Staff – The Aleph Institute

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Rabbi Sholom D. Lipskar

Chairman

Rabbi Sholom D. Lipskar
Chairman

Rabbi Sholom Dovber Lipskar was ordained at the Central Lubavitch Yeshiva in Brooklyn in 1968 and pursued advanced studies at the Chabad Lubavitch Graduate School of Theology and Applied Rabbinics and at the Kollel Avreichim – Lubavitcher Rebbe’s Graduate School.

He was appointed a Shliach (Emissary) by the world leader of Chabad Lubavitch, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, in 1969. He was assigned to the Landow Yeshiva Center in Miami Beach, where he founded Yeshiva Gedolah Rabbinical College and served as Principal and Dean of elementary, secondary, and high school studies.

In 1981 he founded The Shul, where he continues to serve as Head Rabbi, and founded the Aleph Institute, a national Jewish education and humanitarian organization dedicated to improving the quality of life for the incarcerated and the military and their families.

Rabbi Lipskar is the official endorser of chaplains for the Department of Defense and the Educational Academy for the Elderly, where he is responsible for the development of pilot programs which restructure the educational priorities of elderly citizens.

He has been an Adjunct Professor of Religious Studies at Florida International University. In 2004, he founded the Chaim Yakov Shlomo College of Jewish Studies, offering Bachelors’ and Masters’ degrees in Hebrew Letters and Rabbinical Ordination, attracting students from across the globe.

Sean Burstyn

Director

Sean Burstyn
Director

Throughout Sean Burstyn’s legal career, he has represented clients that range from members of the Fortune 25 list of the largest public companies in the US to indigent clients in federal criminal proceedings and pro bono intellectual property matters.

Sean has also successfully argued before the US Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation, a judicial body composed of members selected by the Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court and responsible for some of the largest and most complex cases in America.

In addition to his seven-year career as a champion international racecar driver, Sean is active in various volunteer organizations. He has served in advisory, board, and pro bono counsel roles with Chabad organizations throughout the United States, including Chabad Young Professionals, Chabad on Campus International, and the Miami Jewish Legal Society.

Joy Fishman

Secretary

Joy Fishman
Secretary

Joy Fishman co-founded the establishment of the first and only needle exchange program in Miami-Dade County and lobbied successfully to extend the program throughout the entire state of Florida.

Due to her personal experience of caring for a loved one who was struggling with addiction and having a child who was incarcerated, she was motivated to become involved in drug policy reform. Joy was married to the creator of Naloxone, Jack Fishman, until his death in 2013. She is a member of the Miami Committee of Human Rights Watch, the international program calling attention to human rights violations throughout the world.

Joy also serves on the board of the Drug Policy Alliance, where she is involved in efforts to advance the legality of marijuana and change laws to protect substance users through harm reduction policies.

Abi Goldstein

Treasurer

Abi Goldstein
Treasurer

Abi Goldstein has an MBA specialization in global business. For several years, he worked in his family business in the manufacturing sector as a business analyst in the industrial engineering department, analyzing data for process improvement and optimization.

In 2017, Abi moved to Miami, dedicated a year to Aleph as head of business development, and then joined a real estate company, working as an underwriter. When Covid hit, he jumped into PPE, making government, hospital, and other sales in the Covid supply business, and then transitioned into real estate and other businesses and investments.

Abi’s leadership on the board is informed by his work with Aleph’s programs, and he is proud to share his own story of more than 13 years of sobriety to encourage others in their journey.

Seth Heller

Director

Seth Heller
Director

Seth Heller began his career in real estate private equity, where he worked his way up to become a Managing Partner. During the financial crisis, Seth founded Pontis Advisors and Heller and Company – two boutique professional services firms engaged in forensic accounting and complex commercial business litigation support.

Seth also founded FHCP, LLC, to provide financing for low-leverage real estate asset loans. Seth has completed hundreds of real estate-backed loans in the form of senior secured debt, junior or mezzanine debt, and preferred capital. He has developed, financed, acquired, and developed billions of dollars of real estate.

Seth is involved in many communal for-profit and not-for-profit institutions. He currently sits on the board of various family offices and advises on capital deployment decisions. Seth is also a Board member of the Greater Miami Jewish Federation and is a volunteer teacher of entrepreneurship at local schools.

Dina Leeds

Director

Dina Leeds
Director

Dina Leeds is the former owner of a medical equipment company that was the number-one West Coast distributor of its product line, helping cancer patients suffering from treatment side effects. She currently serves as Vice President of Fred Leeds Properties.

