Michael McCloskey is Rav-Chazzan at Temple Emeth in Chestnut Hill, MA. An accomplished lyric tenor, pianist, and composer, he has performed widely. A passionate teacher of Torah and Jewish music, he has taught at Hebrew College, the Lehrhaus Tavern and House of Learning, T’nuah B’yachad: The Convening of Conservative-Masorti Judaism, Toronto Jewish Music Week, and the Cantors Assembly. In addition to his service to the profession on movement committees, Michael has a faculty role at the Academy for Jewish Religion in New York, teaching courses in Jewish Philosophy and Pluralism. He is the proud father of Leonardo and Momo.

David Ackerman is the spiritual leader of Congregation Beth Am Israel in Penn Valley, PA where he teaches Torah, plays guitar, and helps build a sacred community rich in learning, spirituality and kindness. Educated at Princeton University and the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, David has served Anshe Emet Synagogue in Chicago, Tiferet Bet Israel in Blue Bell, PA, and as Rabbi for National Outreach at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America. David is the immediate past co-president of the Board of Rabbis of Greater Philadelphia, serves on Jewish Family and Children’s Service’s Board of Trustees, chairs JFCS’s Ethics Committee, and is active with Interfaith Philadelphia and Philadelphia’s Jewish Community Relations Council.

Michael Bernstein is the spiritual leader of Congregation Gesher L’Torah in Alpharetta, Georgia. Michael received his ordination from the Jewish Theological Seminary in 1999 and is an alumni of Rabbis Without Borders. Michael has been honored with an appointment to the Martin Luther King Board of Preachers at Morehouse College. He has a special interest in Jewish philosophy, especially the ethical thought of Emmanuel Levinas and in questions about the meaning and relevance of Jewish tradition today.

Nate Crane is the rabbi of Beth Hillel Bnai Emunah in Wilmette, Illinois. He is a member of the Conservative Movement's Committee on Jewish Law and Standards. Previously, he served at Congregation B’nai Tikvah in Deerfield, Illinois, and Congregation Or Tzion in Scottsdale, Arizona, where he founded Hagigah, a nonprofit supporting inclusive Jewish holiday experiences. He holds degrees from American Jewish University and the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies. With the National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership, Nate has served as a Rabbi Samuel T. Lachs Fellow, and a LEAP Fellow in partnership with the Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies at the University of Pennsylvania.

Andrew Jacobs is the spiritual leader of Ramat Shalom Beth Israel in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where he leads an inclusive, thoughtful, and values-driven community grounded in connection, learning, and purpose. A graduate of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, Andrew holds a Master’s degree in Jewish Art and Material Culture, awarded by the Jewish Theological Seminary, Columbia University and The Jewish Museum. He is a founder and board member of Beit Kaplan, a Reconstructionist initiative dedicated to renewing a peoplehood-centered vision of Jewish life.

A Wexner Graduate Fellow, Carl Perkins completed his rabbinical studies at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, also earning a master's degree in Talmud and Rabbinics. He served as rabbi at Temple Aliyah (Needham, MA) for 31 years before retiring in 2022. After earning his A.B., summa cum laude, at Haverford College, Carl taught for several years at the Commonwealth School in Boston as a Woodrow Wilson Teaching Fellow. He holds a J.D., cum laude, from Harvard Law School. Carl serves as a Senior Rabbinic Fellow at the Hartman Institute, Jerusalem.

Peini Feng is a recent graduate from Boston College majoring in Political Science and Philosophy and minoring in Ancient Greek. He is interested in a holistic understanding of human nature in the age of technology, especially the hopes available to human beings and the conditions necessary for them. Accordingly, his research focuses on medieval political philosophy in which the highest hopes for human beings clash with the most brutal political necessities. He hopes to further understand the philosophy of Plato, Aristotle, and Alfarabi, especially how logics, metaphysics, and political philosophy can be understood in a coherent whole.

Ethan Yu is an MA student at the University of Chicago Divinity School and a Research Fellow at the Kierkegaard Summer Institute. He recently finished an MA in Psychoanalysis at the Global Centre for Advanced Studies and wrote his thesis on Freud and projection. He finished his BS in psychology and BA in philosophy, religious studies, and Asian American Studies at UC Santa Barbara in 2022. He is interested in the intersection of Marxism, psychoanalysis, and phenomenology and their deep inheritance from the Jewish and Christian traditions.