated on New York Independent film festival.

• 

  Stella Kleinbock

  An attachment-based clinical psychotherapist and sex therapist

  Session:
  Picking Behind Closed Doors: Attachment, Emotions and Sexual Intimacy

  

  Stella Kleinbock

• 

  Shlomo Noginski

  Rabbi, Jewish Educator, Jewish Hero 2021

  

  Shlomo Noginski

  Rabbi and teacher. Since 2019, he has been an envoy of the Lubavitcher Rebbe in Boston, at the Shaloh House Jewish center (synagogue and school). In 2021, he saved 100 children from a terrorist act and was awarded by the Jewish organization JLI - the honorary title: Jewish Hero 2021.

  Currently, Rabbi Noginsky is working on creating a smicha program in Boston, a center for the study and training of rabbis-messengers of the Lubavitcher Rebbe.

• 

  Rabbi Dan Rodkin

  Executive Director of Shaloh House Jewish Russian Center of Boston

  Session:
  Where to find G-d? (RU)

  

  Rabbi Dan Rodkin

• 

  Luba Sakharuk

  Session:
  How to embrace feeling uncomfortable in order to achieve the unimaginable!
  The journey of becoming an author and international speaker.

  

  Luba Sakharuk

  Luba Sakharuk holds a master’s degree in Computer Science from Worcester Polytech Institute of Technology and started her career as a software engineer. The unique insights and abilities she gained in her career led her to agile coaching, facilitation, leadership, and digital transformations. While working full-time as a Sr. Lead Consultant at Apex Systems, she has published two books and founded RALM3 Consulting LLC, focusing on public speaking and facilitation.

  Luba lives in Framingham, Massachusetts with her husband and two beautiful and well-behaved teenage children. When she is not working, she can often be found on the ski slopes at Loon Mountain in New Hampshire or taking long walks along Craigville Beach on Cape Cod.

• 

  Katerina Sultanova & Olga Gurova

  Co-founders of the project DOM

  Session:
  Psychology of home. How our home influence our wellbeing and the sense of happiness (RU)

  

  Katerina Sultanova & Olga Gurova

  Katerina Sultanova:

  Holding Master's Degrees in Interior Architecture and Environmental Management, Katerina employs a systematic approach to design and gets inspired by natural forms and principles.

  Katerina worked on a wide variety of Interior Design projects, including high-end residential, hospitality, educational, and commercial. The extensive world travel experience sparked an acute interest in world cultures, national traditions, and how people's behavior and well-being can be affected by the environments where they grow, work, and live.

  The continuous work with interior design clients formed an understanding of the strong relationship between people's way of organizing the space around them with their ideas and images of home inherited from their families and cultural, historical backgrounds.

  The constant asking of the question "Why is the home the way it is?" to me and the people around me became the starting point of the project DOM in 2020.

  Olga Gurova:

  Holding Master’s Degree in Psychology with a specialization in trauma therapy. She was trained in the humanistic (client-centered) approach. After making a successful career in people management and personnel development in the corporate sector, Olga later focused on socially conscious projects and roles working with vulnerable populations.

  “It is fascinating how our past shapes the way we live now. Our home is our intimate space. We use the idiom “skeleton in the closet” to describe personal or family secrets. When discussing our clients' past and present homes, the idea of the future home becomes rooted in their deep values and personal history.”

• 

  Olga Vayner

  Trivia Master

  Session:
  неTRIVIAльная (RU)

  

  Olga Vayner

• 

  Elana Broitman

  Senior Vice President for Public Affairs at the Jewish Federations of North America.

  

  Elana Broitman

  Elana manages a set of teams representing the Jewish community voice in the public square. The teams work with critical stakeholders to advance diverse government and community relations goals including funding for direct services, securing nonprofit organizations, combating antisemitism, BDS and delegitimization of Israel and supporting refugees.

  Previously, Broitman has staffed the U.S. House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee, served as a leading senator’s Senior Advisor for National Security, and as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense and USAID Senior Rule of Law Advisor. She has also spent years as a lay and professional leader in the Jewish community.

  Elana is originally from Odessa, Ukraine

• 

  Larry Tobin

  Director of The Shapiro Foundation

  

  Larry Tobin

  Larry Tobin, has served as the Director of The Shapiro Foundation since 2017. The Shapiro Foundation is focused on creating additional resettlement opportunities for refugees through complementary pathways and through communities and private citizens sponsoring them.

• 

  Sarah Abramson, PhD

  Senior Vice President of Strategy and Impact

  

  Sarah Abramson, PhD

  Sarah Abramson oversees CJP’s strategies for impact in our community. She works closely with partner institutions and communities to ensure that our overall ecosystem is thriving, sustainable, adaptive, and interconnected. Her leadership in this department spreads across the organization with her advocacy for making inspiring Judaism accessible for all and bringing social justice issues to the forefront of our work and our communities. Sarah sits on CJP’s Executive Team and reports to Rabbi Marc Baker. Sarah previously served as the Executive Director of Yad Chessed and was the Senior Policy researcher for the Board of Deputies in London. Sarah graduated with highest honors from Wesleyan University and holds a master’s degree in Social Policy and a Ph.D. in Sociology, both from London School of Economics.