Dina is committed to numerous causes and serves on the boards of the UCLA Health Systems, the Los Angeles Ballet, and Pepperdine University. She is a former board member of both the national and Western Region boards of the American Friends of Magen David Adom.

Dina also serves as Vice President of Israel Christian Nexus and is a founding co-chair of Circle of Majesty for Beit T’Shuva. Dina attended UCLA.

Shiffy Lichtenstein

Director

Shiffy Lichtenstein
Director

Shiffy Lichtenstein has worked pro bono at the Aleph Institute since 2018, first as a life coach and, more recently, as a social worker. She is a graduate of the Wurzweiler School of Social Work. In May 2020, while earning her degree in social work, Shiffy started the Aleph Angel Internship Program.

The program connects Aleph family members with social work interns who provide supportive counseling and supervised therapy for justice-involved individuals and their families. Before returning to school to become a social worker, Shiffy was a certified relationship coach for 10 years.

She worked with Aleph family members, giving them the tools to better themselves, their lives, and their relationships. It was her work at Aleph that inspired her to go back to school so that she could better advocate for her clients and treat the traumas that are inherent in incarceration. Currently, Shiffy sees Aleph family members individually and is also the Aleph Angel Coordinator, overseeing the internship program. She hopes to reduce the shame and stigma of families impacted by incarceration.

EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP

Rabbi Sholom D. Lipskar

Founder and Chairman

Rabbi Sholom D. Lipskar
Founder and Chairman

Rabbi Sholom Lipskar has been an emissary in Miami for the Lubavitcher Rebbe since 1968. In 1981, he founded the Aleph Institute and the Educational Academy for the Elderly, and he also established The Shul of Bal Harbour, where he serves as Head Rabbi. Rabbi Lipskar has created alternative punishment philosophies and developed unique educational opportunities for the general public in the field of treatment of closed populations. He is also the chief organizer of the Miami International Conferences on Torah and Science.

Rabbi Lipskar was ordained at the Central Lubavitch Yeshiva in Brooklyn in 1968. He pursued advanced studies at the Chabad Lubavitch Graduate School of Theology and Applied Rabbinics as well as at the Kollel Avreichim – the Lubavitcher Rebbe’s Graduate School. In 1969 he founded the Landow Yeshiva Center in Miami, where he served as principal and dean of its elementary school, yeshivah academy, and high school, and was also responsible for training its rabbinical students.

Rabbi Aaron Lipskar

Chief Executive Officer

Rabbi Aaron Lipskar
Chief Executive Officer

Rabbi Lipskar serves as Aleph’s Chief Executive Officer, operating out of our headquarters in South Florida. He oversees key aspects of the organization including board and program development, finance and administration, fundraising, communications, and government relations with the Pentagon, the Department of Justice, the Bureau of Prisons, and the Department of Corrections nationwide.

In 1995, Rabbi Lipskar began serving as an Aleph volunteer, conducting national prison visits, and in 2000, he joined the organization as a full-time employee. A highlight of his Aleph experience was leading High Holiday services at GITMO for Jewish military personnel.

After concluding formal Talmudic and rabbinic studies in the Central Lubavitch Yeshiva, Rabbi Lipskar studied in Israel and received rabbinical ordination from the Chief Rabbinate of Israel. He has taught in the United States, Israel, Canada, and South Africa.

PROGRAM LEADERSHIP

Rabbi Lipa Boyarsky

Director of International Advocacy

Rabbi Lipa Boyarsky
Director of International Advocacy

As the Director of International Advocacy, Rabbi Boyarsky handles cases of individuals who are incarcerated outside of the United States. Along with his dedicated team, he ensures that inmates have access to kosher food, tefillin, books, holiday packages, and much more.

Rabbi Boyarsky also advocates for prisoners whenever they are in need of emotional, mental, or physical support, and when possible, arranges sessions of Torah study between prisoners and Aleph volunteers.

Rabbi Zvi Boyarsky

Director of National Policy

Rabbi Zvi Boyarsky
Director of National Policy

Rabbi Boyarsky serves as Aleph’s Director of National Policy, operating in our West Coast Offices and overseeing cases all around the country.

In addition to a number of initiatives within Aleph, he has been instrumental in the formation of our 2016 and 2019 Alternative Sentencing Summits to advance criminal justice reform through collaboration with legal, academic, and field experts – convening several hundred key stakeholders from the judicial, prosecutorial, probation and pretrial, defense, and advocacy sectors. After Aleph was fortunate to play a pivotal role in advocating for the First Step Act, we received national recognition when Rabbi Boyarsky was invited to speak at the White House in 2019.

Rabbi Boyarsky has led countless successful clemency and compassionate release efforts, and he has transformed Aleph’s advocacy approach to address hundreds of thousands of the individual needs of prisoners and their families. He’s deeply passionate about developing a more humane, successful, and dignified justice system in the United States, and his work has also been critical to the success of multiple life-saving initiatives, both domestically and abroad.

With unwavering determination and compassion, he advocates for the rehabilitation of those in prison and their successful reentry into the community. He’s likewise fiercely dedicated to supporting, guiding, and serving their shattered families struggling through the incarceration as well.

Rabbi Boyarsky received his rabbinical ordination at the Rabbinical College of America, Lubavitch: Tomchei Tmimim.

Rabbi Shua Brook

Director of Family Services

Rabbi Shua Brook
Director of Family Services

Rabbi Brook serves as Aleph’s Family Services Director and oversees our official New York office.

Over the course of 13 years with Aleph, Rabbi Brook has transformed Aleph’s Family services department, reaching thousands of previously underserved families struggling with the incarceration of a loved one. He also pioneered Aleph’s children’s camp program, expanded therapy assistance, and increased urgent financial aid funds.

Rabbi Brook graduated from Yeshiva Oholei Torah in Brooklyn and studied in Tomchei Tmimim Lubavitch in Israel, Canada, and France, before receiving rabbinical ordination from Chief Chabad Rabbis in Israel. He resides in Brooklyn, NY, with his wife Hindy and their nine children.

Rabbi Yossi Bryski

Director of Alternative Sentencing

Rabbi Yossi Bryski
Director of Alternative Sentencing

Rabbi Bryski serves as Aleph’s Director of Alternative Sentencing, where he oversees a dedicated team that works in conjunction with defense counsel to craft, present, and implement alternative sentencing proposals for minor offenders.

Under his direction, alternative plans are devised to restructure personal priorities and goals, maintain the integrity of essential family ties, and promote deterrence through fostering respect for our justice system.

Rabbi Bryski ensures that debts are appropriately paid to society while simultaneously allowing precious families to remain together. Thanks to his tireless efforts, countless federal and state courts nationwide have accepted Aleph’s alternative sentencing proposals.

Rabbi Bryski received his Rabbinic ordination from the Chief Rabbi of Italy in Venice. He moved to Arizona to serve as the Rabbi of Young Israel and currently resides in Scottsdale with his wife and children.

Rabbi Yossi Cohen

Director of Educational Programs.

Rabbi Yossi Cohen
Director of Religious Education

As Aleph’s Director of Religious Education, Rabbi Cohen ensures that Jewish education is readily available to all those in the prison system and the military, as well as their families. As the Lubavitcher Rebbe taught, Rabbi Cohen’s work reflects the fact that if a person is incarcerated, the goal should not be punishment but rather, to give them a chance to reflect on their negative actions and subsequently work at self-improvement and towards a more honest, peaceful future.

Rabbi Cohen joined the Aleph team in 2020, and shortly thereafter, in 2021, received his Bachelor’s of Hebrew Letters. He grew up in Montreal, Canada, and received rabbinical ordination from Rabbi Yitzchok Yehuda Yaroslavsky, head of the Chabad Beis Din of Israel.

Joyce Colker

Director of Reentry Services

Joyce Colker
Director of Reentry Services

Raised in Los Angeles, Joyce has been involved in many Jewish organizations throughout the community. As the founder of the Aleph Reentry Department in the Fall of 2016, she drew upon her varied life experiences in navigating available resources and social services in one’s time of need.

With a degree in Automated Manufacturing and a diverse career that included positions in Operations & Management, Joyce’s background in recruiting, hiring, and training individuals helped her establish the Aleph reentry model, which focuses on assisting clients in securing employment. She assists each of her clients with extra sensitivity and compassion, helping pave the way for their successful reentry.

Rabbi Sanford L. Dresin, Col.- Ret.

Director of Military Programs

Rabbi Sanford L. Dresin, Col.- Ret.
Director of Military Programs

Rabbi Dresin serves as Aleph’s Director of Military Programs, where he leads and oversees a number of programs, including “Operation Enduring Traditions,” which Aleph established to service the unique needs of Jewish members of the United States Armed Forces stationed worldwide.

Rabbi Dresin has been instrumental in building Aleph’s military program into the nation’s largest provider of religious and educational materials to Jewish military personnel and their families.

Prior to Aleph, he served for over 26 years as an active duty army chaplain, retiring with the rank of colonel. Among his military awards and decorations are: the Legion of Merit with one oak leaf cluster; the Bronze Star with one oak leaf cluster; and, the Meritorious Service Medal with four oak leaf clusters.

Rabbi Dresin was selected by the Army for a graduate program in clinical pastoral education and psychotherapy at Yale University and is a graduate of the National Defense University, Washington, DC. He holds four graduate degrees.

Rabbi Mendy Katz

Director of Prison Outreach

Rabbi Mendy Katz
Director of Prison Outreach

Rabbi Katz serves as Aleph’s Director of Outreach Programs. He directs Aleph’s extensive supply infrastructure, ensuring that military and prison personnel have all the religious Jewish supplies and study material they need.

By dedicating himself to helping Jewish inmates and their families, Rabbi Katz embodies the important commandment of loving a fellow Jew as oneself. He is instrumental in ensuring that kosher food is provided in states and institutions all around the country.

Rabbi Katz grew up in Miami Beach, Florida and graduated from Yeshiva Oholei Torah, in New York, in 1992. Two years later, he was ordained by Rabbi Yekusiel Farkash, and started working for Aleph shortly thereafter.

Aviva Lahmany

Chief of Staff & Director of Human Resources

Aviva Lahmany
Chief of Staff & Director of Human Resources

Aviva joined the Aleph team in 2017, and currently serves in the dual roles of Aleph’s Chief of Staff and Director of Human Resources. She focuses primarily on making Aleph and its staff a more competitive, efficient, and harmonious organization, while promoting a positive and successful working environment for each individual employee.

Aviva has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Philosophy from Boston University. She lives in Arizona with her family.

[email protected]

Rabbi Levi Landa

Director of Awareness & Prevention Programs

Rabbi Levi Landa
Director of Awareness & Prevention Programs

Rabbi Landa directs and oversees our Awareness and Prevention initiatives. Recently, he spearheaded the development and launch of Project 432 – a community based program that provides education, awareness, and tools to promote ethics and integrity, inspire greater fidelity to the law, and help people avoid entanglement in the criminal justice system and the devastating consequences of incarceration.

Rabbi Landa studied at yeshivas in France, Israel, and Great Britain before attending the Rabbinical College of America, where he received his Rabbinic Ordination from the former Chief Rabbi of Israel, Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu. He lives in Toronto, Canada with his wife and children.

[email protected]

Rabbi Yosie Lipskar

Chief Financial Officer

Rabbi Yosie Lipskar
Chief Financial Officer

Rabbi Lipskar is a founding member of the Aleph Institute. He has operated as Aleph’s CFO for more than 30 years.

Rabbi Berel Paltiel

Director of Advocacy

Rabbi Berel Paltiel
Director of Advocacy

Rabbi Paltiel oversees Aleph’s advocacy department and helps coordinate national advocacy efforts with local, state, and federal agencies. Alongside his dedicated team, he advocates for the spiritual and humanitarian rights of incarcerated individuals in state and federal prisons all over the United States.

Rabbi Paltiel also deals directly with designation, treaty transfers, and policy issues, and ensures that all advocacy cases, whether for religion, health, furloughs, or any other issue are handled with the utmost care and professionalism.

Rabbi Paltiel received his rabbinic ordination at Chabad’s central Yeshivah in Crown Heights. He lives with his family in Lynwood, Washington.

[email protected]

Yaffi Spodek

Director of Communications

Yaffi Spodek
Director of Communications

Yaffi joined Aleph in 2021 and serves as Director of Communications. She oversees Aleph’s communications strategy and calendar, leading her team to create compelling emails, publications, and marketing materials to showcase the impactful work being done across the organization. Yaffi also manages Aleph’s fundraising campaigns, PR efforts, and social media presence to ensure consistent branding and messaging for both internal and external stakeholders.

Yaffi holds a Master’s degree in journalism from Columbia University and a Bachelor’s degree in communications from Yeshiva University. She lives in Florida with her husband and children.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Rabbi Sholom D. Lipskar

Sean Burstyn

Joy Fishman

Abi Goldstein

Seth Heller

Dina Leeds

Shiffy Lichtenstein

EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP

Rabbi Sholom D. Lipskar

Rabbi Aaron Lipskar

PROGRAM LEADERSHIP

Rabbi Lipa Boyarsky

Rabbi Zvi Boyarsky

Rabbi Shua Brook

Rabbi Yossi Bryski

Rabbi Yossi Cohen

Joyce Colker

Rabbi Sanford L. Dresin, Col.- Ret.

Rabbi Mendy Katz

Aviva Lahmany

Rabbi Levi Landa

Rabbi Yosie Lipskar

Rabbi Berel Paltiel

Yaffi Spodek

About Aleph Institute

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